On Wednesday, Royal Caribbean  announced  that it was extending its "Cruise with Confidence" cancellation policy through April 2022 in response to uncertainty posed  by the coronavirus pandemic. For new and existing bookings made by Aug. 1, passengers are allowed to cancel their cruises up to 48 hours prior to sailing and will receive a full credit of the cruise fare for a future cruise through April 2022. All cruises with sailing dates on or before April 2022 and across the company's brands: Royal Caribbean International, Celebrity Cruises and Azamara, will also be covered by the policy.

General Motors reported first quarter earnings that beat expectations.  The auto behemoth’s adjusted earnings for the three months ending in March came in at 62 cents per share, more than double the Street consensus estimate of 30 cents per share.

Economists surveyed by FactSet had predicted 21 million private payroll job losses last month.  Big businesses with more than 500 employees reduced workforce by almost 9 million. Medium-sized firms (50-499 employees) shed 5.27 million. Companies with fewer than 50 workers cut some 6 million positions. Service sectors shed just over 16 million;  trade, transportation and utilities lost 3.44 million jobs.

Alexion Pharmaceuticals  has agreed to buy Portola Pharmaceuticals   for $1.41 billion.  The deal,  where Alexion will pay $18 a share for the acquisition,  is expected to help Alexion boost its portfolio by including Portola's coagulation factor Xa drug Andexxa."The acquisition of Portola represents an important next step in our strategy to diversify beyond C5," Alexion Chief Executive Ludwig Hantson said in a statement. The acquisition is expected to in the third quarter.

Walt Disney  got an analyst downgrade MoffettNathanson analyst, on Covid-19 impact. MoffettNathanson analyst Michael Nathanson lowered rating on the media/entertainment giant’s shares to neutral from buy, ahead of  the company’s first-quarter earnings. Nathanson wrote that earnings revisions for the Disney could be “massively skewed to the downside” due to the coronavirus the pandemic, even as Disney+ continues to garner subscribers. Nathanson also slashed his one-year price target to $112 from $120

Starbucks  received a credit rating downgrade from Fitch Ratings to BBB (the second lowest investment-grade rating) from BBB+.Fitch also mentioned a negative outlook on the coffee chain, which implies a potential further downgrade. The downgrade followed Starbucks’ proposal for $3 billion of unsecured notes, which creates a “higher leverage profile” for Starbucks according to Fitch. Fitch also mentioned that Starbucks’ fiscal second quarter earnings came in worse than expected amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Wells Fargo , PNC Financial Services   and KeyCorp   were downgraded by UBS analyst Saul Martinez. Martinez lowered rating on Wells Fargo and PNC to sell and KeyCorp to neutral.  According to Martnez, the banks will undergo losses on their commercial and industrial loans, amid COVID-19 pandemic. He also cut his earnings-per-share forecasts for large-cap banks by an average of -25% for 2020 (excluding Paycheck Protection Program lending) and by -18% for 2021.

The stock also got added to Goldman’s conviction list. Analyst Neil Mehta said that micro/macro fundamentals are bottoming and that he expects ConocoPhillips to be a strong participant in the upcoming oil price upcycle, “given the level of underperformance relative to large-capitalization U.S. majors to date, as well as the company’s strong leverage to Brent [crude].". Mehta also raised his price target to $51 from $38

Lyft  said it’s laying off 982, or 17%, of its workforce, amid covid-9 pandemic.The major portion of the cost will be reflected in the second quarter results, according to the company. The company has also lowered base salaries for 12 weeks for overtime-exempt employees - 30% for executive leadership, 20% for vice presidents and 10% for all other exempt employees  

Hertz Global Holdings  is reportedly preparing for a potential bankruptcy filing. The vehicle rental company  was unable to make lease payments due to the coronavirus-induced a shutdown, according to  The Wall Street Journal .Citing people familiar with the matter, WSJ reported that Hertz is in talks with lenders on a forbearance agreement to waive a default and to potentially avoid bankruptcy. In a regulatory filing , Hertz mentioned that it had not made certain operating lease payments and it could be materially impacted if the payments are not made by the end of a grace period on May 4, and an adequate  number of creditors don’t agree to waive any default by the end of the grace period.

On Wednesday, Google announced that it's making Google Meet free for up to 100 users.Google Meet is a video conferencing product, and was previously available to enterprise customers using G Suite.  Google Meet  requires users to have a Google account. The version will have a 60-minute time limit, but Google said that it won't introduce that limit until Sept. 30. On Friday, Facebook  made its video calling app Messenger Rooms available for up to 50 people without any time limit.

Bed Bath & Beyond   reported more than +85% surge in its April digital sales . The home goods retail chain converted about a quarter of its U.S. and Canada stores to regional fulfillment centers to support online sales. It also brought back several hundred associates from furlough. Adjusted earnings for the three months ended March 2 came in at 38 cents a share, which is  -68% lower from the year-earlier period. Digital sales for the quarter dropped -16% . Bed Bath’s stores would remain closed until at least May 16, except for its Buy Buy Baby and Harmon Face Values brands. 

Microsoft's   business messaging app Microsoft Teams is partnering with soft drink behemoth Coca-Cola . The  five-year partnership with Coca-Cola   gives the latter access to a suite of Microsoft products such as Azure, Dynamics 365 and Microsoft 365. Since mid-March, the total number of minutes spent in Teams meetings increased by +200% to 2.7 billion.According to the company, total video calls surged +1,000% in March, with overall usage on mobile also growing in countries hardest-hit by the covid-19 pandemic.

Amazon.com  shares continues to get price target hikes amid Covid-19 pandemic. On Monday, Credit Suisse analysts boosted their target on the e-commerce giant’s shares to $2,800 from $2,400.   Credit Suisse analysts cited faster customer adoption on online groceries in North America, along with  purchase of essential merchandise, amid reduction in retail foot traffic across Amazon’s operating regions. Also,  Oppenheimer analysts, led by Jason Helfstein, lifted their target to $2,700 from $2,400. At Oppenheimer, analysts mentioned that they expect an upside to revenue as Amazon hired 175,000 additional workers to meet increasing demand, as well as a temporary pause of the third-party Fulfillment by Amazon business because of strain on its fulfillment network. Monday’s price target increases come on the heels of last week’s hikes when analysts set new Wall Street highs for their estimates twice - at $2,800 and then $2,900.    

MGM Resorts International   warned of a nearly -30% year-over-year decline in its first-quarter revenue, as a result of coronavirus crisis-induced shutdown. The Casino and hotel operator  mentioned in a regulatory filing that its preliminary anticipation for first-quarter consolidated revenue was $2.3 billion – which represents a -29% drop from the year-ago quarter’s figure.It is also behind FactSet consensus estimate of $2.48 billion. Net revenue at the Las Vegas Strip resorts is expected to come in at $1.1 billion, which is -21% lower from the year ago.

Amazon shares got a skyrocketing price target hike from Goldman Sachs, on the e-commerce giant’s prospects during COVID-19 pandemic. Analysts at Goldman Sachs raised its share-price target +12% to $2,900, the highest on Wall Street.Goldman re-affirmed its buy rating. This comes close on the heels of   Jefferies setting a Wall Street high, with a target of $2,800. During the coronavirus pandemic,  consumers are relying more on online shopping, while companies are using Amazon’s cloud services to allow operations with workers at home – something that Goldman analysts have taken into consideration in setting their price target. "The market continues to underestimate the long-term value" of Amazon, Goldman analyst Heath Terry wrote in a report.

Lam Research  shares were dropping  during extended trading Wednesday, following reports of the company’s  lower-than-expected fiscal third quarter revenue.  The semiconductor company’s earnings for the quarter came in at  $3.98 per share, in line with  analysts’ estimate of $3.98 per share.But revenue of  $2.5 billion fell behind analysts’ expectation of $2.58 billion. Lam Research shares dropped 4.7% to $259 per share after hours. “Extraordinary efforts by Lam’s global teams helped to mitigate the operational impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, resulting in solid financial performance in the March quarter,” said CEO Tim Archer.   The company had $5.6 billion in cash on hand at the end of March, after it drew down $1.25 billion from its revolving credit facility.  Last month, the company withdrew its third quarter guidance amid COVID-19 pandemic.

Facebook announced plans to invest nearly $6 billion in Jio Platforms, the digital technology subsidiary of Indian company Reliance Industries. Facebook will buy a 9.99% stake in Jio Platforms for approximately $5.7 billion, becoming Jio’s largest minority shareholder. Reliance Jio began its commercial operation in the second half of 2016, and emerged as a game changer in the Indian telecom market by offering bulk of 4G data and voice calls for six months to users at no charge. “We’re making a financial investment, and more than that, we’re committing to work together on some major projects that will open up commerce opportunities for people across India,” said Mark Zuckerberg, co-founder and chief executive of Facebook.

L Brands   announced that private-equity firm Sycamore Partners gave legal notice to terminate the agreement to buy the controlling stake of lingerie brand Victoria’s Secret. Earlier this year, L Brands had said that it would sell a controlling stake in its Victoria’s Secret unit to Sycamore, valuing Secret at $1.1 billion.L Brands wanted to focus on its Bath & Body Works brand.   “Sycamore Partners delivered a notice April 22 purporting to terminate the transaction agreement relating to the sale of a 55% interest in … Victoria’s Secret,” L Brands said in a statement.  But L Brands believes that Sycamore Partners’ purported termination of the transaction agreement is invalid, and it intends to pursue all legal remedies to enforce its contractual rights (as indicated in the company’s statement).

The beverage maker, however, pulled its full-year profit guidance as coronavirus crisis weighs on near-term sales prospects. Coca-Cola’s adjusted earnings for the three months ending in March came in at 51 cents per share, 7 cents ahead of the Street consensus forecast..The figure also represents +3 cents increase from the year-ago quarter. Revenues increased +7.2% year-over-year to $8.6 billion, exceeding analysts' estimates of $8.3 billion. Coca-Cola expects declines in its 'away-from-home' sales segment, which partly consists of bulk sales at sporting and entertainment events, will offset gains from consumers adding to their personal storage.