US stock futures were wavering in Tuesday’s pre-market trading as investors weigh the impact of the new strain of COVID-19 in the UK and the related travel restrictions, rising COVID-19 cases and the passing of the $900 billion stimulus bill late Monday.
Futures tied to the S&P 500 and the tech-focused Nasdaq 100 were up 0.23% and 0.46%, respectively, while Dow Jones Industrial Average futures were marginally higher.
Peloton Interactive shares were up 7% pre-market as the connected fitness platform announced an agreement to acquire Precor, a global commercial fitness equipment provider that is owned by Finnish sporting goods company Amer Sports, for $420 million. The transaction is expected to close next year. The acquisition will likely establish Peloton’s manufacturing capacity in the US and help in meeting the growing demand for its products.
More on the deal front, Sportsman’s Warehouse shares jumped 37% in Tuesday’s pre-market on the news of the company’s acquisition by privately-held Great American Outdoors Group. The outdoor gear and clothing retailer has been offered a price of $18 per share in cash, which represents a 42% premium to the stock’s closing price of $12.65 on Monday. The deal is expected to close in the second half of 2021, pending approvals from Sportsman’s Warehouse’s shareholders and regulators.
In earnings, shares of fresh food provider Calavo Growers plunged 15.9% pre-market as the company’s 4Q results missed analysts’ expectations and its fiscal 1Q guidance also fell short of the Street’s estimates. Revenue declined 20% to $234.4 million in 4Q and EPS was down 24.4% to $0.34. Analysts expected EPS of $0.64 on revenue of $256.1 million. Coming to 1Q outlook, Calavo expects to generate revenue of $215 million-$225 million, while analysts predicted $257.8 million.
Meanwhile, Australia’s antitrust regulator rejected a behavioural undertaking offered by Alphabet-owned Google to address competition concerns over the company’s planned acquisition of fitness tracker maker Fitbit. Australian Competition and Consumer Commission’s Chair Rod Sims stated, “The ACCC continues to have concerns that Google’s acquisition of Fitbit may result in Fitbit’s rivals, other than Apple, being squeezed out of the wearables market, as they are reliant on Google’s Android system and other Google services to make their devices work effectively.” Google had announced the $2.1 billion proposed acquisition of Fitbit in November 2019.
ChemoCentryx shares shed 8% in Tuesday’s pre-market as the company released topline data for its Accolade clinical study, which evaluated avacopan for the treatment of the ultra-rare kidney disease C3 Glomerulopathy. The company disclosed that the change from baseline to Week 26 in C3 Glomerulopathy Histologic Index (C3G HI) for disease activity (primary endpoint) was not statistically different between the two treatment groups in the study, while the C3G HI for disease chronicity (measuring progression of fibrosis) showed significant benefit for avacopan versus placebo.
Shares of Mesa Air trended lower after the company announced a 38.2% year-over-year drop in November block hours, a measure of aircraft utilization, due to the continued impact of COVID-19 pandemic on travel schedules. However, the November numbers marked an improvement from the 48.2% year-over-year plunge in block hours experienced in October.
