Category: Stock Market News

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. said Monday that it will offer customers free shipping without a minimum purchase starting Monday, July 11 through Friday, July 15. The retailer has also announced thousands of price “rollbacks” and a free trial of its ShippingPass service, offering unlimited two-day shipping, over the past couple of weeks. The SippingPass service normally costs $49 per year. The latest announcement comes a day before Amazon.com Inc.’s annual Prime Day shopping event. Wal-Mart shares are nearly flat in premarket trading, but up 20.5% for the year so far. The S&P 500 is up 4.2% for the year to date.

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BioLife Solutions Inc.’s stock nearly doubled in premarket trade Monday, after the maker of biopreservation media products announced a 10-year agreement to supply Kite Pharma with its CryoStor clinical grade freeze media for cells and tissues. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. “We are honored that Kite has adopted CryoStor in their production process for truly remarkable and potentially life-saving cellular therapies,” said BioLife Chief Executive Mike Rice. The stock was trading up 99% at $3.14, a level that stock hasn’t closed at since April 25, 2014. The stock had plunged 76% year to date through Friday, while the S&P 500 had gained 4.2%.

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Healthy Choice, a ConAgra Foods Inc. brand, said Monday that it will introduce four meals that include organic ingredients this July. The new additions to the Healthy Choice Simple Café Steamers line have 270 calories or less and pricing will be consistent with the $3.29 cost for other dishes in the line. The meals are: the Unwrapped Burrito Bowl made with organic beans and brown rice; the Sweet and Spicy Asian-Style Noodle Bowl with organic edamame and carrots; Three Cheese Tortellini with organic cheese, spinach and mushrooms; and Creamy Spinach and Tomato Linguini with organic spinach and tomatoes. ConAgra shares are inactive in premarket trading, but up 14.6% for the year so far. The S&P 500 is up 4.2 % for the year to date.

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Shares of Sagent Pharmaceuticals Inc. soared 40% in premarket trade Monday, after the drug maker agreed to be acquired by Japan-based Nichi-Iko Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. in a cash deal that would value Sagent at about $714.3 million. Under terms of the agreement, Nichi-Iko will pay $21.75 for each Sagent shares outstanding, which is 40% above Friday’s closing price of $15.50. The stock hasn’t closed as high as that price since Aug. 6, 2015. Sagent has 32.84 million shares outstanding, according to FactSet. “The combination will maintain Sagent’s current operations and valued employees while providing accelerated expansion of our product offerings and accessibility to a robust pipeline of biosimilar pharmaceuticals,” said Sagent Chief Executive Allan Oberman.

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Sports and entertainment talent representation company WME-IMG announced Monday an agreement to buy mixed martial arts company UFC for an undisclosed amount. Earlier reports said a deal would be valued at $4 billion. Private equity companies Silver Lake Partners and KKR & Co. will join WME-IMG as new strategic investors. When the deal is completed, UFC Chief Executive Lorenzo Fertitta will step down from day-to-day operations, while Fertitta and Frank Fertitta III will retain passive minority interests in the new company. “We’re now committed to pursuing new opportunities for UFC and its talented athletes to ensure the sport’s continued growth and success on a global scale,” said WME-IMG Co-CEOs Ariel Emanuel and Patrick Whitesell in a statement.

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Shares of Yahoo Inc. dropped 0.9% in premarket trade Monday, after the internet portal was downgraded at SunTrust Robinson Humphrey to neutral. Analyst Robert Peck cut the stock price target to $42, which is 11% above Friday’s closing price of $37.74, from $44. Peck gave four reasons for downgrading Yahoo: 1) Although he expects a positive result from its plan to sell its core business, which could be announced around July 18, the fact that it is so widely anticipated could result in a “sell the news” effect on the stock; 2) the process of selling off its investments in Yahoo Japan and Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. is “convoluted and complex;” 3) the “hook” nature of the Alibaba shares could lower the buyout premium; and 4) a buyout could take a long time–possibly 18 months–to be completed, if it is at all. The stock has climbed 13% year to date through Friday, while the S&P 500 has gained 4.2%.

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The steep depreciation in the British pound since the UK “Brexit” vote is unlikely to lead to near-term changes to corporate ratings, but another 10% decline for a sustained period would create pressure, Fitch Ratings said Monday. UK retailers and airlines are especially exposed, the ratings agency said in a statement. A 10% decline from pre-vote levels, which has already occurred, would lead to an average increase of 0.5 times unhedged leverage. A 20% depreciation to $1.18 or 1.06 euros would result in an average 2.7 times increase in leverage. “Under this stress case, ratings would be affected if companies were unable to rebalance capital structures or limit FX impacts on the cost of imported goods following the expiry of existing hedging arrangements,” said the statement. Retailers New Look and Tesco are most exposed to a weaker pound, as Tesco generates three quarters of its revenue in pounds, while nearly half its debt and costs are in other currencies. UK airlines face a similar currency mismatch, as they have costs and debt related to aircraft finance in dollars.

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Shares of Twitter Inc. fell 2% in premarket trade Monday after two banks downgraded the stock. SunTrust Robinson Humphrey and Monness Crespi Hardt lowered their ratings on Twitter’s stock to neutral from buy. SunTrust, which maintained an $18 12-month price target on the stock, said user growth and engagement continues to be challenged, despite new products and services released by Twitter over the last year in an attempt to improve the site’s usability. Monness Crespi Hardt said any improvements the company has made have been incremental, hardly enough to attract the mass market or improve the monetization of its service. “We believe, barring any changes, Twitter was, is, and will continue as a niche product in terms of engagement and content contribution,” said Monness Crespi Hardt analyst James Cakmak. Shares of Twitter were on track to open around $17.79 on Monday. While they’re up slightly over the last three months, they’re down more than 48% from 12 months ago.

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Avnet Inc. said Monday it has named William Amelio as interim chief executive, replacing Rick Hamada, who is stepping down. Amelio was CEO of CHC Group Ltd, an international oil fields services company from 2016 to 2015, and also worked stints at Lenovo and Dell Inc. The electric components and storage systems company also said it’s revising guidance for its fiscal fourth quarter, and now expects per-share earnings of 80 cents to 86 cents, down from prior guidance of 95 cents to $1.05. “This shortfall was impacted primarily by an ERP implementation in the Americas region of the Electronics Marketing operating group,” the company said in a statement. Sales are expected to be about $100 million less than previously forecast and to range from $6.15 billion to $6.25 billion. Shares were not yet active in premarket trade, but are down 3.5% in the year so far, while the S&P 500 has gained 4.2%.

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The Ultimate Fighting Championship is expected to announce as soon as Monday a $4 billion deal to sell itself to a consortium of private-equity investors led by Silver Lake and Kolhberg Kravis Roberts, media outlets including The New York Times and Fox Sports reported. Michael Dell is reportedly among the new group of owners. The UFC had denied rumors weeks ago that a sale was pending, as reported by FLO Combat. The sale of the fighting promotion company will bring a windfall to majority owners and brothers Lorenzo and Frank Fertitta, who bought it for around $2 million in 2001.

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