Gilead Sciences’ experiment with coronavirus treatment is already being used in the US. The Centers for Disease Control director Robert Redfield told lawmakers on a House appropriations panel Tuesday that remdesivir, the coronavirus treatment that Gilead is developing,  was being used on compassionate grounds in Washington state. Federal Food & Drug Administration regulations allow the use of unapproved drugs in critical situations when there are very limited alternatives for treating a disease. Gilead’s treatment for Cornavirus was first designed to fight the Ebola virus. Gilead is expecting results from trials as early as next month.It has said that it would  increase supplies as early as possible in the near term.

Royal Caribbean Cruises has expanded its revolving-credit facility. As Coronavirus crisis dampens near-term prospects of the travel industry (among other sectors of the economy), Royal Caribbean’s  $550 million increase of credit capacity potentially allows it to have more liquidity buffer against challenging times. The cruise line company is also hoping to boost liquidity by at least an additional $1.7 billion in 2020, by  lowering expenses. Royal Caribbean also said it was planning to reduce its 2021 capital expenditures and operating expenses. Chairman and CEO Richard D. Fain said that the company is trying to manage the situation “prudently and conservatively”.

Plunging crude prices are propelling Occidental Petroleum to slash its quarterly dividend payout , and lower capital spending The oil & gas major said it would cut its quarterly dividend payout by -86% to 11 cents a share, effective in July.It would also reduce 2020 capital spending to between $3.5 billion and $3.7 billion – compared to prior expectations between $5.2 billion and $5.4 billion. After Saudi Arabia and Russia both announced that they would supply more oil into the market after failing to reach an agreement, oil prices have been largely in a free fall. Although on Tuesday, there were some improvements with Brent crude rising 6.5% to $36.58 and U.S. benchmark West Texas Intermediate crude rising 6.9% to $33.28.  

 Economists polled by Reuters had predicted  a deficit of $46.1 billion for January. The coronavirus crisis has  disrupted production and supply chains related to and in China, and is  a potential factor behind the lower imports in the US.US goods exported to and imported from China both were lower in January, compared to December. US overall goods imports fell -2.0% from prior month to $203.4 billion.

While  sell-offs was the  narrative in equity markets on Friday, plummeting bond yields reflected investors’  massive rush to safety. On Friday, the S&P 500 lost -1.7%.Each is down more than -10% from their most recent 52-week high. On Thursday, the Federal Reserve announced a policy rate cut of 0.5 percentage points.

Mastercard  is closing its Sao Paulo, Brazil office as well as an annex location near its New York headquarters, due to Coronavirus risks. A Brazil-based employee who contracted the disease went to the annex office in Purchase, New York, earlier in the week.The Brazil office and the New York office are both undergoing a sanitization process on the advice of public health officials,, according to the company. Employees who have been in contact with the affected employee and are having symptoms will work from home for 14 days, a Mastercard spokesman told Reuters.

Oil prices had their steepest plunge in more than a decade Friday, after there was no indication of an agreement between OPEC and Russia on production cuts. Brent crude futures contracts for May delivery declined more than -9.4%, or $4.72 per barrel --the biggest one-day decline since 2008.WTI contracts for April delivery was -10% lower.  OPEC had wanted additional cut of 1.5 million barrels per day, as long as Russia and other non-member states supported the plan with cuts of their own. OPEC’s statement on had no mention of either deeper cuts, or extending the existing output agreement from 2016, which cuts around 1.7 million barrels per day from the market and is set to expire at the end of the month.

However, it missed same-store sales growth estimates. The discount retailer’s adjusted earnings for the three months ending on February 1 came in at $1.79 per share, 4 cents ahead of the Street expectations.The figure, however, is -7.25% lower than the year-ago quarter. Group net sales increased +1.8% year-over-year to $6.32 billion in the quarter, but fell short of analysts' estimates of a $6.385 billion. Same store sales rose +0.4% , falling behind analysts’ estimate of +1.7% (Refinitiv survey). For the full-year, Dollar Tree projects sales in the range of $24.2 billion to $24.66 billion, and earnings of between $4.80 to $5.15 per share

Plus, the tlecom giant is sanguine about  achieving its 2020 and long-term guidance. At the Morgan Stanley’s Technology, Media and Telecom Conference on Tuesday, AT&T CEO  and Warner Media CEO John Stankey said the company is planning to have nationwide 5G coverage by the end of the second quarter. The company projects wireless service revenue to grow by more than 2% in 2020.Stankey indicated that 5G combined with HBO Max content will continue to be the main driver of revenue growth and profitability. By the end of 2022, AT&T intends to use 50%-70% of free cash flow after dividends to retire about 70% of the shares it issued to fund the acquisition of Time Warner.

Inovio Pharmaceuticals  shares climbed around +20% Tuesday, following the company’s announcement about its progress on developing a coronavirus vaccine. The biotech company revealed that it has sped its timeline for developing the vaccine, and is planning human trials beginning April.  Inovio  plans to start human clinical trials in the U.S. in April, followed by trials in China and South Korea. The company intends to  implement  1 million doses by the end of the year. But J. Joseph Kim, president and CEO, added that Inovio would need to expand resources to make enough doses to help protect Americans from Covid-19 as well as to lead global efforts to combat this virus.  

Carter  cited “Uncertainty surrounding the company’s inability to file its SEC filings and the investigation around its revenue recognition practices,” as a factor behind the downgrade. Last week, Cronos indicated that it would postpone its earnings release scheduled for Feb. 27 to March 17.The company attributed the delay to a  review by the Audit Committee of the Company’s Board of Directors, with the assistance of outside counsel and forensic accountants, of several bulk resin purchases and sales of products through the wholesale channel and the appropriateness of the recognition of revenue from those transactions. Nevertheless, Carter   believes that Cronos  will eventually demonstrate  a differentiated revenue growth profile by fulfilling the early demands of the Canadian vapor market and making innovation conducive to winning in the global cannabis category.  

 Tesla is growing at a compound annual rate of 23%. According to JMP, Tesla is valued at around 20 times forecasted earnings (based on projections for 2021), compared to around 18.2 times for the S&P 500.The analysts also indicated that Tesla   could produce nearly 2 million vehicles a year by 2025.  

In a major surprise move, the Federal Reserve cut its policy rate  by 50 basis points Tuesday,  to combat risks from the coronavirus crisis. Following a meeting of G-7 finance ministers and central bankers where they expressed resolve to combat risks from Coronavirus, the Fed announced its decision to lower the federal fund rate to 1-1.25%.It's the biggest rate cut since the fall of 2008 . The Fed cited “evolving risks” to the economy due to Coronavirus crisis. The S&P 500 spiked 37 points higher following the announcemnt, but slipped soon after. 10-year Treasury bond yields climbed to 1.103% while 2-year note yields traded at 0.78%

Microsoft has indicated that its sales would fall short of guidance as a result of the Coronavirus crisis.  On Wednesday, the tech behemoth said that it will miss its previous sales guidance of between $10.75 billion and $11.15 billion for its "more personal computing" business, which includes Windows OEM and Surface. While the company thinks demand for Windows is in line with their expectations, the supply chain is taking more time than anticipated in returning to normal operations.  That’s why,  for the third quarter of fiscal year 2020 the company does not expect to meet their More Personal Computing segment guidance, since Windows OEM and Surface  are more adversely affected  than previously expected.

OLED technology company Universal Display told investors on Thursday that impact of Coronavirus could hurt its 2020 revenue. The company, which supplies components to a range of device manufacturers such as Apple, indicated that its annual revenue will come in $40 million to $50 million lower - than originally expected – due to the virus. CFO Sidney Rosenblatt said that the company expects 2020 revenues to continue to grow; but also warned that uncertainties related to coronavirus (2019-nCoV) is expected to affect material orders. For the December quarter, Universal Display reported earnings of 56 cents (which was lower than analyst forecasts of 74 cents per share).  The company lowered its annual sales guidance to between $430 million to $470 million.  

  The online storage/file hosting platform’s GAAP net loss came in at -2 cents a share for the latest quarter, compared to the loss of -3 cents a share that analysts polled by FactSet had estimated.The loss was same as the year-ago quarter. Dropbox’s revenue climbed +19% year-over-year to $446 million in the quarter, beating analysts’ expectation of $443.3 million. There were 14.3 million paying users for Dropbox at the end of the fourth quarter, up +13% from a year earlier. Average revenue per paying user grew +4.5% to $125. The board authorized share buyback of upto $600 million.

AMD’s stock  gained nearly 160% year-over-year at the end of January.There were expectations that broader demand for chips is rebounding, and that AMD is well-positioned to milk the turnaround.

The big-box retail chain also provided a lower-than-expected guidance for fiscal full-year 2021. Walmart’s adjusted earnings for the three months ending January came in at $1.38 a share, compared to the $1.44 a share expected by analysts polled by FactSet. Sales increased to $141.67 billion, from the year-ago quarter’s $138.8 billion, but were lower than analysts' estimates of $142.5 billion. U.S.same-store sales for Walmart climbed +1.9%, below the Street expectation of a +2.3% rise.  E-commerce sales surged +35%. Chief Financial Officer Brett Biggs said that Walmart experienced softening demand in a few general merchandise segments in their U.S. stores in the few weeks before Christmas.

Apple  has tempered its expectation for second-quarter revenue, citing the ongoing impact of the coronavirus crisis in China. The iPhone maker said that product supplies will be temporarily affected due to the outbreak.  China market demand would also suffer  due to the virus, as indicated by the company. Apple’s China factories are resuming work slower than expected, as indicated by the company, and most of its 42 stores in the country are dormant for now. Apple, therefore,  does not expect to meet the revenue guidance that it issued for the March quarter.The company indicated that while the situation is evolving, it  will provide more information during its next earnings call in April. "Apple is fundamentally strong, and this disruption to our business is only temporary.

The base case represents nearly 38% decline from the stock’s current price. The latest bull case reflects 4 million units of auto volume by 2030 with a 12% operating margin.According to Jonas, Tesla  has the opportunity to supply powertrains, including batteries and electric motors, to other vehicle manufacturers. The base case forecast includes  2.2 million units and a 10% operating margin margin by 2030, However, Jonas warned that investors should expect a “very challenging” first quarter for Tesla.