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U.S. stock indexes opened mostly higher on Tuesday as the Federal Reserve looks to start its two-day policy meeting. The Fed is expected to vote and pass its third rate hike for this year. The Dow and S&P 500 were trading in record territory shortly after the open. The S&P 500 was up 2 points, or 0.1%, to 2662. The Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 64 points, or 0.3%, to 24445. The Nasdaq Composite was 6 points lower at 6870.

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Pandora Media Inc. said Tuesday that Aimee Lapic will be its chief marketing officer, effective Dec. 13. Lapic was previously at Gap Inc. , where she was most recently CMO for Gap’s Banana Republic brand stores. “I’m incredibly excited to join Pandora at such a pivotal time in the company’s history,” Lapic said. “I can’t wait to help shape the next chapter by attracting and engaging listeners in innovative new ways.” Shares of the streaming music service, which were up 0.6% in premarket trade, have plunged 61.4% year to date through Monday, while the S&P 500 has gained 18.8%.

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Activision Blizzard Inc. shares gained 2.2% in premarket trading Tuesday after analysts at Goldman Sachs upgraded the stock to buy from neutral and raised their price target to $73. The firm raised its 2019 and 2020 earnings estimates for the videogame publisher based on optimism for “non-recurring titles,” including Overwatch 2, Diablo, and a mobile game from the Blizzard division. Overwatch, launched in 2016, was a big success for Activision Blizzard, and while the company hasn’t confirmed a new installment, the team at Goldman Sachs thinks that one will come out in 2020. The analysts, led by Christopher Merwin, are also upbeat about the company’s potential to capitalize on the mobile-gaming market in China. Merwin estimates that mobile will account for 31% of Activision’s revenue in 2017, more than for its peers. He projects that the company will generate 68% of its revenue from in-game spending by 2019, including from mobile, console, and PC titles. Goldman Sachs also downgraded shares of publisher Ubisoft Entertainment to neutral and removed buy-rated Electronic Arts Inc. from its “conviction list.” Activision shares have gained 75% so far in 2017, compared with an 87% rise for Ubisoft and a 37% rise for Electronic Arts. The S&P 500 is up 19% this year.

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Snap Inc. shares fell 0.6% in premarket trading Tuesday after analysts at MoffettNathanson highlighted several efforts by the company to “right the ship” but maintained their sell rating on shares. The analysts, led by Michael Nathanson, aren’t sure whether Snap’s recent redesign of the Snapchat app will help the company meet its goals of generating more engagement, but they think the company is “doing the right thing in making a calculated bet to try to drive increased daily-active-user growth from both older users and non-penetrated international markets.” Nathanson is intrigued by Snap’s decision to introduce “pixel tracking,” a way for advertisers to see what users do after viewing an ad, but doubts it will have much impact on the crucial holiday quarter. “While the feature marks a key turning point in their offering to advertisers, it was likely released too late to reap much benefit for 4Q17, the bigger advertising quarter,” Nathanson wrote. He maintained his price target of $7, which matches the lowest among Wall Street analysts surveyed by FactSet. Snap shares have fallen 4.6% from their March IPO price of $17. The S&P 500 is up 12% since Snap went public.

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Trinity Industries Inc. said Tuesday its board has approved a plan to spin off its infrastructure-related businesses in a move expected to be completed in the second half of 2018. The deal is expected to result in two separate public companies. Trinity Industries will operate rail leasing, manufacturing and services business, and a separate company will be focused on infrastructure. “The new infrastructure company will have the balance sheet strength and capital allocation flexibility to pursue growth through acquisitions and to capitalize on the large and growing market opportunity in North American infrastructure spending,” the Dallas-based company said. The board has also approved a doubling of the company’s share buyback authorization to $500 million. Shares rose 1.4% premarket, and have gained 19% in 2017, while the S&P 500 has gained 19%.

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Shares of JetBlue Airways Corp. rose 1% in premarket trade Tuesday, after the air carrier raised its fourth-quarter unit revenue outlook as the negative impact from hurricanes is now less than expected. JetBlue raised its guidance range for revenue per available seat mile (RASM) growth to -0.5 to +1.5 from a previous range of -3.0 to 0.0. The company said the negative impact from recent hurricanes, notably Irma and Maria, is now estimated to be 50 basis points (0.50 percentage points) for the quarter, compared with a prior forecast of one-to-two percentage points. Separately, JetBlue said November load factor fell to 84.2% from 85.4% a year ago, as a 4.3% increase in capacity outpaced the 2.8% rise in traffic. The stock has lost 1.0% year to date through Monday, while the NYSE Arca Airline Index has rallied 4.3% and the S&P 500 has climbed 19%.

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GlycoMimetics Inc. shares surged 30% in premarket trade Tuesday, after the company reported improvements in median overall survival rates in an early-stage trial of a treatment for acute myeloid leukemia (AML). The company told attendees at the American Society of Hematology annual meeting in Atlanta, Georgia that a trial of 54 patients with relapsed/refractory AML at the Phase 2 dose of its GMI-1271 for whom median follow up was 6.6 months showed clinical remission of 43% and median overall survival of 9.5 months, comparing favorably with historical data. A separate group of 25 older patients with newly diagnosed disease for whom median follow up was 10.5 months had a clinical remission rate of 68%. “These new data from our Phase 1/2 clinical trial demonstrate that encouraging clinical outcomes are possible for both duration of remission and survival endpoints when GMI-1271 is added to chemotherapy in two distinct AML patient populations,” noted Helen Thackray, M.D., FAAP, GlycoMimetics clinical development and
chief medical officer. “Beyond the high response rates previously
reported with GMI-1271, we can now point to additional long-term
endpoints that further support our plan to move the drug candidate into
a Phase 3 clinical trial scheduled to begin in mid-2018.” Shares have gained 135% in 2017, while the S&P 500 has gained 19%.

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Shares of Proteostasis Therapeutics Inc. nearly doubled in active premarket trade Tuesday, after the developer of cystic fibrosis treatments announced positive results from three trials. The company phase 2 trial of 50 milligram-a-day of PTI-428 in patients on background Orkambi met its efficacy endpoint. “This is an important first step towards translating the scientific potential of the first and only genotype agnostic CFTR modulator in development, and its ability to enhance Orkambi by selectively increasing the production of the CFTR protein,” said Patrick Flume, a clinical investigator at the Medical University of South Carolina. Separtely, a preliminary ad hoc analysis of PTI-801 showed improvements without serious adverse safety events, and PTI-808 was found in a healthy volunteer co-administration study to be well tolerated and could be potentially amenable to once-a-day dosing. The stock shot up 86% on volume of over 484,000 shares about two hours before the open, compared with the full-day average volume of about 193,100 shares. The stock has plunged 81% year to date through Monday, while the iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology ETF has rallied 20% and the S&P 500 has gained 19%.

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3M Co. said Tuesday it said the industrial and consumer products company is tracking at the “top half” of its 2017 growth guidance range of 4% to 5% and earnings per share of $9.00 to $9.10. The FactSet consensus for revenue of $31.49 billion implies 4.6% growth from a year ago, while the EPS consensus is $9.06. For 2018, 3M expects net EPS of $9.60 to $10.00, compared with the FactSet consensus of $9.70, and total sales growth of 5% to 7%. The FactSet 2018 revenue consensus of $33.16 billion is 5.3% above 2017 expectations. Speaking at its annual analyst and investors gathering in New York later Tuesday, Chief Executive Inge Thulin will also highlight investments in its priority growth platforms, including auto electrification, air quality and personal safety. The stock, which was still inactive in premarket trade, has soared 34% year to date, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average has rallied 23%.

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