 (OTC:EICPB) Stock, Quote.Headers.trade-ideas

The CHMP's recommendation will now be reviewed by the European Commission for marketing authorization in the European Union (EU), and a final decision is expected in the first quarter of 2025.
 &nbsp;

Biotech

Large Cap

News

Health Care

General

The European Medicines Agency's Committee For Medicinal Products For Human Use Adopted Positive Opinion Recommending The Conditional Approval Of Merck's Welireg (Belzutifan) For Advanced Renal Cell Carcinoma

Morgan Stanley analyst David Arcaro upgrades Sempra (NYSE:<a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/SRE#NYSE">SRE</a>) from Equal-Weight to Overweight and raises the price target from $85 to $98.

Upgrades

Price Target

Analyst Ratings

Morgan Stanley Upgrades Sempra to Overweight, Raises Price Target to $98

HC Wainwright &amp; Co. analyst Joseph Pantginis reiterates Krystal Biotech (NASDAQ:<a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/KRYS#NASDAQ">KRYS</a>) with a Buy and maintains $221 price target.

Reiteration

KRYS

HC Wainwright & Co. Reiterates Buy on Krystal Biotech, Maintains $221 Price Target

A2Z Cust2Mate Solutions Reveals Aggregate $12.5M Registered Direct Offering, Priced At $6.40 Per Share, With No Warrants

Morgan Stanley analyst James Faucette upgrades TaskUs (NASDAQ:<a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/TASK#NASDAQ">TASK</a>) from Equal-Weight to Overweight and raises the price target from $18 to $21.

TASK

Morgan Stanley Upgrades TaskUs to Overweight, Raises Price Target to $21

Financing

Offerings

Inovio Pharmaceuticals Priced An Underwritten Public Offering Of 10M Shares And Accompanying Warrants To Purchase 10M Shares At An Exercise Price Of $3.76/Share, At A Combined Public Offering Price Of $3/Share And Accompanying Warrant, With Gross Proceeds Of $30M

Wells Fargo analyst Stephen Baxter upgrades Cardinal Health (NYSE:<a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/CAH#NYSE">CAH</a>) from Underweight to Equal-Weight and raises the price target from $101 to $127.

Wells Fargo Upgrades Cardinal Health to Equal-Weight, Raises Price Target to $127

CLSK

CleanSpark Announced The Pricing Of Its Offering Of $550M Aggregate Principal Amount Of 0.00% Convertible Senior Notes Due 2030

This special dividend is payable on January 15, 2025 to shareholders of record on January 3, 2025 and&nbsp;will return approximately $500 million to shareholders.

Dividends

Old Republic International Declares Special Cash Dividend Of $2.00 Per Share

Morgan Stanley analyst Andrew Galler downgrades Immunocore Hldgs (NASDAQ:<a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/IMCR#NASDAQ">IMCR</a>) from Overweight to Equal-Weight and lowers the price target from $74 to $35.

Downgrades

IMCR

Morgan Stanley Downgrades Immunocore Hldgs to Equal-Weight, Lowers Price Target to $35

UBS analyst A.J. Rice upgrades Centene (NYSE:<a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/CNC#NYSE">CNC</a>) from Neutral to Buy and raises the price target from $79 to $80.

UBS Upgrades Centene to Buy, Raises Price Target to $80

Morgan Stanley analyst Jeffrey Hung downgrades Amicus Therapeutics (NASDAQ:<a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/FOLD#NASDAQ">FOLD</a>) from Overweight to Equal-Weight and lowers the price target from $17 to $12.

FOLD

Morgan Stanley Downgrades Amicus Therapeutics to Equal-Weight, Lowers Price Target to $12

Barclays analyst Brandt Montour downgrades Viking Holdings (NYSE:<a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/VIK#NYSE">VIK</a>) from Overweight to Equal-Weight and maintains the price target from $49 to $49.

Barclays Downgrades Viking Holdings to Equal-Weight, Maintains Price Target to $49

Kimco Realty Reveals Final Results Of Cash Tender Offer To Purchase All Of Its Outstanding Depositary Shares Representing 1/1,000 Of A Share Of 7.25% Class N Cumulative Convertible Perpetual Preferred Stock And Consent Solicitation

BTIG analyst Justin Zelin initiates coverage on Enliven Therapeutics (NASDAQ:<a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/ELVN#NASDAQ">ELVN</a>) with a Buy rating and announces Price Target of $42.

Initiation

ELVN

BTIG Initiates Coverage On Enliven Therapeutics with Buy Rating, Announces Price Target of $42

U.S. stock futures advanced on Friday in premarket hours after declining in trade on Thursday. The futures of all four major indices were trading higher.
The 10-year and two-year Treasury notes yielded 4.33% and 4.19%, respectively. Traders await the import price index data, which will be released later today.
Wall Street is waiting for the Federal Reserve&#8217;s policy meeting next week. Federal Reserve officials are currently in a quiet period ahead of their December meeting.
November inflation data was in line with analyst expectations, shooting up the probability of a further 25 basis point rate cut in December rose to 96.7% versus 86% probability a week ago, according <a href="https://www.cmegroup.com/markets/interest-rates/cme-fedwatch-tool.html">to</a> CME Group&#8217;s FedWatch tool.
<figure class="wp-block-table"> 
<table>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td>Futures</td>
<td>Change (+/-)</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Nasdaq 100</td>
<td>0.65%</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>S&amp;P 500</td>
<td>0.33%</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Dow Jones</td>
<td>0.23%</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Russell 2000</td>
<td>0.29%</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
</figure>
In premarket trading on Friday, the SPDR S&amp;P 500 ETF Trust (NYSE:<a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/SPY#NYSE">SPY</a>) was up 0.41% to $606.79&nbsp;and the Invesco QQQ Trust ETF (NASDAQ:<a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/QQQ#NASDAQ">QQQ</a>) jumped 0.76% to $530.49, according to <a href="https://pro.benzinga.com/dashboard">Benzinga Pro data</a>.
Cues From The Last Session
<a href="https://www.benzinga.com/news/earnings/24/12/42478606/dow-dips-more-than-200-points-following-inflation-data-nvidia-and-amd-decline-fear-greed-index-remains-in-neutral-zone">U.S. stocks closed lower</a> on Thursday, with the Dow Jones shedding over 200 points. The market reacted to fresh inflation data and weaker-than-expected guidance from tech giants.
Technology stocks were among the day&#8217;s biggest losers. Nvidia Corp (NASDAQ:<a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/NVDA#NASDAQ">NVDA</a>) shares dipped over 1%, while Adobe Inc (NASDAQ:<a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/ADBE#NASDAQ">ADBE</a>) plummeted more than 13% after issuing a disappointing 2025 outlook.
On the economic front, initial jobless claims rose to 242,000, higher than the estimated 220,000. Core producer prices increased by 0.2% month-over-month, aligning with market expectations.
Most S&amp;P 500 sectors ended the day in the red, with healthcare, consumer discretionary, and communication services bearing the brunt of the decline.
However, consumer staples bucked the trend and closed higher.
<figure class="wp-block-table"> 
<table>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td>Index</td>
<td>Performance (+/-)</td>
<td>Value</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Nasdaq Composite</td>
<td>-0.66%</td>
<td>19.902.84</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>S&amp;P 500</td>
<td>-0.54%</td>
<td>6,051.25</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Dow Jones</td>
<td>-0.53%</td>
<td>43,914.12</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Russell 2000</td>
<td>-1.38%</td>
<td>2,361.08</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
</figure>
Insights From Analysts
Picking up from Thursday&#8217;s session, Jason Goepfert, the founder of SentimenTrader, said, &#8220;This will be the S&amp;P 500&#8217;s 9th consecutive session with negative breadth. That&#8217;s happened fewer than 20 times in ~70 years. On average, the S&amp;P has been -12% from its high during these streaks.&#8221;
<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"> 
<div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">This will be the S&amp;P 500&#39;s 9th consecutive session with negative breadth. That&#39;s happened fewer than 20 times in ~70 years. On average, the S&amp;P has been -12% from its high during these streaks. Today marks the closest the S&amp;P has been to its high. The 2 most similar were Dec… <a href="https://t.co/rxHkoG1AzD">pic.twitter.com/rxHkoG1AzD</a>
&mdash; Jason Goepfert (@jasongoepfert) <a href="https://twitter.com/jasongoepfert/status/1867309528573956329?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 12, 2024</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>
</figure>
Talking about the future of AI, BlackRock in their 2025 outlook said, &#8220;We think the AI mega force will benefit U.S. stocks more and that's why we stay overweight, particularly relative to international peers such as European stocks.&#8221;
The note added that the &#8220;key signposts&#8221; for them to change their views will include any &#8220;surge in long-term bond yields or an escalation in trade protectionism.&#8221;
The note also added that BlackRock has conviction in U.S. equities outperforming their international peers. &#8220;We recognize valuations are rich in U.S. equities but don't see them as a near-term market driver,&#8221; it added.
According to Charles Schwab&#8217;s 2025 outlook, the volatility backdrop is likely to be different from what investors got used to in 2024. &#8220;The likelihood of a similar dynamic in 2025 is low, in our opinion,&#8221; the note said.
&#8220;Starting with where we are now, though, the market is in a relatively healthy position. As shown in the chart below, the S&amp;P 500 is comfortably above its 50 and 200-day moving averages; and when its 50 DMA was above its 200 DMA historically, the average annualized gain for the index (going back to the late 1920s) was 9.2%. There is strong momentum heading into the new year.&#8221;
However, &#8220;If inflation volatility picks back up, which will become clearer after tariff and labor policy implementations, there could be more risks to stocks via bonds,&#8221; Schwab note adds.
See Also:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.benzinga.com/money/how-to-trade-futures" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">How To Trade Futures</a>
Upcoming Economic Data
<ul>
<li>On Friday, the import price index data will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET.</li>
</ul>
Stocks In Focus:
<ul>
<li>Broadcom Inc (NASDAQ:<a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/AVGO#NASDAQ">AVGO</a>) was 14.38% up in premarket after it saw a four-fold increase in AI connectivity revenue driven by Tomahawk and Jericho shipments. The management also highlighted a significant reduction in VMware spending in the fourth quarter.</li>
<li>RH (NYSE:<a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/RH#NYSE">RH</a>) was up 17.23% after it raised revenue guidance across the board based on current trends.</li>
<li>Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:<a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/COST#NASDAQ">COST</a>) was up 0.3% in premarket after it reported its first-quarter revenue and earnings per share, which beat analyst estimates.</li>
<li>Inovio Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:<a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/INO#NASDAQ">INO</a>) was down 22.61% after it announced a proposed public offering.</li>
<li>Loop Industries Inc (NASDAQ:<a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/LOOP#NASDAQ">LOOP</a>) gained 51.22% as completed convertible preferred financing with Reed Societe Generale Group.</li>
<li>Repare Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:<a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/RPTX#NASDAQ">RPTX</a>) tumbled 38.29% after it reported results of the Lunresertib and Camonsertib combination from MYTHIC Phase 1 gynecologic expansion clinical trial.</li>
<li>Candel Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:<a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/CAD#NASDAQ">CAD</a>) fell 31.12% after the company announced the pricing of its public offering.</li>
<li>Amentum Holdings Inc (NYSE:<a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/AMTM#NYSE">AMTM</a>) was up 0.6% ahead of its earnings which are slated to be released before the opening bell. Analysts expect the company to report quarterly earnings at 25 cents per share.</li>
<li>Investors are awaiting earnings results from 51Talk Online Education Group (NYSE:<a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/COE#NYSE">COE</a>) today.</li>
</ul>
Commodities, Bonds And Global Equity Markets:
Crude oil futures rose in the early New York session by 1.19% to hover around $70.86 per barrel.
The gold spot index fell by 0.88% to $2,685.59 per ounce. The Dollar Index was up 0.01% to 106.964 level.
Most Asian markets declined on Friday including Australia&#8217;s ASX 200, Hong Kong&#8217;s Hang Seng, China&#8217;s CSI 300, and Japan&#8217;s Nikkei 225. India&#8217;s S&amp;P BSE Sensex and South Korea&#8217;s Kospi Index, bucked the trend as they advanced. Most European markets advanced.
Read Next:
<ul>
<li><a href="https://www.benzinga.com/24/12/42460199/jpmorgan-reiterates-underweight-rating-on-supermicro-maintains-the-lowest-target-price-among-the-17-tracked-analysts">SMCI Stock Receives Harshest Price Target Among 17 Tracked Analysts As JPMorgan Maintains Underweight Rating On Super Micro</a></li>
</ul>
Photo courtesy: Wikimedia

Equities

Market Summary

Futures

Economics

Federal Reserve

Pre-Market Outlook

Markets

Movers

Trading Ideas

ADBE

AMTM

AVGO

COST

LOOP

NVDA

RPTX

US Stocks Likely To Open Higher, Investors Eye Fed Policy Meet Next Week: Broadcom, RH, Costco In Focus

Barclays analyst Brandt Montour upgrades Norwegian Cruise Line (NYSE:<a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/NCLH#NYSE">NCLH</a>) from Equal-Weight to Overweight and raises the price target from $28 to $32.

NCLH

Barclays Upgrades Norwegian Cruise Line to Overweight, Raises Price Target to $32

Barclays analyst Brandt Montour upgrades Marriott Vacations (NYSE:<a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/VAC#NYSE">VAC</a>) from Equal-Weight to Overweight and raises the price target from $97 to $116.

Barclays Upgrades Marriott Vacations to Overweight, Raises Price Target to $116

Elon Musk has refuted reports that his AI venture, xAI, plans to use Sydney Sweeney&#8216;s voice for Grok&#8217;s advanced voice mode.
What Happened:&nbsp;On Friday, Musk responded to a post from Tech Dev Notes, which mentioned these rumors, with a simple &#8220;False.&#8221;
The post from Tech Dev Notes highlighted speculation about xAI&#8217;s intentions regarding Sweeney&#8217;s voice. 
<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"> 
<div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">False
&mdash; Elon Musk (@elonmusk) <a href="https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1867520193200861509?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 13, 2024</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>
</figure>
See Also:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.benzinga.com/tech/24/12/42383967/how-to-use-apple-watch-as-a-digital-key-for-your-tesla-car?itm_source=parsely-api" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">How To Use Apple Watch As A Digital Key For Your Tesla Car</a>
This interaction comes amid xAI&#8217;s recent announcement of raising $6 billion to expand its capabilities, including plans to significantly enhance its Colossus supercomputer.
Why It Matters: The denial from Musk is significant in the context of recent controversies surrounding the use of celebrity voices in AI technologies. Earlier this year,&nbsp;Scarlett Johansson&nbsp;was involved in a<a href="https://www.benzinga.com/general/entertainment/24/05/38956092/scarlett-johansson-gets-backing-from-actors-union-in-ai-voice-dispute-with-openai"> dispute with OpenAI</a> over similar concerns, highlighting the sensitivity around AI voice usage.
Musk&#8217;s xAI is positioning itself as a major player in the AI industry, challenging giants like&nbsp;Alphabet Inc. and&nbsp;Anthropic, backed by&nbsp;Jeff Bezos. The recent <a href="https://www.benzinga.com/tech/24/12/42358400/elon-musks-xai-raises-6b-for-the-2nd-time-this-year-as-it-looks-to-take-the-challenge-to-openai-google-and-jeff-bezos-backed-anthropic">$6 billion funding round</a> underscores xAI&#8217;s ambitions to expand its technological infrastructure and market influence.
Read Next:&nbsp;
<ul>
<li><a href="https://www.benzinga.com/24/12/42428505/google-asks-ftc-to-kill-microsofts-monopoly-over-hosting-openai-technology-on-its-cloud-servers-report?itm_source=parsely-api" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Google Wants FTC To Dismantle Microsoft&#8217;s Exclusive Cloud Hosting Deal With OpenAI: Report</a></li>
</ul>
Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of&nbsp;<a href="https://www.benzinga.com/author/benzinga-neuro" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Benzinga Neuro</a>&nbsp;and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.
Image via Shutterstock

Tech

Elon Musk Denies xAI Licensing Sydney Sweeney's Voice For Grok's Advanced Mode

International Data Corp <a target="_blank" href="https://www.taipeitimes.com/News/biz/archives/2024/12/13/2003828402" rel="noreferrer noopener">told</a> the Taipei Times it expects Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (NYSE:<a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/TSM#NYSE">TSM</a>) to grow its revenue by ~25% in 2025, backed by <a target="_blank" href="https://www.benzinga.com/topic/ai" rel="noreferrer noopener">artificial intelligence (AI)</a> applications and crypto mining technologies.
IDC expects the global semiconductor industry <a target="_blank" href="https://www.idc.com/getdoc.jsp?containerId=prAP52837624" rel="noreferrer noopener">to grow by 15%</a> and the international foundry market to rise by 20% in 2025.
IDC&#8217;s projections imply that the contract chipmaker will command a 67% share of the global foundry market in 2025, up 300 bps year over year.
Also Read: <a target="_blank" href="https://www.benzinga.com/24/12/42464642/synopsys-to-divest-units-including-ansys-powerartist-to-secure-eu-approval-for-35-billion-deal" rel="noreferrer noopener">Synopsys Proposes Divesting Units, Including Ansys PowerArtist, For $35 Billion EU Deal Approval</a>
In the broader foundry definition, Taiwan Semiconductor could expand its market share to 36% in 2025 from 33% in 2024, IDC told the Taiwan Times.
Zeng told the Taipei Times that the contract chipmaker is fast-tracking production of 3-nm, 4-nm, and 5-nm chips by the shortest production cycle to accomplish the demand frenzy. The utilization rate of those technology nodes crossed the 95% mark.
Zeng said Taiwan Semiconductor targets adding 70,000 advanced wafers a month to its existing capacity for 2-nm, 3-nm, 4-nm, and 5-nm chips in 2025.
IDC expects the Nvidia Corp (NASDAQ:<a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/NVDA#NASDAQ">NVDA</a>) supplier to double its capacity of advanced packaging technology, or chip-on-wafer-on-silicon (CoWoS), to double to 660,000 units in 2025 from 330,000 units in 2024.
IDC cited Taiwan Semiconductor commencing volume production of 2-nm technology in the second half of 2025, with a small volume shipped to Apple Inc (NASDAQ:<a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/AAPL#NASDAQ">AAPL</a>) by 2026.
Taiwan Semiconductor&#8217;s November 2024 revenue grew 34% <a target="_blank" href="https://www.benzinga.com/24/12/42413866/taiwan-semiconductor-surges-34-in-november-strengthened-by-ai-and-smartphone-demand" rel="noreferrer noopener">to $8.55 billion</a>. The company&#8217;s market share grew&nbsp;to 64.9%, up from 62.3% sequentially, thanks to the smartphone and AI-related&nbsp;demand for its 3-nm and 5-nm technologies.
Taiwan Semiconductor stock surged 89% year-to-date.
Price Action: TSM stock is up 2.21% at $195.70 premarket at the last check Friday.
Also Read:
<ul>
<li><a href="https://www.benzinga.com/24/12/42468172/box-inc-positioned-for-ai-monetization-analyst-predicts-upside" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Box Undervalued? Analyst Flags Overly Pessimistic Views Amid AI Monetization Push</a></li>
</ul>
Photo by Sundry Photography on Shutterstock

Comments

(EICPB) Forecast

(OTC:EICPB) Stock, Quote.Headers.trade-ideas

Popular Channels

Tools & Features

Partners & Contributors

About Benzinga