Category: Stock Market News

Snap Inc. shares fell 0.6% in premarket trading Tuesday after analysts at MoffettNathanson highlighted several efforts by the company to “right the ship” but maintained their sell rating on shares. The analysts, led by Michael Nathanson, aren’t sure whether Snap’s recent redesign of the Snapchat app will help the company meet its goals of generating more engagement, but they think the company is “doing the right thing in making a calculated bet to try to drive increased daily-active-user growth from both older users and non-penetrated international markets.” Nathanson is intrigued by Snap’s decision to introduce “pixel tracking,” a way for advertisers to see what users do after viewing an ad, but doubts it will have much impact on the crucial holiday quarter. “While the feature marks a key turning point in their offering to advertisers, it was likely released too late to reap much benefit for 4Q17, the bigger advertising quarter,” Nathanson wrote. He maintained his price target of $7, which matches the lowest among Wall Street analysts surveyed by FactSet. Snap shares have fallen 4.6% from their March IPO price of $17. The S&P 500 is up 12% since Snap went public.

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Trinity Industries Inc. said Tuesday its board has approved a plan to spin off its infrastructure-related businesses in a move expected to be completed in the second half of 2018. The deal is expected to result in two separate public companies. Trinity Industries will operate rail leasing, manufacturing and services business, and a separate company will be focused on infrastructure. “The new infrastructure company will have the balance sheet strength and capital allocation flexibility to pursue growth through acquisitions and to capitalize on the large and growing market opportunity in North American infrastructure spending,” the Dallas-based company said. The board has also approved a doubling of the company’s share buyback authorization to $500 million. Shares rose 1.4% premarket, and have gained 19% in 2017, while the S&P 500 has gained 19%.

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Shares of JetBlue Airways Corp. rose 1% in premarket trade Tuesday, after the air carrier raised its fourth-quarter unit revenue outlook as the negative impact from hurricanes is now less than expected. JetBlue raised its guidance range for revenue per available seat mile (RASM) growth to -0.5 to +1.5 from a previous range of -3.0 to 0.0. The company said the negative impact from recent hurricanes, notably Irma and Maria, is now estimated to be 50 basis points (0.50 percentage points) for the quarter, compared with a prior forecast of one-to-two percentage points. Separately, JetBlue said November load factor fell to 84.2% from 85.4% a year ago, as a 4.3% increase in capacity outpaced the 2.8% rise in traffic. The stock has lost 1.0% year to date through Monday, while the NYSE Arca Airline Index has rallied 4.3% and the S&P 500 has climbed 19%.

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GlycoMimetics Inc. shares surged 30% in premarket trade Tuesday, after the company reported improvements in median overall survival rates in an early-stage trial of a treatment for acute myeloid leukemia (AML). The company told attendees at the American Society of Hematology annual meeting in Atlanta, Georgia that a trial of 54 patients with relapsed/refractory AML at the Phase 2 dose of its GMI-1271 for whom median follow up was 6.6 months showed clinical remission of 43% and median overall survival of 9.5 months, comparing favorably with historical data. A separate group of 25 older patients with newly diagnosed disease for whom median follow up was 10.5 months had a clinical remission rate of 68%. “These new data from our Phase 1/2 clinical trial demonstrate that encouraging clinical outcomes are possible for both duration of remission and survival endpoints when GMI-1271 is added to chemotherapy in two distinct AML patient populations,” noted Helen Thackray, M.D., FAAP, GlycoMimetics clinical development and
chief medical officer. “Beyond the high response rates previously
reported with GMI-1271, we can now point to additional long-term
endpoints that further support our plan to move the drug candidate into
a Phase 3 clinical trial scheduled to begin in mid-2018.” Shares have gained 135% in 2017, while the S&P 500 has gained 19%.

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Shares of Proteostasis Therapeutics Inc. nearly doubled in active premarket trade Tuesday, after the developer of cystic fibrosis treatments announced positive results from three trials. The company phase 2 trial of 50 milligram-a-day of PTI-428 in patients on background Orkambi met its efficacy endpoint. “This is an important first step towards translating the scientific potential of the first and only genotype agnostic CFTR modulator in development, and its ability to enhance Orkambi by selectively increasing the production of the CFTR protein,” said Patrick Flume, a clinical investigator at the Medical University of South Carolina. Separtely, a preliminary ad hoc analysis of PTI-801 showed improvements without serious adverse safety events, and PTI-808 was found in a healthy volunteer co-administration study to be well tolerated and could be potentially amenable to once-a-day dosing. The stock shot up 86% on volume of over 484,000 shares about two hours before the open, compared with the full-day average volume of about 193,100 shares. The stock has plunged 81% year to date through Monday, while the iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology ETF has rallied 20% and the S&P 500 has gained 19%.

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3M Co. said Tuesday it said the industrial and consumer products company is tracking at the “top half” of its 2017 growth guidance range of 4% to 5% and earnings per share of $9.00 to $9.10. The FactSet consensus for revenue of $31.49 billion implies 4.6% growth from a year ago, while the EPS consensus is $9.06. For 2018, 3M expects net EPS of $9.60 to $10.00, compared with the FactSet consensus of $9.70, and total sales growth of 5% to 7%. The FactSet 2018 revenue consensus of $33.16 billion is 5.3% above 2017 expectations. Speaking at its annual analyst and investors gathering in New York later Tuesday, Chief Executive Inge Thulin will also highlight investments in its priority growth platforms, including auto electrification, air quality and personal safety. The stock, which was still inactive in premarket trade, has soared 34% year to date, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average has rallied 23%.

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Verizon Communications Inc. Chief Executive Lowell McAdam resigned from the General Electric Co. board of directors, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing Monday. McAdam told GE that he no longer had enough time to continue to serve on the board, the SEC filing said. “Lowell is very supportive of [GE] Chairman Flannery,” a Verizon spokesman said in an email message. “It has become clear, however, that the work on GE’s board was going to distract Lowell from his day job, and the Verizon shareowner, which is his first priority.” GE referred MarketWatch to the SEC filing. Verizon stock is up less than 1% to $51.99 after hours. GE stock is flat after hours and has fallen 44% this year. The Dow Jones Industrial Average , of which both Verizon and GE are components, has gained 23%. Verizon stock has lost 2.9% as the S&P 500 index has gained 18%.

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Comcast Corp. is no longer bidding for entertainment assets from 21st Century Fox Inc. , according to a Monday afternoon report, which could leave Walt Disney Co. as the sole bidder remaining. “We are no longer engaged in the review of those assets,” Comcast said in a statement to some news organizations. “We never got the level of engagement needed to make a definitive offer.” Disney and Comcast were “in active talks” in negotiations for parts of the Fox empire that includes the movie and television studios and some cable networks, [l: The Wall Street Journal reported last week, adding that the Murdoch family hoped to make a decision on a transaction by year’s end. Sony Corp. and Verizon Communications Inc. have also reportedly shown interest in the assets, the Journal reported. Reuters, which first reported the Comcast statement, said Monday that Disney and Fox were still in negotiations and could reach a deal this month.

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The House tax relief bill would generate $483 billion in revenue over a decade from additional growth — not nearly enough to pay for the $1.44 trillion cost, the Joint Committee on Taxation said Monday. That’s very similar to the JCT finding on the Senate tax bill, which they said would generate $458 billion in extra revenue relative to the legislation’s $1.41 trillion cost. A conference to reconcile the two chambers’ bills is set to start on Wednesday.

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Iron Mountain Inc. plans to buy U.S. operations of IO Data Centers LLC for $1.32 billion, including land and buildings in Arizona, New Jersey and Ohio, the company said Monday. As part of the agreement, Iron Mountain will pay an additional $60 million based on future performance. The deal is expected to close in early 2018 and be accrective to the company’s 2019 adjusted funds from operations. Separately, Iron Mountain said it is offering 14.5 million shares in a secondary offering to finance its IO Data Centers transaction. Shares of Iron Mountain were off 0.7% after hours.

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