Tag: stock market

Tocagen Inc. , a cancer-selective gene therapy company, said Thursday that it priced its initial public offering at $10 a share, at the low end of its expected range. The company sold 8.5 million shares to raise $85 million. Tocagen had previously set an expected price range of $10 to $12 and planned to sell 7.25 million shares. The shares are expected to start trading Thursday on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the symbol “TOCA.” Tocagen has granted underwriters a 30-day option to buy an additional 1,275,000 shares of common stock.

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MiMedx Group Inc. shares surged 3% in premarket trade Thursday after the company’s first-quarter revenue results beat the consensus. Revenue rose to $72.6 million from $53.4 million, above the FactSet consensus of $70.2 million. The first quarter is “typically the most challenging quarter in the year and is the most difficult quarter to generate meaningful growth over the preceding quarter,” said MiMedx Group President and Chief Operating Officer Bill Taylor, for various reasons including health plans’ deductibles restarting in January. “We feel we are well poised to deliver on a robust 2017.” Three new products launched last year helped contribute to the first-quarter results, the company said. MiMedx Group is scheduled to report earnings on March 31. Shares have surged 12.9% over the last three months, compared with a 3.1% rise in the S&P 500 .

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Warrior Met Coal Inc. priced its initial public offering at $19 a share Thursday, at the high end of its expected range. Selling stockholders sold 16.67 million shares to raise about $317 million. Warrior Met Coal will not receive any proceeds from the sale. The shares are expected to start trading Thursday on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “HCC.” Selling stockholders have granted underwriters the option to buy up to an additional 2.5 million share within 30 days.

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It would be “logical” for Apple Inc. to buy Walt Disney Co. , as it would allow Apple to replicate its music-iTunes strategy in the content-media space, said analyst Amit Daryanani at RBC Capital. While the odds of deal are “low,” Daryanani said he sees a “confluence of events that make an acquisition of [Disney] a ‘greater than 0%’ probability event.” He suggested the odds could increase if Apple is able to access the more-than $200 billion in cash it has overseas through a repatriation tax holiday. Disney’s market capitalization was about $178.7 billion, according to FactSet. Daryanani said a deal would accelerate Apple’s push into services and content, with Apple instantly leapfrogging Netflix Inc. , Amazon.com Inc. and Alphabet Inc.’s YouTube in content. “There are plenty of factors to consider, but such a deal would create a tech/media juggernaut like no other and instantly scale [Apple’s] services, content and media portfolio, which would make the case for a higher valuation,” Daryanani wrote in a note to clients. Apple’s stock slipped 0.3% and Disney shares inched up 0.1% in premarket trade. Year to date, Apple’s stock has soared 22%, Disney shares have climbed 8.5% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average has gained 4.7%.

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ConocoPhillips announced Thursday a deal to sell its San Juan Basin assets for up to $3 billion to an affiliate of Hilcorp Energy Co. Under terms of the deal, ConocoPhillips will receive $2.7 billion in cash and a contingent payment of up to $300 million, effective Jan. 1, with a term of six years. ConocoPhillips said it plans to use the proceeds from the deal for general corporate purposes. The exploration and production company said 2016 production from its San Juan Basin assets was 124,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day, the bulk of which was natural gas. “This transaction significantly accelerates value from our San Juan Basin assets,” said Chief Executive Ryan Lance. “Including our recently announced Canadian asset sales, we have line of sight to more than $16 billion of total considerations in 2017.” The stock, which was still inactive in premarket trade, has lost 1.4% year to date, while the SPDR Energy Select Sector ETF has lost 6.3% and the S&P 500 has gained 4.7%.

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Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. said Thursday it entered into license deals with Biogen Inc. and Roche, in which it will receive a combined $470 million in upfront payments and up to $615 million in potential milestone payments. Under the agreements, Bristol-Myers will license its anti-eTau compound in development to treat Progressive Supranuclear Palsy to Biogen, for $300 million upfront and up to $410 million in milestone payments. The drug giant will also license its anti-myostatin adnectin in development to treat Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy to Roche for $170 million upfront and up to $205 million in milestone payments. The agreements, which are subject to antitrust regulatory approval, are expected to close in the second quarter of 2017. Bristol-Myers’ stock, which was still inactive in premarket trade, has dropped 9.3% year to date, while the S&P 500 has gained 4.7%.

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Yext Inc. priced its initial public offering at $11 a share Wednesday, $1 higher than its projected range, pulling in at least $115.5 million at a valuation of $940 million as enterprise-software offerings continued to succeed on Wall Street. The New York tech startup, which helps businesses ensure the accuracy of locations and other data across digital platforms, is expected to begin trading Thursday morning on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol YEXT. Founded in 2006, Yext disclosed in IPO filings that it had a net loss of $43.2 million on revenue of $124.3 million in its most recent fiscal year, which ended Jan. 31. Both sales and losses increased from the prior year, when the company reported a net loss of $26.5 million on revenue of $89.7 million. Yext raised more than $117 million in private investment, according to Crunchbase, and the IPO prospectus showed shares selling for $5.81 in its most recent round of venture funding, in 2014. Four venture-capital firms — Sutter Hill Ventures, Institutional Venture Partners, Marker Financial Advisors and Insight Venture Partners — held more than 10% of the company ahead of the IPO, with Sutter Hill leading the way with 23.6% of the company. No investors are selling shares in the IPO; Yext will take all of the proceeds on the sale of 10.5 million shares, and underwriting banks have access to an additional 1.6 million shares that they could potentially sell.

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Apple Inc. has put together a team in Silicon Valley to work on sensors that can noninvasively track wearers’ blood sugar, CNBC reported Wednesday based on anonymous sources. Diabetics must constantly monitor their blood sugar, and the ability to do so without drawing blood could make wearables such as the Apple Watch a big draw for those with the disease. Alphabet Inc. has been openly looking for such a solution for years, announcing a partnership with Novartis AG in 2014 to develop contact lenses that could monitor glucose levels and an effort with Sanofi SA in 2016. CNBC reported that Apple has been conducting feasibility studies of its technology, which a source said could be based on optical sensors.

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Berkshire Hathaway Inc. said late Wednesday it sold more than 7 million shares of Wells Fargo & Co. between April 10 and April 12, and it intended to file a report with the Securities and Exchange Commission later Wednesday to reflect that sale. Berkshire plans to sell nearly 2 million shares of Wells Fargo in the “near future,” the conglomerate said in a statement. The sales “are not being made because of investment or valuation considerations,” Berkshire said. “Rather they are solely motivated by the desire to return to a percentage ownership below the 10% notification threshold” required by a couple of regulations, it said. About a year ago, Wells Fargo’s share buybacks caused Berkshire’s ownership interest in the bank to exceed 10%, and the percentage interest would “slowly creep up” if Wells Fargo continued with the stock repurchase, Berkshire said. After several months of discussions with Federal Reserve representatives, Berkshire concluded Fed-required commitments to retain ownership of 10% or more of Wells Fargo’s outstanding common stock “would materially restrict our commercial activity with Wells Fargo,” and it would be simpler to keep ownership under 10%, the company said. Berkshire intends to reduce its ownership in Wells Fargo common stock below 10% within 60 trading days, it said. Wells Fargo shares were down 0.3% in late trading, while Berkshire’s were up less than 0.1%.

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The S&P financial sector fell on Wednesday and turned negative for the year, in the latest indication that one of the strongest trades of the postelection rally is unraveling. The sector lost 0.9% on Wednesday, while the Financial Select Sector SPDR ETF , the largest exchange-traded fund to specifically track financials, lost 0.8%. With the day’s move, financials are now down 0.3% for the year. The banking sector had been one of Wall Street’s most profitable trades in the aftermath of President Donald Trump’s November election win. At one point, financials accounted for more than half the overall stock market’s advance. However, it has fallen more than 8% since early March, leading the overall market lower. Losses have come amid broad concerns about valuation, as well as the Federal Reserve indicating it might only raise interest rates by three times in 2017. Bank profits tend to be stronger in periods of higher rates, and investors had previously expected as many as four hikes this year. Despite expectations for higher rates going forward, benchmark bond yields have been trading at multi-month lows. The 10-year Treasury yielded 2.24% late Wednesday, near a five-month low. Caution over the financial sector has also been elevated going into the first-quarter earnings season, with investors looking for confirmation that its valuations are justified. A number of key banks will be reporting quarterly results in the coming days, including J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. , Citigroup Inc. and Wells Fargo & Co. on Thursday.

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