As oil prices fell 4.4%, two major indexes continue to reach new heights, including the S&P 500 which rose 0.01% Wednesday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average also reached a new all-time high, closing at 18,372.12.
Hump day’s after-hours highlights include news surrounding Monsanto Company (NYSE:MON), Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical Inc (NASDAQ:RARE) and Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM).
Here’s what you need to know about these stocks:
Monsanto Company (MON)
Monsanto shares are on the rise as the company seeks a deal with the company that will benefit it the most.
The agricultural products manufacturer could be uniting its agrochemicals business with BASF SE. Monsanto would be acquiring BASF SE’s agricultural-solutions branch.
The deal would be an alternative from the Bayer AG (ADR) (BAYRY) takeover bid that some board members are keen on. The German company previously offered $122 per share for Monsanto, valuing the company at $62 billion.
The company rejected the deal, claiming the price was too low.
MON shares were up 1.7% after the bell Wednesday but are down since.
Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical Inc (RARE)
Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical is updating the health industry on the progress of its MPS VII drug trial.
The illness is Mucopolysaccharidosis 7, and it is a progressive condition that affects most tissues and organs. It can create joint abnormalities, skeletal deformities and more.
The company recently finished Phase 3 of the study, which uses investigational therapy recombinant human beta-glucuronidase (rhGUS, UX003) to treat the illness.
These findings will be presented by Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical at the International Symposium on MPS and Related Diseases this week in Germany.
RARE stock surged more than 4% after hours yesterday.
Yum! Brands, Inc. (YUM)
Yum Brands reported second-quarter earnings Wednesday.
Driven by a strong China showing where same-store sales grew 3% (versus -10% in the year-ago period), earnings came in at 75 cents per share, beating the consensus estimate by 1 cent.
Additionally, revenue amounted to $3.01 billion for the period, falling short of the $3.09 billion that Wall Street analysts had projected. It also raised its operating profit growth guidance from 12% to 14%.
“Challenging industry conditions” in the U.S. hurt Yum Brands’ sales.
YUM stock jumped 3.6% after the bell ahead of Thursday’s action and kept rising through premarket trading.
As of this writing, Karl Utermohlen did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities.
