Among the companies with shares expected to actively trade in
Wednesday's session are Mako Surgical Corp. (MAKO), Ascena Retail
Group Inc. (ASNA) and Oncothyreon Inc. (ONTY).
Stryker Corp. (SYK) agreed to acquire Mako Surgical for roughly
$1.65 billion, a move that will provide the orthopedics product
maker with access to Mako's robotic assisted surgery platform. Mako
shareholders will receive $30 a share, a 86% premium to Tuesday's
close. Shares surged 82% to $29.46 premarket.
Ascena's fiscal fourth-quarter earnings surged on stronger sales
and margins as well as lower acquisition-related charges. The
women's apparel retailer's shares were up 14% at $19.80 premarket
as adjusted earnings from continuing operations and revenue beat
expectations.
Oncothyreon said Germany's Merck KGaA (MKGAY, MRK.XE) has
decided to continue clinical development of Oncothyreon's lung
cancer drug tecemotide, even though the drug didn't meet its
primary endpoint in a prior Phase 3 study. Merck Serono will
conduct a new Phase 3 trial called START2 for patients with locally
advanced Stage III nonsmall cell lung cancer. The small
biotechnology company's shares surged 22% to $2.20 in premarket
trading.
Morgan Stanley downgraded Carnival Corp. (CCL) to underweight
from equalweight, noting the cruise-line operator has
underperformed peers in terms of yield performance for seven out of
the past eight years. "The recovery could take longer than
expected," the firm said, adding costs are rising due to the fleet
enhancement program, new fuel emission rules and higher marketing
and distribution costs. Shares slipped 4.6% to $32.95
premarket.
Biotech company Clovis Oncology Inc. (CLVS), which was
considering a sale, didn't enter any deal talks and is no longer
seeking bids, Bloomberg News reported, citing a person with
knowledge of the matter. Shares dropped 14% to $63.51
premarket.
Chatham Lodging Trust (CLDT) unveiled a plan to offer at least
3.3 million shares, as the real-estate investment trust looks to
raise proceeds to repay debt and help fund a portion of a property
acquisition in Bellevue, Wash. Shares slipped 5.4% to $18.35
premarket.
Brocade Communications Systems Inc. (BRCD) raised its stock
buyback program to $1 billion from $308 million, as the company
cited confidence in generating greater cash flow as well as its
long-term business prospects. Shares rose 3.8% premarket to
$8.49.
Watch List:
AAR Corp.'s (AIR) fiscal first-quarter profit fell 1.6% as the
aviation products and services supplier's overall sales
declined.
Bank-holding company Banner Corp. (BANR) on Tuesday said it had
agreed to buy Home Federal Bancorp Inc. (HOME) for $197 million in
cash and stock. The deal, expected to close in the first quarter of
2014, will result in a combined company with about $5.2 billion in
assets, making it the fourth-largest bank in the Pacific Northwest
by assets, the companies said.
Car auctioneer Copart Inc.'s (CPRT) reported a
weaker-than-expected fiscal fourth-quarter profit because of higher
expenses. While revenue growth topped analysts' expectations, the
bottom line surprisingly fell 8% from a year ago as Copart's
expenses--including yard operation and vehicle sale costs--jumped
from the prior year.
Crown Holdings Inc. (CCK) cut its third-quarter earnings
guidance on lower end-user demand in some of the food-and-beverage
packaging company's markets, including European food cans and North
American beverage cans.
Health Management Associates Inc. (HMA) said its newly
constituted board is evaluating its $3.9 billion deal to be
acquired by fellow hospital operator Community Health Systems Inc.
(CYH). The review comes about a month after hedge fund Glenview
Capital Management LLC gained shareholder approval to replace the
hospital operator's entire board. But its agreement earlier this
year to be acquired by rival Community Health didn't appease
Glenview, which also is the top shareholder in Community
Health.
Landec Corp.'s (LNDC) fiscal first-quarter profit grew 8.8% as
the food-packaging maker reported higher revenue due to strong
demand for vegetables. Margins, however, fell due to an increase in
lower-margin food service sales and higher-than-expected raw
produce costs.
Offshore driller Noble Corp. (NE) disclosed a plan to split the
company into two separate firms, potentially moving to file an
initial public offering for a business that would own the company's
older rigs. Noble has been mulling a plan to shed some assets for a
few years and even conceded the process to evaluate such a move was
taking longer than expected.
Ntelos Holdings Corp. (NTLS) said it had settled disputes with
Sprint Corp. (S) related to the companies' strategic network
alliance. The settlement resolves a dispute over the reset of data
rates that began in the fourth quarter of 2011, as well as
unrelated billing disputes raised in the third quarter of 2012.
Shares of Ntelos were up 9.7% at $17.50 in after-hours trading.
Write to Lauren Pollock at lauren.pollock@wsj.com
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