10 things you need to know before the opening bell
Pfizer wants to buy Allergan for up to $380 per share. "Pfizer Inc.'s talks to acquire Allergan Plc in a $150 billion deal that would see the US drug giant redomicile in Ireland accelerated on Wednesday, as the US Treasury prepared to clamp down further on such tax inversions," Reuters' Greg Roumeliotis and Kevin Drawbaugh reported. "Pfizer is negotiating a price of $370 to $380 for each Allergan share, a person familiar with the discussions said, asking not to be identified because the talks are confidential. Allergan shares ended trading on Wednesday at $310.8 per share."
Square's IPO price is set, and it's ugly. The payments startup Square will go public at $9 per share. Selling 27 million shares, the company will raise $243 million. At that price, the company is valued at $2.9 billion, down from the $6 billion valuation it had after its most recent round of financing in October 2014.
The "Tinder" IPO price is set, and it's not great. The online-dating conglomerate Match Group priced its initial public offering at $12 per share, giving the company a $2.9 billion valuation. This was the low end of the range of $12 to $14 it had in mind. It will be selling 33.3 million shares to raise $400 million.
Best Buy is tanking. Best Buy reported third-quarter results, and they weren't great. Comparable-store sales increased by 0.8%, missing expectations for 1.0% growth. Earnings of $0.41 per share was a bit stronger than the $0.35 expected. The stock is down 6% in premarket trading.
Keurig Green Mountain is going bananas. Shares of the coffee maker are surging after the company released Q3 results. Sales fell 13% to $1.04 billion, which wasn't as bad as the $1.03 billion analysts had forecast. Earnings came in at $0.85 per share, which was higher than the $0.70 expected. "I'm particularly pleased with the benefits realized from our cost-reduction efforts as well as our strong cash generation, both of which exceeded expectations in the fourth quarter," CEO Brian Kelley said. "While we expect marketplace conditions will remain challenging in the near term, we have a stronger product lineup and price positioning as we enter the new holiday season."
Starboard tells Yahoo to forget about spinning off Alibaba. "Starboard Value LP is putting new pressure on Yahoo Inc., calling on the company to halt the spin-off of its stake in Alibaba Group Holding Ltd and instead sell its beleaguered internet business," The Wall Street Journal's David Benoit and Douglas MacMillan report. "In a letter it sent Yahoo late Wednesday, the activist investor says Yahoo's planned spin-off of more than $20 billion in shares of the Chinese e-commerce giant now carries too much risk. That represents a change from Starboard's stance last year, when it urged Yahoo to make the separation. The letter, which was reviewed by The Wall Street Journal, expresses frustration with Yahoo's response to the activist."
Japan reports an unexpected trade surplus. Japan reported a trade surplus of 111.5 billion yen for October. Economists were expecting a deficit of 246.3 billion yen. "The surprise surplus came courtesy of an unexpected plunge in imports," Business Insider's David Scutt observed. "From a year earlier they slipped by 13.4%, down on the 8.6% decline expected, with the contraction the steepest recorded since March this year."
UK retail sales slump. Retail sales in the UK fell 0.6% in October, which was worse than the 0.5% decline expected by economists. "October's drop in retail sales mainly reflects the unwinding of temporary stimuli rather than a weaker trend in consumer spending," Pantheon Macroeconomics' Samuel Tombs said. "Food store volumes fell by 1.3% from their level in September, which was boosted by consumers stocking up ahead of the Rugby World Cup. Meanwhile, clothing sales fell 1.8% month-to-month, perhaps reflecting milder-than-usual weather in October depressing demand for winter clothing lines."
Markets are up. US futures are in the green, with Dow futures up 40 points and S&P futures up 7 points. Asian market closed in the green, with Japan's Nikkei up 1.0% and Hong Kong's Hang Seng up 1.6%. European markets are trading higher, with the UK's FTSE 100 up 1.3%, Germany's DAX up 1.5%, France's CAC 40 up 0.7%, and Spain's IBEX up 1.0%.
Some good economic data on deck. At 8:30 a.m. ET, we'll get the latest weekly tally of initial jobless claims and the November reading of the Philadelphia Fed Business Outlook index. For a complete preview of these events. Check out BI's Monday Scouting Report.