- Stocks in focus in premarket trade on Wednesday, 18th December. Please refresh for updates.
- 7:45 AM ET: FedEx (NYSE:FDX) stock was down 7.6% after publishing a 40% drop in profit in its fiscal second quarter, due in part to Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) pivoting from customer to rival in the delivery space. Revenue fell 3% to $17.3 billion, also short of consensus forecasts.
FedEx (NYSE:FDX) also cut its full-year earnings per share forecast by nearly 10% to a range around $10.88 a share.
08:53 AM: Devon Energy (NYSE:DVN) stock rose 1.3% after the shale oil and gas producer said it will sell its Barnett shale operations for $770 million. The company will funnel all of the proceeds and more into raising the ceiling of its share buyback program by $1 billion to $6 billion. So far, under the currently authorized program, it has bought back $4.8 billion.
The deal completes the disposal of Devon's gas assets and its refocusing as an oil producer.
As of the third quarter, Devon was producing just under 600 million cubic feet of gas a day from the Barnett assets.
- 08:43 AM: Cigna (NYSE:CI) stock is in the spotlight after the Financial Times reported it has agreed to sell its life and disability insurance business to New York Life for $6.3 billion.
The unit in question accounts for just over 10% of Cigna’s revenue.
The deal would cut Cigna’s debt pile, which had risen to $39 billion after the acquisition of Express Scripts (NASDAQ:ESRX). The FT said that would cut its debt servicing costs by $200 million a year.
08:25 AM: Pacific Gas&Electric (NYSE:PCG) stock rose 11.6% after a California court approved its draft $13.5 billion settlement with victims of wildfires caused by its faulty equipment in 2017 and 2018. The court also approved an $11 billion settlement with insurers who picked up the tab for the ensuing claims.
The company’s way out from chapter 11 bankruptcy is still littered with obstacles, however. California Governor Gavin Newsom has said the company’s plan doesn’t meet the state’s requirements for a new scheme that would partially protect utilities against future wildfire damage if they operate safely.
A rival plan to exit bankruptcy drafted by bondholders has also met with rejection by the state.
- 8:11 AM ET: Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) inched up 0.1% after Bloomberg reported that it is considering cutting prices for its Chinese-made cars by 20% next year, in part by sourcing more parts locally so as to avoid import tariffs.
07:57 AM ET: General Mills (NYSE:GIS) stock was up 2.5% after the maker of Cheerios reported a 7% rise in operating profit in constant currencies.
Net earnings per share rose more sharply, reflecting high restructuring costs a year earlier. Organic net sales rose only 1%, however, leaving revenue nearly flat at $4.4 billion.
The company reaffirmed its guidance for the full fiscal 2020 year.
- 7:50 AM Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (NYSE:FCAU) ADRs were down 0.9% after the company agreed merger terms with France’s Peugeot (PA:PEUP). Under the agreed deal, FCA shareholders will still get their 5.5 billion euro ($6.1 billion) special dividend before completion.
In addition, the company will cancel all double voting rights currently held by strategic shareholders, a move which will limit the French government’s influence. Strategic shareholders in the combined group will receive new double voting rights after three years.
