U.S. stock futures edged higher on Tuesday as investors look ahead to home building data set to be released later today. Inflation concerns have spiked again over the past few days leading to fears that the Federal Reserve will increase interest rates.
While Dow Futures were up 0.2%, S&P Futures and Nasdaq Futures had increased 0.3% and 0.7% each at the time of writing.
Companies expected to report before the opening bell today include Baidu (BIDU), Home Depot (HD), Macy’s (M), and Walmart (WMT) while Take-Two Interactive Software (TTWO) and The Container Store Group (TCS) are expected to report after the market close.
Stealth BioTherapeutics (MITO) was the most actively traded stock in pre-market trading as the clinical-stage biotechnology company announced that it has received funding of $30 million from Morningside Ventures and that the payment will be made in three tranches.
The funding will enable the company to advance the Phase 3 clinical trials of Elamipretide in patients with primary mitochondrial disease due to nuclear DNA mutations (nPMD).
Assertio Therapeutics (ASRT) was the biggest gainer in pre-market trading as the stock had shot up a whopping 304.6% at the time of writing. This was because the specialty pharmaceutical company’s one-to-four reverse stock split became effective today and the stock will start trading on a split-adjusted basis when the market opens.
Evofem Biosciences (EVFM) was the biggest laggard as the stock plunged 31.3% at the time of writing. The commercial-stage biopharma company announced the pricing of its public offering of 50 million shares including short-term warrants at a combined price of $1.
The warrants will have an exercise price of $1 per share that can be exercised with immediate effect and will expire two years after the date of issue. Evofem is expected to receive gross proceeds of $50 million from this offering.
In M&A news, Ansys Inc. (ANSS), a provider of global engineering simulation software and services has acquired Phoenix Integration Inc. for an undisclosed amount. Phoenix is a provider of model-based engineering (MBE) and model-based systems engineering (MBSE) software.
Ansys Senior Vice President Shane Emswiler said, “Companies across industries are benefitting from process integration and MBSE through improved communications, increased product quality, and heightened productivity across their engineering teams.”
Meanwhile, Black Knight Inc (BKI), a provider of data and analytics software for the real estate industry has expanded its product offering with the acquisition of eMBS Inc for an undisclosed amount. eMBS is also a provider of data and analytics software. This acquisition is expected to complement Black Knight’s mortgage data portfolio.
Black Knight CEO Anthony Jabbour said, “By integrating eMBS within the Black Knight solutions ecosystem, we can provide the industry’s preeminent agency data and analytics to clients of both companies, while helping them make informed decisions around mortgage-backed securities investment and research.”
Twilio (TWLO), the cloud communications platform has snapped up Zipwhip for $850 million in a cash and stock deal. The acquisition is expected to close by the end of this year. Zipwhip is a business-texting platform that helps businesses make their toll-free phone lines and landlines text-enabled, expanding their means of reaching customers.
Simon Khalaf, SVP and General Manager of the Twilio Communications Platform said, “Messaging is becoming a preferred way for consumers to engage with brands, therefore it’s critical to provide multiple messaging options.”
In other news, Alphabet’s (GOOGL) Google, together with enterprise management software provider, SAP (SAP AG), managed to migrate Spanish conglomerate Ilunion’s technological infrastructure to the cloud in a record time of just a few months, in spite of the hurdles imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The company expects it to bring greater flexibility, scalability, cost reduction, process efficiency, and speed of adaptation to change,” Google said about Ilunion’s cloud migration.
AT&T (T), the telecommunication giant will spin-off of its WarnerMedia unit into a separate company and merge it with media company Discovery (DISCA). AT&T will receive $43 billion as part of the deal and while AT&T shareholders will own 71% of the new company, Discovery shareholders will own the remaining 29%.
AT&T’s CEO John Stankey said, “AT&T shareholders will retain their stake in our leading communications company that comes with an attractive dividend. Plus, they will get a stake in the new company, a global media leader that can build one of the top streaming platforms in the world.”
