Check out the companies making headlines before the bell:
Alibaba – The China e-commerce giant saw its shares plunge for the second straight session overnight to their lowest level since June. Alibaba announced it was increasing its share buyback program to $10 billion from $6 billion, but the move failed to ease concerns about a regulatory crackdown by the Chinese government.
AT&T – “Wonder Woman 1984”, produced by AT&T’s Warner Bros. unit, led the weekend box office with $16.7 million in North American ticket sales. That number is low by historical standards but is the strongest debut for any movie since the pandemic began. “Wonder Woman” debuted simultaneously in theaters and on the company’s “HBO Max” streaming service.
AstraZeneca – The drugmaker said its Covid-19 vaccine candidate is believed by researchers to be effective against a new variant of the virus that has helped drive a spike in cases in Britain. The vaccine is expected to win approval from U.K. regulators this week.
DoorDash – A Wall Street Journal column says the food-delivery service and rivals like Postmates could see their growth impacted by a new law in California set to go into effect January 1. The law will require delivery services to have stated agreements in places with restaurants to deliver their food. DoorDash did say in its IPO filing that 95% of its order volume this year came in transactions with partnered merchants.
Weibo – The Chinese social media company reported an adjusted quarterly profit of 66 cents per share, 6 cents above estimates, with revenue coming in above analysts’ forecasts as well. Average active daily users during the quarter increased to 224 million, compared with 216 million a year earlier.
Myovant Sciences – The Switzerland-based drug company struck a partnership with Pfizer to develop and commercialize the cancer treatment Orgovoxy in Canada and the United States. The deal could potentially be worth more than $4 billion to Myovant.
Tesla – India Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari told the national daily newspaper Indian Express that the electric-car maker plans to begin operations in India sometime in 2021. Gadkari said Tesla’s involvement in India would begin with auto sales but could expand into manufacturing based on response.
Boeing – A Reuters/Ipsos poll found that about 39% of respondents were familiar with the two fatal crashes involving the Boeing 737 Max jet, about half of the number found in a prior poll. However, when reminded of the crashes, more than half say they would probably avoid flying the Max.
Sinovac – The China-based biopharmaceutical company’s Covid-19 vaccine candidate was said by Turkish researchers to be 91.25% effective. However, data released by researchers in Brazil say the vaccine’s efficacy is between 50% and 90%.
IMV – The Canadian biopharmaceutical company’s shares are rising after it reported positive data for its Covid-19 vaccine candidate, still in early study stages. It will provide an update on the vaccine’s progress during the first quarter of 2021.