>>> US Gapping up

Gapping up
In reaction to strong earnings/guidance
:

  • ERIC +15.1%, LLNW +14.1%, GE +5.1%, BDN +2.7%, WERN +2.1%, HON +1.8%, EGP +1.4%, WAL +1.4%, RCI +0.8%, VLRS +0.8%, TRU +0.7%, STI +0.5%

M&A news:

  • FFKT +16% (WesBanco Inc and Farmers Capital Bank to merge; Farmers shareholders will receive 1.053 shares of WesBanco and $5.00 per share cash)
  • SQ +1% (Square acquires Zesty, a catering platform; terms not disclosed)
  • CTWS +1% (ticking higher; Eversource Energy made competing proposal to acquire all the outstanding shares of Connecticut Water Service for $63.50 per share)
  • MON +0.8% (Russia antitrust agency approves Monsanto (MON) / Bayer (BAYRY) M&A deal)

Other news:

  • PF +6.6% (Pinnacle Foods spikes higher after Jana increases stake to 9.1% from 1.2% - and becomes active shareholder)
  • RIGL +3.4% (prices 16 mln shares of common stock at $3.90 per share)
  • AAV +3.2% (provides production update)
  • XNET +2.7% (launched ThunderChain, a blockchain platform)
  • HCLP +2.1% (increases quarterly distribution to $0.225/unit from $0.20/unit)

Analyst comments:

  • TWTR +3% (downgraded to Underperform from Neutral at BofA/Merrill)
  • TSCO +1.9% (upgraded to Overweight from Neutral at Piper Jaffray)
  • DRI +1.4% (upgraded to Outperform from Mkt Perform at Bernstein)
  • ALGN +1.1% (initiated with a Buy at Berenberg)