Sprint inks wireless partnership with Altice after T-Mobile merger talks end; shares fall nearly 12%

Sprint Corp. and cable and internet provider Altice USA Inc. entered into a multi-year wireless partnership over the weekend that will help Altice provide phone and data services to its customers. Shares of Sprint were fell nearly 12% in premarket trade on Monday. The deal, which mirrors a mobile pact Comcast Corp. has with Verizon Communications Inc. , came a day after Sprint’s potential merger talks with T-Mobile US Inc. came to an end over the weekend without a deal. T-Mobile shares were down 5%, while shares of Verizon were down more than 2% and AT&T Inc. shares were down more than 1%. Under the Sprint-Altice agreement, Sprint will allow Altice to use Sprint’s mobile network to sell service in which Altice will control mobile features, functionality and customer experience. In exchange, Sprint will use Altice’s broadband infrastructure to shore up its network. “As content and connectivity continue to converge, we believe this approach will be a model for future strategic arrangements across multiple industries including cable, tech and others.” Shares of Sprint have declined nearly 21% in the year to date. Shares of Altice, which were inactive in premarket trade, are down more than 30% in the last three months. By comparison, the S&P 500 index is up more than 4% in the last three months and nearly 16% in the year so far, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average is up nearly 7% in the trailing three months and more than 19% in the year.

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Valeant shares rise on divestiture of ‘female Viagra’

Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc. shares rose 2.4% premarket on Monday after the company said it will divest its Sprout Pharmaceuticals subsidiary, which makes the “female Viagra” drug Addyi, to “a buyer affiliated with former shareholders of Sprout.” Under the deal, Valeant will receive a 6% royalty on worldwide sales of Addyi beginning 18 months from the sale agreement’s signing, Valeant will no longer — as required under the original transaction — have to split future profits with the former shareholders or pay for marketing and other expenditures. Valeant bought Addyi in 2015 for $1 billion, but the product has not sold as well as expected, and Valeant announced a plan to relaunch the drug earlier this year. Some have said Addyi, which is supposed to treat low sexual desire in women, didn’t sell well because Valeant didn’t market the drug aggressively enough, while others have said that the drug simply doesn’t work for women. Litigation against Valeant will also be dismissed, the company said. Valeant will also provide a $25 million loan to fund initial operating expenses for the deal, which is expected to close by the end of the year. Valeant shares have dropped 24% over the last three months, compared with a 4% rise in the S&P 500 .

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CVS’s stock gains after profit and same-store sales beat expectations

Shares of CVS Health Corp. rose 0.4% in light premarket trade Monday, after the drugstore chain beat third-quarter profit and same-store sales expectations. Net income fell to $1.29 billion, or $1.26 a share, from $1.54 billion, or $1.43 a share, in the same period a year ago. Excluding non-recurring items, adjusted earnings per share came to $1.50, above the FactSet consensus of $1.48 a share. Revenue rose to $46.18 billion from $44.62 billion, in line with the FactSet consensus of $46.17 billion. Pharmacy same-store sales fell 3.4%, but beat the FactSet consensus for a decline of 3.9%, while the front-end same-store sales decline of 2.8% beat expectations of a 3.4% fall. The company said it expects fourth-quarter adjusted EPS of $1.88 to $1.92, surrounding the FactSet consensus of $1.90. CVS closed 68 retail stores during the quarter. The Wall Street Journal reported in October that CVS has bid to buy Aetna Inc. . CVS shares have shed 11% over the past three months, while the S&P 500 has gained 4.5%.

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Ceramics maker MPM Holdings to sell 14.6 million shares at $23 to $25 each in IPO

MPM Holdings Inc. on Monday set terms for its planned initial public offering, saying it will see 14.6 million shares at $23 to $25 each. The maker of specialty silicone and fused quartz and specialty ceramics products is planning to list on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol “MPMH.” J.P. Morgan and Goldman Sachs are lead underwriters on the deal, with Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank, UBS, Wells Fargo and BMO all acting as joint bookrunners.

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CBS enters contract that will reduce outstanding pension benefit obligations by $800 million

CBS Corp. said in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission that it plans to purchase a group annuity contract, which will require an insurance company to pay out pension payments. The contract will reduce CBS’s outstanding pension benefit obligations by about $800 million, or 20% of the company’s total obligations, according to the filing. As part of the agreement, CBS will record a one-time settlement charge of roughly $365 million in the fourth quarter. The charge reflects the accelerated recognition of a portion of the unamortized losses in the pension plan. CBS also said it plans to make a discretionary $500 million contribution to prefund its qualified plans, expected to be partially funded by long-term debt. Shares of CBS have dropped nearly 13% in the year to date, while the S&P 500 index is up close to 16% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average is up more than 19% during the same time frame.

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Mylan shares tumble 4% premarket after third-quarter earnings fall short

Mylan N.V. shares fell 4% in premarket trade Monday, after the drug company missed estimates for third-quarter earnings. The company said it had net income of $88.3 million, or 16 cents a share, after a loss of $119.8 million, or 23 cents a share, in the year-earlier period. Adjusted per-share earnings came to $1.10, below the FactSet consensus of $1.20. Revenue edged down to $2.987 billion from $3.057 billion, also below the FactSet consensus of $3.077 billion. Chief Executive Heather Bresch said EpiPen sales continued to slow, thanks to the launch of a new generic and the contraction of the overall epinephrine auto-injector market. The company said it is raising the low end of its adjusted EPS guidance range, and is now expecting 2017 EPS of $4.45 to $4.70. The company is expecting revenue of $11.75 billion to $12.50 billion. The FactSet consensus is for full-year EPS of $4.58 and revenue of $12.04 billion. Shares are down 6.4% in 2017, while the S&P 500 has gained about 16%.

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Phishing scam targets millions of Netflix subscribers

Netflix Inc. customers are being warned about a new targeted email scam to steal their credit card information. The bogus emails were first detected Friday by Australian cybersecurity company MailGuard, targeting some of Netflix’s 110 million customers worldwide. The official-looking email warns users that their account is about to be canceled unless they update their account information. Users who click on the provided link are asked to provide their name, date of birth, address and credit card number — only the data goes right to the scammers. Experts say if you’re unsure about your account status, go instead to Netflix’s website, log in and securely check your information there.

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Rand Paul suffered 5 broken ribs in alleged attack by neighbor

Sen. Rand Paul suffered more extreme injuries that initially reported during an altercation with a neighbor Friday. The Kentucky Republican received five broken ribs and bruises to his lungs, officials said Sunday. Paul, 54, was allegedly assaulted by his next-door neighbor in Bowling Green, Kent., 59-year-old Rene Boucher. The cause of the altercation is not yet known. Boucher, an anesthesiologist, has been charged with fourth-degree assault. One of Paul’s aides said Sunday he does not know when Paul might be well enough to rejoin the Senate. “This type of injury is caused by high velocity severe force,” Paul strategist Doug Stafford said in a statement. “It is not clear exactly how soon he will return to work, as the pain is considerable as is the difficulty in getting around, including flying.”

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Saudi prince, other top officials reportedly killed in helicopter crash

A Saudi prince and seven other high-ranking officials were killed in a helicopter crash Sunday near the border of Saudi Arabia and Yemen, according to news reports. Reportedly among the dead was Prince Mansour bin Muqrin, the son of the former crown prince. The crash comes amid a tumultuous weekend in Saudi Arabia: A number of royals and top officials, including billionaire Prince al-Waleed bin Talal, were arrested in an anti-corruption crackdown Saturday; a ballistic missile apparently fired from Yemen was intercepted near the Saudi capital, Riyadh, on Saturday; and on Friday, Lebanon’s prime minister, Saad Hariri, announced his resignation during a visit to Riyadh.

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At least 20 killed in mass shooting at Texas church

More than 20 people were killed during a mass shooting at a Baptist church in Sutherland Springs, Texas, on Sunday. “I would say it’s up there around 20-plus, I’m not sure,” Wilson County Commissioner Paul Pheil told reporters. He said another 20-plus people were wounded. Authorities said the shooter was dead. President Donald Trump tweeted his condolences from Japan: “May God be w/ the people of Sutherland Springs, Texas. The FBI & law enforcement are on the scene. I am monitoring the situation from Japan,” he said.

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