By Peter Nurse
Investing.com -- Stocks in focus in premarket trade on Tuesday, December 14th. Please refresh for updates.
Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) stock rose 0.7%, set to continue gains after the iPhone maker recorded an all-time high on Monday, equating to a market cap of $2.98 trillion. Already the most valuable company in the world, Apple could become the first to have a $3 trillion market cap. Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) and Evercore have both raised their target prices on the stock this week, as has JPMorgan (NYSE:JPM).
GameStop (NYSE:GME) stock fell 3.4% and AMC Entertainment (NYSE:AMC) stock dropped 6.2%, meme stocks in general continuing Monday’s selloff as retail investors free up some cash ahead of the expensive festive period.
Terminix (NYSE:TMX) stock rose 24% after the pest control company agreed to be bought by U.K.-based Rentokil for $6.7 billion in a cash and stock transaction.
Merck (NYSE:MRK) stock fell 1.2% after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has placed clinical holds on trials testing the company's HIV drug islatravir.
Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) stock fell 0.7% despite final analysis of the drugmaker’s antiviral Covid-19 pill that still showed near 90% efficacy in preventing hospitalizations and deaths in high-risk patients.
MGM Resorts (NYSE:MGM) stock fell 0.5% after the casino operator agreed to sell the operations of the Mirage hotel and casino in Las Vegas to Hard Rock International for about $1.08 billion in cash.
Beyond Meat (NASDAQ:BYND) stock rose 5.6% after Piper Sandler upgraded its investment stance to ‘neutral’ from ‘underweight’, saying a nationwide launch at McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) could happen in the first quarter of next year.
Weibo (NASDAQ:WB) stock fell 4.6% after the Chinese social media platform received a 3 million yuan ($470,000) fine from China's internet regulator for repeatedly publishing illegal information.
- Ralph Lauren (NYSE:RL) stock fell 4.3% after Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) downgraded its investment stance on the fashion company all the way to ‘sell’ from ‘buy’, saying brand momentum indicators are fading.