Category: Stock Market News

Some of the Russian-backed ads on Facebook Inc. during the 2016 presidential election specifically targeted Michigan and Wisconsin, two battleground states that President Donald Trump won by narrow margins, CNN reported late Tuesday. A number of the ads appeared to target key demographic groups, sources told CNN, and delivered divisive messages on hot-button topics, including anti-Muslim messages. Trump ended up winning Michigan by just 10,700 votes, and Wisconsin by 22,700 votes. Facebook has sent congressional investigators more than 3,000 Russian-linked ads as part of multiple probes looking into Russian meddling in the election. On Monday, Facebook said about 10 million Americans saw Russian-backed ads before and after the election.

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Shares of Tesla Inc. rose nearly 1% in after hours Tuesday after analysts at Nomura started covering the stock, rating it a buy and giving it a $500 price target. They forecast “an unprecedented run-up in Tesla’s revenue” to $58 billion in 2021, from $8 billion in 2016, the analysts said in a note. Tesla has “an insurmountable lead in vehicle range per dollar,” benefits from “what we believe is a largely inferior competitive field,” and will overcome Model 3 production constraints, they said. Nomura’s $500 price target on Tesla, representing a 44% upside from Tuesday’s prices, is the highest among 19 recorded by FactSet, and compares with an average $304. Tesla ended the regular session up 1.9%.

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Amazon.com Inc. has bought startup Body Labs, according to a blog post by a Body Labs executive. “No doubt that Amazon will drive innovation at an exhilarating scale and it has been my honor to help make it happen,” wrote Ali Javid, Body Labs’ vice president of business development, who said he has decided not join Amazon. No numbers were disclosed, but Techcruch cited $50 million and $70 million in a report earlier Tuesday. Amazon.com did not immediately return a request for comment. New York City-based Body Labs uses artificial intelligence, body modeling and computer vision to create 3D body shapes and motion for the apparel and other industries.

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CytomX Therapeutics Inc. roared 35% higher in after-hours trading Tuesday to prices that would be record highs after announcing a partnership with biotech giant Amgen Inc. The companies will collaborate on an immuno-oncology product focusing on t-cell therapeutics developed by CytomX, with CytomX leading early development and Amgen taking over for later development and commercialization. Amgen is paying CytomX $40 million and buying $20 million in CytomX stock, and CytomX has the opportunity to earn up to $455 million based on milestones and share in profits from the U.S. while receiving royalties on non-U.S. sales of the drug. Amgen also receives the right to develop and commercialize three undisclosed CytomX candidates, with CytomX eligible to receive $950 million based on the performance of those therapies as well as royalties. CytomX stock topped $25 in late trading, a level it has never cracked in regular trading, after closing at $19. Amgen shares were stable in after-hours action.

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Shares of Office Depot Inc. fell 2% late Tuesday after the company said it planned to buy IT company CompuCom Systems Inc. for $1 billion. That is a first step into “pivoting the company from a traditional office products retailer to a broader business services and technology products platform,” the company said in a statement. Private-equity firm Thomas H. Lee Partners LP owned CompuCom, and the deal will include paying down CompuCom debt and issuing new Office Depot shares. The deal would add $1.1 billion of revenue and more than $40 million within two years in cost synergies. In the same statement, Office Depot said it was lowering its outlook for 2017, saying it expects adjusted operating income to be between $400 million and $425 million, from an estimate of $500 million. The company pinned the downgrade to the impact of the hurricanes, lower back-to-school sales and store traffic, and temporarily higher supply-chain costs. The stock ended the regular session up 1.3%. A merger between Office Depot and rival Staples Inc. was scuttled last year, and earlier this year Staples was sold to a private equity firm.

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The American Petroleum Institute reported Tuesday that U.S. crude supplies fell for a second week in a row, by 4.1 million barrels for the week ended Sept. 29, according to sources. The API data, however, also showed that gasoline stockpiles rose 4.2 million barrels, while inventories of distillates declined by 584,000 barrels, sources said. Supply data from the Energy Information Administration will be released Wednesday morning. Analysts polled by S&P Global Platts expect the EIA to report a fall of 1.5 million barrels in crude inventories, along with a climb of 1.5 million barrels for gasoline and decline of 2.4 million barrels for distillate supplies. “The crude draws continue, but a big build in Cushing [Okla.] and gasoline stocks may slow the momentum,” said Phil Flynn at Price Futures Group. November crude was at $50.21 a barrel in electronic trading, down from the settlement of $50.42 on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

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Verizon Communications Inc. announced today that a 2013 hack into Yahoo’s network affected all Yahoo accounts, roughly 3 billion, after previous estimates said 1 billion accounts were affected. Yahoo, which was acquired by Verizon after the hack was disclosed and gave a slight price break on the deal because of it, is notifying affected accounts that were not previously contacted. Verizon pointed users to a frequently asked questions site set up in the wake of the hack, originally disclosed years after the hack in December 2016, for additional information.

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U.S. stock benchmark indexes all continued to set fresh records on Tuesday, helping the S&P 500 claim its sixth consecutive session of gains. The Nasdaq Composite Index rose 0.2% to close at 6531.7. The S&P 500 also rose 0.2% to end at 2534.5. The Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced more than 80 points to close at 22641. The small-caps index Russell 2000 treaded water at 1510. Upbeat economic data including a strong reading from the ISM manufacturing index has aided the rally in equities. Strong automotive sales in September pushed General Motor Co.’s share price to an all-time high. Tuesday’s record-setting action follows a similar session in Monday when all U.S. stock indexes established new peaks.

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Ford Motor Co. late Tuesday unveiled a plan to cut costs, go deeper into electric cars, and allocate more money to SUVs and trucks rather than cars. The goal is “to leverage its unique product strengths, trusted brand and global scale to refocus and thrive in an evolving and disruptive period for the auto industry,” Ford said in a statement. The company targets $10 billion in material cost reductions, and $4 billion in engineering costs by increasing the use of common parts across its lineup. The company also said it will reallocate $7 billion to SUVs and trucks, from cars, and that it plans to build the next-generation Ford Focus in China, saving capital investment and costs. Moreover, Ford said it is cutting its capital expenditures with internal combustion engines by a third and redeploying the capital into electric cars, in addition to a previously announced $4.5 billion in investments in electrification.
“When you’re a long-lived company that has had success over multiple decades the decision to change is not easy — culturally or operationally,” Ford CEO Jim Hackett said in the statement. “Ultimately, though, we must accept the virtues that brought us success over the past century are really no guarantee of future success.” Shares of Ford gained 0.6% after ending the regular trading session up 2.1%.

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Beijing-based Qudian Inc. , a provider of online credit products, disclosed Tuesday in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission that its initial public offering of American depositary shares is expected to price between $19 and $22 a share. With the company offering 37.5 ADSs for sale, it could raise up to $825 million. If the underwriters exercise all the options to buy additional shares, the company could raise up to $948.8 million. Each ADS represents one Class A ordinary share of Qudian, with each Class A share entitled to one vote. The company has applied to have its stock listed on the New York Stock Exchange, under the ticker symbol “QD.” The lead underwriters are Morgan Stanley, Credit Suisse, Citigroup, China International Capital Corp. and UBS. The company is looking to go public at a time when both the SPDR Financial Select Sector ETF and S&P 500 have gained 4.3% over the past three months.

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