Plus, jobless claims rose less than expected, Square is taking a stake in Tidal, Amazon is reportedly seeking exclusive streaming rights for the NFL’s Thursday games, and GM and LG Chem are considering building another battery plant in the U.S.
Stocks were mixed at the open on Thursday with the Dow added 19 points, or less than 0.1%. The S&P 500 traded just below the flatline, while the Nasdaq slid 0.3%.
The Senate will enter the final stages of debating President Joe Biden’s $1.9 trillion pandemic relief bill today, with passage not expected until the weekend. While Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer had planned to have debate on the bill starting last night, he stalled to wait for an official cost estimate on the latest version of the package which has been trimmed down from the bill the House recently passed. As part of the stimulus measure, Biden approved tightening eligibility for $1,400 direct payments in an effort to appease more conservative Democrats. The payments will now phase out above $75,000 in annual income for individuals and $150,000 for couples, with payments cut off for individuals making over $80,000 and couples making $160,000.
As Congress debates the next round of stimulus, weekly jobless claims rose less than expected. The Labor Department reported initial claims for the week ended February 27 totaled 745,000, while economists had expected a reading of 750,000. “We expected a substantially bigger rebound after the huge winter storm pushed claims down, so this reading suggests that the underlying trend in layoffs is falling, thanks to the reopening now underway across many states,” said Ian Shepherdson, chief economist for Pantheon Macroeconomics. “As always, though, two good weeks in this volatile series don’t prove anything, but whatever happens next week, we expect the trend to fall sharply over the next few months, provided the new COVID variants don’t trigger a spring wave in cases and, more importantly, hospitalizations. The jury is still out.”
Square has agreed to buy a majority stake in Tidal, the streaming music service led by rapper Jay-Z. The financial services company is making the investment as part of its effort to expand its suite of financial tools for musicians and emerging artists. Square will pay $297 million in cash and stock to become the “significant majority” owner in Tidal, with Jay-Z and Tidal’s other existing artist-shareholders retaining some ownership. “It comes down to one simple idea: finding new ways for artists to support their work,” Jack Dorsey, cofounder and CEO of Square, said in a press release. “New ideas are found at intersections, and we believe there’s a compelling one between music and the economy. I knew TIDAL was something special as soon as I experienced it, and it will continue to be the best home for music, musicians, and culture.”
Amazon is reportedly seeking exclusive streaming rights to the NFL’s Thursday night games, according to the Wall Street Journal. While Amazon currently pays up to $100 million to stream the games, it doesn’t have exclusive rights to them. Amazon has been acquiring streaming rights for sporting events in the U.S. and abroad to increase the appeal of its Prime Video service, which comes free for Amazon Prime subscribers. In other sports news, the UFC has entered into a licensing agreement with DraftKings. The agreement grants DraftKings the rights to be UFC’s sports book partner, while UFC will show DraftKings betting odds in its fight broadcasts. “It’s going to allow the fighter and fans the ability to see the time left in a round in a way that they haven’t before,” said Ezra Kucharz, DraftKings’ chief business officer. “It’s a big deal because it’ll be integrated into the production technology, and fans and fighters will have the ability to see the countdown clock that people traditionally see watching at home.”
And GM is considering building a second plant in the U.S. to produce battery cells for electric vehicles through a joint venture with LG Chem. GM said it hopes “to have a decision on the potential project” by June, and while the companies were close to a decision to locate the possible plant in Tennessee, a final selection has not been made. Currently, GM and LG are spending $2.3 billion through their Ultium Cells LLC joint venture on a new battery cell plant in Ohio, which is expected to be completed in 2022. GM is planning to release 20 new or redesigned EVs as part of its $27 billion investment plan from 2020 through 2025.
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Ocugen Inc (NASDAQ: OCGN): Ocugen shares rose as much as 46% yesterday after the biopharma company said that its co-development partner, Bharat Biotech, announced interim results from its Phase 3 study of COVAXIN, its whole vision inactivated COVID-19 vaccine candidate, showed the vaccine demonstrated 81% efficacy. “We are thrilled with the interim efficacy results of Bharat Biotech’s Phase 3 trial of COVAXIN in India,” Dr. Shankar Musunuri, Chairman of the Board, CEO, and Co-founder of Ocugen, said in a statement. “These results, which in part suggest significant immunogenicity against the rapidly emerging UK variant, represent an additional step towards outlining the regulatory pathway for EUA and approval in the United States. COVAXIN, a whole virion based vaccine candidate, is designed to fill a significant unmet need in our national arsenal of vaccines against COVID-19.”