ROCHELLE STOVALL

ROCHELLE STOVALL

Thursday 12 September 2013

Early movers: GM, AAPL, MS, VZ, PG, NWSA & more

General Motors - Canada is selling 30 million shares of GM common to Bank of America Merrill Lynch and RBC. The deal represents almost a quarter of its GM stake. Separately, a new report showed the U.S. treasury sold $811 million worth of GM common in August, leaving it with an estimated 186 million shares.
Apple - Apple did not announce a carriage deal with China Mobile overnight, as expected, but it's said to have received a license that will allow the iPhone to run on China Mobile's network.
Morgan Stanley - UBS upgraded the bank's shares to "buy" from "neutral". UBS is positive on the firm's transition to a more wealth management-driven business model.
News Corp. - Southeastern Asset Management now has a nearly 12 percent stake in the media giant, up from a one percent stake at the end of June.
Procter & Gamble - Suntrust downgraded P&G's shares to "neutral" from "buy", saying the company has done will with its cost-cutting efforts, but still needs to show consistent top line growth.
Verizon - The telecom company is seeing strong demand from what will be arecord corporate bond offering, with the final size due to be set today. The proceeds will be used to help finance Verizon's purchase of Vodafone's 45 percent stake in Verizon Wireless.
Best Buy - CEO Hubert Joly sold $10.4 million in stock to cover the cost of his divorce, according to an SEC filing. The electronics retailer said despite the sale, Joly remains "heavily invested" in Best Buy.
Marriott - UBS upgraded Marriott to "buy" from "neutral", calling the hotel operator an opportunity for investors after seeing it underperform its peers so far this year.
Texas Instruments -The chipmaker narrowed its third quarter profit and revenue outlook, now expecting current quarter earnings of 51 to 55 cents per share. Current Street consensus is at 53 cents.
International Paper -The company raised its quarterly dividend by five cents or 17 percent to 35 cents per share. IP also announced a $1.5 billion stock buyback program.
Netflix -The video service has launched in the Netherlands, its 41st country of operations.
BlackBerry -The smartphone maker cut several dozen U.S. sales jobs, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Vodafone - Vodafone is still short of the shareholder acceptances needed for itsoffer to buy Germany's largest cable company, Kabel Deutschland. Vodafone faces a deadline today to get the necessary approvals.
AIG - The insurance giant has stopped striking reinsurance deals with Berkshire Hathaway for competitive reasons, according to a Bloomberg report. The story cites a growing rivalry between the two companies.
Herbalife - Investor Bill Ackman sent a letter to PricewaterhouseCoopers, alleging serious accounting issues at Herbalife. Ackman's Pershing Square has a large short position in Herbalife and he continues to accuse the company of being a "pyramid scheme". PwC is Herbalife's auditor.
Synnex - Synnex is buying IBM's (IBM) customer care business process outsourcing services unit for $505 million in cash and stock. Synnex is a distributor of information technology, and plans to combine the IBM unit with its Concentrix subsidiary.
ConAgra - The food company's stock was upgraded to "buy" from "neutral" at Goldman Sachs, which calls ConAgra a "prospective turnaround story" as its cost outlook improves and new private label opportunities arise.
Ralph Lauren - Citi added the clothing designer's stock to its "focus" list, saying it's the most attractively valued among its global apparel peers.

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