Plus, Senate Republicans introduced their police reform bill with key differences from Democrats’ bill introduced last week, PepsiCo said its Aunt Jemima line is getting a rebrand, and Beyond Meat shares are up after Credit Suisse boosted their price target on the alternative meat stock.
Stocks were mixed to start Wednesday with the Dow dropping 100 points in volatile trading. The S&P 500 fell 0.2%, while the Nasdaq rose 0.1%.
Senate Republicans introduced their own police reform bill, breaking with Democrats on key issues they introduced their own sweeping bill last week. The Republican bill would incentivize law enforcement agencies to ban the use of chokeholds “except when deadly force is authorized,” track officer’s use of deadly force or serious harm, provide funding for training on alternatives to the use of force, increase penalties for falsifying police reports, require law enforcement agencies to send attorneys general reports on no-knock warrants, and create a commission to study issues that impact Black men and boys. “We are serious about trying to make a law here,” said Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, though it’s unclear if the bill will advance to the floor for debate given Democrats’ demand for stronger action. The bill comes just a day after President Donald Trump signed an executive order that incentivizes police departments to provide better training on the use of force, including a credentialing process for law enforcement agencies that train officers on modern use-of-force standards and de-escalation tactics. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Trump’s executive order “fell sadly and seriously short” of what will be needed to address police brutality. “I hope there is a compromise to be reached in Congress” on a stronger plan, Pelosi said.
The Aunt Jemima brand of syrup and pancake mix is getting an overhaul. Quaker Oats, which is owned by PepsiCo, announced today that the 130-year-old brand featuring a Black woman named Aunt Jemima in its logo will get a new name and image as the company concedes that “Aunt Jemima’s origins are based on a racial stereotype.” Quaker Foods North America vice president and chief marketing officer Kristin Kroepfl said, “As we work to make progress toward racial equality through several initiatives, we also must take a hard look at our portfolio of brands and ensure they reflect our values and meet our consumers’ expectations.” The planned changes to the well-known line marks one of the more visible steps taken by a company amid a broader corporate reckoning over race following more than two weeks of nationwide racial justice protests.
Coronavirus latest: China is ramping up testing efforts and has closed local schools and cancelled thousands of flights in an effort to stem a growing outbreak of the deadly virus in Beijing, and Sweden’s top virus expert said herd immunity in that country is been “surprisingly slow” to develop. In the U.S., Texas reported a record number of coronavirus hospitalizations after jumping 11% in a day, and Tulsa officials are asking President Trump’s reelection campaign to cancel, or at least move outdoors, a rally planned for Saturday over fears that the gathering could intensify Oklahoma’s recent spike in coronavirus infections. Target said it is permanently raising its minimum wage from $13 to $15 after it temporarily moved up its wages in March due to the pandemic. The big box retailer said the $15 starting rate will apply to all store and distribution center workers beginning on July 5, and said it will give all hourly employees a $200 one-time bonus to recognize their work amid the coronavirus pandemic and will extend special benefits, including free counseling and backup childcare. And German biotech firm CureVac said it has received regulatory approval to state the phase one human trial of its experimental coronavirus vaccine candidate, and said the vaccine could be made available by mid-2021 if successful.
Beyond Meat shares are up more than 7% this morning after Credit Suisse analyst Robert Moskow boosted his price target on the stock by 71% from $90 to $154 per share, while keeping his rating at the equivalent of Hold. “Beyond may emerge as a net beneficiary of the pandemic in the near-term due to strong demand in [the] retain channel… and in the long-term due to rising consumer interest in healthier foods,” Moskow wrote in a research report out today. The alternative meat producer also announced this morning that it will sell value packs of its meatless burger in time for the summer barbecue season. The new 10-packs will retail for $15.99, or $6.40 per pound.
And Nikola shares are up today after the electric truck and semi maker got its first official rating from Wall Street. Cowen analyst Jeffrey Osborn initiated coverage of the company with a Buy rating and a price target of $79. “Nikola is likely to be a controversial stock in the eyes of many investors and onlookers given it is pre-production… We see Nikola as an intriguing investment opportunity,” Osborne wrote in a note. “Leveraging one truck platform, two powertrain options and three business segments, with optionality in powersports, pickups and AVs.” Nikola shares have advanced 86% since June 4 after a reverse merger with a special-purpose acquisition company to go public.
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IDEAYA Biosciences (NASDAQ: IDYA): IDEAYA shares are 30% higher this morning following yesterday’s announcement that it and GlaxoSmithKline had entered a strategic partnership in Synthetic Lethality, an emerging field in oncology. “GSK is the ideal strategic partner for IDEAYA, as this partnership enables compelling potential combinations and the opportunity to build the industry leading Synthetic Lethality pipeline that targets molecularly defined populations in several major solid tumors, including potentially lung, prostate, breast, colorectal, and ovarian cancer,” said Yujiro S. Hata, CEO and President, IDEAYA Biosciences.