Procter & Gamble Falls in Pre-Market, Starbucks, Tesla, PayPal Gain

Investing.com - Stocks in focus in pre-market trade Monday:

• Procter & Gamble (PG) stock fell 0.6% by 8:44 AM ET (12:44 GMT) after Jefferies downgraded the company to hold from buy based on a number of headwinds.

• Starbucks (SBUX) stock traded up 0.76% as outgoing executive chairman Howard Schultz dismissed worries about slowdown in sales in China as a short-term issue. Schultz also hinted at the possibility of a tie-up with Alibaba (BABA) to accelerate online sales in the region, according to a Reuters report.

• Tesla (TSLA) stock rose 0.97% as the firm increased prices of its Model S and Model X in China by $22,680-$37,800 (150,000-250,000 yuan) as a result of recently applied tariffs in the trade war between the U.S. and China.

• PayPal (PYPL) stock gained 0.77% after chief executive Dan Schulman indicated that the firm’s healthy balance sheet would allow it to invest between $1 billion and $3 billion a year in acquisitions. According to an interview in Handelsblatt, Schulman also said they wouldn’t rule out a bigger deal if it were a strategic fit.

• Groupon (GRPN) stock soared 10.78% after Recode reported that the firm was searching for a buyer.

• Toll Brothers (TOL) stock rose 3.19% after Barron’s published an upbeat article on the firm, suggesting that it “appears to be significantly undervalued.” The story reproduced positive comments from RBC analyst Michael Dahl who has a price target of $46 on the stock and comments from chief executive Douglas Yearly who insisted there is a “disconnect between our business and the share price,” pointing to the drop from $52 at the beginning of the year to the current $37.

• Helen of Troy (HELE) soared 16.73% after reporting an adjusted diluted earnings per share of $1.87, compared to consensus expectations for $1.46.

• CTi Biopharma (CTIC) stock tumbled 16.923% after the firm said that the Phase 3 trial of its treatment for aggressive B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma did not meet its endpoint.

• Pluristem (PSTI) stock gains 3.146% after the company entered a strategic collaboration with Thermo Fisher Scientific (TMO) “to advance fundamental knowledge of cell therapy industrialization and to improve quality control of the end-to-end supply chain.”

• Benitec Biopharma (BNTC) stock skyrockets 124.5% after the firm announced a licensing agreement for its treatment of oculopharyngeal muscular dystrophy as well as a “broad platform collaboration with Axovant Sciences (AXON)." Shares in Axovant soared 16.4%.

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