After Hours Summary: AMKR +14.4%, MEDP +13.2% up big on earnings; SPPI +69.4% jumps on clinical dataAfter Hours Gainers:
Companies trading higher in after hours in reaction to earnings/guidance: AMKR +14.4%, MEDP +13.2%, OMF +11%, VCRA +10.8%, HSTM +10.6%, FIX +7.9%, TNET +7.9%, AJRD +4.8%, SSD +4.2%, AGNC +3%, LXFR +2.7%, IBTX +1.5%, JBT +1.4%, CR +0.7%, UHS +0.5%, BRO +0.2%, TBI +0.2%
Companies trading higher in after hours in reaction to news: SPPI +69.4% (announces "positive" top-line results from ZENITH20 Phase 2 trial), LUMO +14.8% (to sell its Priority Review Voucher to Merck), BSM +10.4% (increases dividend), BHC +4.3% (Glenview (Larry Robbins) increases holding and discloses 5.9% active stake), BNTX +3.7% (BNTX and PFE choose lead mRNA vaccine candidate, starts global Phase 2/3 study), PRVL +2.9% (receives patent), CHMA +2.6% (announces data from CHIASMA OPTIMAL Phase 3 trial), PFE +1.5% (BNTX and PFE choose lead mRNA vaccine candidate, starts global Phase 2/3 study), SPCE +1.4% (to reveal cabin interior design for SpaceShipTwo), NLOK +0.7% (finalizes sale of Culver City, California campus), QCOM +0.4% (announces Qualcomm Quick Charge 5), TCRR +0.1% (commences public offering of 6 mln shares)
After Hours Losers:
Companies trading lower in after hours in reaction to earnings/guidance: CRSP -4.4%, NXPI -3.9%, HXL -3.6%, FFIV -3.1%, PCH -1.2%, ARE -0.9%, NOV -0.7%, QTS -0.6%, CINF -0.5%, EHC -0.4%, OGS -0.1%
Companies trading lower in after hours in reaction to news: CRMD -13.2% (stock offering), BTAI -3.1% (commences offering of $200 mln of its common shares; also files mixed securities shelf offering), MTCH -0.6% (names Jim Lanzone as CEO of Tinder brand), INTC -0.2% (announces organizational changes), IBKR -0.2% (stock offering), GVA -0.2% (announces misstatements in 8K filing), GPK -0.1% (files mixed securities shelf offering)
Closing Stock Market SummaryThe S&P 500 advanced 0.7% on Monday in a session that included renewed strength in the mega-cap stocks and continued weakness in the U.S. dollar. The Nasdaq Composite (+1.7%) and Russell 2000 (+1.2%) rose more than 1.0%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average increased just 0.4%.
Nine of the 11 S&P 500 sectors closed higher, including the information technology (+1.6%), materials (+1.4%), and real estate (+1.1%) sectors at the top of the standings. The utilities (-1.3%) and financials (-0.8%) sectors were the lone holdouts.
Material stocks benefited from higher metal prices, including the continued breakout of gold ($1931.70/ozt, $34.20 +1.8%) amid a weakening U.S. Dollar Index (93.71, -0.72, -0.8%). The tech sector was lifted by mega-cap leadership and strong gains in the semiconductor space. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index rose 3.2%.
Amazon (AMZN 3055.21, +46.30, +1.5%), Apple (AAPL 379.24, +8.78, +2.4%), Alphabet (GOOG 1530.20, +18.33, +1.2%), and Facebook (FB 233.50, +2.79, +1.2%) outperformed in front of high-profile events this week. Specifically, the CEOs of these companies will testify before lawmakers on Wednesday regarding regulatory concerns, and the companies will report earnings on Thursday.
Taiwan Semiconductor (TSM 83.25, +9.35, +12.7%) stood out with a 12.7% gain amid speculation that Intel (INTC 49.57, -1.02, -2.0%) might order chips from the company to get around its internal production issues.
In other corporate news, Moderna (MRNA 79.91, +6.70, +9.2%) received an additional $472 million from the government to advance its COVID-19 vaccine candidate, Walgreens Boots Alliance (WBA 39.94, -0.67, -1.7%) announced its CEO will step down, and Hasbro (HAS 71.84, -5.75, -7.4%) missed top and bottom-line estimates.
Elsewhere, U.S. Treasuries finished little changed while investors continued to await the details of $1 trillion coronavirus relief bill from Republican Senators. The 2-yr yield was flat at 0.15%, and the 10-yr yield increased one basis point to 0.60%. WTI crude futures increased 0.9%, or $0.38 to $41.68/bbl.
Reviewing Monday's economic data:
- Total durable goods orders increased 7.3% m/m in June (consensus 6.4%) following a downwardly revised 15.1% increase (from 15.8%) for May. Excluding transportation, orders jumped 3.3%, as expected, after a downwardly revised 3.6% increase (from 4.0%) for May.
- The key takeaway from the report is that business spending picked up in June, evidenced by a 3.3% increase in new orders for nondefense capital goods excluding aircraft. That came on top of a 1.6% increase in May.
Looking ahead, investors will receive the Conference Board's Consumer Confidence Index for July and the S&P Case-Shiller Home Price Index for May on Tuesday.
- Nasdaq Composite +17.4% YTD
- S&P 500 +0.3% YTD
- Dow Jones Industrial Average -6.9% YTD
- Russell 2000 -11.0% YTD
*LVMH CFO SAYS WILL RESPECT CONTRACT SIGNED WITH TIFFANY
EU talks with Pfizer, Sanofi, J&J on COVID vaccines hit snags - sources - Reuters News
27-Jul-2020 17:13:40
EU in talks with six vaccine makers for potential COVID shots
Liability costs a sticking point in talks with J&J - sources
Negotiations with Pfizer-BioNtech stuck on price - source
Sanofi deal faces hurdles on timeline of payments - sources
17:14:16 EXCLUSIVE-EU talks with Pfizer, Sanofi, J&J on COVID vaccines hit snags - sources - Reuters News
27-Jul-2020 17:13:40
EU in talks with six vaccine makers for potential COVID shots
Liability costs a sticking point in talks with J&J - sources
Negotiations with Pfizer-BioNtech stuck on price - source
Sanofi deal faces hurdles on timeline of payments - sources
By Francesco Guarascio and Elvira Pollina
BRUSSELS/MILAN, July 27 (Reuters) - European efforts to secure potential COVID-19 vaccines from Pfizer PFE.N, Sanofi SASY.PA and Johnson & Johnson JNJ.N are mired in wrangles over price, payment method and potential liability costs, three EU officials told Reuters.
The bloc is in talks with at least six vaccine makers to acquire up front doses of potential shots against the novel coronavirus, officials told Reuters earlier in July, in a strategy meant to increase the chances of having COVID-19 vaccines for its population. (Full Story)
Despite the urgency to seal deals amid a global race to secure the most promising shots, the EU is struggling to reach swift agreements, said the officials, who are involved in the talks, and declined to be named because the negotiations are confidential.
The United States, meanwhile, has already inked two supply agreements with AstraZeneca AZN.L and Pfizer among other major funding deals.
The EU's negotiations with Johnson & Johnson are among the most advanced but have yet to conclude amid a back-and-forth over how to share liability costs if the potential vaccine showed unexpected side-effects, two of the officials told Reuters.
Johnson & Johnson had no immediate comment.
France's Sanofi is negotiating to supply 300 million doses of the potential vaccine it is developing with British drugmaker GlaxoSmithKline Plc GSK.L to the EU and wants an immediate upfront payment for the entire stock, two officials said.
But the EU wants to pay in tranches and delay some payments until the vaccine has passed large clinical trials, the officials said.
This has caused "some hurdles," one of the officials said.
A spokesman for Sanofi declined to comment.
A spokesman for the Commission, which is leading EU talks with drugmakers, declined to comment.
Aside from the Pfizer, Sanofi and Johnson & Johnson discussions, the EU is also in talks with biotech companies Moderna MRNA.O and Germany's CureVac, officials told Reuters earlier in July (Full Story).
Moderna and CureVac were not immediately available to comment.
A deal with AstraZeneca AZN.L for its vaccine under development with Oxford University was struck by four large EU countries in June and is now about to be completed for the whole 27-nation bloc, officials said. (Full Story)
One official said the EU was seeking to seal three or four advance purchase deals.
"OVER BUDGET"
The most complex talks appear to be with Pfizer and BioNtech which are developing a vaccine using an experimental technology known as messenger RNA, or mRNA, which has not been approved for commercial use by medical authorities.
The two firms want the EU to pay them for 500 million doses only if their COVID-19 vaccine is authorised, one official told Reuters.
This might eliminate the EU's risk of losing money should the shot prove unsuccessful. But the bloc fears that if it waits for the vaccine to be proved effective, the bill could be much higher and they risk going "over budget," one of the officials said.
In a further potential complication, some EU negotiators have raised doubts about mRNA, which is also used in the potential COVID vaccines developed by Moderna and CureVac.
Pfizer and BioNtech are also discussing liability issues with EU negotiators, a fourth person familiar with the talks told Reuters.
Pfizer and BioNTech declined to comment.
The U.S. government last week agreed to pay nearly $2 billion to buy enough of the vaccine being developed by Pfizer and BioNTech to inoculate 50 million people, but with payments conditional on their vaccine being successful in large clinical trials. (Full Story)
The price agreed under that deal of nearly $40 per course of treatment is considered too high by the EU, officials told Reuters last week. (Full Story)
The EU is relying on about 2 billion euros ($2.3 billion) from an emergency fund to finance its possible deals with vaccine makers, which could be topped up with payments from EU governments.
For instance, the agreement with AstraZeneca initially negotiated by Germany, France, Italy and the Netherlands cost the four countries 750 million euros for 300 million doses of the potential shot, an Italian official said, with an option to buy a further 100 million doses (Full Story).
That works out at 2.5 euros per dose.
It is not clear whether under ongoing talks that money will now be provided by the EU emergency fund.
Hedge-funder gambles on coronavirus to build casino empire
Soo Kim, co-founder of hedge-fund giant Standard General, has already scooped up three casinos on the cheap since the pandemic struck in March, including Bally’s Atlantic City Hotel & Casino — which he bought for $25 million, the price of some New York City metro-area homes.
But Kim, a 45-year-old Queens native, sees more such opportunities opening up as the pandemic drags on, squeezing gambling houses loaded down with debt.
“A lot of casino companies, due to their balance sheets going up too high, are in tough shape now and are not prepared to take advantage of this regional opportunity,” the Stuyvesant HS graduate told The Post.
“We are one of the few that have scale and a good balance sheet,” he said of Twin River Worldwide Holdings, an operator of no-frills gambling houses that is 38 percent owned by Standard General.
Twin River, based in Lincoln, RI, now owns 10 gambling properties across six states, as well as a horse racetrack with 13 authorized off-track betting licenses in Colorado.
It acquired three of those properties in April as casino giants Caesars Entertainment and Eldorado Resorts scrambled to sell assets to close on a planned $17 billion merger.
In addition to buying Bally’s — a 1,251-room hotel and casino on the Atlantic City Boardwalk — from Caesars, Twin River also scooped up Eldorado’s namesake property in Shreveport, La., and its Montbleu in Lake Tahoe, Nev., for $155 million.
Twin River paid just 3.6 times earnings for the three venues, or roughly the cost of the real estate, Kim says.
“The price we offered was really low,” he said. “Even if these casinos are closed for two years, it’s a good deal.”
While Caesars and Eldorado sold to win regulatory approval for their merger, the coronavirus also played a role, experts said, noting that the Shreveport property was on track to fetch as much as $230 million in January before the deal fell through.
The hedge-fund honcho once dubbed Dov Charney’s “moneyman” is now betting he can build a casino empire with a little help from the coronavirus, The Post has learned.
Soo Kim, co-founder of hedge-fund giant Standard General, has already scooped up three casinos on the cheap since the pandemic struck in March, including Bally’s Atlantic City Hotel & Casino — which he bought for $25 million, the price of some New York City metro-area homes.
But Kim, a 45-year-old Queens native, sees more such opportunities opening up as the pandemic drags on, squeezing gambling houses loaded down with debt.
“A lot of casino companies, due to their balance sheets going up too high, are in tough shape now and are not prepared to take advantage of this regional opportunity,” the Stuyvesant HS graduate told The Post.
“We are one of the few that have scale and a good balance sheet,” he said of Twin River Worldwide Holdings, an operator of no-frills gambling houses that is 38 percent owned by Standard General.
Twin River, based in Lincoln, RI, now owns 10 gambling properties across six states, as well as a horse racetrack with 13 authorized off-track betting licenses in Colorado.
It acquired three of those properties in April as casino giants Caesars Entertainment and Eldorado Resorts scrambled to sell assets to close on a planned $17 billion merger.
In addition to buying Bally’s — a 1,251-room hotel and casino on the Atlantic City Boardwalk — from Caesars, Twin River also scooped up Eldorado’s namesake property in Shreveport, La., and its Montbleu in Lake Tahoe, Nev., for $155 million.
Twin River paid just 3.6 times earnings for the three venues, or roughly the cost of the real estate, Kim says.
“The price we offered was really low,” he said. “Even if these casinos are closed for two years, it’s a good deal.”
While Caesars and Eldorado sold to win regulatory approval for their merger, the coronavirus also played a role, experts said, noting that the Shreveport property was on track to fetch as much as $230 million in January before the deal fell through.