Carnival Corp (CCL) is already enjoying a surge in cruise bookings, indicating that demand remains strong despite the coronavirus pandemic.After the company announced this week it would restart some cruises in August, Cruise Planners’ Carnival bookings spiked 600% compared to the previous 3 days before the news, reports TMZ.This represents a 200% increase over the same time period in 2019 – before the coronavirus pandemic even struck- points out TMZ, which spoke to Cruise Planners’, an American Express travel franchise.According to the travel company, customers are “not a bit concerned about traveling at this time” with many looking to have fun once restrictions ease.Carnival Cruise Line plans to resume its North American service from August 1 with a total of eight ships from Miami, Port Canaveral and Galveston.In connection with this plan, the pause in operations will be extended in all other North American and Australian markets through August 31, the company said.However there is no guarantee that the cruises will go ahead, with CCL saying: “We continue to work with various government agencies, including the CDC, as we introduce new onboard protocols, but there is no assurance of a return on August 1.”Carnival stock has plunged 72% year-to-date following major coronavirus outbreaks on a number of cruise ships, including Carnival’s Diamond Princess.And analysts are staying firmly on the sidelines. In the last three months, the stock has received 2 buy ratings, 7 hold ratings and even 3 sell ratings- giving the stock a Hold analyst consensus. Meanwhile the average price target stands at $23.30. (See CCL’s stock analysis on TipRanks)“While we expect consumers will be generally eager to return to normalcy once coronavirus concerns abate, we believe the cruise industry is likely to have a much slower recovery given the amount of negative media coverage around coronavirus outbreaks and ships without ports, and maintain our Market Perform rating” comments William Blair analyst Sharon Zackfia.Related News: Tesla’s China Model 3 Sales Tumbled 64% In April Southwest Scores $815M With Sale-Leaseback of 20 Boeing Planes Disney Reveals Shanghai Park Covid-19 Measures For May 11 Reopen More recent articles from Smarter Analyst: * AstraZeneca, Daiichi Get FDA Breakthrough Status For Gastro Cancer Drug * Tesla’s China Model 3 Sales Tumbled 64% In April * Solid Biosciences: Keep Your Eyes On The Prize Says Top Analyst * Columbian Carrier Avianca Files For Bankruptcy Protection Due to Coronavirus Woes
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The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved a treatment developed by AstraZeneca (AZN) and Merck Co. (MRK) for advanced ovarian cancer.The FDA approved the ovarian drug Lynparza to be used in combination with bevacizumab as a first-line maintenance treatment of adult patients with advanced epithelial ovarian, fallopian tube or primary peritoneal cancer. Patients will be selected for therapy based on an FDA-approved companion diagnostic for Lynparza.Lynparza is a first-in-class PARP inhibitor, which is a targeted treatment to potentially exploit DNA damage response (DDR) pathway deficiencies, such as so-called BRCA mutations to kill cancer cells. It is being tested in a range of tumor types. Ovarian cancer is the fifth most common cause of death from cancer in women in the U.S. This year, it is estimated that more than 21,000 women will be diagnosed with ovarian cancer and nearly 14,000 women will die of the disease.The nod by the U.S. regulator followed a biomarker subgroup study of 387 patients with positive tumors from the Phase 3 PAOLA-1 trial, which showed that the Lynparza drug in combination with bevacizumab reduced the risk of disease progression or death by 67%. It improved progression-free survival (PFS) to a median of 37.2 months vs. 17.7 months with bevacizumab alone in patients with advanced ovarian cancer.“Advances in understanding the role of biomarkers and PARP inhibition have fundamentally changed how physicians treat this aggressive type of cancer,” said Dr. Roy Baynes, senior vice president and chief medical officer at Merck Research Laboratories. “Today’s approval based on the PAOLA-1 trial highlights the importance of homologous recombination deficiency (HRD) testing at diagnosis to identify those who may benefit from Lynparza in combination with bevacizumab as a first-line maintenance treatment.”AstraZeneca and Merck said they are also seeking to get approval by the European Union, Japan and other countries for Lynparza’s use in combination with bevacizumab as a first-line maintenance treatment for patients with advanced ovarian cancer.Mara Goldstein, analyst at Mizuho Securities reiterated Merck’s Buy rating with a $100 price target.“The likelihood that MRK's business rebounds in 2H20 with the easing of stay-at-home restrictions is high, in our view, and drives our support of the shares,” Goldstein wrote in a note to investors.TipRanks data shows that 9 out of the 11 Wall Street analysts covering the stock in the past three months have a Buy on the stock. The remainder say Hold adding up to Strong Buy consensus rating. The $92.10 average price target suggests 21% upside potential in the shares in the coming 12 months. (See Merck stock analysis on TipRanks). Related News: Quidel’s Rapid Covid-19 Antigen Test Scores Emergency FDA Approval GM Ramps Up Coffers With $4 Billion Debt Sale, Plans New $2 Billion Credit Line Weekly Market Review: Stocks Back to Winning Ways More recent articles from Smarter Analyst: * Carnival Cruises Enjoys Huge Bookings Surge- Report * AstraZeneca, Daiichi Get FDA Breakthrough Status For Gastro Cancer Drug * Tesla’s China Model 3 Sales Tumbled 64% In April * Solid Biosciences: Keep Your Eyes On The Prize Says Top Analyst