Mars will pay $7.7 billion, or $93 a share for VCA in a deal valued at $9.1 billion when the animal hospital chain’s $1.4 billion in debt is factored in. The agreement has been unanimously approved by directors of both companies, and VCA will join Mars’ Petcare division, which includes veterinary services like Banfield Pet Hospital, Bluefield, Pet Partners, and several animal nutrition brands.
Day: January 9, 2017
Why Surgical Care Affiliates Inc Operated Higher Today
UnitedHealth is best known as a health insurer, but the company also operates doctors’ offices and other healthcare services, such has urgent care facilities, through its OptumCare division. Buying Surgical Care Affiliates will add 205 surgical facilities to its offerings.
Why Francesca’s Holdings Corp. Stock Popped Today
Specifically, Francesca’s now expects revenue in its fiscal fourth quarter — with ends Jan. 28 — to be in the range of $144 million to $146 million — narrowed from previous guidance, which called for $143 million to $148 million — assuming comparable sales ranging from a 1% decline to a 1% increase year over year. On the bottom line, that should translate to diluted earnings per share of $0.35 to $0.37.
Why 3D Systems’ Stock Soared 53% in 2016, Even as the Company Was Unprofitable
Moreover, 2016 was the first year since 2013 that 3D Systems’ stock has closed out a year with a gain. The stock of the industry’s largest player, along with most others in the group, was slaughtered in 2014 and 2015, falling 90.6% during this two-year period.
Top Biotech Resolutions for 2017
The industry remains under scrutiny because of pricing decisions, pipeline failures, and profit concerns. What can top stocks like Gilead Sciences In this episode of The Motley Fool’s Industry Focus: Healthcare podcast, analyst Kristine Harjes is joined by Todd Campbell to offer up some resolutions they’d like biotech’s C-suite to stick to in 2017.
These 5 Oil Stocks Were Smoking Hot in December
Oil prices ended 2016 on a high note, rising more than 8% for the month of December, capping a year where crude jumped nearly 45%. That rising oil market ignited a rally in several oil stocks last month.
Sell Dow Stocks Coke And Procter & Gamble, Says Goldman Sachs
The stocks of Coca-Cola Co. and Procter & Gamble Co. , both components of the Dow Jones Industrial Average , both slumped about 1% in morning trade Monday, after Goldman Sachs analysts turned bearish on the consumer staples giants.
Is MannKind Corp. Ready to Rebound in 2017?
The drugmaker’s titanic plunge was catalyzed by the termination of itslicense and collaboration agreement with Sanofi for inhaled insulin product Afrezza last April. Sanofi decided to end the partnership with MannKind because of Afrezza’s unexpectedly weak launch that produced a grand total of $5.2 million in net sales during the first nine months of 2015.
Here’s Why Merrimack Pharmaceuticals Inc. Fell 47.3% in 2016
Investors in the cancer-focused biotech had to stomach a 47% decline during the year, according to data from S&P Global Market Intelligence . That was a far worse decline than the 17% pullback that was rung up by the First Trust NYSE Arca Biotech ETF As the chart above indicates, Merrimack’s stock gave its investors a wild ride during 2016.
Dollar Falls Against Yen on Risk Reduction; Sterling Sinks
The U.S. dollar slumped against the safe-haven yen on Monday on investors’ reduced appetite for risk, while sterling sank to more than two-month lows on talk that Britain would drastically rework trade ties with the European Union after Brexit. A fall in U.S. Treasury yields and U.S. stocks drove the dollar down as much as 0.6 percent against the yen to a session low of 116.16 yen.
Czech Republic, Slovakia to cooperate on guarding air spaces
The Czech Republic has approved a plan for Czech and Slovak air forces to cooperate in protecting air spaces over the two neighboring countries that once formed Czechoslovakia. The Czech Defense Ministry says the protection both the Czech Republic and Slovakia already receive as NATO members is effective only for military threats.
Banks, Oil Stocks Hinder Dow’s Pursuit of 20,000
Declines in bank and energy companies weighed on Wall Street on Monday, distancing the Dow from the 20,000 mark, while gains in technology stocks pushed the Nasdaq to a record intraday high. Two-thirds of the 30 Dow components were lower, with Goldman Sachs’s 0.7 percent decline weighing the most.
Bank of Americas Biggest Wildcard for 4Q Earnings
In fact, that’s only half its identity; it’s also an investment bank with a sizable presence on Wall Street. Being a so-called universal bank is good for Bank of America because it diversifies its revenue streams.
Anna Johnson named regional news director for US West
In this Friday, Jan. 6, 2017, photo, Anna Johnson poses for photo at her office in Phoenix. The Associated Press has named Johnson as regional news director for the west, a new position overseeing AP’s journalism and news operations across formats in … 13 western states.
7 Growth Investing Tips That Could Earn You Thousands
Successful growth investing entails identifying those elite businesses that are poised to deliver many years of consistently strong increases in revenue and profits. Companies that do tend to reward their shareholders with market-crushing returns.
It’s been 10 years since the iPhone debuted – look how…
Full websites didn’t run on mobile phones, so companies were forced to build weak, mobile versions of their sites. And yet, the typical smartphone experiences we all enjoy today didn’t happen overnight.
UnitedHealth Agrees to Buy Surgical Care for $2.3 Billion
UnitedHealth Group Inc. agreed to buy Surgical Care Affiliates Inc. for about $2.3 billion in cash and stock to add an outpatient surgery chain that will help the biggest U.S. health insurer diversify its business. UnitedHealth is paying $57 a share, with 51 percent to 80 percent of that in stock and the rest in cash, the companies said in a statement Monday.
U.S. Money and Local Talent the Growth Plan for European Biotech
For a 28-year-old biotech entrepreneur, Frenchman Xavier Duportet has a standout resume: a PhD in biology and genome engineering from MIT, a lab at Paris’s Louis Pasteur Institute, and award-winning research with his name on it. Still, in Paris, as in capitals across Europe, it’s much harder for him to raise money than for most of his tech peers.
The iPhone Turns 10: Here’s What Skeptics First Thought About It
It’s been a decade since Steve Jobs introduced the device that would transform mobile technology. Not everyone was convinced we needed it.
Oil Slips on Concerns U.S. Production is Rising
Oil fell on Monday as signs of growing U.S. production outweighed optimism that many other producers, including Russia, were sticking to a deal to cut supplies in a bid to bolster the market. Brent crude futures were down 96 cents at $56.14 a barrel at 1128 GMT.
The Legal Survival Guide for Marketing in 2017
Register to become a member today. You’ll get the essential information you need to do your job better, including The news and features are funded in part by our advertisers.
Millennials may need to double how much they save for retirement
The projections are in and Wall Street analysts have pretty low expectations for how the stock market will perform this year. A roundup of the figures shows that strategists project the Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index will gain 4 percent on average in 2017 – the lowest expected annual gain for the stock market since 2005, according to an analysis by Bespoke Investment Group.
Merrimack Soars on $1 Billion Sale of Cancer Drugs to Ipsen
The Nasdaq-listed cancer drugs developer is up 43% in pre-market trading after promising shareholders special dividends worth more than its closing share price on Friday. Nasdaq-listed Merrimack Pharmaceuticals agreed to sell oncology treatments, including its pancreatic-cancer treatment Onivyde, to French drugmaker Ipsen for as much as $1.05 billion, including benchmark payments.
Continental Earnings Beat Fourth Quarter Expectations, Tips Sales Growth for 2017
The German tire maker’s forecast of a 6% increase in sales are a positive sign for Europe’s automakers but margins could still disappoint. Continental AG shares traded lower Monday after the German automotive parts maker delivered a boost to European manufacturing prospects, predicting increased sales for the coming year on the back of better-than-expected fourth quarter earnings result.
From 2019 Perspective, Retail Looks Good
Everybody likes to think they are “contrarian” investors, willing to go against the crowd. Reality says most people can’t stomach the feeling of isolation that accompanies that attitude.
Trader’s Daily Notebook: I’d Rather Sport the Rose-Colored Glasses for Now
However, before anyone starts stressing over the Russell’s underperformance, let’s stop and consider whether the higher timeframe chart is really all that bearish. I understand why traders were annoyed by Friday’s price action.
‘There’s room for the Dow to go above 20,000 without stretching the stocks’ historic boundaries.’
There’s room. There’s room for the Dow to go above 20,000 without stretching the historic boundaries of what stocks in the index can do.
Chrysler Pacifica named utility vehicle of the year at Detroit auto show
The Windsor-made 2017 Chrysler Pacifica was named the utility vehicle of the year at the Detroit auto show Monday morning. The Chevrolet Bolt EV was named car of the year, while the Honda Ridgeline was named truck of the year.
Eurozone unemployment holds steady in November
Eurostat, the European Union ‘s statistics agency, says the number of unemployed in the eurozone fell by a modest 15,000 during the month to a total of 15.9 million. That was the smallest monthly decline since March 2015 – a 57,000 increase in Italy limited the monthly fall.
Deezer Hires Facebook, Spotify Managers to Fight Bigger Rivals
Music-streaming service Deezer SA hired former managers of Facebook Inc. and Spotify Ltd. in a bid to crack the Asian market and differentiate itself from larger rivals such as Apple Music by expanding through brand partnerships. The Paris-based company said it recruited Pascal de Mul, who worked as global head of hardware partnerships at Spotify for five years, and Daud Aditirto, who spent the last four years working on growth alliances at Facebook in Asia.
Fresenius Medical Care Slumps After Patient-Aid Subpoena
Fresenius Medical Care AG fell the most in almost seven months after saying it had received a subpoena in the U.S. over premium-assistance programs that support dialysis patients on private insurance plans that can be more lucrative for providers. Fresenius said the U.S. Attorney for the District of Massachusetts is investigating its connections to the American Kidney Fund, which manages a patient-assistance program for the private plans.
Tillerson Ethics Plan Foreshadows Knotty Trump Confirmations
Rex Tillerson’s disclosure that he stands to receive a $180 million cash payout from Exxon Mobil Corp. if he becomes the next U.S. secretary of state offers a preview of the thorny ethical questions that may be raised this week over a presidential cabinet stacked with tycoons. And with confirmation hearings scheduled for Tillerson and eight other appointees of President-elect Donald Trump, the head of the federal office that helps ensure compliance with conflict-of-interest rules told lawmakers his agency is hard-pressed by too much work and too little time.
Facebook Engineering VP Explains Why “Cognitive Diversity Is The Most Powerful Tool”
Be a resource: “It’s important to understand that we can each choose to rescue [someone],” says Regina Dugan , VP of engineering at Facebook. As the head of Facebook ‘s secretive new hardware unit, Building 8, Regina Dugan leads a team of engineers who are trying to develop breakthrough technologies, much as she did when she was the first female director of DARPA.
Why the China Manipulator Label Looks Increasingly Appealing to Trump
A man buys a Chinese newspaper, with the headline that reads “Outsider strikes back”, featuring Donald Trump on the front page in Beijing on Nov. 10. Donald Trump wasn’t the first U.S. presidential candidate to blast China for manipulating its currency for trade advantage since the century began, but it’s increasingly likely he’ll be the first to follow through on the threat once in office. That’s the perspective of economists at Bank of America Merrill Lynch led by Helen Qiao, chief Greater China economist at the bank in Hong Kong, whose views have evolved in recent weeks given the sustained protectionist rhetoric coming from the incoming president.
CES 2017 has all the essentials: faster wi-fi, secure “smart” appliances and fishing drones
The annual Consumer Electronics Show is one of those geek events where you want to toss aside reality and focus on the gee-whiz of what has been dreamt up and built. I’ve seen an unexpected gamut of “smart” objects: smart tea , smart breast pump and even a smart hair brush .
European Stocks Called Firmly Higher Amid Pound Slump
European stocks are expected to open firmly higher Monday following a Friday record in the U.S. that saw the Dow Jones Industrial Average come within a whisker of the 20,000 barrier. Britain’s FTSE 100 will likely add around 0.32% at the start of trading, according to financial bookmakers IG, with similar percentage gains anticipated for benchmarks in Germany and France.
Jaguar Land Rover and Rolls-Royce car sales rise
Rolls-Royce delivered 4,011 cars to customers in 2016, a 6% increase on the previous year and its second highest sales record in its 113-year history. Chief executive Dr Ralf Speth said last year that the company wanted to double production from 500,000 to one million cars a year, but that it would depend on government support.
Oil Halts Gain Near $54 as Rising U.S. Drilling Damps Saudi Cuts
Oil halted its advance below $54 a barrel as an increase in U.S. drilling countered signs OPEC members including Saudi Arabia are sticking to planned output cuts to stabilize the market. Futures slid as much as 0.6 percent in New York after rising 3.2 percent the previous three sessions.
Italy to Meet Alitalia Executives as 1,600 Job Cuts Said to Loom
As the new Italian government of Paolo Gentiloni hammers away at a rescue plan for beleaguered lender Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena SpA, it’s suddenly contending with another corporate crisis: the future of Alitalia SpA. Executives from key investor Ethiad Airways and Alitalia — which went bankrupt in 2008 after rescue attempts involving the state and private investors failed, and which teetered on the brink of collapse in 2014 — are set to meet Italian ministers on Monday, the carrier based in Abu Dhabi said in a statement Sunday.
McDonald’s agrees China franchise sale
McDonald’s has agreed to sell 80% of its business in China and Hong Kong, as part of plans to franchise more of its restaurants worldwide. China’s state-owned investment group Citic, and US private equity firm Carlyle Group, will take control of the operations in a deal valued at $2.1bn .