Category: Stock Market News

Shares of Cara Therapeutics Inc. plunged 27% in premarket trade Friday, after mixed results from a phase 2b trial of the biotechnology company’s pain medication prompted a downgrade at Janney Montgomery Scott. Analyst Ken Trbovich cut his rating to neutral from buy, saying the results of the trial weren’t strong enough to achieve statistical significance at the highest dose and did not show an effect at lower doses. The result of the trial “gives us less confidence in the outlook for a positive outcome for the phase 3 than we had previously,” Trbovich wrote in a note to clients. The stock had nearly tripled year to date through Thursday, while the iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology ETF had rallied 18% and the S&P 500 had gained 8.1%.

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Flash storage company Tintri, Inc. priced its initial public offering at $7 a share late Thursday, the low end of its already slashed price range, to raise about $60 million. The company had cut its range to $7 to $8 a share earlier on Thursday, down from its previously expected range of $10.50 to $12.50. The $7 share price gives the company a public market capitalization of $215 million, a deep cut from the $785 million private valuation reported by the Silicon Valley Business Journal. This week Blue Apron Holdings also saw its price range cut to $10 to $11 from its previous range of $15 to $17. Blue Apron priced at $10 and opened and closed Thursday at 410. Tintri shares are expected to start trading Friday on the Nasdaq under the symbol “TNTR.” Morgan Stanley & Co., Bank of America Merrill Lynch and Pacific Crest Securities were the lead underwriters on the offering.

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Parkway Inc. announced Friday a deal to be acquired by Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) for $1.2 billion. Under terms of the deal, Parkway shareholders will receive $23.05 for each of the real estate investment trust’s shares they own, a 13% premium to Thursday’s closing price of $20.38. CPPIB’s bid per share consists of $19.05 plus a $4.00 special dividend to be paid prior to the closing of the deal, which is expected to take place during the fourth quarter of 2017. Parkway’s stock was inactive prior to a trading halt for news. It has lost 8.4% year to date, while the SPDR Real Estate Select Sector ETF has gained 4.8% and the S&P 500 has climbed 8.1%.

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Camping World Holdings Inc. said Friday that it will operate nearly 60 Gander Outdoors and Overton’s brand locations that it acquired earlier this year from Gander Mountain, which filed for bankruptcy in March. At that time, Gander Mountain put its 160 stores up for sale. Camping World Inc., a subsidiary of Camping World Holdings, alongside a group of firms, bought the company’s assets for about $400 million, The Wall Street Journal reported. Camping World chairman Marcus Lemonis said at the time that the company would keep as many of its stores as possible. The company’s original goal was to hang on to 70 stores, Lemonis said in the Friday release, but decided to keep 57 that demonstrated they “have a clear path to profitability.” The stores span across states including Wisconsin, New York, Texas, Michigan and Florida. Camping World expects to announced additional locations after it decides which stores to expand. Camping World shares are unchanged in Friday trading, but down 5.6% for the year so far. The S&P 500 index is up 8.1% for 2017 to date.

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Centene Corp. said Friday it will offer health insurance plans under the Affordable Care Act on the Missouri exchange in 2018. The company, which is headquartered in Missouri, said it will offer plans called Ambetter in 40 counties in the state that are not expected to have coverage by any other health insurer. “We strive to be a responsible partner with the state and are committed to working closely with regulators and policymakers to collaborate on actions that stabilize the market and offer affordable coverage options,” Chief Executive Michael Neidorff said in a statement. Shares were not yet active in premarket trade, but have gained 41% in 2017, while the S&P 500 has gained 8%.

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Warren Buffett is a great example of how the rich get richer, as his Berkshire Hathaway Inc. can make a quick $12 billion with the $5 billion he invested nearly 6 years ago, a 140% gain. And that doesn’t include interest. Berkshire said earlier Friday that it will exercise warrants to buy 700 million Bank of America Corp. common shares at $7.142857, for $5 billion. At current prices, with the stock trading up 0.9% at $24.53, the stake would be valued at $17.17 billion. Berkshire had acquired the warrants in August 2011 as part of its deal to invest $5 billion in Bank of America by purchasing 6% preferred stock, at a time when the bank was struggling in the aftermath of the financial crisis. The stock had tumbled 45% in a year, and had hit a 3 1/2-year low a day earlier. Berkshire said it would use the $5 billion it used the $5 billion in preferred stock to pay for its common stock purchase. Bank of America’s stock has soared 83% over the past 12 months, while Berkshire shares have climbed 17% and the S&P 500 has rallied 15%.

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Nike Inc.’s stock rallied $3.53, or 6.6%, in premarket trade Friday, after better-than-expected fiscal fourth-quarter results and confirmation that it would sell sneakers on Amazon.com Inc. , which could be accounting for about half of the Dow Jones Industrial Average’s early gain. The stock’s price gain would add about 24 points to the Dow’s price, and Dow e-mini futures were last up 51 points. Nike’s stock has gained 4.6% year to date through Thursday, while the Dow has climbed 7.7%.

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Microsoft Inc. is planning to unveil a major reorganization on July 5, the subscription-based Puget Sound Business Journal has reported. The Seattle-based publication said sources told it the changes will better align the company with its cloud-first strategy. Microsoft has been putting more focus on its Azure cloud business, which competes with Amazon.com Inc.’s Amazon Web Services cloud-computing division, the leader in the business. Microsoft shares were slightly higher in premarket trade Friday, and have gained 10% in 2017, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 have gained about 8%.

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Bemis Co. Inc. said it will cut 300 jobs as part of a restructuring plan aimed at saving about $55 million to $60 million a year. The job cuts will be made over the next three years. The job cuts represent about 5% of the global administrative workforce, and about 1.7% of the total workforce. The plastic packaging supplier said it will close two manufacturing facilities, with one closure beginning this year and the other in 2018. The employees of those facilities will be transferred to other locations. “During April, we began a review to align our U.S. manufacturing and administrative cost structures with the demands of our customer base to better position the Company in the current environment and for its long-term success,” said Chief Executive William Austen. “Given the challenges in the Brazilian economic environment, we also expanded the scope of our review to include our entire global business.” The stock, which was still inactive in premarket trade, has lost 1.8% year to date while the S&P 500 has gained 8.1%.

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Shares of Bank of America Corp. rose 1% in premarket trade Friday, after Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. said it will exercise its warrants to buy 700 million shares of the bank’s common stock, when the Bank of America’s dividend increase takes effect. The exercise price of the warrants will be about $7.14 a share, which is 71% below Thursday’s closing price of $24.32. 700 million shares of common stock would represent about 7.0% of the shares outstanding, which would make Berkshire the largest shareholder, above the 6.6% stake owned by The Vanguard Group Inc., according to FactSet. Berkshire said it will use its $5 billion worth of 6% preferred Bank of America stock as consideration to buy the common stock. Berkshire received the warrants to buy the common stock when it bought the preferred stock on Aug. 25, 2011. The stock has rallied 10.1% year to date through Thursday, while the SPDR Financial Select Sector ETF has tacked on 6.2% and the S&P 500 has gained 8.1%.

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