Stocks opened mixed with the Nasdaq in positive territory and the Dow and S&P lower, but little changed. There was little from a macro standpoint to lure investors off the sidelines, especially after the market ended Friday with its fifth consecutive positive weekly close. The averages drifted throughout the morning, but by afternoon all three major averages were firmly in positive ground. The averages closed at their best levels since December 3rd while investors awaited the quarterly earnings report from Alphabet (GOOGL) scheduled for release after the close.
ECONOMIC EVENTS: In the U.S., factory orders fell 0.6% in November. Excluding transportation, factory orders declined 1.3%, both of which proved disappointing compared to expectations.
COMPANY NEWS: Shares of Papa John's (PZZA) rebounded after having slid on news Friday that the company had abandoned an outright sale after takeover bids from private equity firms did not meet its expectations. The company said that Starboard Value is making a $200M investment and Jeffrey Smith, the investment firm's CEO, is becoming chairman of the pizza chain. John Schnatter, the company's founder and deposed CEO, sent an alternate proposal to the board to make an investment of up to $250M on terms he said were "substantially similar to, but superior to," the Starboard transaction, but that was rejected.
In M&A news, Maxwell Technologies (MXWL) announced it has entered into a definitive agreement to be acquired by Tesla (TSLA) for $4.75 per share in an all-stock transaction. Meanwhile, Expedia Group (EXPE) has proposed to acquire the outstanding shares of Liberty Expedia Holdings (LEXEA) in a transaction in which Liberty's Series A and B common stock would be exchanged for newly issued shares of Expedia.
MAJOR MOVERS: Among the noteworthy gainers was Ultimate Software (ULTI), which jumped 20% to $332.54 after it agreed to be acquired by an investor group for $331.50 per share, or about $11B. Also higher was Roku (ROKU), which gained 5% after BestAppleTV.com reported that Comcast (CMCSA) will not use Apple TV (AAPL) in favor of using a smart box designed by Roku. However, Comcast pushed back against that report in a statement to Bloomberg.
Among the notable losers was MacroGenics (MGNX), which slid about 1% after Citi analyst Yigal Nochomovitz downgraded the stock to Sell on expectations for a failure of the company's SOPHIA Phase 3 metastatic breast cancer study of margetuximab. Also lower was Triton International (TRTN), which declined 9.5% after reporting quarterly results.
INDEXES: The Dow rose 175.48, or 0.70%, to 25,239.37 , the Nasdaq gained 83.67, or 1.15%, to 7,347.54, and the S&P 500 advanced 18.34, or 0.68%, to 2,724.87.
