Category: Stock Market News

Shares of Biogen Inc. fell 0.6% in light premarket trade Thursday, after the biotechnology company was downgraded by two notches at Raymond James, which cited continued headwinds for the multiple sclerosis business. Analyst Laura Chico cut her rating to market perform, skipping over outperform, after being at strong buy since August 2015. Chico said while MS headwinds aren’t necessarily new, the risk-versus-reward setup for investors looks different given the stock’s recent rally. Assuming modest MS franchise erosion and above-consensus estimates for its Spinraza muscular dystrophy treatment, she derives a fair value for the stock at $329, which is just 3.1% above Wednesday’s closing price of $319. For Raymond James, a strong buy rating reflects expectations of a total return of at least 15% and outperformance relative to the S&P 500 over the next six-to-12 months. Biogen’s stock has soared 14.5% over the past three months, while the iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology ETF has climbed 5.3% and the S&P 500 has gained 3.0%.

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Shares of Scholastic Corp. fell 5% in premarket trade Thursday after its first-quarter results missed expectations following last year’s record-breaking sales of “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Parts One and Two.” Scholastic reported a net loss of $63.7 million, or a loss of $1.81 per share, wider than a net loss of $39.6 million, or a loss of $1.15 per share, in the year-earlier period. It reported an adjusted loss per share of $1.67, wider than the FactSet consensus of a loss per share of $1.34. Revenue was $189.2 million, down from $282.7 million in the year-earlier period and below the FactSet consensus of $208.3 million. Scholastic noted that in the year-earlier period it had the publication of the new Harry Potter book, which was the best-selling book in North America at the time. Scholastic said it has new Harry Potter in publishing coming out in 2018. The company added that it typically reports a loss in its fiscal first quarter because most U.S. schools are not in session. It reaffirmed its 2018 outlook of revenue of $1.65 to $1.70 billion and earnings per diluted share from $1.20 to $1.30. Shares of Scholastic have fallen 13% in the past three months, while the S&P 500 has gained 3%.

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Inovio Pharmaceuticals Inc. shares climbed about 5% in premarket trade Thursday, after the company said its DNA-based monoclonal antibody program (dMAb) has been boosted by two peer-reviewed scientific papers that show its impact on prostate tumors and in preventing infection from a pneumonia-creating bacteria in early stage studies. “These two newly published studies further support that Inovio’s potent dMAb platform could be expanded to target cancer and bacterial diseases along with viral infectious diseases,” Chief Executive Dr. Joseph Kim said in a statement. A paper published in the journal “Cancer Immunology, Immunotherapy” outlined how the dMAb shrunk prostate tumors in a preclinical animal model. Another paper showed that its dMAb constructs targeting antibiotic-resistant bacteria protected mice when challenged with a lethal dose of a pneumonia-creating bacteria. Inovio shares are down 13% in 2017 through Wednesday, while the S&P 500 has gained 12%.

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Shares of Advanced Micro Devices Inc. surged 1.3% on heavy volume in premarket trade Thursday, after a report that Tesla Inc. was working with the chipmaker on Tesla’s Autopilot driver-assistance system, in an effort to reduce the reliance on Nvidia Corp. . Trading volume topped 6.4 million shares in recent trade, enough to make the stock the most actively. The stock was on track to open at the highest level seen during regular session hours since Aug. 2. Nvidia’s stock slumped 1.8% ahead of the open. CNBC reported late Wednesday, citing a source familiar with the matter, that more than 50 people are working under Jim Keller, the head of Autopilot, and Tesla has brought on several former AMD employees to work on the project. AMD’s stock has lost 1.7% over the past three months through Wednesday, while Nvidia shares have soared 16.5%, the PHLX Semiconductor Index has climbed 5.6% and the S&P 500 has gained 3.0%.

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Shares of air and water purification systems maker Calgon Carbon Corp. soared 62% in premarket trade Thursday, after the company said it has reached an agreement to be acquired by Japan’s Kuraray Co. Ltd. in a deal with an equity value of about $1.1 billion. Kuraray will pay $21.50 a share in cash for each Calgon Carbon share. The deal is expected to close by the end of December and will be completed as a merger of a newly-created subsidiary of Kuraray with and into Calgon Carbon. Calgon Carbon Chief Executive Randy Dearth said the deal will make the company part of a bigger, stronger global company with the resources to support the business into the future. Calgon Carbon shares had fallen 22% in 2017 through Wednesday, while the S&P 500 has gained 12%.

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Irish building materials company CRH PLC has agreed to buy Ash Grove Cement Co. in a deal valuing the U.S. cement provider at $3.5 billion, the companies said Thursday. Ash Grove said the transaction will be in the range of $449 to $454 per share, based on its June 30 balance sheet. Shares of Ash Grove closed at $285 on Wednesday. The merger agreement, which is expected to close in late 2017 or early 2018, is subject to shareholder and regulatory approval.

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Former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort offered to provide private briefings on how the campaign was progressing to a Russian billionaire with close ties with President Vladimir Putin, according to a Washington Post report late Wednesday. Manafort made the offer to Oleg Deripaska, an aluminum magnate and one of the richest men in Russia, who had done business with Manafort in the past, the Post reported. It reportedly occurred two weeks before Trump accepted the Republican presidential nomination, when Manafort was still leading his campaign. The exchange was in a series of emails that were turned over to congressional investigators and special counsel Robert Mueller. The Post said Manafort was seeking to cash in on his growing reputation, asking “How do we use to get whole?” The Post said there was no evidence the briefings actually took place, and Manafort’s spokesman said the dealings were “innocuous,” according to NBC News, which corroborated the Post’s report.

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Facebook Inc. has signed a huge office lease in San Francisco with room for 2,000 to 3,000 employees, the San Francisco Business Times reported Wednesday. The social media giant, which is headquartered 35 miles south in Menlo Park, will occupy 50 floors — 436,000 square feet — of a skyscraper that is still under construction. The 70-story tower at 181 Fremont is scheduled to open by the end of the year, and is close neighbors with the Salesforce Tower, now the city’s tallest building. Facebook’s office-space deal is reportedly the largest in San Francisco in the past three years. Facebook is the latest tech giant to make a significant footprint in San Francisco. Just this year, Salesforce.com Inc. , Amazon.com Inc. and Alphabet Inc.’s Google have signed office-space deals in the city.

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Facebook Inc. Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg said Wednesday that the company plans to tighten its enforcement process and human review for ads on its platform. Facebook announced the changes in the wake of a ProPublica report that the Menlo Park-based company had enabled advertisers to reach “Jew haters.” The company said additional human review for new ad targeting options aims to keep the offensive terms from appearing. In addition, Sandberg said Facebook will create a program that will enable the company’s users to report ad abuses so the company can take action. “We have long had a firm policy against hate on Facebook,” Sandberg wrote. “Our community deserves to have us enforce this policy with deep caution and care.” Facebook stock edged down less than 1% after hours, and closed down 0.2% to $172.17 in the regular session. The company’s stock has surged 49.7% this year, with the S&P 500 index rising 12%.

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Alphabet Inc. unit Nest Labs Inc. announced a line of six new internet-connected security products on Wednesday. Nest Secure, which will retail for $499, is the company’s security system and uses a range of sensors, speakers and Nest’s app to protect homes. Nest Secure includes a smart speaker-like base station, several motion sensors and near-field communication-enabled fob keys. In addition to the sensors and fob keys, Nest also announced a video doorbell and an outdoor security camera called Nest Cam IQ for $349. The company did not reveal a price for the video doorbell, called Nest Hello. Alphabet stock was flat after hours and closed up 1.1% to $947.54 in the regular session. Alphabet shares have risen 19.6% this year, with the S&P 500 index rising 12%.

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