U.S. Stock futures were lower on Tuesday as investors await testimony from Fed. Chair Jerome Powell, who is expected to confirm that the US economy still has some way to go before a recovery can be verified.
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Dow and S&P futures were around 0.5% lower while Nasdaq futures had slipped around 0.3% at the time of writing.
On the earnings calendar today, Trulieve Cannabis (TCNNF), HUYA (HUYA) and Navios Maritime (NMM) will release their results before the bell, while GameStop (GME), At Home Group (HOME) and AAR (AIR) are expected to report after the market closes.
Benitec Biopharma (BNTC) was the most actively traded stocks before the bell with over 8 million shares having already changed hands at the time of writing.
The Australian biotech company was also the biggest gainer in pre-market rising 148%. This comes after Morgan Stanley disclosed in an SEC filing that it had increased its stake in the company by around 5.2%.
Other notable pre-market gainers were Oramed (ORMP) and Nortech (NSYS) who were up 40% and 36%, respectively.
Inspired Entertainment (INSE) led the laggards list falling 81% before the bell, followed by Anixa Biosciences (ANIX), down 24% and Windtree Therapeutics (WINT), down 22%.
In corporate earnings news, shares of BioLife Solutions (BLFS) rose 16.7% in Monday’s extended trading session after the company reported better-than-expected Q4 results together with FY21 guidance that beat analysts’ expectations. The company reported an adjusted loss of $0.01 per share for Q4 compared to analysts’ forecasts of a loss of $0.02 per share. Revenues jumped around 78% year-over-year to $14.7 million and came in ahead of consensus estimates of $13.5 million. Revenues for 2021 are expected in the range of $101 million to $110 million versus analysts’ expectations of $69.5 million.
SYNNEX (SNX) rose 6.5% on Monday after reporting better-than-expected Q1 results. Revenues soared 21% to $4.94 billion year-over-year and surpassed analysts’ expectations of $4.72 billion while non-GAAP earnings jumped 33.1% to $1.89 per share and topped Street estimates of $1.69. The company also announced a merger deal with Tech Data Corporation valued at approximately $7.2 billion and is expected to close in the second half of 2021.
Meanwhile, Raven (RAVN) fell almost 9% after the bell on Monday after reporting an 89% year-over-year drop in Q4 earnings to $0.01 per share. Analysts were expecting earnings to come in at $0.11 per share. Net sales declined 6.6% to $80.1 million, falling short of analysts’ expectations of $88.65 million.
In M&A news, SeaSpine Holdings (SPNE) has entered into an agreement to buy privately held 7D Surgical in a cash and stock deal worth around $110 million. “The transaction also increases our flexibility with respect to hospital purchase commitments. We expect the acquisition to be immediately accretive to revenue and revenue growth,” said Senior Vice President and CFO, John Bostjancic.
Banc of California (BANC) announced yesterday that it has acquired Pacific Mercantile Bank for an all stock consideration of $235 million. Banc of California estimates approximately 35% in cost savings and sees the transaction being 12.9% accretive to its bottom line in 2022. It expects total assets to be $9.5 billion upon completion of the transaction which is expected in 3Q.
