Gapping down
In reaction to disappointing earnings/guidance:
- TLRD -25.5%, ACB -10.2%, OXM -8.1%, LSTR -5.2%, ORCL -1.4%, T -0.6% (recaps comments made today at the Bank of America Merrill Lynch Media, Communications & Entertainment conference)
Other news:
- TOCA -82.5% (reports results of Toca 5 Phase 3 trial in recurrent brain cancer -- missed primary and all secondary endpoints)
- ADVM -35.2% (presents positive 24-week clinical data from the first cohort of patients treated with a one-time intravitreal dose of ADVM-022 in the OPTIC phase 1 clinical trial in wet age-related macular degeneration)
- CELH -12.5% (to acquire Nordic wellness company Func Food Group Oyj - expected to close in October 2019; launches public offering of shares of common stock)
- CPRX -11.2% (announces public offering of 8.0 mln shares of common stock)
- AVYA -8.3% (headlines the company will pursue a possible venture with RingCentral (RNG) instead of a sale)
- DXC -6% (elected Mike Salvino as President and Chief Executive Officer, effective today)
- HSKA -4.5% (proposes to offer $75.0 mln of convertible senior notes due 2026)
- APLS -4.3% (announces intention to offer $200 mln of convertible senior notes due 2026)
- FATE -2.1% (prices 8.6 mln shares of common stock at $17.50 per share)
- RDY -1.8% (lower as local news sources are reporting fire and HAZMAT situation at Dr. Reddy's Laboratory in Middleburgh)
- BHGE -1.8% (prices secondary offering of 115 million shares of BHGE Class A common stock by General Electric (GE) a price to the public of $21.50 per share)
- BEST -1.5% (proposes offering of up to US$175 mln in aggregate principal amount of convertible senior notes due 2024)
- MRNA -1.1% (announces positive data from three-month interim analysis of safety and immunogenicity of the Phase 1 study of its investigational cytomegalovirus vaccine)
Analyst comments:
- N/A.
Gapping up
In reaction to strong earnings/guidance:
- VIAV +1.8% (raises guidance)
Other news:
- HTZ +4.2% (Carl C. Icahn increases active stake)
- REVG +3.5% (CEO disclosed the purchase of 50K shares)
- IMXI +3.4% (prices secondary offering by affiliates of Stella Point Capital and certain of the Co's other stockholders of 5,217,392 shares of common stock at $12.75 per share)
- PINS +2.5% (continued strength)
- YELP +2.5% (Yelp may be Groupon [GRPN] acquisition target, according to WSJ)
- ITCI +2.1% (10% owner Alafi Capital disclosed the purchase of ~485K shares worth nearly $5 mln)
- VAR +1.1% (addresses tariff exclusion for medical linear accelerators)
- SQ +0.8% (higher after CNBC mention and despite coverage being assumed/downgraded to Hold from Buy at Canaccord Genuity), SPOT +0.8% (Chief Accounting Officer Luca Baratta will resign effective September 16; will appoint Controller of the Company Paul Sawyer as replacement), .
Analyst comments:
- SINT +45.3% (initiated with a Buy at Ascendiant Capital Markets),
- EYPT +5% (initiated with a Buy at Guggenheim)
- APTX +4.7% (initiated with Outperform at Wedbush)
- BPMC +2.8% (upgraded to Outperform from Mkt Perform at Raymond James)
- EGO +2.8% (upgraded to Outperform from Sector Perform at National Bank Financial)
- CRVS +2.4% (initiated with a Buy at Mizuho)
- CVNA +1.6% (initiated with a Buy at Needham)
- BHC +1.1% (initiated with a Buy at Guggenheim)
- FISV +1% (initiated with a Buy at Canaccord Genuity)
- COUP +0.8% (initiated with a Buy at Canaccord Genuity)
- PYPL +0.8% (coverage assumed/upgraded to Buy from Hold at Canaccord Genuity)
- QTWO +0.6% (coverage assumed/upgraded to Buy from Hold at Canaccord Genuity)
France says it won’t allow Libra in Europe
Facebook’s “cryptocurrency” Libra is yet to garner much support from officials.
In fact, with the exception of Mark Carney, the institutional response to the idea has been overwhelmingly negative.
Today we may have seen the most damaging of these attacks. The source: France’s finance minister Bruno Le Maire. This from Reuters:
PARIS, Sept 12 (Reuters) — French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said on Thursday Facebook's Libra cryptocurrency cannot operate in Europe under current conditions, citing systemic financial risks, risks for sovereignty, and the potential for abuse of market dominance.
“All these concerns about Libra are serious. I therefore want to say with plenty of clarity: in these conditions we cannot authorise the development of Libra on European soil,” Le Maire said.
Mr Le Maire said little about how he would actually enforce such a ban. But the timing of his remarks is interesting, coming just a day after the Geneva-based Libra Association enquired about applying to become a Swiss-based payments system.
This morning the head of the Swiss regulator, the Financial Market Supervisory Authority, Mark Branson, made clear in this very interesting interview with the Neue Zürcher Zeitung that regulating Libra would have to be a joint effort:
Libra has big ambitions. We did not need foreign pressure to recognise this. In addition, behind the project are successful and huge corporations. It was therefore crystal clear from the start that this project could have huge dimensions and implications . . .
. . . A project of such a global dimension can only be addressed through international co-ordination and consultation with other regulators and regulators. It is illusory to believe that a single country can regulate and oversee a project like Libra on its own. The supervision of a UBS or Credit Suisse does not take place in complete isolation.
Branson also indicated that Libra posed risks more normally associated with a reserve fund, and possibly banks. That would, he suggested, mean that the foundation would have to seek licences far beyond those required for a “pure” payments system.
That doesn’t necessarily mean Le Maire will get his way on a blanket ban, but it looks as though Libra has a long way to go before clearing all the hurdles it needs to to become operational.
Early premarket gappersGapping up:
- ADVM +16.6%, APTX +4.7%, HTZ +4.1%, REVG +3.5%, PINS +2.9%, YELP +2.8%, SPOT +2.3%, ITCI +2.1%, IMXI +1.5%, WYNN +1.5%, VAR +1.1%, COUP +0.8%, SQ +0.6%, QTWO +0.6%, JBHT +0.6%, MRNA +0.5%
Gapping down:
- TOCA -65.3%, TLRD -27.8%, CPRX -12.4%, CELH -10.1%, ACB -8.3%, OXM -8.1%, DXC -7.9%, FATE -5.4%, LSTR -5.2%, HSKA -4.5%, APLS -4.3%, BEST -3.3%, GRPN -3.3%, BHGE -2.1%, RDY -1.8%, ORCL -0.7%
IEA warns Opec it faces huge oil surplus in 2020
Opec faces a growing surplus in the oil market next year that will push prices lower, the International Energy Agency said on Thursday, in a forecast likely to increase pressure on the Saudi Arabian oil minister to consider deeper production cuts.
The IEA monthly report said that, while the oil market will face a small deficit in the second half of this year, supplies are expected to surge later in 2019 and into 2020.
That will leave supplies outstripping demand for Opec’s crude by approximately 1.4m barrels a day in early 2020, the IEA said, if the group maintains current production levels.
“While the relentless stock builds we have seen since early 2018 have halted, this is temporary,” the IEA said.
“Soon, the Opec+ producers will once again see surging non-Opec oil production with the implied market balance returning to a significant surplus and placing pressure on prices. The challenge of market management remains a daunting one well into 2020.”
The forecast of a large surplus will pose one of the first challenges to Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman, appointed Saudi Arabia’s oil minister at the weekend, who is expected to act as the de facto leader of Opec and its wider alliance with Russia.
He has said there will be no dramatic shift in policy, but the forecast suggests Opec+ may find themselves swamped by rival crude supplies again next year.
Prince Abdulaziz is widely expected to be tasked with boosting the oil price to support Saudi Arabia’s ambitious economic transformation plans and the public listing of state oil company, Saudi Aramco.