Market Pulse: Achillion, A. Schulman, American Greetings, Linn Energy

Mobile Global Esports

02/07/2013 14:21

(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/guw39t) July 2 (Reuters) - Some U.S. stocks to watch on Tuesday: FUTURES POINT TO FLAT OPEN BEFORE FACTORY DATA  U.S. stock index futures pointed to a flat open, paring back from earlier modest gains as investors looked ahead to the latest economic data. S&P 500 futures  SPc1  were up 0.6 point, Dow Jones industrial average futures  DJc1  up 2 points, and Nasdaq 100 futures  NDc1  up 4 points.  .N  ** DAVITA HEALTHCARE PARTNERS INC  DVA.N , Monday close $121.15, down 10 pct premarket The U.S. agency in charge of state-run health schemes proposed on Monday rate cuts of 9.4 percent in Medicare funding for dialysis providers in 2014. DaVita is the biggest U.S. operator of dialysis clinics. German dialysis specialist Fresenius Medical Care  FMEG.DE  fell 10 percent to 49.05 euros on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange, making it the worst performing FTSEurofirst 300 stock.  ID:nL3N0F82CJ  ** ACHILLION PHARMACEUTICALS INC  ACHN.O , Monday close $8.36, down 21 pct premarket Achillion Pharmaceuticals said the U.S. Food and Drug Administration had put its hepatitis C drug sovaprevir on hold after elevations in liver enzymes were noted in an early-stage study of the drug's interaction with an HIV drug. ID:nL3N0F73ME   ** A. SCHULMAN INC  SHLM.O , Monday close $27.83, down 13 pct after market The chemical maker's third-quarter earnings missed average analyst estimates by 15 cents late on Monday and the company forecast lower-than-expected profit for the year, citing uncertainty in recession-hit Europe, its biggest market. Sluggish economic conditions prompted the company to cut jobs in Americas and Europe, Middle East and Africa region as part of a restructuring program, A. Schulman said.  ID:nPnCL41187  ** LINN ENERGY LLC  LINE.O , Monday close $33.29, down 9 pct premarket ** LINNCO LLC  LNCO.O , Monday close $37.07, down 9 pct premarket ** BERRY PETROLEUM CO  BRY.N , Monday close $42.33, down 7 pct premarket Oil and gas company Linn said on Monday the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has initiated an inquiry regarding Linn and its affiliate LinnCo, including documents related to a $2.5 billion takeover offer of peer Berry Petroleum Co  BRY.N . ID:nGNXUYCZUa  J.P. Morgan Securities downgraded the oil and gas producer's stock to "neutral" from "overweight", according to streetInsider.com. ** XYRATEX LTD  XRTX.O , Monday close $10.37, up 7.5 pct after market  The network and storage equipment maker reported better-than-expected second-quarter results and said business wins from equipment makers was making up for the revenue decline from its once-largest customer NetApp  NTAP.O .  ID:nPnSF41054  ** American Greetings Corp's  AM.N , Monday close $18.10, up 4.5 pct premarket  American Greetings' founding family raised its offer to take the gift card maker private, according to a regulatory filing on Tuesday, sending the company's shares up 4 percent in premarket trading.  ID:nL3N0F82TW  ** AMERICAN REALTY CAPITAL PROPERTIES INC  ARCP.O , Monday close $14.80, up 6.4 pct premarket ARCP said it would buy American Realty Capital Trust IV for $3.1 billion in cash and stock to expand in the net-lease sector, where tenants pay most of the operating costs. ID:nL3N0F829I  ** ZYNGA INC  ZNGA.O , Monday close $3.07, up 7 pct premarket Zynga's decision to bring in the head of Microsoft Corp's MSFT.O  Xbox business to replace founder Mark Pincus is a bold stroke that was hailed on Wall Street but it still leaves questions as to who is ultimately in charge at the troubled game-maker.  ID:nL2N0F71LQ  ** CYCLACEL PHARMACEUTICALS INC  CYCC.O , $3.08 Monday close, up 3 pct premarket JMP Securities initiated coverage on the biotechnology company's stock with "market outperform", saying it expects rapid expansion in enrollment in the late-stage trial of the company's cancer drug sapacitabine, culminating in interim data in 2014. The brokerage set a price target of $9 on the stock.  ** SILICON MOTION TECHNOLOGY CORP  SIMO.O , Monday close $10.70, down 4.3 pct premarket The semiconductor maker said it expected second-quarter revenue to remain at the first-quarter level, below the company's original forecast of a 5 to 10 percent increase. "with availability of NAND flash still tight for module makers, procurement of our card and USB flash drive controllers from these customers was lower than expected," CEO Wallace Kou said in a statement.  ID:nGNXUYDCBa  ** ARRAY BIOPHARMA INC  ARRY.O , Monday close $4.73, up 4 pct premarket The biopharmaceutical company initiated a late-stage trial of its ovarian cancer drug MEK162, triggering a $5 million milestone payment from partner Novartis  NOVN.VX . Array has licensed the worldwide rights to develop and market the drug to Novartis.  ID:nPnLA41459  ** CONSTELLATION BRANDS INC  STZ.N , Monday close $53.15, down 4 pct premarket  The alcoholic beverage company reported lower quarterly earnings, hurt by higher grape and other costs.  ID:nL2N0F71DE  ** NIELSEN HOLDINGS NV  NLSN.N , Monday close $33.28, up 4 pct after market The market research company will replace Sprint Nextel Corp S.N  in S&P 500 after close of trading on July 8. The pending Sprint transaction with Softbank Corp  9984.T  will cause sprint's public float to fall below 50 percent necessary for continued inclusion in the index.  ID:nPnNY41556  ** SPRINT NEXTEL CORP  S.N , Monday close $7.07 Sprint must face a lawsuit brought by New York state accusing the company of deliberately not collecting or paying millions of dollars of taxes for its cell phone service, a judge has ruled.  ID:nL2N0F801L  ** RUCKUS WIRELESS INC  RKUS.N , Monday close $12.62, up 3 pct after market Brokerage Piper Jaffray & Co initiated coverage on the WiFi products maker's stock with an "overweight" rating and price target of $17. "We are seeing very strong demand for Wi-Fi offloads, new standards and proliferation of Wi-Fi connected devices," analysts wrote in a note to clients. ** QUIKSILVER INC  ZQK.N , Monday close $6.64, up 3 pct premarket B. Riley & Co upgraded the sportswear retailer's stock to "buy" from "neutral", according to theflyonthewall.com. ** MULTIMEDIA GAMES HOLDING CO INC  MGAM.O , Monday close $27.24, up 3 pct after market Wells Fargo Securities started the gaming machine maker's stock with an "outperform" rating, according to Theflyonthewall.com.  ** VALERO ENERGY CORP  VLO.N , Monday close $34.25, up 2 pct premarket Valero Energy said a fluid catalytic cracking unit (FCC) at its 132,000 barrel per day (bpd) Benicia, California, refinery was returning to planned rates.  ID:nWNAB023P9  ** VIVUS INC  VVUS.O , Monday close $12.41 Vivus's largest shareholder First Manhattan Co said it proposed a former senior executive of AstraZeneca Plc  AZN.L  as chief executive of the obesity drug maker, a move that could swing shareholder support for the activist investor's board slate ahead of a proxy vote.  ID:nL3N0F82O3  ** DELL INC  DELL.O , Monday close $13.31 Billionaire investor Carl Icahn asked for a meeting with Dell's special board committee on Monday after lining up $5.2 billion in loan commitments to back up his bid for a leveraged recapitalization of the personal computer maker.  ID:nL2N0F70YT  ** US AIRWAYS GROUP INC  LCC.N , Monday close $16.80 A group of 19 attorneys general, led by Texas, has joined a U.S. Justice Department probe of a planned merger of American Airlines Inc  AAMRQ.PK  and US Airways, three sources close to the discussions told Reuters.  ID:nL2N0F71QW  ** ONYX PHARMACEUTICALS INC  ONXX.O , Monday close $131.33, up 1 pct premarket Onyx Pharmaceuticals, whose cancer drugs promise a strong revenue stream, is attracting preliminary buyout interest from several large pharmaceutical companies such as Pfizer Inc PFE.N  and Novartis AG  NOVN.VX , two people familiar with the matter said on Monday. Onyx said it had rejected a recent $8.7 billion offer from larger biotech Amgen Inc  AMGN.O  as too low. ID:nL2N0F716W  ** CAPITAL ONE FINANCIAL CORP  COF.N , Monday close $63.59 The credit card issuer said it would buy back shares worth up to $1 billion after it completed the sale of its Best Buy Co Inc  BBY.N  portfolio.  ID:L3N0F82LE  ** WALT DISNEY CO  DIS.N , Monday close $63.93 Walt Disney's board on Monday extended Bob Iger's tenure as its chief executive by 15 months, allowing him to remain both CEO and chairman of the media giant through June 30, 2016. ID:nL2N0F71OM  ** TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY FOX INC  FOXA.O , Monday close $29.40 ** NEWS CORP  NWSA.O , Monday close $14.79 Wall Street rewarded Rupert Murdoch's move to create a separate entertainment company, giving 21st Century Fox one of the richest valuations in the media sector on its first day of trading on Monday.  ID:nL2N0F70MZ  ** ABBOTT LABORATORIES  ABT.N , Monday close $35.03 ** MEAD JOHNSON NUTRITION CO  MJN.N , Monday close $79.43, down 2 pct premarket   Five foreign infant milk formula companies are under investigation by China's top economic planning agency for possible antitrust violations, the Beijing Times reported on Tuesday quoting sources. The article said Abbott Laboratories, Mead Johnson, Nestle SA  NESN.VX , Danone's  DANO.PA  Dumex brand and Wyeth Nutrition are under investigation by China's National Development and Reform Commission for possible price-fixing behavior and anti-competitive practices. ID:nL3N0F81YJ  ** NOBLE CORP  NE.N , Monday close $37.95 The owner of the world's third-largest offshore drilling rig fleet plans to change its country of incorporation for the second time in less than five years, moving this time to the UK, which the company cited for its "well established tax regime." ID:nL2N0F71PE  (Compiled by Kanika Sikka; Editing by Don Sebastian) ((kanika.sikka@thomsonreuters.com)(within U.S. +1 646 223 8780, outside U.S. +91 80 6749 1130)(Reuters Messaging: kanika.sikka.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net)) Keywords: MARKETS USA STOCKS/PULSE