Month: June 2015

Taiwan-based fabless semiconductor company Silicon Motion Technology Corp. SIMO recently announced that its SM2256 SATA (6Gb/s) client Solid-state Drive (“SSD”) controllers now support Micron Technology’s MU 16nm 128 gigabit (Gb) Triple-Level Cell (“TLC”) NAND flash. These controllers boost the reliability and performance of the latest cost-effective TLC-based SSDs […]

Ushering in good news for shareholders of Health Care REIT Inc. HCN , Moody's Investors Service has affirmed the company’s Baa2 senior unsecured rating and revised the outlook to positive from stable. Steady improvement in the company’s diversified real estate portfolio, accompanied with leverage reduction, largely drove the upward revision in rating outlook by the rating agency […]

On Jun 4, 2015, we issued an updated research report on Medtronic plc MDT . Medtronic handily outpaced the Zacks Consensus Estimate of both earnings and revenues in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2015. This combined company (post the legacy Medtronic and Covidien merger) in its first full quarter of consolidated business, has successfully demonstrated strong segmental performances reflecting successful integration and synergy targets. […]

American International Group, Inc. AIG announced the pricing of AerCap Holdings N.V.’s AER 86.9 million shares through an underwritten public offering of 71.2 million shares and a private sale of 15.7 million shares to AerCap. The transaction is scheduled to close by Jun 9, 2015. […]

The Wall Street Journal recently reported that DISH Network Corp. DISH is currently negotiating with T-Mobile US Inc. TMUS for a possible takeover of the latter. […]

According to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), 2.7 million taxpayers were victims of identity theft in 2014. These fresh revelations have brought cybersecurity into the spotlight once again. […]

Record U.S. light-vehicle sales volume for May was the biggest story of the week for the auto industry. […]

Oil giant BP plc BP and The Kansai Electric Co., Inc. have inked a sales and purchase deal for liquefied natural gas (LNG). […]

Scientific instruments manufacturer Bruker Corporation BRKR recently launched its MALDI Tissuetyper solution, based on the new high-speed instrument platform – rapifleX MALDI-TOF Mass Spectrometry system. According to the company, hindrances faced earlier in mass spectrometry imaging (MSI) can be dealt with utilizing rapifleX system’s speed, throughput, ease-of-use, robustness and spatial resolution. Bruker believes that the new MALDI Tissuetyper solution, when combined with the rapifleX system, will redefine the key performance measures for MALDI imaging and make way for entirely new projects and measurement strategies. […]

Offshore drilling contractor Ocean Rig UDW Inc. ORIG declared the pricing of 28,571,428 common shares. The stock offering is anticipated to close on Jun 8, 2015 […]

U.S. steelmakers have taken another big step against unfairly traded, low-priced imports that continue to flood the domestic market. The nation’s biggest steel producers joined forces to file anti-dumping and countervailing duty petitions with the U.S. […]

MeadWestvaco Corporation MWV and Rock-Tenn Company RKT have set a deadline of Jun 23, 2015, 5 pm ET for RockTenn shareholders to decide the consideration they want to receive following the merger of the two packaging companies into WestRock Company. The election deadline may be extended if the RockTenn meeting of shareholders is postponed or adjourned. RockTenn and MeadWestvaco will then announce a new date […]

Agenus Inc. ’s AGEN shares were up 4% on the extension of its existing collaboration and license agreement with Merck MRK for the discovery and development of therapeutic antibodies to Merck’s proprietary immune checkpoints for the treatment of cancer. Merck announced that it has extended the collaborative research term to Apr 2016 […]

OPEC or the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries – the international cartel of oil producers –– is scheduled to meet in the Austrian capital of Vienna on Friday, June 5. As usual, the outcome of the gathering of the group's 12 member countries is expected to have far-reaching implications for all involved in the oil trade – from retail stations to budgets of oil-dependent nations. Market Consensus Suggest Status Quo When OPEC last met in November, it decided to maintain daily crude production level at the preset 30 million barrels, defying expectations of an output cut in response to the prevailing supply glut […]

On Jun 2, 2015, we issued an updated research report on Public Service Enterprise Group Inc. PEG or PSEG. […]

Last week has not been too eventful for the U.S. telecom sector. […]

PPG Industries Inc. PPG has inked a deal to buy Avon, MA-based Cuming Microwave Corporation and its fully-owned subsidiary Cuming-Lehman Chambers, Inc., based in Chambersburg, PA. The company did not disclose the financial terms of the transaction […]

bluebird bio, Inc . BLUE announced that it has amended its existing global collaboration agreement with Celgene Corp. […]

Per Reuters, Brazilian energy giant Petroleo Brasileiro S.A. or Petrobras PBR has selected Bank of America Merrill Lynch to manage its multi-billion dollar asset sale plan. The company is also said to have contacted a host of energy sector giants for the sale of these assets. […]