China stocks slip after growth target released, as Ciena shares pop on earnings beat
By Steve Goldstein Ciara Linnane
Apple, Norfolk Southern, KB Home and Tesla stocks were among Monday's movers
Here are some of the most active premarket movers on Monday. U.S. stock futures pointed to a slow start after a two-day rally.
Alibaba's U.S.-listed stock (9988.HK) fell by 1%, as did the KraneShares CSI China Internet ETF (KWEB), after China's official 5% growth target was deemed underwhelming
Apple Inc. stock (AAPL) rose 2.1% after Goldman Sachs analyst Michael Ng urged investors to buy, as a growing installed base of users, which encourages repeat purchases, provides opportunity for nearly 30% upside. In addition to the growth in the iPhone maker's installed base, Ng believes growth in services and new-product innovation should more than offset headwinds to product revenue, which include longer replacement cycles and slowing industry growth of personal computers and tablets.
BridgeBio Pharma Inc. stock (BBIO) rallied 63% after the company shared positive data from a Phase 2 clinical trial about its experimental treatment for achondroplasia, a genetic type of short-limbed dwarfism. BridgeBio said infigratinib improved annualized height velocity by 3.03 centimeters a year among data collected from 10 children participating in the mid-stage study. The company is now enrolling children in a Phase 3 clinical trial. The news sent the stock of BioMarin Pharmaceutical Inc. (BMRN)d own 4.7%, as the drug could compete with that company's Voxzogo if and when it's approved. BioMarin received Food and Drug Administration approval for Voxzogo as a treatment for some children 5 years old and older with achondroplasia in late 2021.
Ciena (CIEN) shares jumped 13% after the optical networking company's earnings topped Wall Street estimates comfortably.
Esperion Therapeutics stock (ESPR) dropped by 27% after reporting data on a cholesterol drug for patients who can't tolerate a statin.
KB Home shares (KBH) fell 1% after JPMorgan downgraded the builder to underweight, as D.R. Horton (DHI) also fell 1% on a downgrade to neutral. The same broker upgraded Meritage Homes (MTH) to overweight, lifting the stock by 1%. "Following a reasonably solid 4Q earnings season (relative to expectations), while we remain positive on the homebuilders for 2023, at the same time, we believe fundamentals may go sideways if not soften somewhat over the next quarter or so as the housing market absorbs the past month's roughly 70 bps increase in mortgage rates," say the team led by Michael Rehaut.
Norfolk Southern Corp. (NSC) has announced a six-point safety plan in the wake of last month's derailment of a train carrying hazardous materials on the outskirts of East Palestine, Ohio. The company's stock, which has fallen 10.1% since the Feb. 3 derailment, fell 1.5% before market open Monday.
Nyxoah shares rose 19% as the medical technology company focused on sleep related products announced the achievement of key clinical and regulatory milestones.
Qualtrics International Inc. stock (XM) was up 2% after the cloud software company said it has received a buyout offer from private equity firm Silver Lake Management and Canada Pension Plan Investment Board at $18.15 a share in cash. The price is equal to a premium of about 73% over the daily volume weighted average prices of the company's class A common stock for the 30 days ending Jan. 25, the day before Qualtrics majority shareholder SAP SE (SAP.XE) said it was exploring a sale of its stake in the company.
Tesla Inc. stock fell 1.4% after the EV maker cut the prices of its Model S and Model X vehicles in the U.S late Sunday, in a bid to boost sales in the final month of the first quarter.
-Steve Goldstein
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March 06, 2023 11:06 ET (16:06 GMT)
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