Before the Open (Apr 12)

Good morning. Happy Thursday.
The Asian/Pacific markets leaned to the downside. India and the Philippines moved up; China, New Zealand and Indonesia moved down. Europe, Africa and the Middle East currently lean to the upside. Poland, Turkey, Finland, Hungary, Italy, Israel, Austria, Sweden and the Czech Republic are leading while the UAE is down. Futures in the States points towards moderate gap up open for the cash market.
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The dollar is up. Bitcoin is up 11%. Oil and copper are down. Gold and silver are down. Bonds are down.
Stock headlines from barchart.com…
Incyte (INCY -2.69%) was upgraded to ‘Buy’ from ‘Under Review’ at UBS with a price target of $78.
AO Smith (AOS -1.41%) was rated a new ‘Buy’ at D.A. Davidson with a price target of $72.
Prologis (PLD +0.03%) was upgraded to ‘Buy’ from ‘Hold’ at Jeffries with a price target of $73.
U.S. Silica Holdings (SLCA +3.23%) was downgraded to ‘Neutral’ from ‘Buy’ at Goldman Sachs.
Berry Global Group (BERY -0.34%) was rated a new ‘Buy’ at Vertical Research Partners with a price target of $65.
Zumiez (ZUMZ +1.20%) gained 4% in after-hours trading after it said Mar comparable sales rose +12.6%, well above consensus of +4.2%.
American Water Works (AWK +0.01%) lost 2% in after-hours trading after it announced that it had commenced an underwritten public offering of shares of 2.32 million shares its common stock.
Dago New Energy (DQ -2.95%) fell 5% in after-hours trading after it announced that it had commenced an underwritten public offering of 2 million American Depositary Shares (ADS) and intends to grant the underwriter a 30-day option to purchase up to 300,000 additional ADSs
Reta Pharmaceuticals (RETA -1.17%) jumped over 11% in after-hours trading after it said updates on a Phase 2 study of its Bardoxolone Methyl showed a significant boost to kidney function in patients with Alport syndrome.
Bed Bath & Beyond (BBBY +1.27%) sank 12% in after-hours trading after it forecast full-year net earnings per diluted share will be in the low-to-mid $2.00 range, weaker than consensus of $2.77.
QuinStreet (QNST -17.69%) soared over 20% in after-hours trading after it said claims by Kerrisdale Capital Management LLC that its business model appears “fundamentally flawed” are inaccurate and exaggerated, and according to Stephens, the Kerrisdale analysis is a rehash of past reports and the recent decline in QNST is a “great buying window.”
PolarityTE (COOL -4.19%) dropped 8% in after-hours trading after it announced that it had commenced an underwritten public offering of shares of its common stock, although no size was given.
Alileron Therapeutics (ALRN +11.04%) climbed over 4% in after-hours trading after it said nonclinical data on the anti-cancer potential of its ALRN-6924 drug were published in the journal Science Translational Medicine.
Bellicum Pharmaceuticals (BLCM +1.48%) surged 27% in pre-market trading after it said the FDA lifted its clinical hold on studies of BLCM’s BPX-501 for T-cell therapy.
Wednesday’s Key Earnings
Bed Bath & Beyond (NASDAQ:BBBY) -14% AH on a dim outlook.
Today’s Economic Calendar
Chain Store Sales
8:30 Initial Jobless Claims
8:30 Import/Export Prices
9:45 Bloomberg Consumer Comfort Index
10:30 EIA Natural Gas Inventory
1:00 PM Results of $12B, 30-Year Note Auction
4:30 PM Money Supply
4:30 PM Fed Balance Sheet
Other…
today’s upgrades/downgrades from briefing.com
this week’s Earnings from Morningstar
this week’s Economic Numbers/Reports powered by ECONODAY