Check out the companies making headlines before the bell:
Ulta Beauty (ULTA) – Ulta Beauty has announced that CEO Mary Dillon will step down in June to be replaced by company chairman David Kimbell. Dillon will transfer to the role of executive chairman. Separately, the cosmetics retailer outperformed top and bottom estimates for the last quarter, but lowered its comparable sales outlook for fiscal year 2021. Ulta lost 8.2% in premarket trade.
Poshmark (POSH) – Poshmark reported better-than-expected sales for the last quarter, but the online used goods retailer released a forecast for the current quarter that falls short of analyst estimates. The share fell by 12.3% in premarket action.
Novavax (NVAX) – Novavax shares rose 16.5% in the premarket after the drug manufacturer 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 beat estimates by 15 cents with an adjusted quarterly profit of 37 cents per share, and the company’s electronic signature sales were also above analyst forecasts. It also issued a better-than-expected forecast, but shares were down 4% in premarket trading.
Sanofi (SNY), Translate Bio (TBIO) – The drug makers began a trial with humans for their second Covid-19 vaccine project, following a delay in their first vaccine last year. This vaccine is based on messenger RNA technology and the two companies expect interim study results in the third quarter. Translate Bio shares were up 5.1% for the market.
Alibaba (BABA) – Alibaba faces a potential record fine from Chinese antitrust regulators, according to knowledgeable people speaking to the Wall Street Journal. The paper said the fine could exceed the $ 975 million that chip maker Qualcomm paid in 2015, as regulators push Alibaba to break away from founder Jack Ma and more closely align itself with the Communist Party. Shares of the e-commerce giant fell 2.1% in premarket promotions.
Netflix (NFLX) – Netflix is testing a new feature to restrict password sharing, with some users receiving a request to confirm that they live in the same household as the account holder. Research firm Magid estimates that about a third of Netflix users share their passwords. Netflix was down 1.2% in premarket.
Verizon (VZ) – Verizon launched a $ 25 billion debt sale to help fund its $ 45 billion purchase of wireless spectrum that will be used to expand next-generation 5G cellular service. MarketWatch reports that demand for sales has been extremely strong, oversubscribed more than four times at one point.
Aegion (AEGN) – Aegion is the subject of a bidding competition between New Mountain Capital (NMFC) and Apollo Global (APO). Apollo made a bid for the pipeline services company for between $ 26 and $ 30 per share, according to a Bloomberg report, leading Aegion to close at $ 26 per share with New Mountain last month. Aegion jumped 11.5% premarket, while Apollo was up 2.4%.
Buckle (BKE) – The fashion accessories retailer reported quarterly earnings of $ 1.33 a share, 7 cents above estimates, with sales in line with Wall Street forecasts. Comparable store sales were 18% higher than a year earlier, with online sales of 81.5%.
Coherent (COHR) – The bidding battle to buy the maker of lasers and laser technology continues, with Coherent saying the latest bid from optoelectronic components manufacturer II-VI (IIVI) is superior to Lumentum’s most recent bid ( LITE). The bidders have gone back and forth several times, with the latest offer from II-VI being $ 195 per share in cash and one Lumentum share for each Coherent share. Coherently rose 2.1% premarket, while II-VI fell 1.6%.
Vail Resorts (MTN) – The resort operator beat Wall Street’s predictions in both the top and bottom lines in its latest earnings report, although the pandemic forced Vail to operate at reduced capacity. Vail did say visit trends improved during the quarter and equities rose 9.7% premarket.