Plus, Pfizer and BioNTech applied for authorization of their coronavirus vaccine in Europe, Kohl’s announced it will be opening hundreds of Sephora stores in its existing stores, and Airbnb plans to price its IPO between $44 to $50 per share.
Stocks were higher to start Tuesday with the Dow adding 400 points, or 1.3%. The S&P 500 rose 1.3%, while the Nasdaq gained 1.1%.
All at once. Tesla shares are up nearly 3% this morning after the S&P 500 announced the stock would be added to the index all at once on December 21, a move that will reverberate through the entire market as money managers adjust their portfolios to make room for shares of the $538 billion electric car maker. “This is a better outcome than what investors overall had expected,” said Gary Black, a private investor who is a former CEO of Aegon Asset Management. Interactive Brokers chief strategist Steve Sosnick added, “It looks like they’re ripping the band-aid off. It’s ultimately less disruptive than trying something new with the largest index addition ever.”
Pfizer and BioNTech said they have applied to the European Medicines Agency for authorization for their coronavirus vaccine. If approved, it could enable use of the companies’ vaccine in Europe by the end of this month. “Today’s announcement marks another key milestone in our efforts to fulfill our promise to do everything we can to address this dire crisis given the critical public health need,” Pfizer Chairman and CEO Dr. Albert Bourla said in a statement. “We have known since the beginning of this journey that patients are waiting, and we stand ready to ship Covid-19 vaccine doses as soon as potential authorizations will allow us.” The news comes as a CDC panel is set to vote today on which Americans will be the first to receive coronavirus vaccines when they have been approved as U.S. officials expect the first doses of at least one of the vaccines currently under review could be distributed in a few weeks.
A bipartisan group of lawmakers unveiled an “interim” coronavirus stimulus package this morning after months of congressional inaction on supporting the economy amid the ongoing pandemic, just weeks before provisions in the CARES Act expire at the end of the year. The roughly $908 billion proposal includes $288 billion in Paycheck Protection Program small business loans, $160 billion in state and local government aid, and funding for enhanced unemployment benefits. The bill would also provide $16 billion in funding for vaccine distribution, testing, and contact tracing, as well as additional funds for rental assistance, child care, and broadband. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, the two main negotiators on a stimulus package, are set to discuss stimulus options by phone later today, though neither Democrat nor Republican leadership have signed on to the bipartisan bill. “If there’s one thing I’m hearing uniformly, it’s: ‘Congress, do not leave town for the holidays leaving the country and the economy adrift with all these initial CARES [Act] programs running out,’” said Senator Mark Warner, D-VA, a member of the bipartisan congressional group that has discussed the new proposal.
Kohl’s shares are up more than 15% this morning after the discount retailer announced that it will open hundreds of Sephora beauty shops inside Kohl’s stores in the coming years. The company said it will add 200 Sephora outlets in Kohl’s stores by next fall, and will open 850 sites by 2023. Sephora will also launch on Kohl’s website next year, offering more than 100 beauty brands. The news comes less than a month after Target announced that it would be opening Ulta makeup shops insides its stores “When we think about the beauty industry today, we’re very underrepresented,” said Kohl’s CEO Michelle Gass. “It’s a huge market [and] it’s expected to grow over the next few years.
And Airbnb plans to price at $44 to $50 per share in its IPO, giving it a valuation of up to $35 billion on a fully diluted basis, according to a new filing submitted to the SEC. The company hopes to raise $2.5 billion in its IPO, one of the most hotly anticipated of the year, and existing investors seek to sell $96 million worth of stock in the sale. The company will list on the Nasdaq later this month with the ticker “ABNB.” Airbnb’s highest valuation as a private company was $31 billion in a funding round from 2017. Airbnb will join a group of companies planning listings this month including food delivery service DoorDash, video-game company Roblox, installment loans provider Affirm, and ContextLogic, the parent of online discount retailer Wish.
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Shopify Inc (NYSE: SHOP): Shopify shares rose nearly 6% yesterday following the company’s announcement that its retailers posted $5.1+ billion in sales between Black Friday and Cyber Monday, with total sales growing 76% from the same weekend last year. “This has been a transformative year for commerce globally,” said Harley Finkelstein, President of Shopify. “The record sales we saw on Shopify over Black Friday/Cyber Monday weekend demonstrate the power of the independent and direct-to-consumer businesses on our platform. With the center of gravity in commerce shifting from in-store to online, the pandemic has accelerated a change we have long anticipated. This multichannel shopping phenomenon is the blueprint for the future of retail—and we couldn’t be more excited by it.”