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Shares of Fitbit Inc. fell 0.1% in Thursday morning trading, following a cautious report from analysts at Morgan Stanley. The analysts, led by Yuuji Anderson, found “continued inventory build” for the new Ionic smartwatch during their channel checks, causing the firm to take a “cautious” stance looking ahead to the first quarter. Though Fitbit launched the Ionic this fall, Morgan Stanley thinks that the company’s older watch, the Blaze, might end up selling better during the holiday season. “We saw notably low inventory levels for the Blaze (almost two years old), and should that represent the next refresh opportunity, its success will depend on Fitbit’s ability to continue expanding its sensor and software ecosystem,” Anderson wrote. He added that Fitbit “will need more product refreshes to return to consistent growth in FY18.” Fitbit shares have fallen 3.6% in 2017, compared with a 19% gain for the S&P 500 Index .

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So-called flash readings of manufacturing and services activity went in different directions in December. The flash U.S. manufacturing PMI rose to 55 from 53.9 in November, while the flash U.S. services activity index fell to 52.4 from 54.5. Any reading above 50 indicates improving conditions. A flash reading is based on 85%-90% of total PMI survey responses each month. Chris Williamson, chief business economist at IHS Markit, said the surveys point to an economy growing at annual rate of just over 2% in the fourth quarter.

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Casa Systems Inc., a maker of broadband connectivity software and data services, set terms for its initial public offering on Thursday, saying in a regulatory filing that it plans to offer 6 million shares at $13 a pop. The company will use the $68.9 million in proceeds (after expenses) for working capital or general corporate purposes, including possible acquisitions. Shares will start trading later Thursday on Nasdaq, under the ticker symbol “CASA”. Morgan Stanley, Barclays, Raymond James and Stifel were lead underwriters on the deal, with Macquarie Capital, Northland Capital Markets and William Blair acting as co-managers.

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Walt Disney Co.’s deal to buy 21st Century Fox Inc. could create box-office powerhouse, said analyst Rich Tullo of Midtown Partners & Co., and also helps add content to Disney’s over-the-top (OTT) initiative. Tullo said that, although he doesn’t cover either company on a research basis, from the perspective of 2017 box office to date, a combined Disney and Fox looks like “an NBA superteam” on paper. He said nine out of the top 20 box-office hits so far this year were produced by either Fox or Disney, and once Disney’s “Star Wars: The Last Jedi” is released, it will likely be 10 out of 20. “Merging the media assets of 21st Century Fox and Disney is a lot like the story of the fox and the hound,” Tullo wrote in a note to clients. “[T]he combined assets will be better able to schedule blockbusters, have much greater pricing power with SVOD services, MVPDS and in negotiating media ad buys.” The bad news, Tullo said, is that “we think a combined company could be hounded by regulatory, union and consumer pushback.” 21st Century Fox’s stock rose 0.5% in morning trades as Disney shares climbed 0.8%. In comparison, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.3%.

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U.S. equities opened higher Thursday as investors digested the news of a Walt Disney Co. purchase of parts of 21st Century Fox for $52.4 billion in stock. The megadeal includes Twentieth Century Fox’s film and television studio and its cable TV businesses. The S&P 500 rose 2 points, or 0.1%, to 2,665, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 54 points, or 0.2%, to 24,640. The Nasdaq Composite Index added 11 points, or 0.2%, to 6,887.

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Shares of PayPal Holdings Inc. gained 0.5% in premarket trading Thursday after an analyst at KeyBanc Capital Markets named the payment-processor a “key idea” for 2018. KeyBanc’s Josh Beck is upbeat on the company’s efforts to monetize its Venmo peer-to-peer payment platform by letting users pay for e-commerce items using the Venmo app. ” The Pay with Venmo opportunity brings in incremental customers with higher profit margins and is well positioned to scale,” he wrote in a note to clients Wednesday. Beck has a $90 price target on PayPal shares. His other “key idea” in payments is Vantiv Inc. , as he sees opportunities for the company to drive better-than-expected synergies from its Worldpay deal. PayPal shares have gained 88% so far in 2017, while Vantiv’s stock is up 23%. The S&P 500 also rose 23% in that time.

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Shares of Nucor Corp. dropped 2.4% in premarket trade Thursday, after the steelmaker provided a downbeat profit outlook for the fourth quarter, citing the continued negative impacts of imports. The company said it expects earnings per share of 50 cents to 55 cents, excluding impacts of federal tax legislation. The FactSet EPS consensus was 76 cents, up from 34 cents a year ago. Nucor said through the first 10 months of 2017, total steel imports have increased 19.4% from the same period last year, and accounted for a 28% share of the U.S. market. The company said it was encouraged by the progress made in the prosecution of trade cases, but said the process was still slower than what it feels is appropriate. The stock has tacked on 3.9% year to date through Wednesday, while the SPDR Materials Select Sector ETF has climbed 20% and the S&P 500 has gained 19%.

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The U.S. import price index jumped 0.7% in November, once again spurred by rising oil prices. Excluding fuel, import prices were unchanged, the government said Thursday. The increase in import prices over the past 12 months rose to 3.1% from 2.3%. If fuel is omitted, the increase in import prices over the past year was a scant 1.4%. Higher import prices add to picture of slowly rising inflation in the U.S., though much of the gain lately has been driven by fuel. Earlier this week a pair of measures for consumer and wholesale prices also rose.

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Shares of Apple Inc. are up 0.1% in premarket trading Thursday after the company announced an update for its Final Cut Pro X video-editing software. The new version supports “360-degree VR video editing” and high-dynamic range (HDR) video. It also has new advanced color grading tools. Apple announced earlier this week that its iMac Pro, which starts at $4,999 and is aimed at professional editors, would go on sale Thursday. Apple shares have gained 49% so far in 2017, compared with a 24% rise for the Dow Jones Industrial Average .

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Sears Holdings Corp. shares jumped 8.2% in Thursday premarket trading after the retailer announced that the DieHard brand launched on Amazon.com Inc. The line of products on the site now includes jump starters, battery chargers and maintainers. Passenger car tires and automotive batteries will be available early 2018. Sears announced that it would sell Kenmore brand appliances on Amazon this summer. Sears shares are down 62% for the past year while the S&P 500 index is up 18.2% for the period.

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