A multiple sclerosis drug is manufactured at the Biogen Idec plant in Cambridge, Mass.
Essdras M Suarez | The Boston Globe | Getty Images
Check out the companies making headlines midday Monday:
Biogen — A Morgan Stanley analyst upgraded the biopharma company to overweight from underweight and predicted a 30% rally in the stock over the next 12 months. The analyst expects Wall Street to “price in higher odds of success for aducanumab, Biogen’s investigational drug which is the first potential disease modifying therapy for Alzheimer’s disease.” Biogen shares rose more than 3%.
Amazon — Shares of the e-commerce giant gained 0.5% after several Wall Street firms raised their price target on the stock, including Bank of America and Wells Fargo. The company is slated to report its second quarter results on Thursday.
Walgreens Boots Alliance — Walgreens shares fell more than 2% after the company announced Stefano Pessina will step down from his role as CEO. Instead, he will become the company’s next executive chairman, replacing Jim Skinner. Walgreens said Skinner will remain on the company’s board after Pessina becomes chairman. There was no timetable set for finding the next Walgreens CEO.
Moderna — Moderna jumped 7% after the company said it received an additional $472 million in government assistance as the biotech company continues work on the development of a potential Covid-19 vaccine. On Monday, the company’s phase three study of the possible vaccine, which will include at least 30,000 participants, began.
Tapestry — Tapestry gained 1.5% after Goldman Sachs upgraded the luxury retailer to buy from neutral. The Wall Street firm said it sees an “attractive valuation opportunity” as the stock has lagged peers despite positive company and industry trends in the near term. Goldman also cited Tapestry’s “strong balance sheet, controlled promotionality, and advantageous direct-to-consumer led distribution.”
Hasbro — Shares of the toymaker dropped more than 7% following its dismal quarterly earnings report. Hasbro reported earnings of 2 cents per share on revenue of $860 million. Wall Street expected earnings of 23 cents per share on revenue $992 million, according to Refinitiv.
Albertsons — Albertsons shares fell more than 5% after company reported mixed fiscal first-quarter results. The grocery store chain posted a profit of $1.35 per share, topping a Refinitiv estimate of $1.30 per share. The company’s revenue, however, came in at $22.75 billion. That’s just below a forecast of $22.78 billion.
DraftKings — The online gambling stock dropped by 9% after some Major League Baseball games were postponed amid reports that the Miami Marlins suffered a Covid-19 outbreak. The MLB was the first of the four biggest North American sports leagues to begin play since the pandemic led to shutdowns in March.
Apple — Apple rose more than 1% and was among the best-performing stocks despite a JPMorgan analyst saying the tech giant could lose steam after reporting earnings later this week. “We believe investors looking for further upside have to focus on the longer-term earnings trajectory rather than expect near-term upside, as the likelihood of an earnings beat in F3Q (Jun) as well as strong early 5G cycle volumes (driving upside to calendar 2H20 estimates) appear to be priced in,” the analyst said.
— With reporting from Pippa Stevens, Maggie Fitzgerald, Jesse Pound and Yun Li.