Stocks to Watch: Cubist Pharma, McDonald’s, American Airlines
Among the companies with shares expected to actively trade in Monday’s session are Cubist Pharmaceuticals Inc., McDonald’s Corp. and American Airlines Group Inc.
Merck & Co. agreed to buy antibiotics maker Cubist Pharmaceuticals for $8.4 billion. The deal, which also includes the assumption of $1.1 billion in debt, is worth $102 a share, a 37% premium to Friday’s close. Merck’s shares edged up slightly to $61.70 in premarket trading. Shares of Cubist surged 36% to $101.13.
McDonald’s posted sharper-than-expected sales declines across all of its divisions in November, as the fast-food giant continues to struggle with competition and a host of issues across its business. Shares fell 2.9% to $93.54 premarket.
American Airlines reduced its forecast for fourth-quarter consolidated passenger revenue per available seat mile–a key measure of performance for the sector. The airline reported that its passenger traffic edged down 0.5% during November from a year earlier. Shares dropped 1.8% to $50.10 premarket.
ConocoPhillips expects its capital spending to decline 20% to $13.5 billion next year from 2014 levels, to reflect lower spending on major projects that are nearly complete as well as plans to defer spending on emerging shale plays in North America. Shares were down 1.3% to $67 premarket.
ClubCorp Holdings Inc., the largest owner of private golf and country clubs in the U.S., will not convert itself into a real-estate investment trust, claiming such a move would have limited tax benefits and impede its plans to reinvent clubs. Shares plunged 12.4% to $17.45 premarket.
Edwards Lifesciences Corp. on Monday offered earnings guidance near the higher end of analysts’ expectations as the medical-device maker expects to continue growing sales of it heart valves. Shares ticked down slightly to $129.70 premarket.
TriMas Corp. said Monday it plans to spin off the part of its business that designs, produces and distributes towing and trailer products into a separate, publicly traded company. Shares were inactive premarket.
South Korea’s Hanwha Group said Monday it will consolidate its solar holdings, announcing plans to merge solar company Hanwha SolarOne Co. Ltd. with Hanwha Q Cells Investment Co. in a $1.2 billion deal that will create the world’s largest manufacturer of solar cells. Shares of Hanwha Solar rose 2.5% to $1.66 premarket.
Amazon.com Inc. workers in Germany walked off the job again Monday, aiming to pressure the U.S. retailer to sit down to wage negotiations during the busiest shopping season of the year.
Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. disclosed new data on Monday that showed its payment affiliate is increasingly processing more transactions through mobile devices.
Vail Resorts Inc. said growth in new-pass sales helped the ski-resort operator narrow its loss for the October quarter.
Delia’s Inc. said Monday it had filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, as expected, while it continues to liquidate its assets and close its stores.
Warren Buffett‘s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. won a license to sell nonlife insurance in Singapore, the first such permit in Asia for the U.S. conglomerate as it builds an insurance business across the region.
Workers at U.S. assembly plants for General Motors Co. and Ford Motor Co. are likely to get 2014 bonuses exceeding $6,000 each, capping a four-year labor contract under which profit-sharing checks have gone to factory employees in record amounts. But the United Auto Workers union, gearing up for negotiations with Detroit’s Big Three next summer, is prepared to argue that isn’t good enough.
RadioShack Corp. on Monday again denied it has defaulted on a loan from its term lenders, less than a week after the struggling electronics chain initially disputed the allegations as “wrong and self-serving.”
Google Inc.’s problems are real but are dwarfed by its opportunity for swelling profits through this decade and beyond, Barron’s said in a recent report. The company’s shares could rise 20% in a year, the report said.
Source: WSJ – Stocks to Watch: Cubist Pharma, McDonald’s, American Airlines
