>>> What to look at today - 10th of May 2019

The U.S. hiked tariffs on more than $200 billion in goods from China on Friday in the most dramatic step yet of President Donald Trump’s push to extract trade concessions, deepening a conflict that has roiled financial markets and cast a shadow over the global economy.
China immediately said in a statement it is forced to retaliate, though hadn’t specified how as of 12:20 p.m. in Beijing. The move came after discussions between President Xi Jinping’s top trade envoy and his U.S. counterparts in Washington made little progress on Thursday, with the mood around them downbeat, according to people familiar with the talks. The negotiations were due to resume on Friday morning Washington time.
Asian shares pared gains and U.S. equity futures slipped. The yuan rallied for the first time in seven sessions on Friday.
Ahead of the talks on Thursday, Trump also said the U.S. would go ahead with preparations to impose 25% tariffs on a further $325 billion in goods from China, raising the prospect of all of China’s goods exports to the U.S. -- which were worth about $540 billion last year -- being subject to new import duties.
US After Hours ZG +19%, PBYI -31%, TRXC -24% among notable earnings/guidance movers

Nikkei -0.29% Hang Seng +0.97$ CSI +2.36% Shanghai +1.92% Shenzen +2.41%

Eur$ 1.1227 CNH 6.8348 CNY 6.8037 JPY 109.72GBP 1.3001 CHF 1.0143 RUB 65.1900 TRY 6.1248 WTI $ 61.99 +0.45%

S&P -0.23% EuroStoxx +0.78% FTSE +0.70% Dax +0.74% SMI +0.53%

Macro :
- Watch Cybersecurity Stocks After Symantec and ForeScout Plunge
- Global Equity Funds See Biggest Outflows This Year on Trade War
- China Says It’s Forced to Retaliate;Willing to Talk With U.S.(1)

Keep an eye on :
- ABI BB : Anheuser-Busch InBev Asia Pacific Unit Files for H.K. IPO (1)
- ADP FP : France Won’t Decide on ADP Privatization Pending Referendum: AFP
- AF FP : Air France-KLM April Passenger Traffic Rose 9.2%
- AIR FP : Air Lease Sees Airbus Jet-Delivery Delays Stretching Through ’21
- AIR FP : Pratt Is Said to Find Cause of A320 Neo Vibrations (Correct)
- AKER NO : Aker 1Q Net Asset Value Per Share NOK757 Vs. NOK562 Q/q
- AAPL US : Apple EPS Could Fall 23% in Worst Trade Scenario: Morgan Stanley
- ARCUS NO : Arcus First Quarter Pretax Loss Misses Lowest Estimate
- ATC NA : Altice Europe 1Q Adj. Ebitda Up 4% YOY; 1Q Rev. EU3.52B
- ATC NA : Altice Europe Aims For Portugal Fiber Stake Sale By End of 2Q
- ANA SM : Acciona First Quarter Net Income 3.5% Above Estimates
- ANA SM : Acciona Confident on FY Guidance After Slow Ebitda-Level Start
- BCP PL : BCP First Quarter Net Income EU153.8 Mln
- BCP PL : BCP Expects ’Good Relationship’ With Sonangol to Continue: CEO
- BC8 GY : Bechtle First Quarter Revenue Beats Highest Estimate
- BEFB BB : Befimmo First Quarter Adjusted EPS EU0.72 Vs. EU0.98 Y/y
- BPE IM : BPER Banca First Quarter Net Income Beats Estimates
- CLNV FP : Cellnovo’s Compulsory Liquidation Proceedings Initiated
- COL SM : Colonial First Quarter Recurring Ebitda EU69 Mln (1)
- CE IM : Credito Emiliano First Quarter Net Income Beats Highest Estimate
- DECB BB : Deceuninck Says Timing of Recovery in Turkey Less Predictable
- DPW GY : Deutsche Post First Quarter Revenue EU15.35B as Profit Jumps
- ERICB SS : Cevian Says There Is No Doubt Ericsson Will Reach Its Targets
- EL FP : EssilorLuxottica Chair, Vice-Chair Seek to Resolve Dispute: FT
- FCT IM : Fincantieri First Quarter Ebitda Meets Estimates
- G1A GY : GEA Plans Restructuring; 1Q Revenue Matches Estimates
- HEIJM NA : Heijmans Says 1Q Order Book ‘Healthy’, Reiterates Outlook ’19
- IDR SM : Indra 1Q Net EU18m, up 71% from Yr Ago; Confirms Guidance
- JUN3 GY : Jungheinrich First Quarter Ebit Meets Estimates
- KER FP : Kering Says Italy Tax Settlement Total Required Payment EU1.25b
- KOG NO : Kongsberg First Quarter Net Income Beats Highest Estimate
- MMB FP : Lagardere Holder Amber Capital Renews Pressure Ahead of AGM
- LHN SW : LafargeHolcim to Sell Stake in Holcim Philippines to San Miguel, Philippines' Sale Puts Agile LafargeHolcim on Target: BI React
- MDM FP : Maisons Du Monde Confirms FY Guidance; 1Q Sales EU280M
- MT IM : Maire Tecnimont Falls Most in 6 Months on 1Q Revenue Decline
- MB IM : Mediobanca CEO Says Studying Possible Kairos Acquisition
- MONC IM : Moncler First Quarter Revenue EU378.5 Mln
- KN FP : Natixis 1Q Net EU764M; Est. EU662M
- KN FP : Natixis Trading Slump Drags On With 34% Fixed-Income Plunge
- NVG PL : Navigator Co First Quarter Net Income EU49.3 Mln
- NIBEB SS : Nibe Divests Schulthess Maschinen for CHF150M Cash, Debt Free
- NN NA : Nationale-Nederlanden Joins Caser Bidding Process: Expansion
- OTELLO NO : Otello First Quarter Revenue $51.5 Mln Vs. $66.9 Mln Q/q
- POLN SW : Polyphor Temporarily Halts Enrollment in 2 Murepavadin Studies
- SBMO NA : SBM Offshore Gets Contracts for ExxonMobil FPSO Liza Unity
- SPM IM : Saipem Says Explosion Occurred on Vessel in Caspian Sea
- SAGAA SS : Sagax to Offer Up to 5.9m Shares via ABG Sundal Collier
- SAND SS : Sandvik CEO: SMT a Great Investment at SEK15 Billion Valuation
- SPU NO : Spectrum First Quarter Revenue Misses Lowest Estimate
- SWECB SS : Sweco First Quarter Operating Profit Beats Highest Estimate
- TEF SM : *TELEFONICA 1Q UNDERLYING OIBDA EU3.73B, EST. EU3.75B
- TEF SM : Telefonica 1Q Under. OIBDA Meets Est.; Reiterates Guidance
- TOD IM : Tod's First Quarter Sales Miss Lowest Estimate
- TUI LN : Virgin Atlantic Bids for Thomas Cook Long-Haul Unit: Sky
- UBER US : Uber Raises $8.1 Billion in IPO Priced Near Bottom of Range (1)
- UNI IM : Unipol First Quarter Net EU171 Mln
- US IM : UnipolSai 1Q Net Gains 11%; 3-Year Cumulative Net Seen at EU2b, UnipolSai Combined Ratio 93.4%
- WDI GY : Wirecard Holder Goldman Sachs Reports 4% Stake Inc. Instruments

>>> Europe : Brokers Upgrades & Downgrades - 10th of May 2019

>>> Up
* ATEME SA Upgraded to Buy at Gilbert Dupont; PT 14.20 Euros
* EDP Renovaveis Upgraded to Buy at Goldman; PT 10.60 Euros
* ETE GA Raised to Overweight at Morgan Stanley; PT 3.10 Euros
* Eurobank Raised to Overweight at Morgan Stanley; PT 1 Euro
* Iliad Upgraded to Buy at BofAML; PT 152 Euros
* Michelin Upgraded to Buy at Goldman; PT 135 Euros
* Salvatore Ferragamo Raised to Equal-weight at Morgan Stanley
* Stabilus Upgraded to Hold at SocGen; PT 45 Euros
* Talanx Upgraded to Buy at DZ Bank; PT 38 Euros
* Whirlpool Upgraded to Buy at Longbow; PT Set to $178

>>> Down
* Aeroports de Paris Cut to Neutral at JPMorgan; PT 160 Euros
* Alpha Bank Cut to Underweight at Morgan Stanley; PT 1.20 Euros
* Auto Trader Downgraded to Neutral at Citi
* dormakaba Downgraded to Reduce at HSBC; PT 635 Francs
* Fielmann Downgraded to Sell at DZ Bank; PT 52 Euros
* Hufvudstaden Downgraded to Hold at SEB Equities; PT 167 Kronor
* Immobiliare Grande Cut to Neutral at Mediobanca SpA
* NNIT Downgraded to Hold at ABG; PT 165 Kroner
* Piraeus Bank Cut to Underweight at Morgan Stanley; PT 1.30 Euros
* Prosafe Downgraded to Hold at Kepler Cheuvreux; PT 20 Kroner
* Trufin Downgraded to Neutral at Macquarie
* Unibail Downgraded to Sell at Citi
* Xing Downgraded to Sell at Berenberg

>>> Initiation
* Equita Rated New Buy at UBI Banca; PT 3.57 Euros
* Maersk Drilling Rated New Equal-weight at Morgan Stanley
* Verbund Rated New Outperform at MainFirst; PT 50 Euros
* Zurich Ins. Reinstated Equal-weight at Morgan Stanley

>>> Call
* Greek Bank Fundamentals Don’t Support Stock Run: Morgan Stanley

>>> US After Hours Summary: ZG +19%, PBYI -31%, TRXC -24% among notabl


After Hours Summary: ZG +19%, PBYI -31%, TRXC -24% among notable earnings/guidance movers

After Hours Gainers:

Companies trading higher in after hours in reaction to earnings/guidance: ZG +18.9% (also announces six new markets for Zillow Offers), WPRT +16.2%, GPRO +11.7%, GH +11.5%, FLY +7.6%, NDLS +6.4%, VFF +5.7%, SWIR +5.2%, CARG +5.1%, SNCR +4.7%, DBX +4.4%, MTW +4.2% (light volume), BKNG +4%, UEPS +4%, CISN +3.4% (light volume), SONO +3.4%, GSBD +2.2% (light volume), UNIT +2.1%, ELY +1.8%, AL +1.2%

Companies trading higher in after hours in reaction to news: VERI +3.2% (light volume; files for 424.K share common stock offering by selling stockholders), SAM +2% (ticking higher; announces cash and stock merger transaction with Dogfish Head Brewery), GME +0.7% (lightly traded; to sell outstanding capital stock of Simply Mac, Inc. to Cool Holdings [AWSM]), GM +0.2% (Director discloses purchase of 10K shares), APC +0.1% (continued volatility; Carl Icahn is reportedly not likely to challenge co's proposed merger with Occidental Petro [OXY])

After Hours Losers:

Companies trading lower in after hours in reaction to earnings/guidance: PBYI -31.4%, TRXC -23.8%, FGEN -23.4% (also announced top line results from pooled safety analyses of global Phase 3 program for roxadustat), SSTI -21.7%, SYMC -13.8% (also announces departure of CEO Greg Clark; appoints new CFO and Interim CEO), FSCT -12.3%, TRUE -11.4%, NVRO -10.8%, QNST -10.1%, QRTEA -9.6%, AIRG -7.8%, XON -7.4%, SCSC -6.6%, YELP -6.5%, OMER -6%, SPTN -5.9% (lightly traded; lowers Q1 and FY19 EPS guidance), SENS -4.7%, WYNN -4.6%, ALRM -4%, MAXR -3.1%, SPWR -2%, VSLR -1.8%, CORT -1.1%

Companies trading lower in after hours in reaction to news: AQMS -16.3% (proposes public offering of common stock of an undisclosed size), IVZ -1.1% (one trade), GILD -0.8% (light volume; to donate Truvada for PrEP), ALSN -0.6% (repurchases common stock from Ashe Capital Management; authorizes $1 bln stock repurchase program), TEVA -0.1% (launches generic version of Tarceva tablets)

WSJ : Can This Marriage Be Saved? Chinese-U.S. Integration Frays As trade talks

Can This Marriage Be Saved? Chinese-U.S. Integration Frays
As trade talks stumble, a broader decoupling between the world’s two largest economies looms

The sudden deterioration of trade talks between the U.S. and China this week has raised the prospect of a once-unimaginable rupture between the world’s two largest economies.
Whether talks ultimately yield a deal, the decadeslong integration of the two economies appears bound to go into reverse as mutual suspicion and geostrategic rivalry permeate political and personal relationships.
The signs are accumulating: Manufacturers of shoes, cameras and iPhones are looking to move production beyond China. American officials are forcing Chinese investors to sell their stakes in American startups. Chinese scientists’ visas to visit the U.S. are facing delays.
How much further this decoupling goes depends critically on what sort of deal, if any, emerges from the current negotiations. A new Cold War of limited and tightly controlled interactions isn’t likely: China is simply too big and too globally integrated. Nonetheless, American and Chinese investors, businesses and scholars could find themselves increasingly operating in separate spheres pursuing separate strategies.
The Ties That Bind Are Fraying
Investment flows between the U.S. and China have begun to ebb; flows of students and researchers may be next.

Sources: Rhodium Group (investment); Institute of International Education (students)
Some of the early trends are apparent. Trade flows once driven by cost, quality and proximity to customers increasingly reflect political priorities, whether it is Chinese purchases of U.S. energy and agriculture or the location of manufacturing plants.
Even if President Trump eventually lifts tariffs, multinationals will know they can be reimposed if tensions flare again. And China could slap tariffs, too. So to limit their exposure, many will shift assembly of U.S.-bound goods to third countries less exposed to protectionist threats. In some cases, the uncertainties stemming from trade tensions were the final nudge for companies, already facing rising costs in China, to go elsewhere.

Camera maker GoPro is moving production for the U.S. market from China to Guadalajara, Mexico. Shoemaker Steve Madden is moving production to Cambodia. Ford Motor Co. has largely scrapped plans to export vehicles from underused Chinese factory space back to the U.S. Taiwan-based Foxconn Technology Group is weighing assembling Apple Inc.’s iPhones in India, a huge emerging smartphone market.
Bundles of aluminum ingots stack up in Wuxi, China, amid rising trade tensions with the U.S. PHOTO: QILAI SHEN/BLOOMBERG NEWS
Consumers often won’t notice: A camera or a shoe once labeled “Made in China” will now say “Made in Mexico” or “Made in Cambodia.” U.S. imports from China will shrink while imports from Mexico or Southeast Asia will rise.
But elsewhere China’s absence will be more noticeable. The U.S. has effectively banned Huawei Technologies Co. from supplying equipment for American telecommunications networks for fear it could become a “back door” for China to spy on Americans. As the definition of national security expands, more companies and sectors may get the Huawei treatment. Senators have proposed barring local governments from using federal funds to buy railcars from China’s state-owned rail company, ostensibly because the cars could be used to spy on American commuters.

If China agrees to open previously closed markets to U.S. investment and exports, then American products such as Tesla electric cars and services such as cloud computing may make inroads.



The U.S.-China Trade Struggle: How We Got Here

The U.S. and China have had a complicated trade relationship for the last half century. WSJ’s William Mauldin looks at the key moments that landed the two countries on the doorstep of a possible trade deal. Photo Illustration: Heather Seidel
But some American brands may suffer a nationalistic backlash. Some Chinese consumers suggested boycotting iPhones after a Huawei executive was arrested for allegedly violating sanctions on Iran. Ethan Allen, an upscale furniture manufacturer and retailer, recently reported sales in China have been hurt by the trade war. However, Chinese consumers no longer associate many U.S. brands such as KFC, Coca-Cola and Pizza Hut with the U.S., said Doreen Wang, global head of BrandZ.
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What would be the benefits and costs of the U.S. curtailing ties with China? Join the conversation below.
Investment is likely to decouple even more than trade. Starting in 2010, Chinese investment began surging into the U.S. American officials now worry those investment flows enable Chinese state and private actors to appropriate American commercial and military knowledge, and want to curtail them.
The results are already evident. Chinese investment into the U.S. plummeted to $5 billion last year, a seven-year low, from $29 billion in 2017, according to a report Wednesday by Rhodium Group. That is because China clamped down on capital outflows and more of the U.S. became off limits. The firm estimates $2.5 billion in Chinese acquisitions were abandoned because of concerns raised by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S., a secretive Treasury-led panel that vets foreign investment for security risks.

Last year “proved that the five-decade trend of closer engagement in U.S.-China relations was not inexorable, and patterns propelled by powerful commercial logic can be stalled or reversed by policy,” the firm observed.
Eastern Oregon Telecom uses Huawei Technologies products—for now. PHOTO: MICHAEL HANSON FOR THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
Legislation last year vastly expanded Cfius’ remit from traditional security-related industries such as aerospace to a broad range of industries from biotechnology to batteries.
The panel has told one Chinese company to abandon a purchase of Grindr, a gay dating app, and another to sell its controlling stake in PatientsLikeMe, which helps people with similar health conditions find each other. Cfius appeared to worry those investments could be used to obtain sensitive personal information about Americans.
Meanwhile, new export controls may bar American companies from sharing key technology through joint ventures or other investments with partners in China. This may be why new U.S. investment in electronics in China plummeted last year while total investment was stable, according to Rhodium.

The effect of these changes may be hard to notice at first. Neither China nor the U.S. lack for capital. Over time, though, decoupling could rob both of valuable synergies, says Adam Lysenko of Rhodium. “The U.S. and China share the two largest cohorts of artificial intelligence researchers and brainpower so certainly bifurcating that talent pool will lead to less-efficient AI” development. Trump administration advocates respond that is a small price to safeguard American values and leadership against the rise of China’s autocratic state capitalism.

Bifurcation is also a risk for the broader technology universe. Technology products are highly standardized, reflecting integrated supply chains, free-flowing capital and knowledge, and international cooperation on standard-setting.
U.S. authorities have told a Chinese company to abandon a purchase of Grindr, a gay dating app, on national-security grounds. PHOTO: CHRIS DELMAS/AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE/GETTY IMAGES
In coming years, products, applications and standards could gravitate toward separate U.S. and Chinese spheres. “In the early days of mainframe computing, the community divided into vertical stacks of IBM vs. Burroughs vs. Control Data,” says Peter Cowhey, an expert in information technology policy at the University of California at San Diego. “That is what would be happening here.”
Last October the Commerce Department barred sales of U.S. technology to Chinese government-backed semiconductor startup Fujian Jinhua Integrated Circuit, allegedly over theft of U.S. intellectual property. Fearing repeats, China has intensified efforts to reduce its dependence on foreign technology. For example, it imports almost all its semiconductors. This week Chinese Premier Li Keqiang called on government officials to speed up policies that would develop China’s semiconductor industry, according to the State Council, China’s cabinet.
Ford dealerships such as this one in Shanghai could suffer if the U.S.-China trade row escalates. PHOTO: QILAI SHEN/BLOOMBERG NEWS
It will take many years for China to develop indigenous capacity throughout the supply chain, if it ever does. Still, as supply chains decouple, so might technology ecosystems. Chinese smartphone makers already run their own app stores and use localized versions of Alphabet’s Android operating system. Facebook and Google are unavailable in China and Chinese giant Tencent’s WeChat has a limited presence in the U.S. Huawei has developed its own operating system as a backup in case it loses access to Android, a person familiar with the matter has said. If China breaks the American duopoly on operating systems, expect even more differentiation in available apps around the world.
While the world has converged on common standards for superfast fifth-generation (5G) mobile networks, individual countries and carriers may use different software, which will be more important than in previous generations, to govern how devices, from phones to Internet-enabled appliances, operate on the network. If the U.S. or its allies bar Chinese suppliers, their businesses and consumers may miss out on functions and devices in countries that allow Chinese suppliers.
That didn’t matter when Chinese technology was inferior. Today, though, Chinese equipment, such as Huawei’s, is often cheaper and better than its competitors’. Earlier this year Vodafone Group PLC chief executive Nick Read warned a ban on Huawei “would have significant financial cost, would have significant customer disruption and would delay 5G rollout in several countries.”
China’s state-controlled Tsinghua Unigroup project is part of a plan to create a domestic semiconductor industry.PHOTO: NG HAN GUAN/ASSOCIATED PRESS
The barriers coming between U.S. and Chinese investment and trade may also come between people. The latest data show China accounted for a third of the foreign students studying in the U.S., a third of foreign students in science, technology, engineering and math, 9% of temporary H1B specialty work visas, and 14% of employment-based green cards, according to the Migration Policy Institute, a think tank. This diaspora has seeded the U.S. with manpower and talent and China with American expertise and values.
But U.S. officials say the diaspora is also a vehicle for espionage. “China has pioneered a societal approach to stealing innovation any way it can,” including “through graduate students and researchers,” FBI director Christopher Wray said in April. That may lead to toughened visa requirements that throttle the inflow of Chinese students, researchers and workers.
Chinese scientists are waiting longer for visas to visit the U.S. In February, Pan Jianwei, China’s leading quantum physicist who is working on hack-proof communications, couldn’t attend a ceremony after his team won a prestigious science prize from the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
Chinese applications to Ph.D. physics programs fell an average of 16% in 2018, according to a survey by the American Physical Society. At Kansas State University, Chinese went from a third of graduate physics students a few years ago to 10% now, says department head Brett DePaola. He said students from other countries have filled the gap, but overall, foreign applications are dropping. “Maybe it’s tied to the current administration, maybe it’s tied to other universities around the world opening doors a little more.”
The nation’s busiest container port, in Los Angeles, could see its mix of business change depending on how the China trade dispute plays out. PHOTO:MARIO TAMA/GETTY IMAGES
American officials could conceivably designate any technical discussion between an employee of an American technology firm and a Chinese national—even one who works for the same firm—as subject to export controls, says Dan Wang, an analyst at Gavekal Dragonomics, a China-based research service. “It’s plausible that to stay in compliance with U.S. export control laws, these firms may have to sequester their foreign, especially Chinese, nationals, or just terminate them.”
As with diminished ties in trade and investment, reduced human contact won’t have any immediate or noticeable effect. The impact will build over time as the U.S. competes with a slightly diminished pool of human capital.
An optical cable production facility in Dongguan, China. PHOTO: ALEKSANDAR PLAVEVSKI/EPA/SHUTTERSTOCK
Ultimately, how far apart the U.S. and China drift will depend on how hard both countries try to contain their current disputes. National-security hawks in the U.S. believe economic interactions have to shrink considerably if the U.S. is to maintain American economic and military hegemony. In China, nationalists see further self-sufficiency as essential to economic dominance and a state-of-the art military.
Against that, more moderate voices may try to compartmentalize national-security risks so as to keep broader commercial ties unchanged. “There is this theory in the U.S. that the future world would consist of two circles. One is the U.S. centric economic order and the other is the China centric economic order,” says John Gong, a professor at The University of International Business and Economics in Beijing. “It’s an economic version of the Cold War. It’s something that we should all avoid.”

WSJ : Uber Prices IPO at $45 a Share

Uber Prices IPO at $45 a Share
Ride-hailing company commands a valuation of about $82 billion

Uber Technologies Inc. priced its initial public offering at $45 a share, according to people familiar with the matter, near the low end of its expected range as the ride-hailing giant grapples with choppy markets and the disappointing debut of its chief rival.

At that price, Uber, which had been targeting a range of $44 to $50 a share, commands a valuation of about $82 billion. That makes it the largest U.S.-listed IPO since Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. BABA -0.31% went public in 2014. Still, that is less than the valuation of as much as $100 billion the ride-hailing giant had earlier targeted.

The pricing sets the stage for Uber’s much-hyped trading start Friday, the biggest moment in a year that could break records for IPO activity. How the shares trade could help set the tone for the rest of the year, with other big technology startups like WeWork Cos. and Slack Technologies Inc. still waiting in the wings.

It is far from certain the market will warmly welcome Uber shares. Lyft Inc., LYFT 4.29% Uber’s closest rival, has stumbled badly since it began trading publicly in March, down more than 20% from their IPO price. Mindful of that, and an uptick in market jitters in recent days, Uber and its underwriters are taking a conservative approach to pricing the shares after two weeks of roadshow meetings with investors, people familiar with the matter said. There was demand for the shares at higher prices but Uber sought to put them in the hands of as many institutional investors as possible, given their penchant for being more long-term-oriented than hedge-fund and retail investors, the people said.

Potential investors have also expressed concern that Uber’s existing shareholders, sitting on big paper gains after the ride-hailing pioneer’s value exploded since it was founded 10 years ago, could find ways to circumvent a lockup that bars them from selling for six months.

Before Lyft made its debut, George Soros purchased a big stake in the company from fellow billionaire Carl Icahn. A hedge Mr. Soros established before buying the stock may have contributed to selling pressure on Lyft, The Wall Street Journal reported. Indeed, Uber added as a risk factor to its IPO paperwork the possibility that its existing shareholders could engage in “sales, short sales or hedging transactions…whether or not we believe them to be prohibited.”

Uber stands out among a group of private technology companies that have raised vast sums at steep valuations: Its fundraising has eclipsed that of all the others in the U.S., amounting to nearly $20 billion in equity and debt.

For that reason, many of Wall Street’s biggest IPO buyers have already poured big sums into the company, and that could dampen their interest in buying more shares in the IPO. BlackRock Inc. funds, for example, already hold roughly 9.8 million shares of Uber’s stock, according to regulatory filings, valued at more than $400 million.

Uber Chief Executive Dara Khosrowshahi and Chief Financial Officer Nelson Chai have been flying between London, New York, San Francisco and other cities to meet potential investors and drum up interest in Uber’s IPO.

In the meetings, they have been painting a promising future for the company, one in which most people won’t own cars and instead will hire self-driving vehicles, electric bikes or scooters.

But at a luncheon with investors in New York City last week, Messrs. Khosrowshahi and Chai were also asked questions about “the big elephants in the room,” that is, decelerating growth and the company’s steep losses, according to someone who attended.

Uber’s loss in the 12 months through March rose to more than $3.7 billion, by far the largest ever for a U.S. startup in the year before an IPO, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence.

Mr. Khosrawshahi took a break Monday night to attend the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute Gala in New York with his wife, who wore a dress adorned with cars. They chose to go in through an alternative entrance to avoid being photographed.

Uber’s co-founder and former CEO, Travis Kalanick, also attended but like most guests entered the museum through the main entrance.

They’ll both be at the New York Stock Exchange Friday morning when Uber rings the opening bell before it starts trading as a public company under the ticker UBER.