Pre-Market overzicht Wall Street (nieuws)

TOP NEWS
• PREVIEW-Tesla price cuts, delivery plan and CEO pay in focus ahead of results
Tesla's profitability and deliveries will be on top of investors' minds when the world's most valuable automaker reports results on Wednesday, days after sharp price cuts and announcement of a production pause at the Berlin factory.

• US authorities say more Boeing 737 planes should get checks after MAX 9 incident
The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration late Sunday recommended airlines operating Boeing 737-900ER jets inspect door plugs to ensure they are properly secured after some operators reported unspecified issues with bolts upon inspections.

• Macy's rejects Arkhouse's $5.8 billion bid, citing financing concerns
Macy's said on Sunday it had rejected Arkhouse Management and partner Brigade Capital Management's $5.8 billion proposal to take the department store operator private, citing concerns over deal financing and valuation.

• Exxon files lawsuit against investors' climate proposal
Exxon Mobil on Sunday filed a complaint in a Texas court seeking to prevent a climate proposal by activist investors from going to a vote during the company's shareholder meeting in May.

• Instagram, Facebook users to get more choices to comply with DMA - Meta
Instagram and Facebook users in Europe will be offered more choices on how they use Meta Platforms' services to comply with the European Union's Digital Markets Act (DMA), the social media company said.

BEFORE THE BELL
U.S. stock index futures advanced indicating further momentum in the S&P 500 after chip and megacap stocks drove the benchmark index to a record high last week, while corporate earnings and clues on rate cuts continued to top investors' radar. European stocks rose, while Japan'sNikkei rallied to a fresh 34-year peak as the U.S. S&P 500's record-high close on Friday buoyed investor sentiment. China and Hong Kong shares slumped as relentless foreign outflows and a surge in short selling pummelled confidence already hurt by the region's creaking economy. The dollar was little changed, while gold declined as hopes of a March interest rate cut by the Federal Reserve faded. Meanwhile, oil prices increased following offset geopolitical concerns in the Middle East.

STOCKS TO WATCH

Moves
• Archer-Daniels-Midland Co: The global grain merchant on Sunday said that Ismael Roig has been appointed as interim chief financial officer following a board decision to place current CFO Vikram Luthar on administrative leave, effective immediately. ADM said that Luthar was stepping aside pending an investigation regarding certain accounting practices and procedures related to ADM’s Nutrition reporting segment and that this would result in a delay in its fourth-quarter earnings release. The investigation is in response to a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) request, ADM said in the statement, adding that it now expects an adjusted earnings per share of $6.90 for the fiscal year ended December 2023. “The Board takes these matters very seriously,” said Terry Crews, the board's lead director.

• Goldman Sachs Group Inc: The bank’s board named David Viniar as its next independent lead director, succeeding Adebayo Ogunlesi when he steps down at the bank's annual meeting in April, according to a filing on Friday. Viniar joined the board in 2013 after serving as Goldman's finance chief for more than a decade. He will also become chair of the board's governance committee. Tom Montag will become leader of the board's risk committee, according to the filing. He joined the group last year after retiring as chief operating officer at Bank of America in 2021. Earlier in his career, Montag spent 22 years at Goldman, rising to co-head of its securities business.

In Other News
• Alphabet Inc: Waymo, said on Friday it had applied to the California Public Utilities Commission to expand its driverless service in Los Angeles. A license would allow Waymo, which operates extensively in San Francisco, to fully operate its fleet in Los Angeles, California's largest city, where it is now testing rides, allowing new rides only by invitation. The company posted on social media platform X that it would work with Los Angeles policymakers, first responders and community organizations to launch its ride-hailing service. It did not provide details on when its service will go live. Waymo said this month it would begin testing its fully autonomous passenger cars without a human driver on freeways in Phoenix, Arizona, where it now offers rides in the metropolitan area. The company also aims to operate in Austin, Texas.

• Amer Sports Corp: The maker of Wilson tennis rackets and Salomon ski boots, said it was targeting a valuation of up to $8.7 billion in its U.S. initial public offering. The company said it plans to raise up to $1.8 billion by selling 100 million shares priced between $16 and $18 each. Goldman Sachs, BofA Securities, JPMorgan, Morgan Stanley, Citigroup and UBS Investment Bank are the lead underwriters for the offering.

• AstraZeneca Plc & BioNTech SE: BioNTech and its partner Duality Biologics said they initiated a late-stage trial testing their precision drug against a certain type of breast cancer, taking on a rival partnership between AstraZeneca and Daiichi Sankyo. COVID-19 vaccine maker BioNTech, which is renewing its focus on its traditional roots in oncology, said in a joint statement with China's Duality that their drug would be tested on women with a certain type of advanced breast cancer with low levels of a cell surface receptor known as HER2. HER2 is a common mechanism of tumor growth that has been targeted by established drugs such as Roche's Herceptin. Partners Astra and Daiichi have taken the concept further with their leading drug Enhertu, based on the antibody-drug conjugate technology, a type of high-precision chemotherapy. BioNTech and Duality said the new Phase III trial would test their drug - also an antibody-drug conjugate - on patients whose tumours grow in response to the hormones oestrogen or progesterone and which have low levels of HER2.

• B. Riley Financial Inc & Nomura Holdings Inc: U.S. authorities are investigating B. Riley’s deals with a client who was linked to a securities fraud, and the use of his assets to help the investment bank obtain a loan from Nomura, Bloomberg News reported. B. Riley said in a statement that it was unaware of any SEC investigation regarding any of the matters and that it would cooperate if such a situation occurred. Shares of the company dropped in premarket trading. The SEC has carried out interviews in recent months about B. Riley and its relationship with Brian Kahn, Bloomberg reported on Sunday, citing people familiar with the matter. B. Riley reiterated that it "had no involvement with, or knowledge of" matters relating to the Prophecy investigation. It first learned about the investigation in November last year.

• BHP Group Ltd: The miner will temporarily shut part of its Kambalda nickel concentrator in Western Australia in June, the top global miner said on Monday, after Wyloo Metals, which supplies ore to the plant, announced a pause in mining due to low nickel prices. "The decision by Wyloo to suspend its operations means it will no longer be viable to continue operating parts of the Kambalda concentrator from mid-year," BHP's Nickel West President Jessica Farrell said in a statement to Reuters. Around 20 roles will be affected. Australia's top nickel producer said it would put the crushing, milling and flotation circuit at its Kambalda plant on care and maintenance but would continue to run part of the plant as a drying circuit to process third-party concentrate. The announcement came after Wyloo, a private investment vehicle owned by iron ore billionaire Andrew Forrest, said it would put its Kambalda nickel operations on care and maintenance at the end of May as a result of weak nickel prices.

• Boeing Co: The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration late Sunday recommended airlines operating the platemakers’ 737-900ER jets inspect door plugs to ensure they are properly secured after some operators reported unspecified issues with bolts upon inspections. The FAA issued a "Safety Alert for Operators" disclosing some airlines have conducted additional inspections on the 737-900ER mid-exit door plugs "and have noted findings with bolts during the maintenance inspections." It recommended air carriers perform key portions of a fuselage plug assembly maintenance procedure related to the four bolts used to secure the door plug to the airframe "as soon as possible." A Boeing spokesperson said in an email that "we fully support the FAA and our customers in this action." Boeing first delivered the 737-900ER in 2007 and last one in 2019.

• Choice Hotels International Inc & Wyndham Hotels & Resorts Inc: Choice Hotels pressed ahead with its $8 billion hostile bid for Wyndham Hotels by nominating a slate of directors to replace Wyndham's eight-member board. It is Choice's latest attempt to break a stalemate after trying for most of the last year to negotiate a deal with Wyndham, which has rebuffed the bid as low-premium and fraught with antitrust risk. Wyndham has also raised concerns about the combined company carrying too much debt and a slowdown in Choice's business. Choice said its slate of nominees includes hospitality industry veteran Jay Shah, who currently serves on the board of private equity-backed HHM Hotels; Susan Schnabel, founder of aPriori Capital Partners which advises private equity on leveraged buyouts; James Nelson, CEO of real estate investment trust Global Net; and Fiona Dias, who served on Choice's board from 2004 to 2012.

• Citigroup Inc: Over a recent lunch with Warren Buffett, the bank’s CEO Jane Fraser outlined her latest round of reorganization efforts to simplify the bank. He told her to keep going. Fraser recounted the meal with the billionaire investor on a conference call with managing directors on Thursday, according to a source who was on the call. The anecdote concluded Fraser's address to Citigroup bosses. During the call, she indicated that more information about the next round of the reorganization would be shared as soon as next week, said the source, who declined to be identified discussing internal communications. Buffett confirmed the lunch took place, but declined to give more details about the conversation, according to a Berkshire Hathaway representative.

• Exxon Mobil Corp: The oil company on Sunday filed a complaint in a Texas court seeking to prevent a climate proposal by activist investors from going to a vote during the company's shareholder meeting in May. This is the first time Exxon is seeking to exclude a shareholder proposal by filing a complaint in court. The case was assigned to a judge with a track record of ruling in favor of conservative causes. Exxon says the investors are "driven by an extreme agenda" and that their repeated proposals do not serve investors’ interests or promote long-term shareholder value. Investors led by U.S. activist investment firm Arjuna Capital and shareholder activist group Follow This are asking Exxon and other oil majors to adopt tighter climate targets. They want Exxon to set so-called Scope 3 targets to reduce emissions produced by users of its products. Exxon is the only one among the five Western oil majors that does not have such targets.

• Gildan Activewear Inc: The Canadian apparel maker on Sunday said it has learned that the activist fund Browning West, LP's purchase of Gildan shares last month violated the U.S. anti-trust laws. Gildan has alleged that the move was an "illegal" attempt by the U.S.-based fund to reappoint former Chief Executive Glenn Chamandy and eventually take control of Gildan's board. It added that Browning violated the U.S. anti-trust law by not notifying the U.S. Federal Trade Commission and U.S. Department of Justice about acquisition of voting securities and failed to comply with mandatory 30-day waiting period. "Browning West's share acquisitions barely put it over this threshold," Gildan said in a statement. Browning West, in a separate statement, termed Gildan's accusations as an attempt to deprive shareholders of an opportunity to reconstitute the board at a validly requisitioned special meeting.

• HSBC Holdings Plc: China's Vice President Han Zheng met with the banking group’s Chairman Mark Tucker in Beijing and urged the banking giant to deepen cooperation with China to improve Hong Kong's status as a financial centre, the official Xinhua news agency reported. "We hope HSBC can use its own advantage and deepen mutually beneficial cooperation with China and make contributions in solidifying and improving Hong Kong's status as an international financial centre," Han said. Tucker said HSBC is "strongly confident in its investment in China" and will actively support Hong Kong to be an international financial hub, and Britain-China cooperations, according to Xinhua. Tucker said HSBC will actively participate in China's high quality growth, according to the report.

• JetBlue Airways Corp & Spirit Airlines Inc: The companies said on Friday they will appeal a federal judge's ruling that blocked the air carriers' planned tie-up on the grounds that the proposed merger would violate U.S. antitrust law. The appeal came after U.S. District Judge William Young in Boston on Tuesday sided with the U.S. Department of Justice in holding that JetBlue's planned $3.8 billion acquisition of ultra-low-cost carrier Spirit was anti-competitive and would harm consumers. The airlines filed a notice late on Friday that they will appeal his ruling to the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. In a statement, the companies said the appeal notice filing was "consistent with the requirements of the merger agreement." The appeal continues the court fight to keep the merger alive, a deal Spirit needs as it faces financial difficulties, including the grounding of numerous jets due to a powdered-metal issue in its geared turbofan (GTF) engine. Spirit shares rose after the notice of appeal in after-hours trading on Friday but are still down more than 50% since Tuesday's ruling. JetBlue shares were down late on Friday.

• Macy’s Inc: The retail chain said on Sunday it had rejected Arkhouse Management and partner Brigade Capital Management's $5.8 billion proposal to take the department store operator private, citing concerns over deal financing and valuation. The two investment firms submitted a proposal last month to acquire the shares of Macy's they don't already own for $21 a share. The duo sees "the potential for a meaningful increase to the original proposal if we are granted access to the necessary due diligence," Arkhouse said in a statement. But Macy's said the offer was not financially attractive or credible enough to grant such access. "The board has determined not to enter into a non-disclosure agreement or provide any due diligence information to Arkhouse and Brigade," Macy's said in a statement. Macy's also said that information furnished by Arkhouse and Brigade "failed to address its board's concerns regarding Arkhouse and Brigade's ability to finance their proposed transaction."

• Meta Platforms Inc: Instagram and Facebook users in Europe will be offered more choices on how they use the company’s services to comply with the European Union's Digital Markets Act (DMA), the social media company said. The world's largest social network is the latest to make changes to comply with the DMA after Google outlined efforts to comply with the new EU technology rules that could hurt revenues for some companies. Over the next few weeks, users will receive notifications informing them that they can choose whether they would like to share their information between its services, Meta said in a blog post. Under the DMA, which Meta will have to comply with by March 7, companies are obligated to treat their own services and products the way they treat those of rivals.

• Microsoft Corp: The tech giant said on Friday that a Russian state-sponsored group hacked into its corporate systems on Jan. 12 and stole some emails and documents from staff accounts. The Russian group was able to access "a very small percentage" of Microsoft corporate email accounts, including members of its senior leadership team and employees in its cybersecurity, legal, and other functions, the company said. Microsoft's threat research team routinely investigates nation-state hackers such as Russia's "Midnight Blizzard," who they say is responsible. The company said its probe into the breach indicated the hackers were initially targeting Microsoft to learn what the technology giant knew about their operations. The company said the hackers used a "password spray attack" starting in Nov. 2023 to breach a Microsoft platform. Hackers use this technique to infiltrate a company's systems by using the same compromised password against multiple related accounts.

• Morgan Stanley: The bank’s Executive Chairman James Gorman's compensation in his last year as CEO rose 17% to $37 million for 2023 from $31.5 million in 2022, the bank said in a filing on Friday. Gorman became executive chairman on Jan. 1, handing over to new CEO Ted Pick. Three-quarters of Gorman's performance bonus is paid in equity and deferred over three years. The bank's board noted his "outstanding performance, including his exemplary execution of CEO succession and the transition of leadership" and his resolution of legal and regulatory matters in its decision to boost Gorman's pay. Gorman spent 14 years at the helm and is credited with transforming the bank into a wealth management powerhouse. He also orchestrated a succession plan in which Pick took the reins at the same time as retaining the two other CEO candidates, executives Andy Saperstein and Dan Simkowitz, a rarity on Wall Street.

• Novo Nordisk A/S: The European Union's drug regulator will this week consider wider use of the drugmaker’s weight-loss drug Wegovy to include reducing the risk of strokes and heart attacks. Approval could help the Danish drugmaker better argue its case for making the drug available via public sector health systems in Europe. The possible new use of Wegovy, based on a drug trial known as SELECT, will be assessed during the monthly meeting of the watchdog's committee for medicinal products for human use (CHMP), according to the meeting's agenda posted on the watchdog's website. Ballooning demand for Wegovy, and for diabetes drug Ozempic which is based on the same active ingredient, has led to a doubling of Novo's share price over the past two years but it has also overwhelmed the company's ability to ramp up production of the weekly injections.

• Occidental Petroleum Corp: The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has requested the company and Crownrock for additional information and documentary materials related to their pending merger, the companies said. Occidental's $12 billion deal for Crownrock underscores a new wave of shale consolidation, after Exxon Mobil's $60 billion proposed deal for Pioneer Natural Resources and Chevron's $53 billion agreement for Hess last year. The Exxon and Chevron deals have also received requests from the FTC for additional information. Occidental and Crownrock said they received the FTC request on Jan. 19, and would continue to work constructively with the regulator.

• SolarEdge Technologies Inc: The company said on Sunday that it would lay off about 16% of its global workforce as it tries to reduce operating costs. The reduction, which would affect roughly 900 employees, follows the firm's discontinuation of manufacturing in Mexico, reduction of manufacturing capacity in China, and termination of light commercial vehicle e-mobility activity. “We have made a very difficult, but necessary decision to implement a workforce reduction and other cost-cutting measures in order to align our cost structure with the rapidly changing market dynamics," CEO Zvi Lando said in a statement.

• Sony Group Corp: The Japanese company scrapped plans for a $10 billion merger of its Indian unit with Zee, which said it had been accused of breaching their agreement and that the case was set to go to arbitration. The collapse of the deal intended to create a media powerhouse in content-hungry India creates more uncertainty for TV broadcaster Zee in particular at a time when competition is heating up. Sony said in a statement certain "closing conditions" to the merger were not satisfied despite "good faith discussions" with Zee, and the companies were unable to agree upon an extension by their Jan. 21 deadline. "After more than two years of negotiations, we are extremely disappointed ... We remain committed to growing our presence in this vibrant and fast-growing market," it added. Zee told Indian stock exchanges Sony was seeking $90 million in termination fees for alleged breaches of the merger agreement and emergency interim relief by "invoking arbitration". Zee said it refutes all claims made by Sony and would take appropriate legal action.

• Telefonica SA: The Spanish company said its stake in German unit Telefonica Deutschland had reached 93.1% during a tender offer it launched for shares in the company. The Spanish company said in November it would offer to buy the 28.19% in Telefonica Deutschland it did not own for $2.56 per share. During the public tender offer, Telefonica bought about 630 million shares from minority holders, the equivalent of about a 21% stake, for about 1.48 billion euros. The offer is expected to be settled on Friday. Telefonica Deutschland has a market value of around 7 billion euros. The deal is part of the Spanish telecom company's three-year strategic plan to focus on its four biggest markets: Spain, Brazil, Britain and Germany.

• Tesla Inc: The carmaker’s profitability and deliveries will be on top of investors' minds when the world's most valuable automaker reports results on Wednesday, days after sharp price cuts and announcement of a production pause at the Berlin factory. Falling prices of battery materials are expected to let Tesla show a slight rise in profit margin from the previous quarter. But it will be down sharply from a year ago, and pressure is rising after price cuts in Asia and Europe and rising costs from ramping up Cybertruck production. Chief Executive Elon Musk has signaled he wanted more control, raising questions among governance experts and retail investors. Tesla slashed prices of its most popular vehicle, the Model Y, in Europe and China this month, stepping up a price war it ignited more than a year ago. It has cut price of the Model Y, its most popular vehicle, by as much as 26.5% in the past year in the United States. The price cuts came days after Tesla said it will suspend most production at its German factory from Jan. 29 to Feb. 11 due to a lack of components as shipping routes had to be adjusted because of attacks on vessels in the Red Sea.

• Zillow Group Inc: The company has defeated a bid by discount home brokerage REX - Real Estate Exchange for a new trial in a Seattle federal lawsuit accusing the online home-listing giant of deceptive business practices. U.S. District Judge Thomas Zilly in an order on Thursday said REX had not met its burden to upend a jury’s Sept. 29 verdict following an eight-day trial. Attorneys for REX at Boies Schiller Flexner accused Zillow of suppressing the brokerage’s home listings by placing them under a secondary “other” tab on the website. REX claimed hundreds of millions of dollars in damages in the lead-up to the trial on allegations of consumer deception and false advertising. REX has billed itself as a "disruptor" that sought to offer consumers a chance to sell their homes while paying lower commissions. The company asked for a retrial only on its allegation of unfair practices under Washington state’s consumer protection law.

INSIGHT
Fed's inflation puzzle still missing a piece or two
U.S. Federal Reserve officials suspected the fight to lower inflation would be difficult and have been reluctant to declare success even as price increases have slowed.

ANALYSTS' RECOMMENDATION
• Comerica Inc: KBW cuts target price to $58 from $60, predicting a challenging revenue environment in 2024.

• Home Depot Inc: Oppenheimer cuts target price to $345 from $360, stating consumer demand trends within home improvement retail remain challenged.

• Lowe's Companies Inc: Oppenheimer cuts target price to $230 from $275, saying the short-term market positioning towards the sector is turning too complacent.

• Sarepta Therapeutics Inc: JPMorgan raises target price to $177 from $112, reflecting a high degree of confidence in label expansion for the company's Elevidys drug.

• Union Pacific Corp: Bernstein raises target price to $280 from $229, saying the company is better positioned for the early stages of the next freight cycle.

ECONOMIC EVENTS (All timings in U.S. Eastern Time)
1000 Leading index change mm for Dec: Expected -0.3%; Prior -0.5%

COMPANIES REPORTING RESULTS
Brown & Brown Inc: Expected Q4 earnings of 0.53 cents per share
United Airlines Holdings Inc: Expected Q4 earnings of $1.70 per share
Zions Bancorporation NA: Expected Q4 earnings of 0.99 cents per share

CORPORATE EVENTS (All timings in U.S. Eastern Time)
1730 Zions Bancorporation NA: Q4 earnings conference call