Market Pulse: Yum Brands, Krispy Kreme, Tesla, Conatus Pharma, Oncomed

Greenlight Biosciences Holdings PBC

03/12/2013 13:39

(For more market insights, including options activity, click on STXNEWS/US ; for the Day Ahead newsletter http://link.reuters.com/mex49s; for the Morning News Call newsletter, http://link.reuters.com/nex49s) U.S. stock index futures fell on Tuesday indicating the S&P 500 may fall for a third consecutive day on concerns a scale-back in stimulus by the Federal Reserve may be on the horizon.  Dow Jones industrial average futures  DJc1  were down 0.39 percent at 15,936, S&P 500 futures  SPc1  were down 0.28 percent at 1,794.7 and Nasdaq 100 futures  NDc1  were down 0.11 percent at 3,479.  .N  ** APPLE INC  AAPL.O , Monday close $551.23, +0.94 pct premarket The i-Phone maker has acquired social media search and analytics startup Topsy, an unusual purchase for a hardware-focused company that has made few forays into social networking.  ID:nL2N0JH1YI  ** TWITTER INC  TWTR.N , Monday close $40.78, -0.44 pct premarket  Some of the five lead underwriters of the social media company's initial public offering said it might not achieve Facebook-like scale and its stock may not rise much. ID:nL2N0JH1CT  ** POTASH CORP OF SASKATCHEWAN INC  POT.N , Monday close $31.71 The world's largest potash producer by capacity said it would cut 18 percent of its workforce as it struggled with slumping demand and weak prices for the crop ingredient. ID:nL4N0JI2HN  ** ONCOMED PHARMACEUTICALS INC  OMED.O , Monday close $14, +83.21 pct premarket  ** CELGENE CORP  CELG.O , Monday close $163.11 OncoMed said Celgene would develop and market six of its anti-cancer stem cell experimental drugs for an upfront payment of $155 million.  ID:nL4N0JI2SO  ** YUM BRANDS INC  YUM.N , Monday close, $77.71, -1.80 pct after market The company forecast a return to earnings per share growth in 2014 but said November sales at established KFC restaurants in China, its top market, failed to grow despite a successful half-priced chicken promotion.  ID:nL2N0JH1US  ** KRISPY KREME DOUGHNUTS INC  KKD.N , Monday close $24.55, -13.85 pct premarket The doughnut chain forecast fiscal 2015 earnings below analysts' estimates, saying it expected international franchise same-store sales to remain negative. Krispy Kreme forecast adjusted earnings of 71-76 cents per share for its year ending January 2015. Analysts on average were expecting 77 cents per share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.  ID:nPn4kGWMY  ** TESLA MOTORS INC  TSLA.O , Monday close $124.17, +5.86 pct premarket The electric-car maker said Germany's vehicle regulatory agency would pursue "no further measures" after concluding a review of recent Tesla Model S fires in the United States and Mexico.  ID:nL2N0JH1X4  Morgan Stanley named the stock its top pick. ** MICROSOFT CORP  MSFT.O , Monday close $38.45 U.S. antitrust regulators have approved Microsoft's deal to buy Nokia Corp's  NOK1V.HE  mobile phone business, the Federal Trade Commission said on Monday.  ID:nL2N0JH1IH   ** ASCENA RETAIL GROUP INC  ASNA.O , Monday close $20.88, +4.2 pct after market The women's apparel retailer reported a 5 percent rise in first-quarter sales as more customers shopped at its Lane Bryant and Justice brand stores.  ID:nBw6xr1W6a  ** CONATUS PHARMACEUTICALS INC  CNAT.O , Monday close $6.14, +26.06 pct premarket The biotechnology company said the U.S. health regulator granted an orphan drug status to its experimental drug, emricasan, for the treatment of liver transplant recipients with a type of scarring that could be irreversible and lead to end-stage liver disease.  ID:nGNXUZIQNa  Orphan status is granted to drugs that treat conditions or diseases that affect fewer than 200,000 people in the United States. The status usually comes with a seven-year marketing exclusivity if the drug is approved for sale.  ** LEXICON PHARMACEUTICALS INC  LXRX.O , Monday close $2.32, -11.64 pct premarket The company said its experimental irritable bowel syndrome drug, LX1033, failed the main goal of showing improvements in stool consistency over a placebo in an initial mid-stage study. However, there were positive effects on abdominal pain in the treated group that warrant further study, Lexicon said in a statement.  ID:nPn8KNxmw  The drug was granted fast-track status by the U.S. health regulator in December last year.  ID:nPnDA30390  ** CBOE HOLDINGS INC  CBOE.O , Monday close $52.98, -1.32 pct after market The operator of the biggest U.S. stock-options market reported an 8 percent fall in trading volume in VIX (Volatility Index) futures to 2.5 million contracts. November exchange-wide trading volumes at CFE, a unit of CBOE, totaled about 2.6 million contracts.  ID:nPn1ht8kZ  ** CME GROUP INC  CME.O , Monday close $81.39, -9.87 pct premarket The largest U.S. futures exchange operator reported a 7 percent fall in its CME Group foreign exchange average volume to 718,000 contracts per day. The company said total volume in November was more than 241 million contracts, of which 87 percent was traded electronically.  ID:nPnqdD1  ** 3D SYSTEMS CORP  DDD.N , Monday close $76.89, +1.44 pct premarket ** STRATASYS LTD  SSYS.O , Monday close $118.84, +0.68 pct premarket FBR started coverage on shares of the two 3D printer makers with "outperform" rating, according to Theflyonthewall.com. ** WESTERN GAS PARTNERS LP  WES.N , Monday close $63.41, -3.69 pct premarket The company, which processes and transports oil and gas, announced on Monday an underwritten public offering of 4.5 million common units. The company said it expected to use the net proceeds from the offering to repay outstanding borrowings under its revolving credit facility.  ID:nMKWz4CtLa  ** NRG YIELD INC  NYLD.N , Monday close $36.11 The renewable energy company said it entered an agreement to acquire the assets of privately held thermal energy supplier Energy Systems Co for $120 million in cash.  ID:nBw9gFx1fa  ** THOR INDUSTRIES INC  THO.N , Monday close $54.25 The recreational vehicle (RV) maker reported lower-than-expected revenue for the first quarter, partly due to lower sales of towable RVs.  ID:nPn144wBB  ** ENVIVIO INC  ENVI.O , Monday close $2.88, +8.33 pct premarket    The video delivery company reported a 62 percent rise in third-quarter revenue on Monday, helped by orders from Tier 1 customers.  ID:nGNXUZIQQa  ** GT ADVANCED TECHNOLOGIES INC  GTAT.O , Monday close $9.94, -5.94 pct premarket The solar and LED equipment maker said on Monday that it would offer $125 million worth of senior notes to raise working capital and for general corporate purposes, including acquisitions and capital expenditures.  ID:nGNXUZISLa  ** MEDALLION FINANCIAL CORP  TAXI.O , Monday close $17.54, -9.12 pct premarket The specialty finance company said it commenced public offering of 2.9 million shares of its common stock. The company said it planned to use the proceeds for lending to and making investments in companies and for other general corporate purposes.  ID:nBw76pPmga  ** NCR CORP  NCR.N , Monday close $34.19 The ATM maker said it would buy Digital Insight Corp, a provider of online and mobile banking technology, from private equity firm Thoma Bravo LLC for $1.65 billion to boost its financial services business.  ID:nL4N0JH40M  ** RIO TINTO PLC  RIO.N , Monday close $52.37, +0.69 pct premarket  The miner plans to halve capital spending to $8 billion by 2015 from last year's level to cut debt, in the latest move by a major miner to slash outlays as commodities prices remain fragile. The cuts are sharper than some investors had expected and deeper than those made by Rio Tinto's major rivals. [ID: nL4N0JI081]  ** GOLDMAN SACHS GROUP INC  GS.N , Monday close $169.72, -0.37 pct premarket  ** JPMORGAN CHASE & CO  JPM.N , Monday close $56.98, -0.14 pct premarket The U.S. Federal Reserve on Monday said that it approved new capital plans by Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan, after initially ordering the banks to fix flaws in their capital planning processes.  ID:nL2N0JH1T8  ** SOUTHWEST AIRLINES CO  LUV.N , Monday close $18.61 The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration on Monday proposed fining the Dallas-based airline $325,000, saying it operated an aircraft with improper modifications.  ID:nL2N0JH21S  ** CVS CAREMARK CORP  CVS.N , Monday close $66.65 The company agreed to pay $4.25 million to settle allegations it failed to reimburse Medicaid for patients' drug costs that should have been paid by private health plans administered under the company's pharmacy benefit management unit, the U.S. Justice Department said on Monday. [ID: nL2N0JH1YA] ** VALE SA  VALE.N , Monday close $14.89, +1.61 pct premarket   The world's No. 2 mining company lowered its investment budget for a third straight year as it bolstered efforts to focus expansion on its main iron ore business.  ID:nL2N0JH0H0  ** BARRICK GOLD CORP  ABX.N , Monday close $15.54, +0.39 pct premarket  The world's largest gold producer is poised to announce a board shuffle and name a new chief operating officer, according to several sources familiar with the situation.  ID:nL2N0JH0UN  (Compiled by Avik Das in Bangalore; Editing by Kirti Pandey) ((avik.das@thomsonreuters.com)(within U.S. +1 646 223 8780)(outside U.S. +91 80 6749 1130)(Reuters Messaging: avik.das.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net)) Keywords: MARKETS USA STOCKS/PULSE