Check out the companies making headlines before the bell:
Moderna — Shares Moderna rose more than 11% in premarket trading after the drugmaker said new data confirms the vaccine is more than 94% effective in preventing Covid-19. Moderna plans to request emergency clearance from the Food and Drug Administration on Monday.
S&P Global, IHS Markit — Shares of IHS Markit rose more than 4% in premarket trading on news financial markets-data giant S&P Global agreed to buy IHS Markit for $44 billion, making it the biggest corporate deal of 2020 so far. Shares of S&P Global ticked more than 2% lower. The deal is expected to close in the second half of 2021.
Bank of America, JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs — Shares of the bank stocks edged lower in premarket trading after Morgan Stanley downgraded the group, favoring other consumer banks heading into 2021. The Wall Street firm downgraded Bank of America and JPMorgan from to “underweight” from “overweight” and Goldman Sachs to “underweight” from “equal weight.”
Slack — Shares of the messaging platform fell in premarket trading after Barclays downgraded the stock to “equal weight” from “overweight.” The Wall Street firm said an acquisition from Salesforce would cause limited upside for Slack shares.
United Airlines — Shares of the airlines rose in premarket trading after Raymond James upgraded the stocks to “outperform” from “market perform.” The Wall Street firm said United is taking a different approach than its peers, which could lead to market share gains when the economic recovery occurs.
Apple — Shares of Apple rose in premarket trading after Loop Capital upgraded the technology stock to “buy” from “hold.” The firm said it sees broad tailwind product and services growth. Morgan Stanley’s Katy Huberty also made bullish comments about Apple’s “underappreciated” 5G iPhone cycle.
General Electric — Shares of the automaker rose slightly in premarket trading after Barclays named the stock a “top pick.” The firm said GE’s free cash flow is set for material improvement over the next two years.
Palantir — Shares of the newly public software company rose nearly 4% in premarket trading, continuing its massive rally from last week. Palantir gained more than 50% last week, in the best week since its IPO.