Walgreens Pops Following Reports of Buyout Talks
Main points
- The S&P 500 fell 0.3% on Tuesday, December 10, as last week’s record gains continued to cool down ahead of key inflation data.
- Shares of pharmaceutical giant Walgreens surged after reports that the company was considering selling itself to private equity firms.
- Moderna shares plunged after Bank of America analysts expressed uncertainty about the true value of the vaccine maker’s pipeline.
Major U.S. stock indexes fell on Tuesday Wednesday morning’s Consumer Price Index (CPI) reporta key inflation gauge that could influence the Fed’s interest rate decision next week.
The S&P 500 and Nasdaq both closed down about 0.3% on Tuesday, with the Dow down about 0.4%.
modern (messenger RNAThe company’s shares plunged 9.1%, becoming the biggest loser on the S&P 500, after Bank of America re-covered the biotech stock with an “underperform” rating. Analysts pointed to the drugmaker’s high levels of research and development (R&D) spending and uncertainty about the true value of Moderna’s pipeline. They also said the financial impact of Moderna’s respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) vaccine may remain limited.
Shares of server and data storage provider Super Micro Computer (SMCI) fell 8.2%. Late last week, Nasdaq extended Super Micro’s delayed annual report filing deadline to February 2025. Although the CEO expressed confidence that the company’s stock will not be delisted from the Nasdaq exchange, concerns remain that AMD could be removed from the influential Nasdaq 100 index.
Although cloud software giant Oracle (ORCL) beat quarterly profit expectations, Sales lower than expectedthe stock price fell 6.7%. While Oracle cited record artificial intelligence (AI) demand, Citi analysts Questioning upside potential for the company’s cloud revenue. Analysts at Oppenheim noted that while Oracle’s results showed strong growth, its performance wasn’t as impressive as in recent quarters.
Walgreens Boots Alliance (world boxing association) shares soared 17.7%, setting a record for the S&P 500’s highest single-day gain. The embattled pharmaceutical giant is reportedly Consider selling yourself Private equity firm Sycamore Partners. according to wall street journalWalgreens and Sycamore have been discussing a deal that could close in early 2025, and if the acquisition goes through, the private equity firm could sell components of the company and/or explore partnerships.
Shares of Google parent company Alphabet (GoogleShares of the company rose 5.6% as the tech giant unveiled its latest quantum computing chip. The company said the new “Willow” chip outperformed previous iterations on quantum computing benchmarks, calling the development a key step toward developing practical quantum computers that could be used in areas such as drug discovery and battery design. Letter C type (Google) shares rose 5.4%.
A federal judge blocks a proposed merger between grocery chain Kroger (South Korea) and Albertson (ACI). The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) argued that a merger of two traditional supermarket operators would limit direct competition, raise prices for consumers and reduce the bargaining power of union workers. Kroger shares rose 5.1% after the court ruling, while Albertsons shares fell 2.3%.