Category: Stock Market News

Shares of Blue Apron Holdings Inc. opened at $10 Thursday, in line with the company’s $10 issue price, in the company’s debut on the New York Stock Exchange. The company sold 30 million shares to raise $300 million. With the $10 issue price and opening price, Blue Apron saw a market capitalization of $1.9 billion, below its $2 billion private valuation. Blue Apron had lowered its price range Wednesday to $10 to $11 from its previously expected range of $15 to $17. Goldman Sachs & Co., Morgan Stanley, Citigroup and Barclays are the lead underwriters on the offering.

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Shares of Acuity Brands Inc. surged 11% in early trade Thursday, after the maker of lighting products reported stronger-than-expected earnings for its fiscal third quarter. The company said it had net income of $82.2 million, or $1.90 a share, in the quarter, up from $74.0 million, or $1.69 a share, in the year-earlier period. Adjusted per-share earnings came to $2.15, ahead of the FactSet consensus of $2.02. Sales rose to $891.6 million from $851.5 million, also ahead of the FactSet consensus of $879 million. “Our third quarter net sales reflect continued solid performance even though initial industry data suggests that the growth rate of the Company’s key end markets in North America grew only in the low single-digit range,” Chief Executive Vernon Nagel said in a statement. “We believe the market growth rate reflected continued softness in demand for certain short-cycled, smaller lighting projects.” Shares have fallen 14% in 2017, while the S&P 500 has gained about 9%.

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U.S. stocks opened mostly higher on Thursday, with the S&P 500 and Dow industrials lifted by a rally in financials. However, by weakness in technology shares weighed on the Nasdaq Composite index. Banking shares rallied after the 34 biggest U.S. banks passed the Federal Reserve’s stress test and received green light for plans to return capital to shareholders. The S&P 500 was up fractionally at 2,441. The Dow Jones Industrial Average began the session slightly higher, up 20 points, or 0.1%, at 21,476. The Nasdaq Composite index declined 21 points, or 0.4%, to 6,214. Among biggest gainers, Citigroup Inc. and JPMorgan Chase & Co were up 3.6% and 2.9% respectively shortly after the opening bell.

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Tintri Inc. disclosed Thursday that it expected price of its initial public offering was slashed to $7.00-to-$8.00 a share, a day after the company said it expected the IPO to price between $10.50 and $12.50. The enterprise cloud platform company also cut the number of shares it was offering to 8.5 million shares from 8.7 million shares, meaning the amount it was raising has dropped to $68.00 million from $108.75 million. The options granted to the underwriters to buy shares to cover overallotments was reduced to 1.275 million shares from 1.305 million shares. This comes after meal-kit delivery company Blue Apron Holdings Inc.’s IPO priced at the $10, the low end of the expected range of $10 to $11, which had been lowered from a previously expected range of $15 to $17.

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Shares of Forestar Group Inc. fell 3.2% in premarket trade Thursday, after the land developer terminated its merger deal with Starwood Capital Group, so it could go with the D.R. Horton Inc. deal to buy a 75% stake for $17.75 a share. The announcement comes less than a week after Forestar determined D.R. Horton’s deal, which allows it to remain a publicly-traded company, was a “superior proposal” to Starwood’s deal to pay $16.00 a share to take the company private. “Forestar’s shareholders meaningfully benefit by receiving a superior and immediate cash premium for their shares, while also having the opportunity to retain a substantial stake in a company we are committed to growing into a leading residential land development platform with national scale,” said Forestar Chairman Donald Horton. The stock was trading 4.8% below the D.R. Horton’s per-share bid price ahead of Thursday’s open, but was 5.6% above Starwood’s bid price. It has soared 31% year to date through Wednesday, while D.R. Horton shares have rallied 25%, the SPDR S&P Homebuilders ETF has climbed 14% and the S&P 500 has gained 9%.

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Whole Foods Market Inc.’s stock appeared headed for a sixth-straight decline, after it was downgraded Thursday to perform from outperform by analyst Rupesh Parikh at Oppenheimer, who said he no longer expects a new bidder to emerge to compete with Amazon.com Inc.’s buyout bid of $42 a share. The stock had closed as high as $43.26 on June 21, or 3% above Amazon’s bid, but has closed lower every day since then. The stock was down 0.4% at $42.10 in premarket trade Thursday. Parikh was among those that said another bid could materialize, and therefore had raised his stock price target to $45 from $40 when the deal was announced on June 16. On Thursday, he removed his price target. “Although we believe [Amazon’s] bid undervalues the company, it now appears less likely a new bid will come from a strategic player, and it is less likely that private money will attempt to outbid [Amazon],” Parikh wrote in a note to clients. Whole Foods shares have run up 37% year to date, while the S&P 500 has gained 9%.

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Conagra Brands Inc. reported a fiscal fourth-quarter net profit that rose to $151.3 million, or 36 cents a share, from $117.6 million, or 27 cents a share, in the same period a year ago. Excluding non-recurring items, adjusted earnings per share came to 37 cents, matching the FactSet consensus. Revenue for the company, which brands include Reddi-wip, Hunt’s and Slim Jim, fell 9.3% to $1.86 billion from $2.05 billion, but matched the FactSet consensus of $1.86 billion, as a beat in grocery and snacks sales and in line refrigerated and frozen sales helped offset a miss in foodservice sales. The company expects fiscal 2018 adjusted EPS of $1.84 to $1.89, compared with the FactSet consensus of $1.88. “The aggressive actions we have taken to upgrade the quality of our revenue base, while focusing and modernizing our portfolio, have enabled us to improve our margins and jump-start innovation,” said Chief Executive Sean Connolly. The stock, which was still inactive in premarket trade, has lost 5.5% year to date, while the S&P 500 has gained 9.0%.

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Constellation Brands Inc. shares rose 1.3% in Thursday premarket trading after the company reported earnings that beat expectations. Net income for the quarter totaled $402.8 million, or $2 per share, up from $318.3 million, or $1.55 per share, for the same period last year. Adjusted EPS was $2.34, ahead of the $1.98 FactSet consensus. Sales totaled $1.94 billion, up from $1.87 billion last year, but below the FactSet consensus of $1.95 billion. Constellation Brands’ portfolio includes Corona and Modelo beers, Robert Mondavi and Clos du Bois wines and spirits brands like Svedka vodka. Beer sales were up 8% while wines and spirits fell 4%. Constellation sees fiscal 2018 adjusted EPS of $7.90 to $8.10. The FactSet consensus is $7.96. Constellation shares are up nearly 20% for the year to date while the S&P 500 index is up 9% for the period.

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Biopharma company Omeros Corp. said a report posted online by a short seller called Art Doyle that has sent its stock down by about 21% this week is “replete with falsehoods,” and said it would take legal action against the person or persons involved. “While the company does not routinely respond to defamatory statements, given this report’s egregious nature, the company elected to respond,” Seattle-based Omeros said in a statement. It said the report is filled with “misleading statements and incorrect analyses and conclusions,” and that Art Doyle states it intends to profit in the event the stock price falls. “Omeros accurately reports the status and results of its commercial, clinical and development programs,” said the statement. The company is focusing on expanding sales of its Omidria MASP-2 inhibitor, which is used in cataract surgery, through a phase 3 trial. Shares rose 2.3% in premarket trade, and are up 105% in 2017, while the S&P 500 has gained 9%.

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Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. said Thursday that it has terminated its merger agreement with Rite Aid Corp. and has instead agreed to buy 2,186 Rite Aid stores and related assets. The consideration for the deal will be $5.175 billion in cash and the option for Rite Aid to become a member of the Walgreens group purchasing organization, an option that can be exercised through May 2019 and is subject to certain conditions. This new agreement replaces the merger agreement announced October 2015 and amended January 2017, along with the agreement to divest some Rite Aid stores to Fred’s Inc. , which was announced in December 2016. The agreement with Fred’s has also been terminated and Walgreens will pay a $325 million termination fee. After the new transaction is approved, Walgreens will acquire the Rite Aid stores and assets over about six months and will eventually convert them to the Walgreens brand. Walgreens expects the transaction to be “modestly accretive” to adjusted earnings per share in the first full year after the initial closing, and expects synergies totaling $400 million that will be fully realized within three to four years. Walgreens shares are up 1.7% in premarket trading, Rite Aid shares are down 6.1%, and Fred’s shares are down 27%. Walgreens shares are down nearly 7% for the year so far while Rite Aid shares are down more than 52% and Fred’s are down 33.6% for the period. The S&P 500 index is up 9% for 2017 to date.

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