US stock futures looked to extend their weekly losses on Tuesday following Monday’s volatile session which saw the tech-heavy NASDAQ fall around 2.6%.
Dow futures were down 0.5%, S&P Futures fell 0.8% while Nasdaq futures tumbled 1.4% at the time of writing.
Companies expected to report before the opening bell include Palantir Technologies (PLTR) and HanesBrands (HBI) while Electronic Arts (EA), fuboTV (FUBO) and Chesapeake Energy (CHK) are expected to report after the market close.
Palantir Technologies (PLTR) was the most actively traded stock in pre-market trading as the provider of data analytics software posted a 49% increase in revenues to $341 million in the first quarter, and adjusted earnings of $0.04 per share.
Larimar Therapeutics (LRMR) was the biggest gainer in pre-market trading as the stock shot up by 20.3%. The clinical-stage biotechnology company reported positive Phase 1 clinical data indicating that administration of the company’s drug, CTI-1601, showed a dose-dependent rise in frataxin levels (a type of protein encoded by the FXN gene) in patients with the rare genetic disease, Friedreich’s Ataxia.
Alset EHome International (AEI) was the biggest laggard in pre-market trading as the stock crashed by 35.3%. The property development, biohealth, and digital transformation technology company announced a 4.7 million units stock offering at $5.07 per unit. Each unit will consist of common stock and Series A and Series B warrants.
In earnings news, Workhorse Group’s (WKHS) 1Q results were disappointing as the company posted revenues of $0.5 million, up from the $0.08 million in the same quarter last year but falling short of Street expectations of $2.3 million. The company also reported rising losses due to higher research and development expenses.
Workhorse lowered its 2021 vehicle production target from 1,800 units to 1,000 units due to a global chip shortage that has impacted auto assembly line operations across the board.
WKHS’s CEO Duane Hughes said, “Bottlenecks within the global supply chain and offshore shipping delays of commodity raw materials and components as well as our initial stages of production limited our capacity to produce during the first quarter.”
Meanwhile, biotechnology company Novavax (NVAX) reported mixed results in the first quarter as revenues beat Street expectations while losses widened. NVAX posted total revenue of $447.2 million that topped analysts’ expectations of $233.9 million.
The company reported a net loss in the first quarter of $222.7 million or $3.05 per share, compared to a net loss of $26 million or $0.58 per share in the same quarter last year. Analysts were expecting the company to report a loss of $3.60 per share.
Novavax CEO Stanley C. Erck said, “We have secured additional manufacturing and supply agreements, expanding our global supply chain to over 10 countries. In the coming months, we look forward to delivering on critical milestones, including announcing final data from our PREVENT-19 Phase 3 trial, completing our regulatory submissions, evaluating NVX-CoV2373 in younger populations and continuing to develop our booster strategy to address the evolving COVID-19 pandemic.”
In M&A news, AbbVie’s (ABBV) Allergan Aesthetics will acquire Soliton (SOLY) including its Rapid Acoustic Pulse device for $550 million. This acquisition is expected to expand ABBV’s body contouring treatment portfolio.
AbbVie Senior Vice President Carrie Strom said, “The addition of this technology complements Allergan Aesthetics’ portfolio of body contouring treatments. Health care providers will now have another option to address consumers’ aesthetic concerns.”
Meanwhile, payment solutions provider Repay Holdings Corp. (RPAY) will snap up integrated payments provider BillingTree for a consideration of around $503 million.
Repay CEO John Morris said, “BillingTree satisfies all of our acquisition investment criteria, including a large addressable market opportunity that is amid a shift away from legacy payment methods and towards the technology-first, industry-specific payment mediums in which BillingTree specializes.”
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has given its nod to the COVID-19 vaccine from Pfizer (PFE) and BioNTech (BNTX) that will be used in adolescents in the 12 to 15 age group.
Pfizer Chairman and CEO Albert Bourla said, “Today’s expansion of our EUA represents a significant step forward in helping the U.S. government broaden its vaccination program and help protect adolescents before the start of the next school year.”
