“Formula for success: rise early, work hard, strike oil” – J. Paul Getty
I must confess to feeling kind of lonely at times this year being one of a handful of observers of the casino space, (and at times, the only one,) standing firm on my undiminished faith that Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS) valuations were dead wrong. Now, after the Macau Parisian has opened and LVS Q3 results knocked it out of the park I suddenly have lots of company. I’m bemused to see the bandwagon suddenly getting rather crowded.
There’s no room for gloat or vapid vainglory in my gene pool. I’ve had my share of missed calls – but the casino space is my home stamping grounds. But it is fair to point out that many prophets of doom since the 2015 junket crackdown ran for the exits or pooh-poohed my consistent call on SA that LVS was still worth $70 in my view. Others agreed with me but were less bullish on price. We’re not there yet to be certain. But as I have written before, if the trade holds steady at $60 or above, I feel the ramp-up to $70 or possibly higher by Q2 2017 will move into the speed lane.
Top 5 Casino Stocks To Watch For 2018: Jazz Pharmaceuticals Inc.(JAZZ)
Advisors’ Opinion:
- [By Jim Robertson]
The earnings report summarized the following recent milestones:
The formation of a Scientific Advisory Board (SAB) to provide expert guidance and insight as the Company advances towards product commercialization. in October, Pfenex announced the hiring of Steven Sandoval as Chief Manufacturing Officer.Steven has over 25 years of commercial biopharmaceutical engineering and operations experience, specializing in commercial operations, facility design and licensure of large scale biopharmaceutical commercial manufacturing facilities. Following the announcement in August of the positive Phase 1 trial data for Pfenex’s recombinant anthrax vaccine, discussions with BARDA have been progressing. Pfenex anticipates initiating the PF708 pivotal clinical program by year end. Pfenex entered into a collaboration with Jazz Pharmaceuticals plc (NASDAQ: JAZZ) on multiple hematology/oncology product candidates in July. Regulatory feedback for PF529, Pfenex’s biosimilar candidate to Neulasta (pegfilgrastim), is expected by the end of 2016 and following that feedback, the development path and potential timeline will be outlined.
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- [By Lisa Levin] Gainers
Trevena Inc (NASDAQ: TRVN) rose 10.8 percent to $3.60 in pre-market trading after dropping 4.97 percent on Wednesday.
Yum China Holdings Inc (NYSE: YUMC) rose 10.2 percent to $31.05 in pre-market trading after the company reported upbeat earnings for its first quarter.
Seres Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ: MCRB) rose 9.1 percent to $11.39 in pre-market trading after dropping 5.26 percent on Wednesday.
Plug Power Inc (NASDAQ: PLUG) rose 8.9 percent to $2.45 in pre-market trading after surging 73.08 percent on Wednesday.
Coach Inc (NYSE: COH) rose 6.7 percent to $41.98 in pre-market trading. Coach named Ian Bickley as President, Global Business Development and Strategic Alliances.
Sapiens International Corporation N.V. (NASDAQ: SPNS) shares rose 6.1 percent to $13.91 in pre-market trading after gaining 0.54 percent on Wednesday.
Jazz Pharmaceuticals plc (NASDAQ: JAZZ) rose 6.1 percent to $149.15 in pre-market trading. Jazz Pharma reached a settlement with Hikma Pharma related to Xyrem patent case. Mizuho downgraded Jazz from Buy to Neutral.
Interactive Brokers Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: IBKR) shares rose 6 percent to $36.72 in pre-market trading after declining 0.03 percent on Wednesday.
Rewalk Robotics Ltd (NASDAQ: RWLK) rose 5.3 percent to $2.00 in pre-market trading after the company disclosed that the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs purchased 28 added Exoskeleton Systems.
Merrimack Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ: MACK) rose 5.1 percent to $3.29 in pre-market trading. Merrimack declared a $1.06 special dividend.
BioTime, Inc. (NYSE: BTX) shares rose 4.8 percent to $3.50 in pre-market trading. BioTime, reported the formation of new subsidiary AgeX Therapeutics, Inc.
Akari Therapeutics PLC (ADR) (NASDAQ: AKTX) shares rose 4.8 percent to $12.26 in pre-market trading after gaining 0.69 percent on Wednesday.
Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. (NASDAQ: BBBY) rose 3.6 percent to $39.15 in pre-market trading after the company posted better-than - [By Teresa Rivas]
Jazz Pharmaceuticals (JAZZ) is trading up nearly 9% Thursday, thanks to its settlement with Hikma Pharmaceuticals over the firms patent dispute.
Pixabay
As part of the agreement, Hikma will get to sell a generic version of the drug in question, narcolepsy treatment Xyrem, in 2023, for up to five years, while Jazz will get royalties on those sales.
Janney Montgomery Scotts Ken Trbovich upgraded the shares from Neutral to Buy on the news, and also increased his price target from $138 to $175. From his note:
While this comes about three years earlier than previous settlements with other generic filers, it eliminates the risk of an earlier launch. Six months thereafter Hikma may launch its own generic and others may potentially be able to launch as well. Importantly, Jazz will receive a meaningful royalty on sales, retain the right to launch its own AG, and can authorize other AGs after the initial 6-month Hikma period.
Jazz shares are up 8.9% to $153.2o at recent check.
- [By Keith Speights]
In December, I included Jazz Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:JAZZ) in a list of the three top healthcare stocks investors were overlooking. At that time, I noted that the biotech stock could be a diamond in the rough with its promising pipeline and low valuation.
- [By Benzinga News Desk]
On Wednesday, just 24 hours after Amazon announced its first major sports deal — tying up with the NFL to stream 10 Thursday night games — Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ: GOOGL) laid claim to viewers’ credit cards by debuting YouTube TV, a bundle of 50 major television channels for $35 per month: Link
ECONOMIC DATA
March 2017 US Challenger layoffs report 43,310 vs 36,975
Initial Jobless Claims for Mar 31 234.0K vs 250.0K estimate; Continuing Claims for Mar 24 2.03M vs 2.04M estimate.
San Francisco Federal Reserve Bank President John Williams is set to speak in Frankfurt at 9:30 a.m. ET.
The Energy Information Administration’s weekly report on natural gas stocks is schedule for release at 10:30 a.m. ET.
Data on money supply for the recent week will be released at 4:30 p.m. ET.
ANALYST RATINGS
Goldman Sachs initiated Advanced Micro Devices (NASDAQ: AMD) at Sell
JMP Securities upgraded NetApp (NASDAQ: NTAP) from Market Underperform to Market Perform
PiperJaffray upgraded Abiomed (NASDAQ: ABMD) from Neutral to Overweight
Deutsche Bank downgraded T-Mobile (NASDAQ: TMUS) from Buy to Hold
Mizuho downgraded Jazz Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: JAZZ) from Buy to Neutral
This is a tool used by the Benzinga News Desk each trading day — it's a look at everything happening in the market, in five minutes. To get the full version of this note every morning, click here or email minutes@benzinga.com.
Top 5 Casino Stocks To Watch For 2018: L-3 Communications Holdings, Inc.(LLL)
Advisors’ Opinion:
- [By Paul Ausick]
Five teams are expected to compete for the contract: Boeing Co. (NYSE: BA) has joined with Saab to offer a clean-sheet design; Northrop Grumman Corp. (NYSE: NOC) has teamed up with BAE Systems and L-3 Communications Holdings Inc. (NYSE: LLL) on another clean-sheet design; Lockheed Martin Corp. (NYSE: LMT) and Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) are going with a modified KAI T-50; Raytheon Corp. (NYSE: RTN) has joined with Italy’s Leonardo and Canada’s CAE Inc. (NYSE: CAE) on a version of Leonardo’s M-346 trainer that it calls the T-100; and privately held Sierra Nevada has partnered with Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI) on another clean-sheet design.
- [By Peter Graham]
A long term performance chart shows ViaSat, Inc plus mid to large cap communications stockslikeHarris Corporation (NYSE: HRS) and L-3 Communications Holdings, Inc (NYSE: LLL)had been moving in tandem until last yearwhile small cap Gogo Inc has underperformed:
- [By Chris Lange]
L3 Technologies Inc. (NYSE: LLL) just hosted its investor day and projected that it wants to be considered among the top defense firms. Multiple analysts have raised their target prices. RBC raised its rating to Outperform from Sector Perform and its target price to $239 from $202. Other price target hikes were seen as follows: Cowen to $210 from $200, Jefferies to $201 from $188 and JPMorgan to $220 from $205.
- [By Peter Graham]
Headquartered in New York City, large cap L3 Technologies Inc (NYSE: LLL) employs approximately 38,000 people worldwide and is a leading provider of a broad range of communication, electronic and sensor systems used on military, homeland security and commercial platforms. L3 is also a prime contractor in aerospace systems, security and detection systems, and pilot training. The Company reported 2016 sales of $10.5 billion.
Top 5 Casino Stocks To Watch For 2018: Fidelity Southern Corporation(LION)
Advisors’ Opinion:
- [By Lisa Levin]
Here is the list of stocks going ex-dividend on Monday.
AptarGroup, Inc. (NYSE: ATR) – $0.3200 dividend, 1.6780 percent yield. AptarGroup reported weaker-than-expected Q3 results on Thursday.
Fidelity Southern Corporation (NASDAQ: LION) – $0.1200 dividend, 2.6359 percent yield. The company, based in Atlanta, Georgia, provides financial products and services for customers.
Apple Hospitality REIT Inc (NYSE: APLE) – $0.1000 dividend, 6.5826 percent yield. Apple Hospitality REIT, based in Richmond, Virginia, operates as a subsidiary of Apple REIT Companies.
Targa Resources Corp (NYSE: TRGP) – $0.9100 dividend, 7.7299 percent yield. The Houston, Texas-based company provides midstream natura
Top 5 Casino Stocks To Watch For 2018: MDU Resources Group, Inc.(MDU)
Advisors’ Opinion:
- [By Lisa Levin]
In trading on Monday, utilities shares fell by 1.08 percent. Meanwhile, top losers in the sector included South Jersey Industries Inc (NYSE: SJI), down 4 percent, and MDU Resources Group Inc (NYSE: MDU), down 4 percent.
Top 5 Casino Stocks To Watch For 2018: Principal Financial Group Inc(PFG)
Advisors’ Opinion:
- [By Ben Levisohn]
The twenty stocks in Worth’s basket are: Ameriprise Financial (AMP) Bank of America, Banner (BANR), Citigroup, Citizens Financial Group (CFG), East West Bancorp (EWBC), First NBC Bank Holding (FNBC), HFF (HF), KeyCorp(KEY), Legacy Texas Financial Group (LTXB), Lincoln National (LNC), Morgan Stanley, Old National Bancorp (ONB), PacWest Bancorp (PACW), PNC Financial Services Group (PNC), Principal Financial Group (PFG), Stifel Financial (SF), SVB Financial Group (SIVB), TCF Financial (TCB), and Wells Fargo.
