By Peter Nurse
Investing.com -- Stocks in focus in premarket trade on Wednesday, June 24th. Please refresh for updates.
Dell Technologies (NYSE:DELL) stock soared over 15% after the Wall Street Journal reported that the computer technology company is weighing up the options for its 81% stake in VMware (NYSE:VMW), including unloading the stake or buying the company outright. VMware also climbed 8.2%, additionally helped by an upgrade to buy from hold by the brokerage Stifel Nicolaus.
PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) stock fell 1.5% after the institutional broker-dealer BTIG downgraded its investment stance on the online payments operator to neutral from buy, citing its valuation. The stock has more than doubled from the lows reached in March.
Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) stock dropped 0.6% after the ice cream manufacturer Ben & Jerry’s, a unit of Unilever (NYSE:UL), joined a growing group that it would halt paid advertising on the tech giant's two largest social media networks in the U.S., asking the firm “to stop its platform from being used to spread and amplify racism and hate.”
- Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) stock fell 0.5% after Politico reported that the company faces an antitrust investigation from the Department of Justice focused on its dominant App store. The EU had opened an investigation of its own into possible abuse of the App Store earlier this month.
- Separately. Apple is reported to have sold 3.6 million iPhones in China in May, down from 3.9 million in April.
United Airlines (NASDAQ:UAL) stock dropped 3.3% and American Airlines (NASDAQ:AAL) stock fell 2.7% following a report in the New York Times which suggested that the EU could block travelers from the U.S. from entering Europe because of the rising number of cases of the Covid-19 virus.
Winnebago Industries (NYSE:WGO) stock dropped 1.3% despite the recreational vehicle company reporting better than expected third-quarter results, helped by a surprise increase in motorhome sales. The company’s stock has had a smart runup of late on speculation that disruption to the travel business will spur demand for RVs.
- Inovio Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:INO) stock dropped 1.8%, but this was only after the stock posted gains of over 40% Tuesday after announcing $71 million of government funding to manufacture a handheld device that delivers its experimental Covid-19 vaccine.
- Renewable Energy (NASDAQ:REGI) stock dropped 8.1% after the company lowered its second quarter EBITDA guidance, to between negative $12 million and negative $2 million. Previously, on April 30, it estimated a range of $20 million to $35 million.
- La Jolla Pharmaceutical (NASDAQ:LJPC) stock climbed 4.9% after making an unsolicited bid for Tetraphase Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:TTPH), for $43.0 million in upfront cash plus potential future cash payments of up to $16.0 million pursuant to contingent value rights.