Among the companies with shares expected to actively trade in Wednesday’s session are Mako Surgical Corp.(MAKO), Ascena Retail Group Inc.(ASNA) and Oncothyreon Inc.(ONTY)
Stryker Corp.(SYK) agreed to acquire Mako Surgical for roughly $1.65 billion, a move that will provide the orthopedics product maker with access to Mako’s robotic assisted surgery platform. Mako shareholders will receive $30 a share, a 86% premium to Tuesday’s close. Shares surged 82% to $29.46 premarket.
Ascena’s fiscal fourth-quarter earnings surged on stronger sales and margins as well as lower acquisition-related charges. The women’s apparel retailer’s shares were up 14% at $19.80 premarket as adjusted earnings from continuing operations and revenue beat expectations.
Oncothyreon said Germany’s Merck KGaA(MRK.XE) has decided to continue clinical development of Oncothyreon’s lung cancer drug tecemotide, even though the drug didn’t meet its primary endpoint in a prior Phase 3 study. Merck Serono will conduct a new Phase 3 trial called START2 for patients with locally advanced Stage III nonsmall cell lung cancer. The small biotechnology company’s shares surged 22% to $2.20 in premarket trading.
Morgan Stanley(MS) downgraded Carnival Corp.(CCL) to underweight from equalweight, noting the cruise-line operator has underperformed peers in terms of yield performance for seven out of the past eight years. “The recovery could take longer than expected,” the firm said, adding costs are rising due to the fleet enhancement program, new fuel emission rules and higher marketing and distribution costs. Shares slipped 4.6% to $32.95 premarket.
Biotech company Clovis Oncology Inc.(CLVS), which was considering a sale, didn’t enter any deal talks and is no longer seeking bids, Bloomberg News reported, citing a person with knowledge of the matter. Shares dropped 14% to $63.51 premarket.
Chatham Lodging Trust(CLDT) unveiled a plan to offer at least 3.3 million shares, as the real-estate investment trust looks to raise proceeds to repay debt and help fund a portion of a property acquisition in Bellevue, Wash. Shares slipped 5.4% to $18.35 premarket.
Brocade Communications Systems Inc.(BRCD) raised its stock buyback program to $1 billion from $308 million, as the company cited confidence in generating greater cash flow as well as its long-term business prospects. Shares rose 3.8% premarket to $8.49.
AAR Corp.'s(AIR) fiscal first-quarter profit fell 1.6% as the aviation products and services supplier’s overall sales declined.
Bank-holding company Banner Corp.(BANR) on Tuesday said it had agreed to buy Home Federal Bancorp Inc.(HFBL) (HOME) for $197 million in cash and stock. The deal, expected to close in the first quarter of 2014, will result in a combined company with about $5.2 billion in assets, making it the fourth-largest bank in the Pacific Northwest by assets, the companies said.
Car auctioneer Copart Inc.'s(CPRT) reported a weaker-than-expected fiscal fourth-quarter profit because of higher expenses. While revenue growth topped analysts’ expectations, the bottom line surprisingly fell 8% from a year ago as Copart’s expenses–including yard operation and vehicle sale costs–jumped from the prior year.
Crown Holdings Inc.(CCK) cut its third-quarter earnings guidance on lower end-user demand in some of the food-and-beverage packaging company’s markets, including European food cans and North American beverage cans.
Health Management Associates Inc.(HMA) said its newly constituted board is evaluating its $3.9 billion deal to be acquired by fellow hospital operator Community Health Systems Inc.(CYH) The review comes about a month after hedge fund Glenview Capital Management LLC gained shareholder approval to replace the hospital operator’s entire board. But its agreement earlier this year to be acquired by rival Community Health didn’t appease Glenview, which also is the top shareholder in Community Health.
Landec Corp.'s(LNDC) fiscal first-quarter profit grew 8.8% as the food-packaging maker reported higher revenue due to strong demand for vegetables. Margins, however, fell due to an increase in lower-margin food service sales and higher-than-expected raw produce costs.
Offshore driller Noble Corp.(NE) disclosed a plan to split the company into two separate firms, potentially moving to file an initial public offering for a business that would own the company’s older rigs. Noble has been mulling a plan to shed some assets for a few years and even conceded the process to evaluate such a move was taking longer than expected.
Ntelos Holdings Corp.(NTLS) said it had settled disputes with Sprint Corp.(S) related to the companies’ strategic network alliance. The settlement resolves a dispute over the reset of data rates that began in the fourth quarter of 2011, as well as unrelated billing disputes raised in the third quarter of 2012. Shares of Ntelos were up 9.7% at $17.50 in after-hours trading.
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