Walgreen's fiscal third-quarter earnings rose a bigger-than-expected 30% amid continued sales growth and as margins strengthened thanks to generic sales impacts and higher margins in the front of the store. But the company also said its contract renewal negotiations with pharmacy benefit manager Express Scripts Inc. (ESRX) haven't been successful and it isn't planning to be part of that network as of Jan. 1. Walgreen slipped 3.7% to $43.50 in pre-market trading while Express Scripts shares were off 3.2% at $53.05.
Best Buy Co. (BBY) authorized a new $5 billion stock repurchase program and raised its quarterly dividend by 7%. Shares climbed 4.3% to $32.91 premarket as the electronics retailer joins a growing list of companies seeking to reward shareholders by tapping into cash stockpiles they no longer need to horde amid an improving economy.
BP PLC (BP, BP.LN) said Monday that it will shield Weatherford against private claims related to last year's Deepwater Horizon disaster. Weatherford agreed to pay the oil company $75 million in exchange for some protection against the storm of litigation that has followed the deadly explosion aboard the Deepwater Horizon rig, which killed 11 and resulted in the worst offshore oil spill in U.S. history. The company provided BP with casing components for its doomed deepwater well. Weatherford's shares were up 2.1% to $17.25 in pre-market trading.
The U.S.'s largest public pension fund said Monday it picked CVS Caremark Corp. (CVS) to administer prescription-drug benefits to more than 346,000 of its members in a contract worth about $565 million in yearly drug spending. CVS shares were up 1.4% at $38 in pre-market trading.
Susquehanna Bancshares Inc. (SUSQ) agreed to acquire Pennsylvania bank Tower Bancorp Inc. (TOBC) in a cash-and-stock deal valued at about $343 million, continuing a trend of consolidation among the state's regional banks. Tower Bancorp's shares surged 37% to $28 in pre-market trading.
EnCana Corp. (ECA) and PetroChina Co. (PTR) ended their talks to form a joint venture for Encana's Cutbank Ridge business assets as Encana launches a review of its midstream pipeline and processing assets in the area. EnCana's shares fell 3.8% to $28.96 in pre-market trading.
Swiss agrochemicals giant Syngenta AG (SYT, SYNN.VX) Tuesday said soaring demand for seeds and pesticides should help it more than double revenue generated from its main seed and crop protection products in the next few years. Syngenta's American depositary shares rose 3.2% to $65.93 in light pre-market trading.
Invesco Mortgage Capital Inc. (IVR) said its offering of 17 million shares priced at $20.15, a 4% discount to the closing price Monday. The real estate investment trust said it plans to use proceeds from the offering to help buy mortgage-backed securities and mortgage loans. Shares were recently off 2.5% to $20.45 premarket.
Credit Suisse did a one-eighty on Motorola Mobility Holdings Inc. (MMI), cutting its stock-investment rating to underperform from outperform. While growth in smartphones will remain "robust," Credit Suisse thinks "MMI will struggle to generate an operating margin above 5% longer term given increasing smartphone competition and lack of scale." Shares slid 2.6% to $23.85 in light premarket trading.
Prospect Capital Corp. (PSEC) said it is offering 10 million shares. The investor in private and micro-cap businesses said it plans to use proceeds to maintain liquidity on its balance sheet by repaying debt. The company had about 58.4 million shares outstanding as of May 1. Shares were off 2.2% to $10.45 premarket.
Fifth Street Finance Corp. (FSC) said it will sell 5 million shares of its common stock. The New York-based specialty-finance company's latest plan follows an January offering of at least 10 million shares. The latest offering would boost shares outstanding another 7.5%. The stock was off 2.5% to $11.60 in pre-market trading.
Country Style Cooking Restaurant Chain Co. Ltd. (CCSC) said one of its subsidiaries owes back taxes because of a misapplied preferential tax rate. American depositary shares in the Chinese restaurant chain, which also said it would be setting aside additional money for taxes, were down 7.8% at $9.77 in light pre-market trading.
Watch List stock to watch june 21 2011:
Achillion Pharmaceuticals Inc. (ACHN) said it is offering 9 million shares of its common stock, which would boost its shares outstanding by about 15%. The company said it plans to use an estimated $52.1 million in proceeds to continue clinical testing on certain treatments, advance drug candidates into clinical trials and help pay for general corporate expenses.
Renren Inc.'s (RENN) first-quarter loss narrowed on a leap in revenue and relief from warrant write-downs in the year-earlier period, as the Chinese social-networking company reported its first results as a U.S.-listed company. Renren American depositary shares were down 1.2% at $7.52 in after-hours trading.
Pfizer Inc. (PFE) said its nerve-pain drug Lyrica was effective in reducing pain in a Phase 3 study of patients with central neuropathic pain following a spinal-cord injury when compared with a placebo.
Senesco Technologies Inc. (SNT), which develops technology that regulates the onset of cell death in plants and is exploring human applications, said the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has lifted a hold on the company's lead drug candidate now that the company has addressed clinical issues.
WellPoint Inc. (WLP) affirmed its full-year earnings outlook, while analysts on average expected the health-insurer's bottom line to be much higher Source online.wsj.com... For the latest updates PRESS CTR + D or visit Stock Market news Today
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