Tag: Shares

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Business

GameStop shares soar once more, however quick sellers aren’t backing down

GameStop shares jump again, but short sellers aren't backing down

Ramin Talaie | Bloomberg | Getty Images

GameStop is resurfacing after a wild session, pushing the stock back above $ 100, but short sellers betting against the brick and mortar video game dealer are far from easing.

GameStop’s shares rose more than 50% on Tuesday to a high of $ 124.58. The stock rose sharply after Social Capital’s Chamath Palihapitiya said in a tweet that he bought GameStop call options and bet that the stock will go higher. Trading was suspended several times due to the volatility.

GameStop surged more than 400% in January alone when an army of retail investors took on short sellers in online chat rooms, encouraging each other to stack up and push the stock higher. Short sellers have lost more than $ 5 billion in market value year-to-date, including a loss of $ 917 million on Monday and $ 1.6 billion on Friday, according to S3 Partners.

Despite the massive shortages, short sellers are doubling their bearish bets. In the past 30 days, GameStop stock borrowed and sold rose 1.4 million shares, valued at $ 91 million. This corresponds to an increase of 2%, as the share price has more than doubled, according to S3 Partners.

Short sellers have also reloaded bets in the past seven days, with short selling stocks up 769,000, valued at $ 50 million. GameStop’s interest in shorts is unchanged from a week ago at 139%.

“Similar to the Revolutionary War, the first line of troops is drowning in a shower of musket fire, but is being replaced by the next troops,” said Ihor Dusaniwsky, S3 managing director for predictive analytics, in an email. “We’re seeing a short squeeze on older shorts that have suffered massive mark-to-market losses on their positions, but are seeing new shorts.”

“This keeps the short positions in GME stock relatively flat overall, although there is a significant short squeeze on a significant number of existing short sellers,” added Dusaniwsky.

The explosive rally in GameStop was mainly due to the buying frenzy of individual investors in online forums, especially the notorious Reddit chat room “wallstreetbets” with more than 2 million subscribers. A trend post on Tuesday includes a screenshot of the user portfolio showing a return of over 1,000% on GameStop stock.

GameStop had a roller coaster ride on Monday, during which the stock more than doubled and turned negative within a few hours. The stock closed 18% on Monday at $ 76.79.

“The flow of orders in retail in Options is accelerating the short squeeze,” said CC Lagator of Options AI. “The call buyers are essentially leveraging the market makers’ hedges. As stocks go up, more stocks are bought to cover the increase in short deltas. This is market inefficiency and eventually ends when those who sell the calls , are over-hedged for a share that no longer rises and then actually has to sell shares in order to remain delta-neutral. “

The hedge fund Melvin Capital Management, which is short on GameStop, is down 30% through Friday this year, according to The Wall Street Journal.

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World News

U.S. inventory futures rise forward of busy week for earnings, Apple shares acquire

U.S. stock futures rise ahead of busy week for earnings, Apple shares gain

US stock futures rose early Monday as Wall Street prepared for the busiest week of earnings that will feature reports from some of the biggest tech companies.

Futures contracts linked to the Dow Jones Industrial Average implied an opening gain of around 28 points. S&P 500 futures gained 0.3%. Nasdaq 100 futures were up 0.9%.

In the coming week, 13 Dow Components and 111 S&P 500 companies will be showing profits. Quarterly reports on deck include reports from Apple, Microsoft, Netflix, Tesla, McDonald’s, Honeywell, Caterpillar and Boeing.

Before the quarterly report on Wednesday after the bell in premarket trading, Apple shares rose by 2%. Tesla, which also reported on Wednesday, gained 1.5%

According to Bank of America, 73% of the S&P 500 components that have already reported profits have outperformed both sales and EPS. The company said it was similar to last quarter when the number of companies that beat hit a record.

Stocks ended mixed Friday – the S&P 500 and Dow closed in the red while the Nasdaq Composite closed at a record high – although all three posted gains for the week. The Dow recorded its fifth positive week in six while the S&P recorded its third positive week in four. The Nasdaq rose 4.19% last week for its best week since November and the fifth positive week in six when stocks of big tech names drove the index to new all-time highs.

The surge came as President Joe Biden tried to push through a $ 1.9 trillion stimulus package that many Republicans in Congress are opposed to. The tax subsidy includes, among other things, direct controls for millions of Americans, aid to state and local governments, funding for Covid vaccines and tests, increasing the minimum wage, and improving unemployment benefits.

Lindsey Bell, chief investment strategist at Ally Invest, noted that additional stimulus could lead to a spike in inflation.

“Right now, watch out for signs of inflation as a temporary or longer-term trend. If it’s just a quick shock, we can see some market weakness without major action by the Fed,” she noted. “On the other hand, persistently high inflation could force the Fed to consider a rate hike and withdraw its market support.”

In an inflationary environment, investors should prefer the consumer staples, energy and financial sectors. She added that real estate and gold are among the other assets that can help hedge against inflation.

The number of coronavirus cases in the US and abroad continues to rise, but many economists are forecasting a return to growth this year.

“We continue to believe that a reduction in virus risk from mass vaccination coupled with fiscal support for consumer spending will result in a mid-year consumption boom and very strong growth in 2021,” Jan Hatzius, chief economist at Goldman Sachs, told a note to customers over the weekend. “We currently forecast GDP growth of + 6.6% for the full year, 2½ percentage points above consensus,” he added.

However, the company found that while risks like insufficient tax subsidies are less likely, other risks remain. Hatzius cited consumers who remained more cautious than expected, as well as the development of a vaccine-resistant virus strain, as possible future headwinds for the market.

Biden’s surgeon general said Sunday the U.S. is trying to keep up as the coronavirus mutates.

“The virus is basically telling us that it will keep changing and we need to be prepared for it,” said Dr. Vivek Murthy told ABC News “This Week”.

“We need to be number one and do much better genome monitoring so we can identify variants when they arise, and that means we need to double up on public health measures like masking and avoiding indoor gatherings,” he added.

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Business

Nordstrom (JWN) shares drop as retailer says vacation gross sales tumbled 22%

Nordstrom (JWN) shares drop as retailer says holiday sales tumbled 22%

A person walks into the Nordstrom store, which is open for business, as New York City re-opens Phase 2 after restrictions to contain the coronavirus pandemic were placed in New York, New York on June 29, 2020.

Rob Kim | Getty Images

Nordstrom on Wednesday reported a 22% drop in sales for the nine-week period ending Jan. 2 as the department store chain struggled to get shoppers into their stores for clothing, shoes and Christmas gifts.

Shares fell more than 3% in after-hours trading.

According to Nordstrom, digital sales in the holiday season increased 23% from 2019 and accounted for 54% of total sales, compared to 34% a year ago. And more than 30% of customers’ online orders came from the stores, the company added.

The double-digit drop in sales was in line with expectations for the fourth quarter, Nordstrom said.

“We are encouraged by the increasing momentum during and after the Christmas season,” CEO Erik Nordstrom said in a statement.

The company continues to expect a profitable fourth quarter of the fiscal year, but continues to face pressure from increased shipping surcharges in its growing e-commerce business.

Nordstrom will host a virtual investor event on February 4th and will announce fourth quarter results on March 2nd.

On Tuesday, clothing retailer Urban Outfitters reported disappointing Christmas sales due to the decline in store traffic due to the Covid pandemic. While big box retailer Target said on Wednesday sales in the same store grew more than 17% during the holidays, fueled by online gains. Off-mall retailers like Target, Best Buy, and Walmart have for the most part outperformed mall-based companies.

Nordstrom stocks are down about 10% over the past 12 months. The company has a market value of nearly $ 6 billion.

Read the full Nordstrom press release.

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Business

City Outfitters (URBN) shares tumble as 2020 vacation gross sales disappoint

Urban Outfitters (URBN) shares tumble as 2020 holiday sales disappoint

Shoppers with their Urban Outfitters shopping bags in Soho in New York

Richard Levine | Corbis | Getty Images

Urban Outfitters’ shares fell Tuesday after the clothing retailer reported disappointing Christmas sales and announced that its current chief executive would leave later this month.

The stock fell roughly 11% after the close of trading, after rising nearly 6% on the day.

Urban Outfitters, which also owns the Anthropologie and Free People brands, said current CEO Trish Donnelly will be leaving effective Jan. 31 to pursue another career opportunity. She has named Sheila Harrington, the current CEO of Free People, as CEO of Urban Outfitters and will continue to oversee the Free People banner.

During the two-month period ending December 31, Urban announced that the company’s total sales were down 8.4% year over year, while sales in the same store had declined 9% due to the decline in business traffic due to the Covid pandemic. Sales in the same store tracks sales both online and in stores that have been open for at least 12 months.

Online sales rose double digits, the company said, but that wasn’t enough to make up for losses in stores. According to Urban, sales at Free People increased 1%, Urban Outfitters increased 8% and Anthropologie increased 12%.

In a virtual presentation at the annual ICR conference on Tuesday afternoon, CFO Frank Conforti said the company kept inventory levels low during the holidays, especially in stores, to avoid having to discount excess goods during the season. But that strategy could have backfired and hit store sales, Conforti said. “This may be the first time we’ve seen the negative impact of our product model,” he said.

Urban is also in the process of building another warehouse in Kansas to meet the peaks in online demand and will open a temporary warehouse in the meantime to help with digital orders.

The company found that sales in the same store across the portfolio “rebounded well” in January. However, earnings are expected to come under pressure in the fourth quarter, partly due to increased shipping and logistics costs due to the online surge.

For the eleven month period ending December 31, Urban announced that total sales were down 14.3%, while sales in the same store were down 12% overall.

Also on Tuesday, Urban named Gabrielle Conforti, her current chief merchandising officer, President of Urban’s North America division. Emma Wisden, the current General Manager of Urban’s Europe division, will lead Urban’s wholesale business.

Urban Outfitters’ shares were up nearly 15% over the past 12 months as of Tuesday’s close.

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World News

Alibaba shares fall after reviews of anti-monopoly probe by China

Alibaba shares fall after reports of anti-monopoly probe by China

Alibaba Group’s signage will be displayed during the company’s December 11th Global Shopping Festival on November 11, 2020 in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, China.

Aly Song | Reuters

BEIJING – Alibaba’s shares fell in Hong Kong and extended trading in the US when reports surfaced that the Chinese government is conducting an anti-monopoly investigation into the tech giant.

China’s state market regulator said Thursday through official online channels that it had launched an investigation into Alibaba for monopoly practices. The main problem was a practice that forces traders to choose one of two platforms instead of being able to work with both.

The news follows mounting – and largely unexpected – pressure from Chinese authorities to curb their largest tech companies through regulatory action.

Alibaba confirmed the market regulator investigation, saying “business operations remain normal.”

Bloomberg first covered the news announced by the Chinese state news agency Xinhua.

Alibaba’s shares closed more than 8% in Hong Kong on Thursday and fell that amount in New York premarket trading.

The regulators meet with Jack Ma’s other company

Also on Thursday, the Chinese authorities said they would meet with Alibaba subsidiary Ant to monitor the financial technology company on issues such as market-oriented behavior and taking into account the rights and interests of consumers.

People’s Bank of China said on its website that the other participating regulators are the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission, the China Securities Regulatory Commission and the State Administration of Foreign Exchange.

Ant confirmed that he received a notice from regulators for a meeting on Thursday. Last month, regulators abruptly suspended the company’s massive IPO a few days before the planned Hong Kong and Shanghai listing.

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Business

Aid Therapeutics shares have soared 38,000% in 2020

Relief Therapeutics shares have soared 38,000% in 2020

Medical staff examine a patient in the Covid-19 intensive care unit at the United Memorial Medical Center in Houston on November 16, 2020.

Go Nakamura | Getty Images

LONDON – Swiss biotech company Relief Therapeutics saw its share price jump 38,000% this year as it develops a drug that focuses on respiratory failure due to severe Covid-19.

Last week, the company, together with US partner NeuroRx, achieved the target agreed with the US Food and Drug Administration of 165 patients in the ongoing Phase 2b / 3 study with RLF-100, a patented version of Aviptadil.

Aviptadil is a synthetic formulation of a naturally occurring peptide called Vasoactive Intestinal Polypeptide (VIP), which is primarily concentrated in the lungs and resets the immune system’s response, acts as a vasodilator, and promotes the production of surfactant in the lungs allowing the transfer of blood oxygen.

RLF-100 has been around since 2000, when it was developed to treat acute respiratory distress and other lung diseases and was subsequently acquired by Biogen. Earlier this year, Relief scientists discovered that it could protect the cell attacked by the Covid-19 virus.

Ram Selvaraju, chairman of Relief Therapeutics, spoke to CNBC from New York by phone that the ongoing study is expected to provide topline data in the first half of January, and attributed the company’s stock price surge in part to evidence of effectiveness in ” otherwise untreatable patients. “

“Where other people have mainly focused on lightly infected or moderately infected people, we have tried carefully to see if our drug can benefit the seriously ill and the terminally ill,” he said.

Early results of extended access use of RLF-100 in patients with critical Covid-19 and severe comorbidities showed that 72% of patients admitted to the ICU survived.

Relief Therapeutics had a market cap of less than 100 million Swiss Francs ($ 113 million) in late July and surpassed the first 21 patients treated with RLF-100 under the FDA Expanded Access Protocol on August 10 after promising results 1.6 billion Swiss people. Since then, it has flattened to just under CHF 1 billion.

The 38,000% increase largely corresponds to the low level of the original share price, which was just under 0.40 Swiss francs per share on Friday afternoon. Shares in the multinational Roche, on the other hand, are worth 306 francs.

Other therapeutics that have been tested on patients with more moderate symptoms have been purchased by government agencies to help fight the pandemic. The US government’s Operation Warp Speed ​​ordered Gileads Remdesivir and Eli Lillys Bamlanivimab.

Selvaraju announced that Relief Therapeutics and NeuroRx were in contact with Operation Warp Speed, and said that if the drug successfully proves its effectiveness in critically ill patients after phase three randomized tests, the company expects to see stock orders on a scale similar to that Gilead and Eli Lilly. A US Department of Health spokesman was not immediately available for comment when contacted CNBC.

Covid the “tip of the iceberg”

In June, the FDA granted RLF-100 fast-track designation and also received orphan drug designation for the treatment of acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS).

Since the drug is not an antiviral drug specifically designed to fight the coronavirus, Relief Therapeutics hopes the current pandemic is “a chance for this drug to shine” if it turns out to be a therapeutic one clinical benefit in the treatment of respiratory disease due to Covid- hat. 19th

“Covid-19 is really the tip of the iceberg, the head of the spear. If we can prove this drug works for Covid-19-related respiratory distress, we will assume that we can use these results to further develop the drug testing.” in other forms of acute respiratory distress syndrome unrelated to Covid-19, “Selvaraju said, adding that this puts Relief Therapeutics in a” pretty unique position “.

“While many other experimental therapeutics will either live or die due to the development of the pandemic, on the contrary, we believe that once we have established the therapeutic benefits of this drug in the context of Covid-19, hopefully we should have our long-term vision for this drug too a kind of workhorse for emergency rooms and intensive care units as well as hospitals and hospital systems everywhere. “

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Health

Shares of Penumbra tank after brief vendor releases important report

Shares of Penumbra tank after short seller releases critical report

Penumbra’s shares were down about 17% Tuesday after short seller Quintessential Capital Management released a critical report on the California-based medical device maker. The stock halted shortly after 2 p.m. ET due to outstanding news.

Quintessential Capital is short in Penumbra, which means they are betting that the stock will fall. The company first began targeting penumbra last month, releasing a report of more than 100 slides claiming, among other things, its JET 7 catheter had been linked to at least 18 deaths and 39 injuries. Quintessential Capital also alleged penumbra misled doctors and investors alike.

In its most recent report, Quintessential Capital claims that an “essential part” of the company’s scientific research was carried out by a fake person named Dr. Antique Bose. “This person is a fake. We have no doubts,” said Gabriel Grego, managing partner of Quintessential Capital, on Tuesday in CNBC’s “mid-term report”.

Quintessential Capital directed its allegations of misconduct to the US Food and Drug Administration and wrote to the regulator on Tuesday to open an investigation. According to records that Grego shared with CNBC, the company has also given the SEC a whistleblower tip.

Penumbra has a market cap of around $ 7 billion as of Tuesday afternoon. At the time of Quintessential Capital’s November report for the company, its market cap was approximately $ 9.4 billion.

In a statement accompanying the Mid-Term Report, Penumbra denied Quintessential Capital’s claims, saying that its “innovative medical devices have helped save the lives of hundreds of thousands of patients suffering from life-threatening diseases since its inception in 2004”.

“This attack by bad QCM short sellers reads like an internet conspiracy written by teenagers. It is impossible to deny the facts because there are no facts,” the company said in an email. “Penumbra is very comfortable finding that none of the claims made in the diatribe of these short sellers are true. The claims are nothing more than a baseless campaign of shameless short sellers willing to risk lives for a quick profit. “

– CNBC’s Lora Kolodny contributed to this report.

Categories
Health

Shares shut 55% increased on market debut

Shares close 55% higher on market debut

A woman stands next to signage with the JD.com logo and the company’s mascot “Joy” at the company’s headquarters in Beijing, China.

Qilai Shen | Bloomberg | Getty Images

GUANGZHOU, China – JD Health, the health division of Chinese e-commerce giant JD.com, rose on its debut in Hong Kong.

JD Health issued 381.9 million shares at a price of Hong Kong $ 70.58 each. These stocks traded at Hong Kong $ 94.5 at launch. That was 34% more than the offer price.

Shares rebounded during the day, hitting a daily high of $ 123.3 Hong Kong, up nearly 75% from the offer price. The stock closed at $ 110 Hong Kong.

The company said the net proceeds from the IPO were Hong Kong dollars 26.46 billion ($ 3.41 billion).

JD Health’s shares were valued at the high end of the Hong Kong dollar 62.8 to Hong Kong dollar 70.58 marketed to investors, CNBC previously reported.

The investment banks could decide to exercise the so-called over-allotment option, in which 57,285,000 additional shares would be issued. That would result in raising another $ 3.98 billion in Hong Kong through the IPO. The over-allotment must be exercised by December 31st.

Business growth plans

JD Health said 40% of net sales will be used for business expansion over the next 3 to 5 years, 30% will be used for research and development over the next 2 to 3 years, while the remaining money will be spent on potential investments. Acquisitions and General Corporate Purposes.

The company’s business is focused on online health services such as consultations with doctors, as well as the online pharmacy. JD Health posted sales of 8.78 billion yuan ($ 1.34 billion) for the six months ended June 30, compared to 4.99 billion yuan for the same period last year.

Citing a Frost & Sullivan report, the company claimed in its prospectus that it was the top-selling online health platform in China in 2019.

CEO Xin Lijun declined on Tuesday to say whether the company could keep that position. He stressed that the company’s focus is on improving the user experience, which of course would generate revenue.

“The Chinese health and medicine industry is playing like ‘go,'” Xin said, according to a CNBC translation of his Mandarin-language remarks made during a briefing with reporters in Beijing. He was referring to an ancient board game in which two players fight for most of the territory.

China’s healthcare industry is difficult for startups to navigate. The government is heavily involved in medical care and runs mass insurance programs to reimburse patients.

“It’s not a market-based scenario,” Xin said, noting that it limits the areas startups can do and that each line of business has its own challenges. “In theory, of course, our biggest challenge is to educate more customers about JD Health’s services and better integrate online healthcare with offline services.”

Xin said JD Health could invest in offline drug stores and work more with overseas health organizations.

JD Health’s listing is another big win for the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, where big Chinese companies have gone there to raise money. JD Health’s parent company, JD.com, conducted a secondary listing in Hong Kong in June. Another Chinese internet company, NetEase, also made a secondary listing in Hong Kong that month.

China’s tech giants have stepped up their focus on digital health care following the coronavirus outbreak earlier this year. Internet search giant Baidu is in talks with investors to raise up to $ 2 billion for a new biotech company within three years, CNBC reported in September.

JD.com will remain the majority shareholder of JD Health even after the IPO. A number of so-called cornerstone investors have been brought on board, including Hillhouse, Tiger Global, Lake Bleu Prime, the China Structural Reform Fund, Blackrock and Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund GIC.