Stocks – Fedex Falls; General Mills, Devon Energy Rise in Premarket

Investing.com — Stocks in focus in premarket trade on Wednesday, 18th December. Please refresh for updates.

• 7:45 AM ET: FedEx (NYSE:) stock was down 7.6% after publishing a 40% drop in profit in its fiscal second quarter, due in part to Amazon.com (NASDAQ:) pivoting from customer to rival in the delivery space. Revenue fell 3% to $17.3 billion, also short of consensus forecasts.

• FedEx (NYSE:) also cut its full-year earnings per share forecast by nearly 10% to a range around $10.88 a share.

• 08:53 AM: Devon Energy (NYSE:) stock rose 1.3% after the shale oil and gas producer said it will sell its Barnett shale operations for $770 million. The company will funnel all of the proceeds and more into raising the ceiling of its share buyback program by $1 billion to $6 billion. So far, under the currently authorized program, it has bought back $4.8 billion.
• The deal completes the disposal of Devon’s gas assets and its refocusing as an oil producer.
• As of the third quarter, Devon was producing just under 600 million cubic feet of gas a day from the Barnett assets.
• • 08:43 AM: Cigna (NYSE:) stock is in the spotlight after the Financial Times reported it has agreed to sell its life and disability insurance business to New York Life for $6.3 billion.
• The unit in question accounts for just over 10% of Cigna’s revenue.
• The deal would cut Cigna’s debt pile, which had risen to $39 billion after the acquisition of Express Scripts (NASDAQ:). The FT said that would cut its debt servicing costs by $200 million a year.
• 08:25 AM: Pacific Gas & Electric (NYSE:) stock rose 11.6% after a California court approved its draft $13.5 billion settlement with victims of wildfires caused by its faulty equipment in 2017 and 2018. The court also approved an $11 billion settlement with insurers who picked up the tab for the ensuing claims.
• The company’s way out from chapter 11 bankruptcy is still littered with obstacles, however. California Governor Gavin Newsom has said the company’s plan doesn’t meet the state’s requirements for a new scheme that would partially protect utilities against future wildfire damage if they operate safely.
• A rival plan to exit bankruptcy drafted by bondholders has also met with rejection by the state.
• • 8:11 AM ET: Tesla (NASDAQ:) inched up 0.1% after Bloomberg reported that it is considering cutting prices for its Chinese-made cars by 20% next year, in part by sourcing more parts locally so as to avoid import tariffs.
• 07:57 AM ET: General Mills (NYSE:) stock was up 2.5% after the maker of Cheerios reported a 7% rise in operating profit in constant currencies.
• Net earnings per share rose more sharply, reflecting high restructuring costs a year earlier. Organic net sales rose only 1%, however, leaving revenue nearly flat at $4.4 billion.
• The company reaffirmed its guidance for the full fiscal 2020 year.
• • 7:50 AM Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (NYSE:) ADRs were down 0.9% after the company agreed merger terms with France’s Peugeot (PA:). Under the agreed deal, FCA shareholders will still get their 5.5 billion euro ($6.1 billion) special dividend before completion.
• In addition, the company will cancel all double voting rights currently held by strategic shareholders, a move which will limit the French government’s influence. Strategic shareholders in the combined group will receive new double voting rights after three years.

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