TOP 5 STOCKS TO WATCHOUT:-
1.AMAZON :-Amazon.com Inc said on Tuesday it supports a proposed U.S. legislation to legalize cannabis at the federal level, and would drop weed-testing requirements for some recruitments.
The e-commerce company’s public policy team will be actively supporting The Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement Act of 2021 (MORE Act), which seeks to legalize marijuana at the federal level, its consumer boss Dave Clark said in a blog post.
Amazon will also no longer screen its job applicants for marijuana use for any positions not regulated by the Department of Transportation, Clark added.
While many U.S. states have legalized marijuana use, employers have so far largely refused to work with the industry as cannabis is still a classified substance at the federal level.
“In the past, like many employers, we’ve disqualified people from working at Amazon if they tested positive for marijuana use,” Clark said. “However, given where state laws are moving across the U.S., we’ve changed course.”
Amazon was hit with a proposed class action suit, which claimed that the company was violating a New York City law by testing applicants for jobs at local facilities for marijuana, according to a Westlaw report
2.KKR &Co –Private equity firms Clayton Dubilier & Rice LLC (CD&R) and KKR & Co will take Cloudera Inc private for $4.7 billion, the cloud-based data analytics company said on Tuesday.
Shares of Cloudera jumped 23.9% to $15.93, near the offer price of $16 per share in cash.
Cloudera provides cloud-based software and platforms to enterprises in highly regulated industries, including financial firms and government agencies. Its largest shareholder is Carl Icahn, who holds about 17.8% of Cloudera’s total shares, according to Refinitiv data.
Shares of the Palo Alto-based company have largely underperformed since it went public in 2017. The company’s quarterly revenue rose 7% to $224.3 million and its net loss per share narrowed to 14 cents, it said on Tuesday.
Once a high-growth company, Cloudera has struggled to make money and maintain its growth rate. As it doubles down on hybrid cloud solutions that operate across cloud providers, Cloudera thinks it’s easier to do so without the pressure of quarterly reporting.
“We believe in hybrid cloud and want to continue to invest to expand our offerings. Being a private company can help us go through the transition more smoothly,” said Mick Hollison, president at Cloudera.
3.ZOOM: Zoom Video Communications Inc on Tuesday forecast current-quarter revenue above estimates, as increased adoption of hybrid work models by companies is expected to drive steady demand for its video conferencing tools.
Zoom became a household name and investor favorite in the past year, as businesses and schools switched to its services for virtual classes, office meetings and socializing.
But with rapid vaccination efforts and life slowly returning to normal, analysts are skeptical of the sustainability of Zoom’s growth, especially with rivals Microsoft, Cisco and Google snapping at its heels.
“The extent to which Zoom can compete sustainably with the likes of Cisco and Microsoft remains to be seen over the next few quarters as we begin to enter true COVID comparable quarters,” said Joe McCormack, senior analyst at Third Bridge.
4.TSMC:-Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co Ltd (TSMC) has started construction at a site in Arizona where it plans to spend $12 billion to build a computer chip factory, its chief executive said on Tuesday.
Speaking at the company’s annual technology presentation to clients and investors, held online for the second straight year because of the pandemic, CEO C.C. Wei said the planned factory remains on track to start volume production of chips using the company’s 5-nanometer production technology starting in 2024.
Reuters previously reported that TSMC plans to build as many as six factories at the Arizona site over a 10- to 15-year span.
TSMC, the world’s biggest manufacturer of semiconductors on contract, has taken centre-stage in the global supply chain equation amid a worldwide shortage of chips that is hurting industries from automobiles to consumer electronics.
Its shares have soared since the COVID-19 pandemic began, making it Asia’s most valuable manufacturing company with a market capitalisation of $563 billion, more than twice that of Intel’s.
TSMC announced in April a $100 billion investment plan over the next three years to increase capacity at its factories. Wei reiterated that number, which will include $30 billion in spending this year, at the presentation.
5. Johnson & Johnson – The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday declined to hear Johnson & Johnson‘s bid to overturn a $2.12 billion damages award to women who blamed their ovarian cancer on asbestos in the company’s baby powder and other talc products.
The justices turned away a J&J appeal and left in place a Missouri state court ruling in litigation brought by 22 women whose claims were heard together in one trial.
The Missouri Court of Appeals, an intermediate state appellate court, last year ruled against J&J’s bid to throw out the compensatory and punitive damages awarded to the plaintiffs but reduced the total to $2.12 billion from the $4.69 billion originally decided by a jury.
J&J, which will make a payment of $2.5 billion this month including accrued interest, said in a statement that there are unresolved legal issues that will continue to be litigated. It previously has said it faces more than 19,000 similar claims.
“The matters that were before the court are related to legal procedure, and not safety. Decades of independent scientific evaluations confirm Johnson’s Baby Powder is safe, does not contain asbestos, and does not cause cancer,” the company said.
J&J shares were down about 1.2% at $167.23.
J&J has argued that a decision by a Missouri circuit court judge to consolidate disparate baby powder-related claims from the plaintiffs – including 17 women from outside the state – for a trial before a single jury violated the New Brunswick , New Jersey-based company’s due process rights under the U.S. Constitution. J&J also has argued that the size of the jury’s damages award violated its due process rights.
The Missouri Supreme Court, the state’s highest court, in November declined to hear J&J’s appeal of the Missouri Court of Appeals ruling, prompting the company to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.
“This was a victory not just for the amazing women and their families who we were privileged to represent, but a victory for justice,” said Mark Lanier, a lawyer for the plaintiffs.
