Plus, oil is gaining as demand begins to pickup again, Pfizer has begun human trials of its COVID-19 vaccine candidate, Wendy’s restaurants are running out of beef, and Wayfair shares are up after it reported sales surged 20% last quarter.
Stocks rose higher to start Tuesday with the Dow gaining 350 points, or 1.5%. The S&P 500 added 1.5%, while the Nasdaq traded 1.6% higher.
Oil prices are rising for a fifth straight day. West Texas Intermediate crude is up 17.6% to $23.97 per barrel, while Brent crude has risen nearly 11% to $30.13 per barrel. “One thing is clear, the demand bottom is behind us, and this is manifesting in oil prices which are on the rise,” said Rystad Energy head of analysis, Per Magnus Nysveen, adding that the “key reason behind price strengthening is regional traffic data, which indicate the demand bottom is behind us.” As economies begin to reopen, drivers are hitting the streets again, which investors believe will lead to an uptick in demand for gasoline. “The reopening of economies has injected a degree of cautious optimism back into an oil market that plunged to historic lows only weeks ago,” said RBC analyst Michael Tran in a note to clients.
As coronavirus cases in the U.S. rise to more than 1,181,885, Pfizer said it has begun testing an experimental vaccine to combat COVID-19. Pfizer is working alongside BioNTech, and said the first human participates in the U.S. have been dosed with the potential vaccine, BNT162, following trials of the vaccine in Germany last month. “With our unique and robust clinical study program underway, starting in Europe and now the U.S., we look forward to advancing quickly and collaboratively with our partners at BioNTech and regulatory authorities to bring a safe and efficacious vaccine to the patients who need it most,” Pfizer Chairman and CEO Albert Bourla said in a statement. “The short, less than four-month time frame in which we’ve been able to move from preclinical studies to human testing, is extraordinary.”
Norwegian Cruise Line shares are down nearly -20% this morning after the company said it was hoping to raise $1.4 billion in new capital through a combination of debt, equity, and an investment from a private equity firm and warned that it may have to seek bankruptcy protection if it can’t come up with enough financing. In a securities filing, Norwegian said the coronavirus pandemic, “including its effect on the ability or desire of people to travel (including on cruises), is expected to continue to impact our results, operations, outlook, plans, goals, growth, reputation, cash flows, liquidity, demand for voyages and share price. These factors have raised substantial doubt about the company’s ability to continue as a going concern.” Norwegian added that if it is unable to maintain enough liquidity, “our business and financial condition could be adversely affected and it may be necessary for us to reorganize our company in its entirety, including through bankruptcy proceedings, and our shareholders may lose their investment in our ordinary shares.”
Wendy’s restaurants across the nation are running out of beef. That’s according to a study by Stephens Inc., which found that by looking at the online menus for every Wendy’s location nationwide, 1,043 restaurants—or around 18% of its national footprint—have listed beef menus out of stock. “It is widely known that beef suppliers across North America are currently facing production challenges,” said Wendy’s spokeswoman Heidi Schauer in a statement. “We continue to supply hamburgers to all of our restaurants, with deliveries two or three times a week, which is consistent with normal delivery schedules. However, some of our menu items may be temporarily limited at some restaurants in this current environment.” Schauer added that the company is working to minimize the impact to its customers and restaurants and monitoring the issue.
And in earnings news, Wayfair share are up nearly 23% this morning after the online furniture retailer said quarterly sales surged 20% as shoppers flocked to its website to furnish their homes amid the coronavirus shutdown. “Home is becoming an area that customers are disproportionately investing into,” said Wayfair CEO Niraj Shah on a call with analysts. “The broader market disruption has highlighted the many differentiated advantages we have built as the e-commerce leader in home over the last two decades.” Regeneron shares, meanwhile, are up 6.5% at the time of writing after it delivered an earnings beat, reporting earnings of $6.60 per share on revenue of $1.8 billion in the first quarter. “Over 30 years, the Regeneron team has built a science and technology engine uniquely suited to address the COVID-19 pandemic and we are applying our signature passion, innovation, and drive to advance solutions,” said CEO Leonard Schleifer in a statement. Disney is set to report its fiscal third quarter this afternoon.
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NanoViricides Inc (OTC: NNVC): NanoViricides yesterday announced it has signed a Confidential Disclosure Agreement (“CDA”) with a leading pharmaceutical company in Asia to explore collaborating on the company’s COVID-19 program following NanoViricides disclosure that it has already identified certain drug candidates that are active against multiple coronaviruses in cell culture studies. “We are pleased with the global interest in our drug development programs,” said Anil R. Diwan, PhD, President and Executive Chairman of NanoViricides. “We believe a collaboration with a leading pharmaceutical company with expertise in rapid drug development of novel technologies would help us accelerate the time to human clinical trials for our SARS-CoV-2 drug candidate in development.”