Tag: stock market

Yahoo Inc. was upgraded to buy from neutral at Citibank on Thursday, as analyst Mark May said he predicted 15% upside to shares based on the impending outcome of the auction process. The analyst raised his 12-month price target on the stock to $43 from $38, and said that a number of other near-term catalysts, including a recent positive outlook from Alibaba Group Holdings Ltd. , in which Yahoo owns a considerable stake, could also help to propel the stock. Shares of Yahoo rose 0.5% to $37.50 in premarket trade. They have risen 10% over the last three months, outperforming the 2% improvement for the S&P 500. Verizon Communications and AT&T are reportedly among the companies heading to the final round of the bidding process for Yahoo’s digital assets.

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Shares of Merck & Co. Inc. surged 2.4% in premarket trade Thursday, after the drug giant said a trial investigating the use of its lung cancer treatment met its primary endpoint. Merck said Keytruda was superior to chemotherapy for progression-free survival, the primary endpoint, and for the secondary endpoint of overall survival. As a result, an independent data monitoring committee has recommended the Keynote-024 trial be stopped and patients receiving chemotherapy be offered Keytruda. “We believe that the KEYNOTE-024 results have the potential to change the therapeutic paradigm in first-line treatment of non-small-cell lung cancer,” said Roger Perlmutter, president of Merck Research Laboratories. The stock has climbed 6.2% year to date through Wednesday, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average has gained 1.2%.

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Rite Aid Corp. reported Thursday a fiscal first-quarter loss of $4.6 million, or breakeven on a per-share basis, compared with earnings of $18.8 million, or 2 cents a share, in the same period a year ago. Excluding non-recurring items, adjusted earnings per share were 1 cent, below the FactSet consensus of 5 cents. The drug store chain said revenue rose 23% to $8.18 billion, missing the FactSet consensus of $8.24 billion. Retail pharmacy revenue grew 0.4% to $6.7 billion. Same-store sales increased 0.4%, with pharmacy sales rising 0.1% and front-end sales growing 1.2%. As of the end of March, the FactSet consensus was for same-store sales growth of 2.8%. “Our challenge was pharmacy reimbursement rate pressure, which we were unable to offset largely due to drug purchasing efficiencies that did not meet our expectations,” said Chief Executive John Standley. “While drug cost reductions will continue to be short of our expectations in the near term, we anticipate improvements over the second half of the fiscal year.” The company said its merger with Walgreens Boots Alliance is still expected to close during the second half of 2016. Rite Aid’s stock, which was still inactive in premarket trade, has slipped 0.3% year to date, while the S&P 500 has gained 1.4%.

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Rite Aid Corp. reported Thursday a fiscal first-quarter loss of $4.6 million, or breakeven on a per-share basis, compared with earnings of $18.8 million, or 2 cents a share, in the same period a year ago. Excluding non-recurring items, adjusted earnings per share were 1 cent, below the FactSet consensus of 5 cents. The drug store chain said revenue rose 23% to $8.18 billion, missing the FactSet consensus of $8.24 billion. Retail pharmacy revenue grew 0.4% to $6.7 billion. Same-store sales increased 0.4%, with pharmacy sales rising 0.1% and front-end sales growing 1.2%. As of the end of March, the FactSet consensus was for same-store sales growth of 2.8%. “Our challenge was pharmacy reimbursement rate pressure, which we were unable to offset largely due to drug purchasing efficiencies that did not meet our expectations,” said Chief Executive John Standley. “While drug cost reductions will continue to be short of our expectations in the near term, we anticipate improvements over the second half of the fiscal year.” The company said its merger with Walgreens Boots Alliance is still expected to close during the second half of 2016. Rite Aid’s stock, which was still inactive in premarket trade, has slipped 0.3% year to date, while the S&P 500 has gained 1.4%.

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Airbnb Inc. has signed a $1 billion debt facility deal with a group of large U.S. banks, Bloomberg reported Thursday, citing people familiar with the matter. The financing will go toward adding new services to Airbnb’s core home-rental business, such as travel services, and on global expansion, the report said. J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. , Bank of America Corp. and Citigroup Inc. [s:c] were the main banks extending the debt facility to Airbnb, and Morgan Stanley [s:ms] also took part.

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The pound dropped again on Thursday after a new Brexit poll showed a surge in support for the “leave” campaign with just one week to go. Sterling traded at $1.4161, down from $1.4204 late Wednesday in New York. The Ipsos MORI/Evening Standard poll put support for a Brexit ahead by six points, with 53% wanting to leave the EU and 47% wishing to remain. The poll excluded the don’t knows. It’s the first time the Ipsos MORI telephone survey has shown a lead for the “leave” camp. One of the key reasons for the switch in sentiment is that immigration has overtaken the economy as the most important issue to the public, according to the Evening Standard. Analysts at Deutsche Bank said the Ipsos MORI poll is credited as being one of the most accurate pollsters in the Scottish independence referendum in 2014. “The fact they are phone polls make them key. So far phone polls are where the ‘remain’ campaign still have the upper hand notwithstanding the ICM poll early this week,” they said in a note. Earlier this week, separate surveys from the Sunday Times/YouGov, ICM/Guardian newspaper and TNS also showed more voters are in favor of Britain ditching the EU. However, the bookmakers are still convinced the U.K. will vote to stay a member — the Ladbrokes Brexit Barometer pointed Thursday to a 62% possibility of a “remain” outcome.

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Gold prices shot further past $1,300 an ounce on Thursday after breaking through that level in the previous session. Gold for August delivery jumped $24.40, or 1.9%, to $1,313.20 an ounce. Gold pushed past $1,300 an ounce on Wednesday after The Federal Reserve officials left interest rates unchanged and cut its expectations for rate hikes in the next two years. The dollar pushed lower against the yen and other currencies overnight after the Bank of Japan held policy steady at its monetary policy meeting. That inspired the yen to rise. The dollar and gold tend to move in inverse directions.

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Nu Skin Enterprises Inc. said late Wednesday it has agreed to take a $210 million investment from a Chinese consortium of investors led by Ping An Securities Ltd., owned by the insurance and banking group of the same name. The investment will help Nu Skin to accelerate its growth in China, the company said in a statement. Shares of Nu Skin rose 3.2% in late trading after ending the regular trading session up 1.4%. Nu Skin, a direct-sales beauty products and dietary supplements company, agreed in 2014 to pay a fine to the Chinese government, which alleged the company had sold some of its products in China illegally, allegations that the Provo, Utah company denied.

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Shares of Amsurg Corp. rose while shares of Envision Healthcare Holdings Inc. fell in the extended session Wednesday following an announcement that the two health-care providers would merge. Amsurg shares ticked up 1.7% to $78.78, and Envision shares fell 7.3% to $25.50 after hours. The all-stock deal would values the combined company at $10 billion, with Envision shareholders having a 53% stake in the company.

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Shares of Jabil Circuit Inc. were volatile in Wednesday’s extended session after the Apple supplier released a weak outlook for the fourth quarter. Jabil reported its third-quarter earnings shrank to $5.8 million, or 3 cents a share, from $72.4 million, or 37 cents a share, a year earlier. The tech products maker earned 17 cents a share, excluding charges. Revenue slipped to $4.3 billion from $4.36 billion. Analysts surveyed by FactSet had forecast earnings of 16 cents a share on revenue of $4.18 billion. In the fourth quarter, Jabil expects adjusted EPS of 15 cents to 35 cents and revenue of $4.15 billion to $4.35 billion. That is significantly below Wall Street’s EPS forecast of 53 cents and $4.66 billion revenue. Separately, the company also said it will buy back up to $400 million in shares. Jabil shares were most recently down 0.1%.

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