Tag Archives: AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc

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Morgan Stanley, AIG, AMC, UnitedHealth and others

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Check out the companies making headlines before the bell:

Morgan Stanley (MS) – Morgan Stanley beat estimates by 20 cents with second-quarter earnings of $1.85 per share, while revenue topped forecasts as well, helped by an acceleration in investment banking activity. Despite the beat, Morgan Stanley shares fell 1.6% in the premarket.

American International Group (AIG) – AIG shares surged 5% in premarket trading after it announced a deal to sell a 9.9% stake in its life insurance and retirement services unit to Blackstone (BX) for $2.2 billion. The deal also calls for Blackstone to manage an initial $50 billion in assets backing AIG’s life insurance policies and annuities, increasing to about $100 billion over the next six years.

AMC Entertainment (AMC) – AMC tumbled another 6.2% in the premarket after the movie theater operator’s stock fell for the fourth straight day and the eighth time in nine sessions Wednesday. The skid was capped by a 15% drop in yesterday’s session, bringing its total loss over that time to about 41%.

UnitedHealth Group (UNH) – The health insurer saw its second-quarter profit fall by more than a third from a year ago, as consumers resumed elective medical care that they had postponed due to the pandemic. However, UnitedHealth did beat estimates on the top and bottom lines, earning an adjusted $4.70 per share compared to a consensus estimate of $4.43.

Bank of NY Mellon (BK) – Bank of NY Mellon beat estimates by 13 cents with quarterly earnings of $1.13 per share and revenue topping estimates as well. Its board also reauthorized the repurchase of up to $6 billion in common stock.

Truist Financial (TFC) – The bank that resulted from the 2019 merger of SunTrust and BB&T reported an adjusted quarterly profit of $1.55 per share, beating the $1.19 consensus estimate, while revenue also came in above Wall Street projections. Results were helped by strong fee and wealth management income, among other factors.

US Bancorp (USB) – US Bancorp earned $1.28 per share for the second quarter, 14 cents above estimates, with revenue beating estimates as well. Its results got a boost from an improving economy which helped boost credit and debit card revenue and allowed it to lower its credit loss provision.

Norton LifeLock (NLOK) – Norton LifeLock is in talks to buy fellow cybersecurity firm Avast, in a deal that would expand Norton’s presence in consumer software. Avast said the two sides were in advanced discussions about a possible cash-and-stock deal. Norton LifeLock fell 2.6% in the premarket.

Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) – Johnson & Johnson is recalling some batches of its Neutrogena and Aveeno spray sunscreen products after benzene was found in some samples. Johnson & Johnson said benzene – which can potentially cause cancer – is not used in the manufacture of the products and it is investigating how it wound up in some products. Shares fell 1% in the premarket.

General Motors (GM) – NHSTA urged owners of about 50,000 Chevy Bolts to park outside after charging the electric vehicles, due to fire risks. GM, which makes the Bolt, had issued a similar warning earlier in the day about vehicles from the 2017 to 2019 model years.

Netflix (NFLX) – Netflix hired former Facebook executive Mike Verdu to lead its video games unit, as it steps up efforts to grow beyond its flagship video streaming business. The stock rose 1.8% in premarket action.

Beyond Meat (BYND) – Beyond Meat opened an online store in China on e-commerce platform JD.com (JD), as it tries to boost sales of its plant-based meat alternatives in that country.

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Business

AMC, Gamestop share offerings are longterm positives

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CNBC’s Jim Cramer on Tuesday applauded GameStop and AMC Entertainment for issuing new shares, moves he said upset many in the Reddit investing crowd.

The “Mad Money” host took aim at the “hold the line” cohort of investors that get stock tips from the Wall Street Bets forum, saying their plans to offer new shares and raise cash to improve their operations should not be frowned upon.

“If you care about the future of either company or the long-term trajectory of their stocks, issuing shares up here is the right move,” Cramer said. “But the ‘hold the line’ crowd they hate these offerings … and they despise anyone who defends them.”

“It can only go so far,” he added.

AMC expects shareholders to vote in May on a measure authorizing the sale of another 500 million shares on the secondary market. GameStop submitted a prospectus to sell up to 3.5 million shares of common stock in its own equity offering program.

AMC hopes to use the funds to improve its balance sheet, while executives at the beleaguered GameStop seek to engineer a turnaround story.

“AMC and GameStop need money,” Cramer said. “Raising capital is good for both companies and over the long haul, what’s good for the company should be good for the stock.”

As for the “hold the line” strategy, Cramer worries too many investors have unrealistic expectations that they can pile into a stock and force its share price to go up.

“I find this whole narrative insane,” he said. “When the Wall Street Bets cohort takes over the flow of certain stocks, they want to call the shots and they expect management and all the shareholders to obey. Well, frankly, that is a recipe for disappointment.”

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Business

Intel, GameStop, ViacomCBS & more

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Take a look at some of the biggest movers in the premarket:

Intel (INTC) – Intel said it would spend $20 billion to build two new plants at existing facilities in Arizona, in an effort to grab more market shares and fill gaps created by a worldwide chip shortage. Intel aims to start production at the new plants by 2024. Intel shares rose 4% in premarket trading, while shares of competitor Taiwan Semiconductor (TSM) fell 2.1% following Intel’s announcement.

GameStop (GME) – GameStop reported quarterly earnings of $1.34 per share, missing forecasts by a penny a share. Revenue also came in below consensus. The videogame retailer did not address the Reddit-fueled trading frenzy in its stock during its earnings conference call, but in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing said it was considering the idea of raising money by selling shares to fund its ongoing transformation. The stock tumbled 12% in premarket trading.

ViacomCBS (VIAC) – The media company’s shares fell another 7% in the premarket after sinking 9.1% Tuesday on news of a $3 billion stock offering.

General Mills (GIS) – The food producer fell 2 cents a share shy of Wall Street forecasts, with quarterly earnings of 82 cents per share. Revenue exceeded estimates and General Mills said expects demand for food at home to remain elevated relative to pre-pandemic levels. Its shares were down 1.9% in the premarket.

Winnebago (WGO) – The company’s shares gained 3.7% in premarket action after the recreational vehicle maker reported quarterly profit of $2.12 per share, compared to a $1.42 a share consensus estimate. Revenue topped analysts’ forecasts and Winnebago saw a nearly 6 percentage point expansion in gross margins during the quarter.

Adobe (ADBE) – Adobe beat estimates by 35 cents a share, with quarterly profit of $3.14 per share. The software company’s revenue came in above estimates as well and Adobe issued strong current-quarter and full-year earnings guidance on strength in its flagship Creative Cloud suite and other cloud-based offerings. Adobe rose 1.2% in premarket action.

Amazon.com (AMZN) – Amazon named Adam Selipsky as CEO of its Amazon Web Services unit, effective when current chief Andy Jassy replaces Jeff Bezos as Amazon CEO later this year. Selipsky had been an executive at Amazon Web Services to become CEO of Tableau Software, which has since been acquired by Salesforce.com (CRM). Amazon rose 1% in premarket trading.

Bank of New York Mellon (BK) – The bank’s shares climbed 1.3% in the premarket following a double upgrade from Bank of America Securities to “buy” from “underperform.” BofA said its call is based on attractive valuation as well as an improving profit outlook.

Exxon Mobil (XOM) – Exxon Mobil’s debt ratings were downgraded by rating agency Moody’s to Aa2 from Aa1, pointing to the energy giant’s aim to maintain its dividend. Moody’s said that policy will slow debt reduction at Exxon Mobil.

AMC Entertainment (AMC) – AMC shares fell another 2.1% in premarket trading following Walt Disney’s (DIS) announcement that it would delay the release of its “Black Widow” movie by two months, and offer it simultaneously in theaters and on its Disney+ service for a fee. The movie theater operator’s shares had plummeted 14.7% yesterday and 10.3% on Monday.

Steelcase (SCS) – Steelcase earned 6 cents per share for its latest quarter, compared to a consensus estimate of a 1 cent per share loss. The office furniture maker’s revenue came in above forecasts as well. The company gave a weaker-than-expected forecast, however, as demand for office products continues to be weak. Its shares lost 3.4% in the premarket.

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Business

GameStop, Koss Corp, Wayfair & more

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Take a look at some of the biggest movers in the premarket:

GameStop (GME) – GameStop remains on watch after another Reddit-fueled surge Wednesday in the video game retailer’s shares, as well as other so-called “Reddit stocks” like BlackBerry (BB), AMC Entertainment (AMC) and Koss Corp. (KOSS). GameStop surged 55.8% premarket, while AMC rose 12.9%, BlackBerry gained 4.3% and Koss soared 81.3%.

Best Buy (BBY) – The electronics retailer’s shares fell 5.3% in premarket trading after its revenue and comparable-store sales missed Wall Street forecasts for the holiday quarter as pandemic fueled demand for electronics lessened. Best Buy’s quarterly earnings of $3.48 per share beat estimates by 3 cents a share, however.

Moderna (MRNA) – The drugmaker’s shares rose 2.9% in premarket action as its quarterly revenue vastly exceeded estimates and it forecast $18.4 billion in Covid-19 vaccine sales this year. Moderna did, however, report a quarterly loss of 69 cents per share, wider than the 35 cents a share loss that analysts were anticipating.

Wayfair (W) – The furniture and home goods seller earned $1.24 per share for its latest quarter, above the consensus estimate of 86 cents a share. Revenue was slightly below Wall Street forecasts, as were the number of orders and the shares fell 9% premarket.

Norwegian Cruise Line (NCLH) – The cruise line operator’s shares rose 1.9% in the premarket after quarterly revenue came in well above estimates, despite the Covid-19 related shutdown of cruises. Its loss of $2.33 per share for its latest quarter was slightly wider than the consensus estimate of a $2.17 per share loss.

Anheuser-Busch InBev (BUD) – Anheuser-Busch reported better-than-expected profit and revenue for the fourth quarter. The company also forecast higher earnings for 2021, however the beer brewer said its profit margins would be hurt by higher commodity costs. Its shares fell 5.3% in premarket trading.

ViacomCBS (VIAC) – ViacomCBS came in 2 cents a share ahead of estimates, with quarterly profit of $1.04 per share. Revenue essentially was in line with Wall Street forecasts. The company also said it had 30 million streaming subscribers, ahead of its planned March 4 launch of Paramount+ service that will replace the current CBS All Access service. Its shares dropped 2.8% in premarket action.

Teladoc Health (TDOC) – Teladoc dropped 6.5% in premarket trading after it reported a loss of 27 cents per share for its latest quarter, 3 cents a share wider than Wall Street had expected. The provider of video medical visits’ revenue came in above estimates.

Nvidia (NVDA) – Nvidia reported quarterly earnings of $3.10 per share, compared to a $2.81 a share consensus estimate. The company best known for its gaming chips saw revenue beat estimates as well. Nvidia also predicted strong revenue for the current quarter, but the shares were down 2.6% in premarket action.

Fisker (FSR) – Fisker struck a deal with contract manufacturer Foxconn Technology to assemble cars for the electric vehicle startup. The agreement calls for the companies to jointly produce more than 250,000 vehicles annually. Shares fell 1% premarket.

Pfizer (PFE) – The Covid-19 vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech (BNTX) works equally well across all age groups, according to an Israeli study. It provided 94% protection against developing coronavirus symptoms a week after the second dose of the vaccine, and 92% effective in preventing severe disease.

Verizon (VZ) – Verizon was the top bidder in a government auction of 5G airwaves, spending $45.5 billion, while AT&T (T) bid $23.4 billion and T-Mobile US (TMUS) bid $9.3 billion.

Pure Storage (PSTG) – Pure Storage came in 4 cents a share ahead of estimates, with quarterly profit of 13 cents per share. The provider of business memory storage systems also saw revenue beat Wall Street forecasts. Pure Storage gave a mixed forecast, but it was the first time it gave any forward guidance since the pandemic began. Shares gained 2.5% in the premarket.

L Brands (LB) – L Brands earned $3.30 per share for its latest quarter, 12 cents a share above estimates. The Victoria’s Secret parent’s revenue came in short of forecasts. L Brands, which also owns the Bath & Body Works chain, gave strong current-quarter earnings guidance. L Brands was up 2.7% in the premarket.

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Business

GameStop shares surge in premarket as Reddit favorites rally again

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Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto via Getty Images

Shares of GameStop climbed 44% in premarket trade on Thursday as heavily-shorted stocks favored by Reddit traders look set for a resurgence.

Investors piled into the bricks-and-mortar video game retailer on Wednesday following the reported ousting of Chief Financial Officer Jim Bell, sending the stock soaring 103.9% before trading was halted.

The company announced Tuesday that Bell will resign on March 26, with reports suggesting that Ryan Cohen – GameStop investor and co-founder of online pet food retailer Chewy — and the board forced the move in order to accelerate its transition online.

GameStop was at the center of a period of market mayhem in late January as retail traders led by multi-million-member Reddit thread WallStreetBets sent its share price skyrocketing, causing a short-squeeze on a number of Wall Street hedge funds with bets on its decline.

However, some analysts have suggested that there was also some institutional involvement in the ballooning share price.

Another stock caught up in the retail frenzy, AMC Entertainment, was up 17% in premarket trade on Thursday, having climbed 18% during the previous session. The cinema chain has been bolstered by New York Governor Andrew Cuomo announcing that movie theaters in the city could open with limited capacity next month.

Meanwhile, headphone manufacturer and fellow Reddit favorite Koss Corp jumped 57% in the early hours of Thursday.

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Business

Tesla, Home Depot, AMC and more

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Here are the stocks making the biggest moves in midday trading.

Tesla – Shares of the electric vehicle company slid more than 5% during a volatile day of trading, which at one point saw the stock decline more than 12%. The leg lower follows heavy losses on Monday, and the stock is now down more than 10% for the week as investors rotate out of high-flying tech names.

Home Depot –  The retailer beat top and bottom line estimates during the fourth quarter, but shares were down more than 4% on Tuesday after the company didn’t issue guidance for 2021. Home Depot earned $2.65 per share on $32.26 billion revenue, compared to the expected $2.62 per share and $30.73 billion in revenue, according to estimates from Refinitiv. U.S. same-store sales jumped 25%.

AMC Entertainment – Shares of the movie theater chain jumped more than 10% on Tuesday after New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced that movie theaters in New York City could open with limited capacity next month.

Churchill Capital IV – Shares of the special purpose acquisition company tumbled more than 30% after Churchill announced that it would merge with Lucid Motors, an early stage electric vehicle company. A possible deal between the two companies had previously been reported. The companies also confirmed a delay in production for Lucid’s vehicle.

Dish Network – Shares of the television company lost more than 5% after research firm Pivotal downgraded the stock to hold from buy. Pivotal said investors should be patient in waiting to see how Dish’s wireless business performs.

Occidental Petroleum – The energy stock slipped about 2% after Occidental’s fourth-quarter results missed estimates on the top and bottom lines. The company reported a loss of 78 cents per share on $4.16 billion in revenue. Analysts surveyed by Refinitiv were expecting a loss of 59 cents per share on revenue of $4.37 billion.

Shopify – Shares of e-commerce company lost more than 7% after Shopify finalized an offering of Class A shares. The company priced 1.18 million shares at $1,315 apiece, resulting in gross proceeds of $1.55 billion.

Carnival – The cruise stock fell nearly 1% on Tuesday after the company announced a new stock offering. The company is selling roughly 40.5 million shares at $25.10 per share. Carnival said it would use the proceeds for general corporate purposes.

ZoomInfo – Shares of the marketing software company climbed 7% after ZoomInfo’s fourth-quarter earnings beat expectations. The company earned an adjusted 12 cents per share during the period, while analysts surveyed by Refinitiv were expecting 10 cents per share. ZoomInfo’s forward earnings guidance was also stronger than expected.

RealReal – Shares of the luxury consignment platform dropped more than 16% after a wider-than-expected quarterly loss. The RealReal lost an adjusted 49 cents per share for the fourth quarter, versus an estimate of a 42-cent loss. Its revenue also came in below expectations. Raymond James downgraded the stock after the earnings report to market perform from an outperform rating, saying recovery is already priced in.

Spotify – Shares of the music streaming company fell more than 8% after Atlantic Equities downgraded the stock to neutral from overweight on valuation concerns. The firm cited Spotify shares that have more than doubled over the past 12 month, trading at more than five times forward revenue. Meanwhile, it said there are fewer catalysts to drive shares higher as Spotify’s focus shifts away from M&A to production.

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GameStop shares are flat in volatile premarket trading after falling 72% in 2 days

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Tiffany Hagler-Geard | Bloomberg | Getty Images

GameStop shares were flat in premarket trading on Wednesday as traders waited to see if the short squeeze fueled by retail investors on Reddit could be revived.

The stock had been down by more than 11% earlier on Wednesday morning but swung into the black shortly after 5 a.m. ET. The stock was last trading around the flatline at $91.44.

Shares of the bricks-and-mortar video game retailer surged 1,625% in January and 400% just last week, as traders led by Reddit thread WallStreetBets piled into the stock.

But the momentum collapsed earlier this week. Gamestop stock dropped 60% on Tuesday and it has lost more than 70% of its value since Friday.

Keith Gill, AKA Reddit’s DeepF——Value, posted on Tuesday that he is still not selling despite suffering a $13 million loss that day.

AMC Entertainment, another heavily shorted stock that was also targeted by Reddit traders, was up by around 6% in premarket trading.

Robinhood and other retail trading apps continue to limit some buying of a collection of stocks pursued by the Reddit thread. Many Wall Street hedge funds began short-covering toward the end of last week after taking significant losses in the squeeze.

Short selling is a strategy in which investors borrow shares of a stock at a certain price on expectations that the market value will fall below that level when it’s time to pay for the borrowed shares. Buying back borrowed shares to close out a short position, whether for a profit or loss, is known as short-covering.

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Elizabeth Warren slams SEC over ‘market manipulation’

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Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass.

Tom Williams | CQ-Roll Call, Inc. | Getty Images

Sen. Elizabeth Warren lambasted the Securities and Exchange Commission on Thursday, blaming the regulator and its failure to act for a chaotic dayslong blitz of market speculation.

“We need an SEC that has clear rules about market manipulation and then has the backbone to get in and enforce those rules,” Warren said. “To have a healthy stock market, you’ve got to have a cop on the beat.”

“That should be the SEC,” she added. “They need to step up and do their job.”

The SEC did not immediately respond to CNBC’s request for comment.

The senator from Massachusetts joined CNBC after wild swings forced popular trading app Robinhood to restrict access to the high-flying stocks at the center of the controversy.

Warren, a longtime critic of Wall Street, spoke to CNBC’s “Closing Bell” as individual traders took to Reddit, Twitter and other social media platforms to protest Robinhood’s move to curb trading. But she made clear that she isn’t a big fan of Robinhood, either.

Robinhood and similar firms, which offer signup incentives while forcing customers to sign arbitration clauses, don’t help create healthy market conditions she said.

Those arbitration clauses, she said, protect Robinhood “if it turns out that [it] really did cheat you. It’ll never be made public, there will be very little that you can do about.”

The public outrage toward Robinhood came after the California-based brokerage announced earlier on Thursday that it would bar customers from buying additional shares of companies including GameStop and move theater operator AMC Entertainment. It still allows customers to sell those stocks from their current portfolio.

Investors on the irreverent WallStreetBets Reddit led an effort to “squeeze” short sellers to cover their bets in such stocks and, as a result, have sparked a frenzy of volatile trading in recent sessions. Many of those retail investors sparked the short squeeze through Robinhood’s popular trading app.

Videogame retailer GameStop is up 250% so far this week, AMC is up 145% and headphone maker Koss, another “squeeze” target, is up a whopping 1,100%.

Robinhood’s decision, which it says was motivated by “extraordinary volatility in the markets,” sparked criticism from both sides of the political aisle.

For her part, Warren said she is skeptical of a narrative that would relate the current trading to a classic “David versus Goliath” story that pits a scrappy group of retail investors against a colossal, hedge-fund empire.

“That’s the problem: How do you know who’s manipulating the stock at this point?” she asked. “Are you entirely sure that there aren’t wealthy people on both sides? That hedge funds haven’t moved in on the side of the people who bid up the price of GameStop?”

Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., a progressive who represents Silicon Valley, called for “more regulation and equality” and questioned the fairness of preventing individuals from buying.

“While retail trading in some cases, like on Robinhood, blocked the purchasing of GameStop, hedge funds were still allowed to trade the stock,” Khanna said.

By buying GameStop or AMC equity or call options, retail investors have forced investors betting against the stock, known as short sellers and oftentimes hedge funds, to cover their positions by buying back shares in an effort prevent further losses.

When this occurs en masse, it can lead to a feedback cycle and a spike in a stock’s price.

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