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AveXis Inc. shares dropped 6.4% in moderate morning trade Tuesday after the company announced plans for an up to $400 million secondary offering. AveXis also plans to grant the underwriters — joint book-running managers Goldman Sachs, Jefferies and BofA Merrill Lynch and lead manager BMO Capital Markets — an option to buy up to $60 million in additional shares of common stock at the public offering price. AveXis also announced on Tuesday plans to expand its clinical development program for spinal muscular atrophy gene therapy candidate AVXS-101. AveXis shares have surged 7.8% over the last three months, compared with a 9.7% rise in the S&P 500 and a 12.4% rise in the Dow Jones Industrial Average.

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Amazon.com Inc.’s stock surged 2.2% to another record high, as it heads for the longest win streak in 4 1/2 years, after another analyst price target increase. The stock is on track for a 10th-straight gain–it has gained every session so far in 2018–which would be the longest such streak since the 10-day streak ending July 12, 2013. The stock has rocketed $164.29, or 14%, during the streak, to boost the e-commerce giant’s market capitalization by about $79.2 billion to $642.70 billion. On Tuesday, BMO Capital analyst Daniel Salmon raised his stock price target to $1,600, which is the highest among the 48 analysts surveyed by FactSet. Amazon’s stock has run up 32.5% over the past three months, while the S&P 500 has gained 9.7%.

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From:: Stock Market News

Shares of Amazon.com Inc. gained 1.8% in Tuesday morning trading after analysts at BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares to $1,600, the highest among analysts tracked by FactSet. The analysts, led by Daniel Salmon, are upbeat about Amazon’s advertising opportunities and believe that the ad business represents an $18 billion total addressable market “in the midterm.” He thinks Amazon could eventually generate 22% of its total gross merchandise value from direct response ads. Separately, analysts at Oppenheimer raised their price target to $1,450 and named Amazon their “top large-cap pick” for the year. “Amazon is best positioned among our large-cap universe to benefit from secular trends – shift to e-commerce, public cloud, automation and digital advertising – further supported by an improving global macroeconomic backdrop and domestic tax reform,” wrote the analysts, led by Jason Helfstein. Amazon shares have gained 11.6% so far this year, compared with a 4.8% gain for the S&P 500 Index .

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U.S. stocks opened sharply higher on Tuesday, with major indexes hitting their latest in a string of records and the Dow breaking through its latest 1,000-point milestone. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 215 points, or 0.9%, to 26,025. The S&P 500 added 15 points, or 0.5%, to 2,801. The Nasdaq Composite Index added 52 points, or 0.7%, to 7,312. Corporate earnings were a main driver of trading, both UnitedHealth Group Inc. and banking heavyweight Citigroup Inc. were among the stocks that reported. Shares of UnitedHealth rose 2.7% while Citigroup gained 1.4%. Separately, General Electric Co. fell 2% after the conglomerate said a review of GE Capital’s insurance portfolio would result in a $6.2 billion after-tax charge in the fourth quarter.

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Amazon.com Inc. said on Tuesday that it has signed the Emmy-nominated TV writer and creator Sharon Horgan to an exclusive overall two-year deal. Horgan created, writes and stars in the British show “Catastrophe,” which streams in the U.S. on Amazon, with Rob Delaney. The show was nominated for a Emmy in 2016 for outstanding comedy writing. Along with Horgan’s individual deal with Amazon, the company’s TV division inked a first-look deal with Horgan’s co-owned entertainment company, Merman. Horgan will be attached to show concepts Amazon picks up in its deal with Merman, and Amazon has the rights to remake any Merman-produced TV projects. Shares of Amazon are up nearly 60% in the last 12 months, while the S&P 500 index is up more than 22% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average is up almost 30%.

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Blackhawk Network Holdings Inc. said Tuesday it has agreed to be acquired by private-equity firm SilverLake and P2 Capital Partners for about $3.5 billion in cash. Shareholders of Blackhawk, which operates a physical and digital gift card and prepaid payments network, will receive $45.25 a share in cash, equal to a 24% premium over Blackhawk’s closing share price of $36.50 on Jan. 12. The deal has debt and equity financing, including an about $1.7 billion equity commitment from Silver Lake, and is expected to close by mid-2018. Blackhawk has the right to solicit and receive alternative bids through Feb. 9. Shares jumped 23% after a trading halt was lifted premarket, but have fallen 2.5% in the last 12 months through Friday, while the S&P 500 has gained 22%.

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Shares of Finisar Corp. fell 3.7% in premarket trading Tuesday after analysts at Goldman Sachs downgraded its stock to sell. The analysts, led by Doug Clark, see a “combination of cyclical risks and company specific product exposures that could pressure revenues and margins.” While he contends that the company’s relationship with Apple Inc. seems promising, he believes investors are downplaying potential execution risks for the company. In addition, he points to “rising capacity and weaker demand” for optical components, which is causing oversupply in the market. “We believe Finisar could be most at risk given its vertical integration,” Clark wrote. Finisar’s stock has gained 12% so far in 2018, while the S&P 500 Index is up 4.2%.

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Shares of Applied Materials Inc. and Lam Research Corp. rose 1.8% and 1.5%, respectively, in premarket trading Tuesday after analysts at Susquehanna Financial Group upgraded both stocks to positive. The analysts, led by Mehdi Hosseini, believe that memory spending will remain stable through the end of this decade. He also has an upbeat view on the display market, which he believes could help Applied Materials grow annual revenue by roughly 8% through 2020. ” All in all, we expect a stable memory spending environment, combined with secular trends in Display to drive earnings power of >$5, with operating cash flow and free cash flow margins averaging 28% and 26%, respectively,” he wrote. As for Lam Research, Hosseini sees the company growing revenue by at least 5% annually through the end of the decade, and earnings by more than 10%. Applied Materials shares are up 4.6% so far this year, while Lam shares have gained 2.4%. The S&P 500 is up 4.2% and the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index is up 5.5%.

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Blackhawk Network Holdings Inc. said Tuesday it has agreed to be acquired by private-equity firms SilverLake and P2 Capital Partners for about $3.5 billion in cash. Shareholders of Blackhawk, which operates a physical and digital gift card and prepaid payments network, will receive $45.25 a share in cash, equal to a 24% premium over Blackhawk’s closing share price of $36.50 on Jan. 12. The deal has debt and equity financing, including an about $1.7 billion equity commitment from Silver Lake, and is expected to close by mid-2018. Blackhawk has the right to solicit and receive alternative bids through Feb. 9. Shares jumped 23% after a trading halt was lifted premarket, but have fallen 2.5% in the last 12 months through Friday, while the S&P 500 has gained 22%.

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.

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Goldman Sachs on Tuesday said its Marcus platform would now offer home improvement loans that would incur no fees and get money in the hands of creditworthy customers within five days. Loans from $3,500 to $40,000 for periods of three to six years are available, Goldman said. “We are excited to offer a new way for consumers to use our personal loans, as they look to invest in one of their most valuable assets, their own homes,” said Abhinav Anand, who runs the Marcus lending division. Marcus is Goldman’s attempt to pivot toward a Main Street focus. Shares of the bank have gained 5.2% over the past 12 months, dwarfed by the 30% gain for the Dow Jones Industrial Average [s:djia].

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.

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From:: Stock Market News