U.S. drugmaker Pfizer Inc. (PFE) disclosed the pricing of its four-tranche debt offering through which it intends to raise about $4 billion in proceeds.The offering includes $750 million of 0.800% notes due 2025, $1 billion of 1.700% notes due 2030, $1 billion of 2.550% notes due 2040 and $1.25 billion of 2.700% notes maturing in 2050.Pfizer, which is also engaged in the development of a coronavirus vaccine candidate, said it will use the net proceeds for general corporate purposes, including for repayment of a portion of its outstanding commercial paper and to refinance, redeem or repurchase existing debt.The closing of the offering is scheduled for May 28, subject to satisfaction of customary closing conditions. Barclays Capital Inc., Citigroup Global Markets Inc., Deutsche Bank Securities Inc. and J.P. Morgan Securities LLC are acting as joint book-running managers for the offering.Last week, Pfizer CEO and Chairman Albert Bourla told CNBC that he wants to expand human trials of its experimental coronavirus vaccine to thousands of test patients by September.On May 5, Pfizer and German partner BioNTech SE (BNTX) announced that the first participants have been dosed in the U.S. in the Phase 1/2 clinical trial for the BNT162 vaccine program to prevent Covid-19.The first stage of the Phase 1/2 trial in the U.S. will enroll up to 360 healthy subjects in two age groups (18-55 and 65-85), with the younger group to receive the vaccine candidate first. The trial is part of a global development program, and the dosing of the first cohort in Germany was completed the previous week.Shares in Pfizer, which dropped to a low on March 23, have since recovered advancing 34% to trade at $38.07 as of Monday. The stock was down 0.5% in Tuesday’s pre-market trading.Overall, Wall Street analysts are divided over Pfizer’s stock with 4 Buy ratings and 3 Hold ratings which add up to a Moderate Buy consensus. The $42.22 average price target for Pfizer implies 11% upside potential for the drugmaker’s shares in the coming 12 months. (See Pfizer stock analysis on TipRanks).Related News: Bluebird Prices New Shares At $55, Seeks To Raise $500 Million Moderna Spikes 21% Amid “Positive” Early-Stage Covid-19 Vaccine Data AstraZeneca Aiming For 30M UK Covid-19 Vaccine Doses By September More recent articles from Smarter Analyst: * GM Director Displays Confidence in Company Despite Recent Troubles * iQIYI Sinks 4% As Online Ad-Revenue Falls Sharply * Bluebird Prices New Shares At $55, Seeks To Raise $500 Million * Dynavax Explodes 40% In Pre-Market On Phase 1 Covid-19 Vaccine News

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The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC) shareholders should be happy to see the share price up 13% in the last quarter…

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Dimon called the current situation a “call to action” that should prompt business and government to “lay the foundation for the kind of recovery we need [and] it is critical we do so.”

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Kohl’s was forced to close all its U.S. stores to curb the spread of the virus, hammering sales and sending shares in the retailer some 63% lower so far this year. The company, which owns over 1,100 stores in the United States, had earlier withdrawn its full-year forecast, suspended share buyback plan and borrowed money to combat the pandemic’s impact. Department stores have been struggling even before the pandemic as consumers shift to online shopping and competition from fast-fashion brands add to the pressure.

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Novavax (NVAX) filed a prospectus to sell up to $250 million of shares of common stock as it prepares to scale up production of its coronavirus vaccine candidate.Shares in Novavax jumped 31% to close at $56.96 in U.S. trading on Monday after their value more than doubled over the past month.The late-stage biotech company, which is in the process of developing a coronavirus antigen vaccine candidate, said that the net proceeds from the sale of common stock will depend on the number of shares actually sold and the offering price for such shares. The company based its calculation on the event that all of the offered shares would be sold at $43.63, the closing price per share on May 15.“We intend to use the net proceeds from this offering for general corporate purposes, including but not limited to working capital, capital expenditures, research and development expenditures, clinical trial expenditures, as well as acquisitions and other strategic purposes,” Novavax said in the prospectus filing.The offering comes after Novavax announced last week that it will receive $384 million in funding from the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) to develop and produce its coronavirus vaccine candidate. The biotech company has set itself the aim of producing up to 100 million vaccine doses by end of 2020. For 2021, it is planning to target large-scale manufacturing capacity in multiple countries with a goal of potentially producing over one billion doses during the year.Five-star analyst Mayank Mamtani at B. Riley FBR on Monday raised his price target on the biotech stock to $53 a share from $43 and kept his Buy rating, following a meeting with Novavax management to review progress on on its COVID-19 vaccine development.“We believe NVAX not only offers a clinically validated adjuvanted recombinant nanoparticle platform (recently reporting overwhelmingly positive data in the Ph. III NanoFlu) but, also, demonstrates the ability to illicit a potent immune response at extremely low doses, boding favorably for both safety and scalability, with management guiding to 100M doses by YE20 and >1B during 2021,” Mamtani wrote in a note to investors. “With a regulatory path becoming relatively clearer, likely on the basis of Ph. IIb results by leveraging Emergency Use Authorization (EUA), we increase the probability of success, from 25% to 40%, which drives our PT increase.”The rest of Wall Street analysts covering the stock in the past three months join Mamtani in their recommendation to Buy the shares adding up to a Strong Buy consensus. Following the stock’s rally, the $47.60 average price target indicates 16% downside potential in the coming 12 months. (See Novavax stock analysis on TipRanks).Related News: Novavax Spikes 31% on $384 Million Cash Injection for Vaccine Production AstraZeneca, Daiichi Get FDA Breakthrough Status For Gastro Cancer Drug Seres Therapeutics Reports Weak Earnings, But Significant Upside Lies Ahead More recent articles from Smarter Analyst: * Bluebird Prices New Shares At $55, Seeks To Raise $500 Million * Dynavax Explodes 40% In Pre-Market On Phase 1 Covid-19 Vaccine News * GameStop Pops 5% Amid ‘Significant Progress’ On Turnaround Plan * Carvana Sinks 7% In Pre-Market On Public Offering Of 5M Shares

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Bluebird Bio (BLUE) priced an offering of 9.09 million shares of its common stock at $55 each, the company said late on Monday.The gene therapy company, which expects the offering to close on May 21, seeks to raise gross proceeds of about $500 million from the sale. Shares in Bluebird were down 0.2% at $57 in Tuesday’s pre-market trading in the U.S. after plunging 34% year-to-date.Bluebird is also giving the underwriters a 30-day option to buy up to an additional 1.36 million shares in common stock. Goldman Sachs, BofA Securities and Cowen are acting as joint book-running managers of the offering.Last week, Bluebird announced that its partner Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. (BMY) will pay the company $200 million to buy out future royalty obligations of its two jointly developed cancer therapies ide-cel and bb21217.Five-star analyst Mark Breidenbach at Oppenheimer, maintained a Buy rating on the stock with a $111 price target, after meeting with Bluebird’s management.“FDA approval of ide-cel remains a top priority for both Bluebird and its partner Bristol-Myers Squibb, especially given BMY’s investment in trials aimed at future label expansions,” Breidenbach wrote in a note to investors. “We believe bb2121 has potential for rapid development in r/r MM, and we project its commercial approval in 2021.”Overall, Wall Street analysts are cautiously optimistic on the company’s stock. Out of 13 analysts, 10 have Buy ratings and 3 have issued Hold ratings adding up to a Moderate Buy consensus. The $99.73 average price target provides investors with 75% upside potential should the target be met in the next 12 months. (See Bluebird stock analysis on TipRanks)Related News: Bristol Myers to Pay Bluebird $200 Million in Royalties For Cancer Drugs Novavax Seeks To Raise $250 Million From Share Sale; Top Analyst Bumps Up PT AstraZeneca, Daiichi Get FDA Breakthrough Status For Gastro Cancer Drug More recent articles from Smarter Analyst: * Dynavax Explodes 40% In Pre-Market On Phase 1 Covid-19 Vaccine News * GameStop Pops 5% Amid ‘Significant Progress’ On Turnaround Plan * Carvana Sinks 7% In Pre-Market On Public Offering Of 5M Shares * Tesla’s China Car Registrations Plummet In April- LMC Auto

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Airlines have been the among the worst hit by the coronavirus crisis, which brought travel to a virtual standstill around the world. “The company has also recently experienced a modest improvement in passenger demand and bookings in June 2020,” Southwest said in a regulatory filing.

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(Bloomberg) — As the Federal Reserve pulls out all the stops to bolster credit markets, corporate America is gorging on debt.From Carnival Corp., Marriott International Inc. and Delta Air Lines Inc. to Gap Inc. and Avis Budget Group Inc., many of the companies hardest hit by the coronavirus outbreak have priced billions of dollars of bonds and loans in recent weeks.Never mind that profits have been wiped out, and that their business operations aren’t viable right now or likely anytime soon. As long as they’re propped up by the Fed, investors are willing to lend.Yet as expectations of a V-shaped economic recovery vanish rapidly, more and more industry veterans are starting to express concern about these debt dynamics. Some warn that the Fed is putting credit markets on course for a future wave of defaults that makes the current stretch of corporate bankruptcies look timid by comparison.Others see an outcome even more dire.In this scenario, they say, moribund companies in industries deeply scarred by the pandemic will just keep borrowing. Market watchers such as Deutsche Bank AG chief economist Torsten Slok fear that a new breed of so-called zombie companies — firms that don’t earn enough to cover interest payments and are kept alive in part by central bank largess — could have profound and painful consequences for everyone from workers to investors for years to come.“The Fed and the government are interfering in the process of creative destruction,” Slok said in an interview. “The consequence is that we are at risk the longer this persists –- companies being kept alive that would otherwise have gone out of business — that it will begin to weigh on the overall potential for growth of the economy and on productivity.”It’s not that these risks mean the Fed’s current policy tack is misguided. Given the scope of the economic collapse and the unprecedented spike in unemployment that has accompanied it, most analysts say policy makers had to throw everything they could at the problem. It’s just that such dramatic intervention comes with great risks that will have to be addressed down the road.“The Fed had no other choice than to do what it did,” Slok said.Still, it’s precisely this dramatic intervention that’s emboldening money managers to take greater chances and seek fatter returns.“You can’t say ‘we’ll do whatever it takes’ and not do it,” said Jack McIntyre, who helps oversee about $60 billion at Philadelphia-based Brandywine Global Investment Management. “Otherwise, the Fed will lose credibility.”McIntyre said he’s buying select investment-grade corporate bonds in lieu of Treasuries “because the Fed has backstopped the market — if spreads widen, the Fed will step in.”That’s just the sort of sentiment that can ultimately lead to the proliferation of zombies, economists say.Fed BackstopThe actual definition of what makes a company a zombie varies depending on who you ask, but most agree that it’s generally meant to encompass firms that can’t cover their debt servicing costs from current profits over a select period.A snapshot of the market reveals no shortage of companies that would fit that description should the economic rebound take time to gain momentum.Earnings for companies, excluding financials, in the S&P 500 are forecast to drop a staggering 42% in the second quarter from the previous year as the full effect of global lockdowns are felt, according to estimates compiled by Bloomberg.At the same time, net corporate debt issuance has ballooned, and could approach as much as $1 trillion this year, according to Bloomberg Intelligence.Delta and Marriott declined to comment, while Avis didn’t respond to requests seeking comment.Carnival referred Bloomberg to a press release highlighting the strength of its balance sheet and continued customer bookings for the second half of the year and 2021.A representative for Gap directed Bloomberg to a statement noting its financing and cash preservation efforts, adding that the company plans to have 800 stores open by the end of May.If the pace of the recovery is quick enough, corporate-bond buyers say plenty of hard-hit companies should be able to turn things around.But the question on the minds of investors and economists alike is: how long will the Fed be willing to support firms via its pledge to buy corporate debt if the recovery is slower to develop than expected?“The government has done more than I could have imagined to allow businesses to access capital, and if the markets shut down again the government will do even more,” said Bill Zox, chief investment officer of fixed income at Diamond Hill Capital Management, which manages around $19.5 billion.Borrowing BingeIt’s an especially salient question when it comes to the sectors hardest hit by the Covid-19 outbreak.Cruise lines have borrowed more than $8 billion via the bond market in recent weeks, selling notes secured by everything from ships to islands. Airlines, for their part, have gotten more than $14 billion in new financing from banks and investors, even as the vast majority of flights remain grounded.“We have entire industries that are going to be protracted long-term if not permanently disrupted because of this,” said Vicki Bryan, a veteran credit analyst who runs Bond Angle LLC. “The cruise industry is ripe for elimination of companies. It should logically renounce the weaker players but that’s not happening because we have dirt-cheap money that we’re willing to throw back into the market from the Fed.”Beyond just lending them money, creditors are also waiving or loosening financial markers on existing debt, allowing companies that have seen revenue dry up stave off potential tumult.Vail Resorts Inc. — owner of the eponymous winter vacation destination — was granted a two-year reprieve on key debt covenants last month, paving the way for the company to raise $600 million with a new bond offering. Marriott, one of the world’s largest hotel chain, struck a similar agreement with lenders.A representative for Vail said that the company’s bank covenant waiver provided additional flexibility given the short-term dislocation from Covid-19, and that it remains confident in the long-term outlook for both profit and cash flow.‘Catch-22’Yet amid the waivers, lenders are extracting higher interest rates or other concessions.Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd., AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc. and Avis all paid double-digit yields to borrow in recent weeks. That could depress their capacity to make capital expenditures and adapt to shifting consumer tastes as the coronavirus changes how people spend money.“Taken together with margin contraction and leverage that was already near record highs, you may end up with a corporate sector that has less capacity to invest in growth,” said Noel Hebert, director of credit research at Bloomberg Intelligence.Norwegian has a “long-standing track record of strong financial performance which includes over a decade of financial growth,” a company spokesperson said in an emailed response to questions. “The cruise industry has been hit the hardest by Covid-19 as our operations have been completely shut down, which certainly impacts us in the short-term but has no bearing on our long-term success.”AMC didn’t respond to requests seeking comment.Read more: Corporate debt loads are growing fast as Fed opens up spigotsSome say as successful as the Fed has been boosting credit-market liquidity, the support is only temporary, and will result in a wave of distress when it steps back.“There will be plenty” of debt defaults and bankruptcies when corporate borrowers start running out of cash in the months ahead, Howard Marks, co-chairman of Oaktree Capital Group, said in a Bloomberg TV interview. “There are large, highly levered companies and investment vehicles that the government and Fed rescue program is not likely to reach and take care of.”Others see central-bank intervention keeping companies alive for much longer, crowding out investment and employment at healthy firms, similar to what occurred in Japan during the nation’s ‘lost decade’ of the 1990s, where the ‘zombie company’ term was first applied.“You are misallocating capital to businesses that are not productive and in some sense taking resources away from companies that have high growth,” Deutsche Bank’s Slok said.The repercussions may only become apparent years from now, according to Marc Zenner, a former co-head of corporate finance advisory at JPMorgan Chase & Co.“It’s hard for me to think that something like that doesn’t have a cost,” Zenner said. “What you’ll see is some of these costs will probably only emerge years later. Are we going to have reduced capacity to act? Is it that other economies will be less burdened and will attract more capital? Is there another crisis that will come because of this misallocation of capital?”For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2020 Bloomberg L.P.

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Oil companies may be facing uncertainty as the coronavirus pandemic triggers a collapse in demand for their products, but auto makers are betting the crisis will help accelerate an electric future. With economies reeling from lockdowns to curb the virus, the sharpest plunge in oil prices in two decades has slashed the cost of filling up a tank of gas, eroding some of the incentive to make the switch to cleaner fuels. Looking ahead, cuts in capital spending forced upon energy companies as their revenues crumble could tighten supply enough to cause a spike in oil prices, making electric vehicles more attractive just as automakers ramp up production, analysts say.

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Shares of Home Depot, which have gained 12.4% this year, dropped nearly 3% to $238.50 in premarket trading, as the company also scrapped its full-year outlook, citing uncertainties stemming from the pandemic. Home Depot said it incurred about $850 million of pre-tax expenses in the first quarter, as it provided additional bonuses, doubled pay for overtime and added more hours of paid time-off for employees working during a surge of panic buying of cleaning supplies and masks. The company’s net earnings fell to $2.25 billion, or $2.08 per share, in the first quarter ended May 3, from $2.51 billion, or $2.27 per share, a year earlier, as it spent heavily to compensate its store employees working during the health crisis.

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