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Papa John’s International Inc. said it removed artifical flavors and synthetic colors from its menu in a Tuesday release. The announcement comes after the company announced in December that it will use antibiotic-free chicken in its pizzas and Poppers starting this summer. The company has already committed to no fillers in its core meat toppings, no MSG or partially hydrogenated oils, and the removal of other chemicals and trans-fats in its foods. Papa John’s shares, up 2.2% in morning trading, are down 28.7% over the past three months. The S&P is down 3.9% during that period.

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KaloBios Pharmaceuticals Inc.’s stock will be suspended from the Nasdaq starting Jan. 13, Nasdaq Inc. said in a statement Tuesday. The trading halt on the drug company’s shares, which has been in place since Dec. 17, will no longer be in effect following the suspension, meaning they will be allowed to trade in the over-the-counter markets under the symbol KBIOQ. Nasdaq said a hearing to review KaloBios’s appeal of the delisting determination is scheduled for Feb. 25. Shares of KaloBios, which filed for bankruptcy on Dec. 30, were halted on Dec. 17 when majority owner Martin Shkreli was arrested on fraud charges.

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Shares of Apple Inc. rose 2% in premarket trade Tuesday despite PiperJaffray analyst Gene Munster, among Wall Street’s most bullish analysts on Apple with a $179 price target and buy rating on the stock, lowering his iPhone unit estimates for the second quarter, which ends in March. Munster still expects the company to deliver a better-than-feared outlook for the second quarter, since expectations are already so low. He believes shares will reset as long as the company delivers a guidance on iPhone unit sales of at least 45 million, which would only be slightly higher than the 44 million it reported in the year-earlier period, and sharply below the 56 million analysts on average are expecting, according to FactSet. A number of analysts have reeled in iPhone unit estimates in recent weeks, yet the average rating on the stock remains the equivalent to buy, while the average 12-month price target sits at $140.55, which represents a 43% increase from Monday’s closing price. Separately on Tuesday, Bank of America reiterated a buy rating on Apple, saying that its surveys indicate room to grow for Apple’s iPad in China. More than half of respondents in the survey also indicated that they plan to buy a new phone within the year. Shares of Apple have fallen 12% over the last three months.

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DreamWorks Animation SKG, Inc.’s stock was upgraded to outperform from market perform by FBR & Co. analyst Barton Crockett. The upgrade comes on the heels of its deal with Netflix Inc. , which gives the streaming giant global rights to DreamWorks TV content and full access to its film library. Netflix recently launched in 130 new countries. “We assume that Netflix pays a license fee in the high tens of millions of dollars, with high contribution margins since film production costs are already amortized, driving total film library revenues to near $100 million in the fourth quarter of 2015,” Crockett wrote in a note. The Netflix deal pushes his per-share earnings estimate for the fourth quarter up to $1.04 from 3 cents per share. Given that DreamWorks licenses most of its TV and film content to Netflix, it leaves the company exposed if Netflix’s business falters or simply begins to look elsewhere for children’s content. Crockett wrote that DreamWorks’ “Kung Fu Panda 3,” out Jan. 29, should perform well. Without any significant animated features scheduled for February, he said the film could garner $185 million to $200 million domestically, and he expects it will play well in China as well. Crockett raised his price target on DreamWorks to $29 from $22. Shares of DreamWorks rose 15.4% over the course of last year, outperforming the S&P which fell 0.7%. DreamWorks is down 5.2% so far in 2016.

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Delphi Automotive PLC’s stock climbed 1.9% in morning trade Tuesday, after the automotive technology company said it raised its annual dividend rate by 16% to $1.16 a share. The new quarterly dividend of 29 cents a share, up from 25 cents a share, will be payable Feb. 29 to shareholders of record on Feb. 17. Based on Monday’s closing price of $75.84, the new dividend would imply an annual dividend yield of 1.5%, compared with the S&P 500 dividend yield of 2.3%, according to FactSet. Delphi’s stock has lost 5.8% over the past three months, while the S&P 500 has slipped 4%.

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U.S. stocks opened with solid gains on Tuesday, as a rebound in oil prices helped push energy shares higher. The S&P 500 opened 13 points, or 0.7%, higher at 1,936. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 105 points, or 0.6%, to 16,498. Meanwhile, the Nasdaq Composite began the day up 44 points, or 1%, at 4,682, trying to snap an eighth-day slump.

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Shares of Alphabet Inc. climbed 1% in premarket trade Tuesday after Credit Suisse raised its price target on the stock to $900 from $850 after calculating in the estimated revenue contribution from YouTube Red, the company’s new ads-free video subscription service. Alphabet is positioned to benefit from a strong conversion rate for the service, even if fewer than 10% of YouTube’s one billion users switch to YouTube Red from the ads-based model, Credit Suisse said. The average 12-month stock target among a poll of more than 40 analysts polled by FactSet in $854.60.

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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Shares of Amazon.com Inc. rose 1% to around $624 in premarket trade Tuesday after Credit Suisse raised its price target on the stock and predicted that the capital intensity of AWS, or the money needed to run the company’s fast-growing enterprise-market cloud service, has peaked and is now “leveling off.” The brokerage raised its target to $800 from $777, which represents a 30% increase from Monday’s closing price. It is also anticipating improved margins in Amazon’s e-commerce business, due to lower shipping costs and built-out logistics systems.

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

Shares of Apple Inc. rose 2% in premarket trade Tuesday despite PiperJaffray analyst Gene Munster, among Wall Street’s most bullish analysts on Apple with a $179 stock price target, lowering his iPhone unit estimates for the second quarter, which ends in March. Munster still expects the company to deliver a better-than-feared outlook for the second quarter, since expectations are already so low. He believes shares will reset as long as the company delivers a guidance on iPhone unit sales of at least 45 million, which would only be slightly higher than the 44 million it reported in the year-earlier period, and sharply below the 56 million analysts on average are expecting, according to FactSet. A number of analysts have reeled in iPhone unit estimates in recent weeks, yet the average rating on the stock remains the equivalent to buy, while the average 12-month price target sits at $140.55, which represents a 43% increase from Monday’s closing price. Shares of Apple have fallen 12% over the last three months.

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

Coca-Cola Co. shares are up 1.1% in premarket trading after the beverage giant was upgraded to buy from hold at Stifel, with analysts citing expectations of improved organic growth. The bank established a price target of $54. Stifel forecasts 5% annual growth “for the foreseeable future,” with Latin America a global highlight. Analysts also believe the company could eliminate an additional $4.3 billion to $6.1 billion in costs. Coca-Cola announced a cost-cutting program, with a goal of $3 billion in savings by 2019. Coca-Cola shares are down 2.5% over the past 12 months. The S&P is down 5.2% for the same period.

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