Check out the companies that are making headlines before the bell:
Ulta Beauty (ULTA) – Ulta Beauty announced that CEO Mary Dillon will step down in June to be replaced by company president David Kimbell. Dillon will move to the position of executive president. Separately, the cosmetics retailer exceeded the profit and profit lines for the last quarter, but cut its comparable sales outlook for fiscal year 2021. Ulta lost 8.2% in the pre-market.
Poshmark (POSH) – Poshmark reported better-than-expected sales in its last quarter, but the online second-hand retailer has released a forecast for the current quarter that has fallen short of analysts’ estimates. Its shares fell 12.3% in the pre-market share.
Novavax (NVAX) – Novavax shares soared 16.5% in the pre-market after the drugmaker said its Covid-19 vaccine was effective at high levels against both the original strain of the virus and the UK variant.
DocuSign (DOCU) – DocuSign surpassed estimates by 15 cents, with an adjusted quarterly earnings of 37 cents per share, and the company’s electronic signature revenue was also above analysts’ forecasts. It also issued a better-than-expected outlook, but stocks fell 4% in the pre-market.
Sanofi (SNY), Translate Bio (TBIO) – Drug makers started a human trial for their second Covid-19 vaccine project, after a delay in their first vaccine last year. This vaccine is based on messenger RNA technology, and the two companies expect interim results from the study in the third quarter. Translate Bio’s shares rose 5.1% in the pre-market.
Alibaba (BABA) – Alibaba is facing a possibly record fine from China’s antitrust regulators, according to people with knowledge of the matter who spoke to the Wall Street Journal. The newspaper said the fine could exceed the $ 975 million that chipmaker Qualcomm paid in 2015, as regulators pressure Alibaba to disassociate from founder Jack Ma and align more closely with the Communist Party. The e-commerce giant’s shares fell 2.1% in the pre-market share.
Netflix (NFLX) – Netflix is testing a new feature to limit password sharing, with some users being asked to confirm that they live in the same house as the account holder. Research firm Magid estimated that about a third of Netflix users share their passwords. Netflix fell 1.2% in the pre-market.
Verizon (VZ) – Verizon launched a $ 25 billion debt sale to help finance its $ 45 billion purchase of wireless spectrum that will be used to expand the next generation 5G mobile service. MarketWatch reports that demand was extremely strong for the sale, more than four times with excess subscriptions at one point.
Aegion (AEGN) – Aegion is the subject of a bidding contest between New Mountain Capital (NMFC) and Apollo Global (APO). Apollo made an offer for the pipeline services company between $ 26 and $ 30 per share, according to a Bloomberg report, surpassing the deal Aegion struck with New Mountain last month for $ 26 per share . Aegion jumped 11.5% in the pre-market, while Apollo jumped 2.4%.
Buckle (BKE) – The fashion accessories retailer reported quarterly earnings of $ 1.33 per share, 7 cents above estimates, with revenue consistent with Wall Street forecasts. Comparable store sales increased 18% compared to the previous year, with online sales growing 81.5%.
Coherent (COHR) – The bidding battle to buy the manufacturer of lasers and laser technology continues with Coherent saying that the latest offer from the manufacturer of optoelectronic components II-VI (IIVI) is superior to the most recent offer by Lumentum (LITE). Bidders came and went several times, with the latest II-VI offering consisting of $ 195 per share in cash and one Lumentum share for each Coherent share. Coherent rose 2.1% in the pre-market, while II-VI fell 1.6%.
Vail Resorts (MTN) – The resort operator outperformed Wall Street forecasts both on the top and bottom lines in its latest earnings report, although Vail was forced to operate at reduced capacity due to the pandemic. Vail said that visitation trends improved over the quarter, and shares rose 9.7% before the market.