Stocks posted modest losses to start a week chock full of potential headline risk, with another Federal Reserve meeting looming and scores of earnings reports expected. The S&P 500 dropped 0.18% while the Dow Jones Industrial Average yielded 0.15%. The Nasdaq Composite extended its losing streak to a third day with a loss of 0.21%.
Oil prices sank, weighing on the energy sector, while investors sought safe-havens, such as the Japanese yen. Emerging markets fell for a second day as well.
Still, with all that negativity, a few stocks managed to deliver significant upside. DISH Network Corp (NASDAQ:DISH), Laboratory Corp. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH) and Tribune Publishing Co (NYSE:TPUB) were three of them.
Dish Network Corp (DISH)
Shares of satellite television provider DISH Network rose 3% on nearly double the average volume following reports that DISH’s talks with Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) regarding the sale of radio spectrum could gain momentum.
Citigroup said that when a government auction of airwaves concludes, perhaps in the fourth quarter, talks between Dow component Verizon and DISH could pick up. Citi put Dish on its focus list of stocks with a $94 price target.
Dish has spent $15 billion to acquire 77 MHz of radio spectrum, Investor’s Business Daily reports, citing Citi research. Dish Network could be looking for mobile telecom partners to deliver content to devices such as smartphones.
The gains paired DISH’s year-to-date losses to about 11%.
Laboratory Corp. of America Holdings (LH)
Laboratory Corp. of America Holdings climbed 2.7% after the company reported first-quarter results that beat analysts’ estimates.
North Carolina-based LH said it earned $2.02 per share on an adjusted basis in the first quarter, topping the $1.96 a share analysts expected. LH reported first-quarter revenue of $2.37 billion, well ahead of the $2.2 billion analysts expected.
The outlook for Laboratory Corp. was strong, too. Full-year earnings projections for $8.55 to $8.95 per share topped Wall Street’s estimates for $8.71.
Monday’s move helped bring LH shares into the black for the year-to-date, which includes a roughly 25% move from its February lows.
Tribune Publishing Co (TPUB)
Shares of newspaper publisher Tribune Publishing surged nearly 53% on more than 15 times the usual turnover after rival Gannett Co Inc (NYSE:GCI) offered to buy TPUB for more than $800 million. TPUB publishes the Chicago Tribune and the Los Angeles Times, among other newspapers.
GCI offered $12.25 a share in cash for TPUB, a better than 60% premium to Friday’s close for Tribune’s shares. The $815 million deal includes about $390 million in debt, according to The Associated Press.
Gannett, which has recently been in acquisition mode, said TPUB has not come to the table for constructive talks as of yet.
As of this writing, Todd Shriber did not own any of the aforementioned securities.
