Some $17.8 billion has been poured into  bond markets over the past week, the biggest move in more than three months.Around $3.5 billion has been invested into gold, the second largest on record. 

But its CEO hinted at early signs of optimism from store re-openings. In the fiscal first quarter ended May 2, the  off-price department store company's revenue of $4.409 billion was less than half the year-ago level of $9.278 billion.The figure came in lower than the $5.82 billion predicted by analysts polled by Investing.com .  The company reported a net loss of - 74 cents a share, compared to analysts’ expectation of a loss of -2 cents a share.

The retail company, however, suspended its full-year guidance. The company’s  non-GAAP earnings for the three months ending on May 2 came in at 67 cents per share, exceeding the the Street estimate of 43 cents per share .Online sales, surged +155.4% year-over-year,  while comparable physical store sales dropped -5.3% amid the COVID-19 pandemic Best Buy suspended its full-year earnings forecast.

AstraZeneca  received more than $1 billion funding from the U.S. government for expanding the manufacturing of an experimental coronavirus vaccine from the University of Oxford. The U.K.-based company said it received the amount from the U.S. Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority for the development, production, and delivery of the vaccine.The vaccine is being developed by Oxford and the U.K. government. The development includes a phase 3 clinical trial consisting of 30,000 participants and a pediatric trial. AstraZeneca  has secured a total manufacturing capacity for 1 billion doses.

Search engine/cloud company Baidu Inc.  could leave the Nasdaq, as US lawmakers press for tighter restrictions on  listing requirements.   According to Reuters,  Baidu CEO Robin Li told the state-controlled China Daily newspaper that there are 'many choices' for a good company to list and that they're 'not limited' to the U.S. On Wednesday, Senate lawmakers said non-U.S. companies listed on domestic exchanges will be required to prove  "they are not owned or controlled by a foreign government.” The Nasdaq indicated that it will tighten IPO rules for foreign companies. Baidu shares were down -0.75% in early trading Thursday.

Lowe's Companies reported first quarter earnings that exceeded analysts’ expectations. The home improvement/decor retail company’s  adjusted earnings for the three months ending on May 1 came in at $1.77 per share, surpassing  the Street estimate of $1.22 per share. Online sales surged around +80%. "Our strong first-quarter performance, which continues into May, also reflects the benefits of our retail fundamentals strategy, the improvement in our execution, and the resiliency of our home improvement business model," said CEO Marvin Ellison.

United Airlines  reported a decline in customer cancellations and a rise in demand for the rest of the second quarter. The air carrier’s gross bookings fell more than -95% from a year ago in April, according to its filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. While customer cancellation rates touched record highs in April, United mentioned that as of May 18, the company has seen a reduction in customer cancellation rates and a “moderate improvement” in demand for domestic and some international routes for the remainder of the second quarter. “The company plans to continue to proactively evaluate and cancel flights on a rolling 60-day basis until it sees signs of a recovery in demand,” United stated.

Home Depot  reported first quarter earnings that came in below analysts’ expectations.The home improvement chain also withdrew its  2020 profit guidance. Home Depot’s earnings for the three months ending in on May 3 fell -8.4% year-over-year to $2.08 per share, falling behind the Street consensus forecast of $2.27 per share. Revenue, however, increased  +7.3% from the year-ago quarter to $28.3 billion, exceeding analysts' estimate of  $27.53 billion. Amid coronavirus crisis, Home Depot withdrew its full-year 2020 profit guidance (It had earlier projected comparable sales increase between 3.5% and 4.% and earnings of $10.45 per share.

Southwest Airlines  reported improved demand and load factor in May - according to a regulatory filing. The airline mentioned, in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing, that its operating revenue for April declined 90% to 95% and load factor was about 8% due to the COVID-19 pandemic’s impact on air travel. However, the company said it experienced "modest improvement" in passenger demand, bookings and trip cancellations in May, leading to net positive bookings through May 18. Southwest expects May operating revenue to fall 85% to 90% and estimates load factor to be 25% to 30%, compared with previous outlook for a 90%-to-95% decline in operating revenue and load factor of 5% to 10%. Southwest continues to expect its average daily core cash spending to be in the range of $30 million to $35 million in the second quarter of 2020.For June, it projects its daily cash burn rate to be “in the low-$20 million range.”

Walmart Inc.  reported first quarter earnings that surpassed expectations. The retail behemoth’s adjusted earnings for the three months ending in April came in at 1.18 per share, which is 5 cents above the Street consensus forecast.The figure is also +4.4% higher from the year-ago quarter. Revenues increased +8.6% year-over-year  to $134.6 billion, also exceeding analysts' estimates of a $131.47 billion. The company generated a +74% surge in its e-commerce sales. Walmart’s same-store sales in the quarter climbed +10%, beating the Street estimates of  +7.2%.

JD.com  posted first-quarter sales that soared from the year-ago level,  although earnings declined over the same period. The online retail company’s  sales for the first quarter came in at $120.6 billion, which is +20.7% higher from the same quarter of 2019. However, net income of 10 cents an American depositary receipt, was far below the 70 cents per ADR that it earned in the first quarter of 2019. JD.com’s fulfillment expenses (which include procurement, warehousing, delivery, customer service and payment processing expenses) increased by +29% for the first quarter. JD.com experienced a surge in consumer demand even amidst the coronavirus pandemic, as inactive and infrequent customers returned to the platform, according to the company.Annual active customer accounts climbed almost + 25% year-over-year to 387.4 million as of March 31.

Initial biochemical and biophysical analyses also indicate STI-1499 is a potentially strong antibody drug candidate.", the company mentioned in its statement. Sorrento's findings are subject to  peer review by other scientists, and the research has not been tested on human beings, according to reports. Sorrento also claims that this newly discovered antibody, labelled the STI-1499, could be developed and made available before a vaccine enters the market. Meanwhile, the company continues to work on production of a separate, antibody “cocktail” that could provide protection against SARS-CoV-2 even in case of mutations in the virus.    

Applied DNA Sciences  got an authorization from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for emergency clinical use of its covid-19 test, Linea.  "This extraordinary achievement highlights the company’s commitment to combating the covid-19 pandemic both locally and nationwide," Chief Executive James Hayward said in a statement. The machine that performs  the test can process 94 samples per hour and more than 2,000 tests per day. The FDA has authorized emergency use for about 50 molecular tests that can detect COVID-19  

Cisco Systems  got price target hikes from analysts, following the company’s earnings beat for the fiscal third quarter. In the quarter ended April 25, the networking/technology company’s GAAP earnings per share came in at 79 cents, which exceeded analysts’ expectations of 71 cents a share.Revenue  of $12 billion also was higher than analysts’ estimate of $11.88 billion. Cisco also provided higher-than-expected guidance on its fourth quarter earnings per share. Citi’s Jim Suva boosted his price target to $48 from $40, and affirmed his buy rating on Cisco shares, citing results and outlook that were “materially stronger than expected,” coupled with Cisco’s  offered flexible payment terms during the coronavirus crisis – something that should generate more customer loyalty, according to Suva. Jefferies analyst George Notter lifted his share-price target $49 from $45 and maintained his buy rating.

However,  future bookings remain solid. The cruiseline company’s adjusted loss came in at -99 cents a share, compared to a loss of -28 cents a share expected by analysts polled by FactSet.  Revenue of $1.25 billion was lower than the year-ago quarter’s $1.4 billion. But the company said that there is demand for  cruise vacations, particularly beginning in the fourth quarter 2020 accelerating through 2021, and that the company’s overall booked position and pricing for 2021 within historical ranges.  

Novavax  said it would be receiving up to $388 million in funding from the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations for development of its coronavirus vaccine candidate. The biotechnology company mentioned that the additional funding will support a rapid scale-up of the NVX-CoV2373 vaccine antigen and therefore allow the company to boost its large-scale manufacturing capacity. According to Novavax,  a Phase 1/2 clinical of the vaccine candidate will begin this month in Australia.The company said the funding would allow it to potentially produce up to 100 million vaccine doses by end of 2020.

Peloton   shares jumped on Tuesday, following reports of the company having garnered more than 1 million subscribers. In a regulatory filing  with the Securities and Exchange Commission,  the interactive bike-and-exercise-services company said it had crossed the 1 million mark in connected fitness subscribers. At the end of its fiscal third quarter in March, Peloton reported 886,100 subscribers in the connected fitness category. Peloton said it would not be updating its projection for the fourth quarter and for full-year 2020.The company previously boosted its outlook for fiscal 2020 to a total of 1.04 to 1.05 million subscribers.

The mall operator also said that it will continue paying out dividends to shareholders. The coronavirus crisis compelled Simon to close more than 200 of its properties .The company reported a -20% decline in quarterly earnings, and withdrew its full-year profit guidance. But as of now, around 77 have been re-opened in states that have eased lockdown restrictions, and a least half will be up-and-running by next week - the company said. CEO David Simon said that the Board will announce a second quarter dividend before the end of June and that dividend will be paid in cash."We expect to pay out at least 100% of our taxable income in 2020 in cash", said Simon.    

Apple  received a price-target boost from Wedbush Securities analyst Daniel Ives, as he is hopeful of iPhone 12’s impact on Apple’s performance. Ives lifted his one-year price target on the iPhone maker's shares to $350 from $335.  iPhone 12 should help bolster sales in the final quarter of the year and into 2021, according to Ives.

On Tuesday, trading on Grubhub  shares were halted for a second time on the New York Stock Exchange, following the more than +35% jump in the stock price on reports of Uber  showing interest in the company. Citing people familiar with the matter and who did not want to be named, Bloomberg reported that Uber approached the online food ordering company with an acquisition offer, and that a deal could be reached this month. Uber is closing its own food-delivery business, Uber Eats, in seven countries where the service has turned out to be unpopular, it said last week. No official comment has come from either Grubhub or Uber.