Pre-Market active stocks
Gainers
- Geron (NASDAQ:GERN) shares increased 7.3% after Goldman Sachs raised its rating to ‘buy’ from ‘neutral,’ citing the potential for the company’s new drug application for imetelstat, which is focused at treating lower-risk MDS.
- The stock of WestRock (NYSE:WRK) increased 6.9% after the business agreed to merge with Smurfit Kappa to form the world’s largest listed paper and packaging company, valued at about $20 billion.
- Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) shares climbed 0.2% ahead of the iPhone maker’s latest hardware update later in the day in California, which is likely to include the release of the iPhone 15.
- Boeing (NYSE:BA) gained 0.1% after SMBC Aviation Capital, the world’s second largest aircraft leasing firm, announced an order for 25 Boeing 737 MAX aircraft worth more than $3.7 billion at current list prices.
Losers
- Acelyrin’s (NASDAQ:SLRN) stock fell more than 50% after the drugmaker’s investigational lead medicine failed to demonstrate adequate efficacy in lowering symptoms of an inflammatory skin illness.
- Sight Sciences (NASDAQ:SGHT) stock plunged more than 30% after the ophthalmic surgical device manufacturer reduced its revenue forecast, citing concern about the future of Medicare coverage for its products.
- Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) shares plunged 10% after the computer software giant missed its sales projection for the current quarter, which it attributed to the rapid transition of its recent acquisition Cerner (NASDAQ:CERN) to the cloud.
- United Parcel Service (NYSE:UPS) stock declined 1.2% after the delivery company announced that a new five-year contract covering around 340,000 Teamsters-represented workers in the United States would boost wage and benefit expenditures at a compound annual growth rate of 3.3% over the duration of the deal.
Upgrades
CVS Health stamped with Outperform at Wolfe
Wolfe Research boosted CVS Health (NYSE: NYSE:CVS) to Outperform from Peerperform with a price objective of $80.00, sending the shares to surge higher when word of the upgrade reached the wires intraday Monday.
The firm believes prospective modifications to CVS’s long-term profitability projection, coupled with confidence in a 2025 recovery in its Star rating, could lead to large improvements in medical advantage profits.
Shares completed Monday’s session higher by 4.4% to $68.75, and was recently up 0.6% in Tuesday’s premarket.
Block started at Buy at Berenberg
Berenberg initiated coverage on Block (NYSE:SQ) with a Buy rating and a price target of $75.00 on Monday, Shares closed Monday up 1.6% to $53.94.
Geron earns Buy rating at Goldman
Goldman Sachs raised biotech Geron (NASDAQ:GERN) to Buy from Neutral on Tuesday with a price target of $4.00. Shares were soaring nearly 7% in recent premarket trade.
This move comes as Geron’s new medication application for imetelstat, aimed at treating a lower-risk form of blood cancer MDS, was recently accepted, with the Federal medication Administration set to assess the treatment by June 16 of next year. Goldman believes imetelstat is likely to get clearance, potentially resulting to $1.5 billion in peak sales.
The increase follows the company’s appointment Monday of new CFO Michelle Robertson, effective later this month, to replace the departing current CFO Olivia Bloom.
Shares were recently changing hands at $2.50 in the premarket.
Brown Forman, manufacturer of Jack Daniel’s, upped to Outperform
Bernstein upgraded spirits provider Brown Forman (NYSE:BFb) to Outperform from Market Perform on Monday with a price objective of $76.40.
The firm highlighted that its initial Market Perform rating last year was based on Brown Forman’s past price restrictions, which made it tough to forecast strong margin expansion following years of compression. “But things just got a lot sweeter, and today we upgrade Brown-Forman to Outperform,” said Bernstein.
Shares added 1.1% to $64.99.
Downgrades
Due to the GTF engine issue, two firms have downgraded RTX to neutral.
Both Barclays and RBC Capital downgraded RTX (NYSE:RTX), formerly Raytheon (NYSE:RTN), on Tuesday after the aerospace and defense company said its bottom line would take a $3 billion hit over the next few years due to a previously disclosed contamination issue with its engine parts, which triggered a massive recall of Airbus jets in July.
RBC Capital lowered the firm to Sector Perform from Outperform and reduced its price goal to $82.00 from $105.00. Meanwhile, Barclays downgraded the company to Equalweight from Overweight and reduced its price objective to $75.00 from $100.00.
Sight Sciences is in free fall after its outlook was slashed, and it has been struck with two downgrades.
Sight Sciences (NASDAQ:SGHT) shares were down almost one-third in premarket trading after the eyecare tech company decreased its Q3 and full-year expectations, prompting two companies to downgrade the company to neutral.
William Blair downgraded the business from Outperform to Market Perform.
Piper Sandler also reduced the stock to Neutral from Overweight, while lowering its price target to $5.50 from $15.00 before.
Shares have lately fallen 31% to $4.50. The stock had closed at $6.51 on Monday.
Oracle dropped to Neutral.
On Tuesday, Monness, Crespi, and Hardt downgraded Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) to Neutral from Buy.
According to the analysts, the downgrade reflects their belief that “overly exuberant expectations” are colliding with “rocky trends” in the aftermath of the software giant’s lowered estimate. The company’s fiscal Q2 projection has been reduced from $13.21 billion to $13.06 billion, and non-GAAP earnings per share for the quarter are now expected to be $1.34, down $0.06 from the previous target.
Premarket, shares were down 1.4% to $122.19 USD.
In premarket trading on Tuesday, shares were down 10% to $114.31.
Enphase Energy has been reduced to Hold.
On Monday, Truist Securities downgraded Enphase Energy (NASDAQ:ENPH) from Buy to Hold and reduced its price target to $135.00 from $210.00.
Earnings Calendar
Wednesday, September 13
- Burford Capital Ltd. (BUR), Cracker Barrel Old Country Store (CBRL), and Semtech Corp. (SMTC)
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ell suffers as a result of a downgrade by Barclays.
Dell Technologies (NYSE:DELL) shares tumbled 3% before the bell on Thursday after Barclays downgraded the firm to Underweight from Equalweight, with a $53.00 price target.
Cloudflare began at Underperform.
Cloudflare (NYSE:NET) has been added to BofA Securities’ coverage with an Underperform rating and a $52.00 price objective.
Crocs (NASDAQ:CROX) shares were down more than 2% in pre-market trading today after B.Riley downgraded the firm to Neutral from Buy and reduced its price objective to $101.00 from $125.00.
Verint Systems (NASDAQ:VRNT) was downgraded from Outperform to Perform by Oppenheimer.
Following the company’s announced Q2 EPS and sales misses, as well as dismal full-year forecasts, shares fell more than 17% pre-market today.