All NewsSeptember 18, 2020

Electric vehicle tech provider XL Fleet to merge with SPAC Pivotal Investment in deal valued at about $1 billion

XL Fleet, a provider of electric vehicle technology, said Friday it has agreed to merge with Pivotal Investment Corporation II , a special purpose acquisition corporation, or SPAC, in a deal with a pro forma enterprise value of about $1 billion. A SPAC, or blank-check company, is one that goes public and then seeks to acquire a business or businesses. The new entity will be named XL Fleet and will remain listed on the New York Stock Exchange, under a new ticker, “XL.” XL’s customers include FedEx, The Coca-Cola Company, PepsiCo, Verizon, the City of Boston, Seattle Fire Department, Yale University, and Harvard University, among other blue-chip companies, municipalities, and institutions, the companies said in a joint statement. On close, the company expects to receive about $300 million of cash that will be used to expand, to develop new products and services, pay down or prepay debt and for general corporate purposes. The deal is expected to close in the fourth quarter. Pivotal shares were up 19% premarket.
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All NewsSeptember 18, 2020

NetEase’s stock surges to pace Nasdaq 100’s premarket gainers after 5-for-1 stock split

Shares of NetEase Inc. surged 2.8% in premarket trading Friday, enough to pace all of the Nasdaq 100 early gainers, after the China-based internet technology company announced a ratio change for its U.S.-listed shares which effectively results in a 5-for-1 stock split. The company said each American depositary share (ADS) will represent five ordinary shares, effective Oct. 1, compared with the current ratio of one ADS for 25 ordinary shares. The ADS will start trading on a split adjusted basis on the Nasdaq exchange on Oct. 2. The stock closed Thursday at $470.01, which would be adjusted to $94.00 after the split. The stock has run up 53.3% year to date through Thursday, while the Nasdaq 100 has gained 6.0% and the S&P 500 has tacked on 3.9%.

All NewsSeptember 18, 2020

Tesla’s stock bounces after Wedbush analyst boosts price target, but keeps rating at neutral

Shares of Tesla Inc. rose 2.2% in premarket trading Friday, bouncing after a 5.9% drop over the past two days, after Wedbush analyst Dan Ives raised his price target to above current levels, citing signs of “robust and stronger-than-expected” demand in China. Ives raised his price target to $475, which is 12.2% above Thursday’s closing price of $423.43, from $380, while reiterating the neutral rating he’s had on the stock since April 2019. “The pent-up demand in the China EV market for Model 3’s and recent price cuts are catalyzing strong unit deliveries for Musk & Co. in this key market with increased market share vs. domestic competitors as the Giga 3 success story continues to play out,” Ives wrote in a note to clients. He said because Model 3s sold in China have incrementally higher margins compared with those sold in the U.S. and Europe, he believes the strength in China could increase Tesla’s profitability profile over the next few years. And for the much-anticipated Battery Day scheduled for Sept. 22, Ives said Chief Executive Elon Musk will announce a number of potential “game changing” battery developments. The stock’s selloff the past two days snapped a 5-day win streak in which the stock soared 36.2%, which in turn came after a five-day bear-market selloff in which the stock sank 33.7%. It has run up more than fivefold (406.1%) year to date, while the S&P 500 has gained 3.9%.

All NewsSeptember 18, 2020

Athira Pharma prices upsized IPO at $17, high end of price range

Athira Pharma Inc. priced its initial public offering at $17 a share, the top end of its proposed price range. The company upsized the deal to 12 million shares from an original plan to offer 10 million shares, to raise $204 million. The stock will start trading on Nasdaq later Friday, under the ticker “ATHA.” Goldman Sachs, Jefferies and Stifel were lead book runners on the deal with JMP Securities acting as co-manager. Proceeds will be used to finance clinical trials. “We are a late clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing small molecules to restore neuronal health and stop neurodegeneration,” the company says in its IPO prospectus.

All NewsSeptember 18, 2020

Coronavirus tally: Global cases of COVID-19 top 30 million, 946,490 deaths and U.S. death toll close to 200,000

The global tally for confirmed cases of the coronavirus that causes COVID-19 climbed above 30 million on Friday, according to data aggregated by Johns Hopkins University, while the death toll rose to 946,490. At least 20.5 million people have recovered. The U.S. has the highest tallies in the world with 6.7 million cases and 197,644 deaths. Brazil has the second highest death toll at 134,935 and third highest case tally at 4.5 million. India is third with 84,372 deaths and second with 5.2 million cases. Mexico is fourth with 72,179 deaths and seventh with 684,113 cases. The U.K. has 41,794 deaths and 384,087 cases, the highest death toll in Europe and fifth-highest in the world. Controversial coronavirus-testing guidelines posted on the CDC website that said asymptomatic people don’t need to get tested even if they have been exposed to the virus were not actually written by the CDC, the New York Times reported Thursday, and were posted over the objections of CDC scientists.

All NewsSeptember 18, 2020

CDC didn’t write or approve changes to coronavirus testing guidelines: report

Controversial coronavirus-testing guidelines posted on the CDC website that said asymptomatic people don’t need to get tested even if they have been exposed to the virus were not actually written by the CDC, the New York Times reported Thursday, and were posted over the objections of CDC scientists. Citing internal documents and sources familiar with the matter, the Times said the Department of Health and Human Services rewrote the testing guidelines in late August and “dropped” them into the CDC’s website without proper vetting. The recommendation contained numerous errors, the Times reported, and was inconsistent with the CDC’s messaging, especially as asymptomatic people are considered major vectors of COVID-19’s spread. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention quickly walked back the new guidelines after an uproar. A new version of testing guidelines is expected to be announced Friday, the Times said, which also has been revised by the HHS and has apparently not been properly vetted. The incident appears to be yet another instance of the politicalization of an historically apolitical agency, which threatens to undermine its credibility during the worst pandemic in a century.

All NewsSeptember 17, 2020

Texas Instruments raises dividend by 13%

Texas Instruments Inc. ) said Thursday it will raise its quarterly cash dividend by 13%, from 90 cents a share to $1.02 a share. The dividend will be payable Nov. 16 to stockholders of record on Oct. 30, contingent upon a formal OK by the board of directors at its regular meeting in October. Texas Instruments said it has authorized dividend increases for 17 straight years. Shares of Texas Instruments were flat in the extended session after ending the regular trading day up 0.5%.

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