Category: Stock Market News

Shares of Immune Pharmaceuticals Inc. rocketed 75% in active premarket trade Thursday, after the biopharmaceutical company announced a license agreement with Pint Pharma to commercialize Immune’s cancer treatment Ceplene in Latin America. Volume spiked to over 700,000 shares 30 minutes before the open, already more than four-times the full-day regular-session average of about 166,000 shares. As part of the agreement, Pint will make a $4 million investment in Immunue’s oncology subsidiary Cytovia. Celpene has been approved in Europe for the maintenance of first remission in patients with acute myeloid leukemia in combination with interleukin-2. “We are excited about the possibility of partnering with Pint Pharma, a market leader in Latin America with strong commercialization capabilities in the field of oncology,” said Immune Chief Executive Daniel Teper. The stock had tumbled 33% year to date through Wednesday, while the iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology ETF has climbed 8.8% and the S&P 500 has gained 4.4%.

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Insurer The Allstate Corp. said Thursday it expects first-quarter catastophe losses to come to about $508 million on a net basis, based on a pretax estimate of $781 million. The company said the estimate is based on the 28 events that occurred in the quarter at an estimated pretax cost of $777 million. “One severe hail event, primarily affecting the state of Texas in March, accounted for over one-third of the catastrophe losses for the quarter,” The company said. Allstate will provide final first-quarter numbers on May 2. Shares were not yet active in premarket trade, but are up almost 8% in 2017, while the S&P 500 has gained 4.4%.

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United Airlines , which made news last week after police forcibly removed a passenger from one of its overbooked flights, said it is planning to testify at a U.S. House Transportation Committee hearing on consumer issues in the commercial airline industry, according to a report from Reuters. The airline did not immediately respond to requests for comment. A United spokeswoman told Reuters the company looks “forward to meeting with the committee and sharing with them the comprehensive review and the customer-focused actions we will communicate next week.” Regarding to the April 9 incident in which Dr. David Dao was dragged from the United aircraft after refusing to give up his seat to crew members on an overbooked flight, Doa’s lawyer said the 69-year-old man suffered a broken nose, concussion and other injuries. United has issued multiple apologies on the incident. Shares of parent company United Continental Holdings Inc. have fallen more than 3% since April 9 and are down nearly 5% in the year to date. By comparison, the S&P 500 index is up more than 4%.

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With the economy growing and the financial system returned to health, now is a good time to review the raft of banking regulations put in place since the financial crisis, Federal Reserve Governor Jerome Powell said Thursday. “Many of the statutory provisions and regulations put in place…were novel; it is not likely we would have gotten everything exactly right on the first attempt,” Powell said in a speech to The Global Finance Forum. Powell was not specific about many of the changes he would support beyond giving relief to smaller banks. He said “core reforms” should be protected but bank management should not be trapped in paperwork and unable to “devote as much of their resources to supporting economic growth.”

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Starbucks Corp. was upgraded on Thursday to buy from hold at Stifel, with analysts anticipating same-store sales growth to accelerate to at least 5% to 6% for the next four quarters, starting in the fiscal third quarter. The price target was raised to $67 from $60. Analysts say the company will benefit from “increasingly favorable comparisons” and “modest contribution” from beverages, more food options, and technology. The My Starbucks Rewards loyalty program and mobile order and pay are also expected to continue to contribute to same-store sales growth. Stifel also thinks the company has opportunities to grow its global packaged coffee and tea and ready-to-drink beverage businesses. “Starbucks shares have meaningfully underperformed consumer and restaurant peers over the past 12 months, and we believe meeting consensus comp expectations will result in outperformance,” analysts wrote. Starbucks shares are up 1.5% in Thursday premarket trading and up 6.3% for the year so far. The S&P 500 index is up 4.4% for 2017 to date.

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Railroad company CSX Corp. shares jumped almost 6% in premarket trade Thursday, as the company said it’s raising its quarterly dividend by 11% and unveiled a new $1 billion share buyback program. CSX reported stronger-than-expected earnings for the first quarter after the bell on Wednesday. CSX said it will pay a higher dividend of 20 cents a share on June 15 to shareholders of record as of May 31. The board is expecting to complete a $1 billion share buyback by the end of the first quarter in 2018. “In line with the company’s balanced approach in deploying capital, CSX now expects to invest $2.1 billion in 2017, including approximately $270 million for Positive Train Control,” it said in a statement. CSX shares have gained about 31% in 2017 so far, while the S&P 500 has gained 4.4%.

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Verizon Communications Inc. shares fell more than 2% in premarket trading after the telecom company reported first-quarter earnings on Thursday that missed Wall Street expectations. Verizon’s net income for the first quarter was $3.6 billion, or 84 cents per share, compared with $4.4 billion, or $1.06 per share during the same quarter a year ago. Adjusted per share earnings were 95 cents, just below FactSet’s 96 cents consensus. Revenue hit $29.8 billion during the quarter, compared with $32.2 billion in the year earlier period. FactSet’s revenue consensus was $30.4 billion. Verizon said it saw a decline of 307,000 wireless phone customers along with 13,000 Fios video subscribers. The company added 35,000 Fios internet users. Shares of Verizon have declined more than 8% in the year to date, while the S&P 500 index is up more than 4% in the year.

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Shares of Philip Morris fell 3% in premarket trade Thursday after the company missed first-quarter profit and revenue expectations. The company reported net income of $1.59 billion, or $1.02 per share, up from $1.53 billion, or 98 cents per share, in the year-earlier period. It reported adjusted earnings per share of 98 cents, below the FactSet consensus of $1.03. Net revenue excluding excise taxes was $6.06 billion, down from $6.08 billion in the year-earlier period and below the FactSet consensus of $6.48 billion. For the full year, Philip Morris expects diluted earnings per share between $4.84 and $4.99 and adjusted earnings per share of $4.48. The FactSet consensus for adjusted earnings was $4.88. Shares of Philip Morris have gained 20% in the past three months, while the S&P 500 has gained 3%.

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Foot Locker Inc. shares fell 3.6% in Thursday premarket trading after the athletic apparel and footwear retailer issued a profit warning for the first quarter. Foot Locker now expects first quarter earnings to be $1.36 to $1.39 per share, equal to or just below last year. Same-store sales are expected to increase in the low-single-digit percentage range. The FactSet EPS consensus is for $1.47, and the same-store sales estimate is for a 2.7% increase. The company revised the full-year EPS estimate to mid-single-digit percentage growth from double-digit growth due to the expected first-quarter result. Chief Executive Richard Johnson said the year was off to a slow start due to the income tax refund delay that affected February same-store sales, which were down low double digits. Even when refunds were issued and sales rebounded in March, it wasn’t enough to offset the sluggish beginning. Foot Locker shares are up 18.5% for the past year while the S&P 500 index is up 11.2% for the period.

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Insurer Travelers Cos. Inc. said Thursday it had net income of $617 million, or $2.17 a share, in the first quarter, down from $691 million, or $2.30 a share, in the year-earlier period. Adjusted per-share earnings came to $2.16, below the FactSet consensus of $2.37. Revenue rose 4% to $6.942 billion, ahead of the FactSet consensus of $6.326 billion. “Core income of $614 million and core return on equity of 10.8% reflected unusually high first quarter catastrophe losses that arose from a record number of tornado and hail events,” Chief Executive Alan Schnitzer said in a statement. Net premiums written rose 5% to a record level in the quarter with all business segments contributing, he said. Net investment income rose 9% to $610 million before tax, he said. Travelers is raising its quarterly dividend by 7.5% to 72 cents a share. The board has approved an additional $5 billion share buyback program. Shares were slightly lower premarket, but are down 1.7% in 2017, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average has gained 3.3%.

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