Tag: stock market

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — Orders for durable, or long-lasting, goods rose 1.3% in November after a 0.4% drop in the prior month, the Commerce Department said Friday. This is the third rise in durable-goods orders in the past four months. Economists had forecast a 2% gain. The increase was powered by commercial aircraft orders. Excluding transportation, orders fell 0.1% in November. So-called core capital-goods orders fell 0.1%, the first decline after four straight gains.

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Mallinckrodt PLC disclosed Friday that it estimates it will receive a deferred tax benefit of $450 million to $500 million if President Donald Trump signs the tax bill in its current form. The tax benefit is largely associated with a reduction to its interest-bearing U.S. deferred tax liabilities of $1.6 billion to reflect the cut in the corporate tax rate to 21% from 35%. Overall, the drug maker said the Tax Cut and Jobs Act is expected to have “a neutral to slightly positive” impact on adjusted tax expense. The company said it has not provided an expected net tax expense because of the “inherent difficulty” of forecasting the timing or amount of items that would be included. The stock, which was still inactive in premarket trade, has plunged 53% year to date, while the SPDR S&P Pharmaceuticals ETF has rallied 12% and the S&P 500 has gained 20%.

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Shares of Agile Therapeutics Inc. plunged 71% toward a record low in premarket trade Friday, after the company said it received a complete response letter (CRL) from the Food and Drug Administration stating that the new drug application (NDA) for the company’s contraceptive patch, Twirla, could not be approved in its present form. The CRL was in response to the NDA resubmission, which was seeking approval for Twirla, that was accepted for review earlier this year. Among the issues stated in the CRL were deficiencies relating to quality adhesion test methods, issues identified at a facility of a third-quarter manufacturer and the in vivo adhesion properties of Twirla and their potential relationship to phase 3 clinical trial results. “We are clearly disappointed, and we are evaluating the FDA’s response,” said Chief Executive Al Altomari. “We intend to request a meeting with the FDA as soon as possible to discuss the points raised in the CRL and discuss a path to approval for Twirla.” The stock had rallied 18.7% over the past three months through Thursday, while the S&P 500 had gained 7.3%.

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Shares of Ignyta Inc. soared 73% toward a record high in active premarket trade Friday, after the biotechnology company disclosed that it agreed to a merger with Roche Holdings Inc. in a deal that values Ignyta at about $1.79 billion. Volume topped 900,000 shares about 100 minutes before the open, making it the most actively traded stock in the premarket. The company said in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission that Roche will commence a tender offer on Jan. 10 to buy all the outstanding Ignyta shares for $27 a share, a 74% premium to Thursday’s closing price of $15.55. Ignyta had 66.34 million shares outstanding as of Oct. 31, according to recent filings. “Our board of directors believes that accepting the offer from Roche is in the best interests of our company’s shareholders and that Roche is uniquely positioned to continue to advance the development of entrectinib and our other programs, and ultimately maximize the potential value of these programs,” Chief Executive Jonathan Lim wrote in a letter to employees. Ignyta’s stock has nearly tripled (up 193%) year to date through Thursday, while the iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology ETF has climbed 21% and the S&P 500 has gained 20%.

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UnitedHealth Group Inc. disclosed Friday that it agreed to launch a tender offer to buy Empresas Banmedica, a health care provider serving Chile, Colombia and Peru, for the equivalent of $2.8 billion. In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, UnitedHealth said it will offer $2,150 Chilean pesos for 100% of the Empresas Banmedica shares outstanding, which would value the company at CLP$1.7 trillion, or $2.8 billion at recent exchange rates. The tender offer is expected to commence on Dec. 27 and end on or about Jan. 25, with the merger deal expected to close in the first quarter of 2018. UnitedHealth’s stock, which was still inactive in premarket trade, has soared 38.5% year to date, while the SPDR Health Care Select Sector ETF has rallied 20.7% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average has climbed 25.4%.

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AT&T Inc. and Time Warner Inc. agreed to waive the right to terminate the companies’ merger agreement, until June 18, 2018. Previously, the companies had agreed to terminate the deal if the merger failed to close by April 22, 2018. Telecom giant AT&T is battling the Trump administration over its proposed merger with media giant Time Warner, as antitrust regulators have sued to block the deal. In November, Trump said the deal was “not good for the country.” The original date of the merger agreement was Oct. 22, 2016. AT&T’s stock has lost 8.6% year to date, while Time Warner shares have slipped 3.7% and the S&P 500 has gained 20%.

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Merck & Co. Inc. and Pfizer Inc. said Friday that the Food and Drug Administration has approved diabetes drug Steglatro tablets, and the fixed-dose combination Steglujan tablets. Steglatro (ertugliflozin) is indicated, as an adjunct to diet and exercise, to improve glycemic control in adults with type 2 diabetes mellitus. The drug makers entered into a worldwide collaboration in 2013 for the co-development and co-promotion of ertugliflozin, with Merck’s sales force to exclusively promote Steglatro in the U.S., and share costs and potential revenue with Pfizer on a 60%-40% basis. Steglatro will cost $8.94 per day and Steglujan will cost $17.45 per day. Both will be available in January 2018. Neither stock is active in premarket trade. Year to date, Merck’s stock has lost 3.9%, Pfizer shares have gained 11.6%, the SPDR S&P Pharmaceutical ETF has climbed 12.0% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average has rallied 25.4%.

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World Wrestling Entertainment Inc. Chief Executive Vince McMahon may take another shot at pro footbal, according to an ESPN report Thursday. Citing SEC filings, ESPN said McMahon has recently sold about $100 million in WWE stock “to explore investment opportunities across the sports and entertainment landscapes, including professional football.” In 2001, McMahon formed a rival to the National Football League — the XFL, a joint venture with NBC that flopped and lasted only one season. McMahon reportedly founded Alpha Entertainment LLC in September, which has since filed for a number of XFL-related trademarks, as well as trademarks for the names “URFL,” “UFL” and “United Football League.” While the NFL is the dominant league in U.S. pro sports, its attendance and TV ratings have fallen in recent years, perhaps providing an opportunity for a rival league to gain traction.

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The Senate passed a bill Thursday to fund the federal government through Jan. 19, hours after its approval by the House. The bill heads off a partial government shutdown this weekend, and is expected to be signed by President Donald Trump on Friday. In addition to extending agency funding at current levels, it would fund the Children’s Health Insurance Program, or CHIP, through the end of March, and also extends the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. The bill also contains language preventing automatic spending cuts to programs including Medicare. Approval of that language would allow Trump to sign the Republican tax bill Friday as well. Legal protection for “dreamers,” the children of undocumented immigrants, was not included, and is likely to be a contentious topic when spending talks are revisited next month. Separately, the Senate did not vote on an $81-billion disaster-relief bill for areas struck by hurricanes and wildfires, which the House passed earlier in the day.

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ADT Inc., a home-security company that was acquired in 2016 by Apollo Global Management LLC , plans to return to the public markets. The company filed for an initial public offering with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Thursday, though Apollo plans to hold more than 50% of the shares, which will make ADT a “controlled company.” The SEC filing lists a target of $100 million for the IPO, though that is typically a placeholder figure used to estimate fees that is changed in later versions. Apollo combined ADT with another home-security company it acquired, known as Protection 1, and the new entity produced a net loss of $295.6 million on revenue of $3.21 billion in the first nine months of 2017, according to the filing. The company plans to list the stock on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol ADT.

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