Pre-Market : Catalent gains; Shoe Carnival falls: Stocks in news August 29

Pre-Market active stocks

Gainers

• Catalent (NYSE:CTLT) stock rose 3.6% after the contract drug manufacturer confirmed it has reached a settlement with activist investor Elliot Investment Management, agreeing to add four new directors to its board and to conduct a “strategic review.” It added it was delaying its annual report. 
• Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) stock rose 2.7% after UBS upgraded the tech company to ‘buy’ from ‘neutral’, saying it can jump another 20% as its AI story has “plenty of room” to run. 
• Best Buy (NYSE:BBY) stock rose 1.1% after the electronics retailer reported a smaller-than-expected drop in quarterly comparable sales, as deeper discounts encouraged consumers to shop. 
• Verizon (NYSE:VZ) stock rose 1.5% and AT&T (NYSE:T) stock climbed 1.7% after Citigroup upgraded both telecom giants to ‘buy’ from ‘neutral’, saying they support their dividend yields. 
• 3M Company (NYSE:MMM) stock rose 0.8% after the industrial giant agreed to pay $6B to settle nearly 260,000 lawsuits accusing it of selling defective combat earplugs that caused hearing loss in thousands of current and former U.S. military service members. 

Losers

• Shoe Carnival (NASDAQ:SCVL) stock fell 9.2% after the footwear retailer cut its revenue guidance for the full year to $1.2 billion at the midpoint from $1.24B, citing a “challenging economic backdrop.” 
• Nio (NYSE:NIO) ADRS fell 6.5% after the Chinese EV maker posted a widening of quarterly losses as it missed revenue expectations for the fourth straight quarter. 
• Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) stock fell 2% after JPMorgan removed the business software maker from its U.S. analyst focus list. 

MARKET MOVERS 

After-Market movers

GAINERS

• Best Buy (NYSE:BBY) stock jumped 5.6% after the electronics store announced a smaller-than-expected dip in quarterly comparable sales, owing to greater discounts that encouraged customers to shop. 
• PVH Corp. (NYSE:PVH) is up 2% after reporting Q2 earnings per share of $1.98, $0.23 higher than the analyst expectation of $1.75. Revenue for the quarter was $2.21 billion, compared to the consensus forecast of $2.19 billion. PVH Corp. expects FY2024 earnings per share of $10.35, compared to the average of $10.02. Reaffirms the predicted increase of 3% to 4% (2% to 3% in constant currency). 

LOSERS

• FibroGen, Inc. (NASDAQ:FGEN) 17% LOWER; reported topline data from the Phase 3 LELANTOS-2 study of pamrevlumab for the treatment of ambulatory Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) patients receiving baseline systemic corticosteroids. The primary goal of change in total North Star Ambulatory Assessment (NSAA) score from baseline to week 52 was not met (placebo-corrected mean difference -0.528 points; 95% CI -2.308 to 1.251; p=0.5553). Secondary outcomes were not reached as well, as determined by change from baseline at week 52 in 4-stair climb velocity, 10-meter walk/run test, time to stand, time to loss of ambulation, and proportion of patients with longer than 10 seconds in the 10-meter walk/run test. 
• Ambarella (NASDAQ:AMBA) is 15% LOWER; it reported ($0.15) EPS in the second quarter, $0.06 higher than the analyst forecast of ($0.21). Revenue for the quarter was $62.1 million, compared to the consensus estimate of $62.02 million. Ambarella forecasts Q3 2024 revenue of $50 million plus or less 4%, compared to the average of $67.6 million.  
• Box Inc (NYSE:BOX) is down 7% after reporting Q2 earnings per share of $0.36, $0.01 higher than the analyst expectation of $0.35. Revenue for the quarter was $261.43M, compared to the consensus estimate of $261.32M. Box anticipates earnings per share of $0.37-$0.38 in the third quarter of 2024. Box anticipates revenue of $261-263 million in the third quarter of 2024.  
• HP Inc. (NYSE:HPQ) 5% LOWER; posted $0.86 EPS in the third quarter, in line with the $0.86 analyst estimate. Revenue for the quarter was $13.2 billion, compared to the consensus forecast of $13.38 billion. HP Inc. expects Q4 2023 earnings per share of $0.85-$0.97, compared to the average of $0.95. HP Inc. expects FY2023 earnings per share of $3.23-$3.35, compared to the average of $3.37. 

MIDDAY MOVERS

GAINERS

• Catalent (NYSE:CTLT) stock jumped 6.3% after the contract drug manufacturer announced a resolution with activist investor Elliot Investment Management, agreeing to appoint four new directors to its board of directors and conduct a “strategic review.” It also stated that its annual report will be delayed. 
• Best Buy (NYSE:BBY) stock jumped 5.6% after the electronics store announced a smaller-than-expected dip in quarterly comparable sales, owing to greater discounts that encouraged customers to shop. 
• Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) stock jumped 3.2% after UBS upgraded the tech company to ‘buy’ from ‘neutral,’ saying it had “plenty of room” to grow its AI story.  
• The stock of 3M Company (NYSE:MMM) increased 1.9% after the industrial conglomerate agreed to pay $6 billion to settle over 260,000 claims alleging it of selling defective combat earplugs that caused hearing loss in thousands of current and former U.S. military service personnel. 

LOSERS 

•  Verizon (NYSE:VZ) and AT&T (NYSE:T) stock surged 2.6% and 2.7%, respectively, after Citigroup upgraded both telecom behemoths to ‘buy’ from ‘neutral,’ citing support for their dividend yields. 
• Shoe Carnival (NASDAQ:SCVL) stock dipped 1.8% after the footwear retailer reduced its full-year revenue outlook to $1.2 billion at the midpoint from $1.24 billion, citing a “challenging economic backdrop.” 
• Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) stock dipped 0.1% after JPMorgan withdrew the company from its analyst focus list in the United States. 

UPGRADES BY EXPERTS 

Citi increases its bids for Verizon and AT&T. 

Citi analysts anticipate an improved investment outlook for large-cap telecoms, and have upgraded Verizon (NYSE:VZ) and AT&T to Buy, with price targets of $40 and $17, respectively.  

Following $5.5 billion settlement reports, 3M receives an improvement. 

Wolfe Research raised 3M (NYSE:MMM) from Underperform to Peerperform. 

Oracle benefits from the UBS upgrade. 

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) shares gained more than 2% in pre-market trading today after UBS upgraded the stock to Buy from Neutral and boosted its price objective to $140.00 from $120.00. 

Mister Car Wash gains 6% as a result of the Piper Sandler update. 

Mister Car Wash (NYSE:MCW) stock jumped more than 6% yesterday after Piper Sandler upgraded it to Overweight from Neutral and boosted its price objective to $12.00 from $9.00. 

DOWNGRADES BY EXPERTS

• VMware downgraded to Neutral as Broadcom takeover completes Monness, Crespi, Hardt downgraded VMware (NYSE:VMW) to Neutral from Buy ahead of the company’s Q2/24 earnings report on Thursday. 
• Celanese is downgraded by Piper Sandler. 
• Celanese (NYSE:CE) shares fell roughly 2% in premarket trading today after Piper Sandler downgraded the firm to Underweight from Neutral and reduced its price objective from $120.00 to $112.00. 
• Upwork (NASDAQ:UPWK) shares fell more than 4% yesterday after BTIG downgraded the firm to Neutral from Buy, citing a more balanced valuation following a 40% year-to-date gain in the stock price. 
• Morgan Stanley reduced its price objective for Farfetch (NYSE:FTCH) to $5.00 from $20.00 and downgraded it to Equalweight from Overweight. Today’s premarket drop was greater than 1%. 

Earnings Calendar

Wednesday, August 30 

•  Salesforce (CRM), CrowdStrike Holdings (CRWD), Brown Forman Corporation (BF.A, BF.B), Veeva Systems Inc. (VEEV), The Cooper Companies (COO), Chewy Inc. (CHWY), Okta Inc. (OKTA), and Five Below (FIVE) 

Tuesday, August 29

• Pinduoduo (PDD), Bank of Montreal (BMO), Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS), HP Inc. (HPQ), Nio Inc. (NIO), Best Buy (BBY), J.M. Smucker Company (SJM), Catalent Inc. (CTLT), and Donaldson Company (DCI)   
• For details

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