>>> US Gapping up

Gapping up
In reaction to strong earnings/guidance
:

  • HLT +2%

M&A news:

  • AVXS +82% (to be acquired by Novartis (NVS) for $218/share in cash, or approximately $8.7 bln)

Select AVXS peers/related names showing strength:

  • RGNX +24.4%, TRPX +16.3%, BOLD +12.1%, PTLA +6.8%, BLUE +5.7%, . 

Other news:

  • VSTM +17.2% (announces that the FDA accepted for filing with Priority Review its New Drug Application for its lead product candidate duvelisib)
  • PCRX +7.5% (confirms FDA approval of sNDA for EXPAREL)
  • LUK +4.4% (announces series of corporate developments)
  • DB +3.2% (Christian Sewing appointed as new Chief Executive Officer of Deutsche Bank)
  • IONS +3.2% (has licensed IONIS-AZ6-2.5-LRx to AstraZeneca (AZN) following advancement of the drug into development)
  • BPT +3% (increases Q1 dividend payment to $1.2748362/unit from $1.2301519/unit)
  • SLM +2.9% (ValueAct Capital (Bradley E. Singer) discloses 6.4% active stake; have had and anticipate having further discussions)
  • MRK +2.7% (monotherapy met primary endpoint in phase 3 keynote-042 study)
  • CDE +2.7% (announced Q1 production of 3.2 million ounces of silver and 85,383 ounces of gold)
  • BA +1.9% (Boeing American Airlines (AAL) sign major order for 47 787 Dreamliners)
  • KMI +0.9% (announced that it is suspending all non-essential activities and related spending on the Trans Mountain Expansion Project)

Analyst comments:

  • BIDU +1.6% (upgraded to Buy from Outperform at Daiwa)
  • GM +2.7% (upgraded to Overweight from Equal-Weight at Morgan Stanley)
  • CMA +2.2% (upgraded to Outperform from Neutral at Wedbush)
  • A +1.3% (upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Goldman)
  • MMP +1.3% (upgraded to Outperform at RBC Capital Mkts)
  • ARGX +1.1% (initiated with a Buy at SunTrust)