Pre-market trading on Thursday saw U.S. stock futures trend higher as Congress inches closer to a $900 billion COVID-19 stimulus deal. Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average, S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 were up 0.42%, 0.51% and 0.44%, respectively.
Also, the focus today will be on the FDA advisory committee’s review of Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine, after which it is expected to win an FDA emergency use approval. Additionally, the market is also expected to react to weekly jobless claims data and the U.S. housing starts numbers that will be released today.
Roku shares were up 6.7% in Thursday’s before-hours trading as the video streaming platform inked a deal with AT&T’s Warner Media to bring HBO Max Service to its devices beginning December 17. Roku’s users can download HBO Max from the Roku channel store and subscribe directly on their device to access HBO Max. Through the HBO max service, Roku users can enjoy 10,000 hours of curated premium storytelling from iconic brands like HBO, Warner Bros., and Adult Swim.
Novartis has entered into an agreement to acquire neuroscience company Cadent Therapeutics for an upfront payment of $210 million and up to $560 million in milestone payments. The acquisition adds two new clinical stage programs to the Novartis neuroscience portfolio, one for schizophrenia and the other for movement disorders. Novartis expects the deal to close during the first quarter of 2021.
In earnings, Lennar shares rose 3.8% in today’s pre-market as the homebuilder delivered better-than-expected 4Q results, driven by strong housing demand amid the pandemic. The company’s 4Q EPS of $2.82 increased 32.4% year-over-year and came in ahead of analysts’ forecast of $2.37. The fourth-quarter sales of $6.83 billion fell 2% but beat the Street’s consensus estimates of $6.65 billion.
ABM Industries shares were down 4.1% in Thursday’s pre-market as the integrated facility solution provider lagged 4Q earnings estimates. The company’s adjusted EPS of $0.69 increased 4.5% year-on-year but fell short of analysts’ estimates of $0.70. ABM’s 4Q revenue fell 9.9% to $1.48 billion, owing to the impact of the pandemic on the company’s operations. However, 4Q revenue beat analysts’ consensus of $1.43 billion. Looking ahead, ABM expects 1Q FY21 adjusted EPS of $0.60-$0.65.
Footwear giant Adidas will continue to invest in physical stores despite booming online sales amid the pandemic, the company’s CEO Kasper Rorsted told CNBC in an interview. As per CNBC, Adidas’ e-commerce sales spiked 93% and 51% in 2Q and 3Q, respectively. The company expects online sales of over 4 billion euros in FY20, up from about 1 billion euros four years ago.
Finally, in dividend news, biotech giant Amgen announced a 10% increase in its quarterly dividend to $1.76 per share. The new dividend will be paid on March 8, 2021 to all shareholders of record as of the close of business on February 15, 2021. Amgen currently has a dividend yield of 2.81%.
