Among the companies with shares expected to actively trade in
Tuesday's session are J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM), Goldman
Sachs Group Inc. (GS) and Lorillard Inc. (LO).
J.P. Morgan reported second-quarter profit that beat
expectations as trading revenue held up better than the bank had
forecast, sending shares 2.8% higher to $57.88 premarket.
Goldman's second-quarter net income rose 5.5% on strength in the
firm's investment banking and investing arms and a less-steep
decline than some feared in the firm's trading business. Results
easily topped the estimates of analysts polled by Thomson Reuters,
pushing shares up 1.6% to $169.62 premarket.
Reynolds American Inc. (RAI) agreed to acquire Lorillard Inc.
(LO) in a cash-and-stock deal worth about $25 billion, the
companies said Tuesday. Under the terms, Lorillard shareholders
will receive $50.50 in cash and 0.29 Reynolds shares in exchange
for each Lorillard share, a value of $68.88 per share. The
potential tie-up faces significant risks, including tough antitrust
scrutiny. Additionally, Reynolds American said it reached a deal to
sell the Kool, Salem, Winston, Maverick and Blue eCigs brands and
other assets to Imperial Tobacco Group PLC (ITYBY) for $7.1 billion
in cash. Lorillard shares slipped 5.2% to $63.75 premarket, while
Reynolds shares fell 2.3% to $61.71.
Rent-to-own company Aaron's Inc. (AAN) said its results for the
latest quarter won't meet the dour outlook the company provided in
late April. While new acquisition Progressive topped Aaron's
expectations, the core retail business continued to sag. Shares
fell 5.8% to $31.60 premarket.
Wolverine World Wide Inc. (WWW) unveiled plans to close about
140 stores over the next 18 months and to consolidate store
operations to improve its profit. Shares of the maker of Hush
Puppies and Merrell shoes rose 1.9% to $26.95 premarket as revenue
for the latest quarter topped market expectations.
Albemarle Corp. (ALB) will buy Rockwood Holdings Inc. (ROC) for
a deal valued at about $6.2 billion in cash and stock, the
specialty chemical companies said. The merger agreement values
Rockwood at $85.53 a share, a 13% premium over its Monday closing
price. Albemarle shares rose 4% to $75.50 premarket, while Rockwood
shares climbed 13% to $85.43.
Codexis Inc. (CDXS), which develops bio-catalysts for
pharmaceutical and chemical production, has granted GlaxoSmithKline
PLC (GSK) a license to use its CodeEvolver protein technology.
Codexis shares jumped 84% to $2.60 premarket.
Targacept Inc. (TRGT) said it will drop a clinical-stage
treatment for Alzheimer's disease after seeing disappointing
results in a midstage study. Shares fell 4.8% to $4.20
premarket.
Anadarko Petroleum Corp. (APC) said it has taken steps to
improve its financial flexibility, including paring its stake in
the company that manages natural-gas and crude-oil unit Western Gas
Partners LP (WES). Anadarko said it made $335 million in cash on
the offering. Anadarko shares rose 2.9% to $109.00 premarket.
Watchlist:
Consol Energy Inc. (CNX) raised its gas-production outlook for
the year, as the energy company continued to benefit from output in
the Marcellus Shale.
Information technology staffing and solutions company Computer
Task Group Inc. (CTG) cut its outlook for its second-quarter and
full-year results, primarily due to higher medical costs.
CVS Caremark Corp. (CVS) has reached an agreement to buy Navarro
Discount Pharmacy, the nation's largest Hispanic-owned drugstore
chain. Financial terms weren't disclosed.
Darden Restaurants Inc. (DRI) boosted the size of its debt
buyback offer by $10 million to a total of $610 million amid strong
demand and removed the tender caps for two series of notes that
mature in 2021 and 2022.
Enterprise Products Partners LP (EPD) said that its board has
approved a two-for-one split of the company's common units. The
move comes as Enterprise Products--which provides midstream energy
services such as pipelines and storage--has enjoyed 17%
year-to-date growth in the price of its common units.
FedEx Corp. (FDX) on Monday disclosed that French authorities
are looking into potential anticompetitive actions at French
shipper TATEX, which FedEx bought in 2012, and that the Justice
Department was pursuing as a criminal case alleged regulatory
violations stemming from the removal and disposal of roof materials
from a hangar in Puerto Rico. A loss from the French matter, FedEx
said, "is reasonably possible that it could be material."
Hewlett-Packard Co. (HPQ) said interim Chairman Ralph Whitworth,
an activist investor known for shaking up boardrooms, has resigned
from its board to focus on his health. The Silicon Valley giant
said the resignation is effective Wednesday, and the board will
discuss appointing a new chairman at its next meeting.
J.B. Hunt Transportation Services Inc. (JBHT) said its
second-quarter earnings rose 6.5% on revenue growth across most of
its business segments.
Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) said Tuesday that its second-quarter
earnings grew as sales of the company's new hepatitis C drug
continued to boost the health-care giant's revenue.
Leggett & Platt Inc. (LEG) said its expects to post a $108
million write-down of its store-fixtures business in the second
quarter and has hired an investment banker to look into strategic
options for the segment, including a potential sale.
Write to Anna Prior at anna.prior@wsj.com and Maria Armental at
maria.armental@wsj.com
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