Kraft Heinz, the ailing food giant, has tapped investment bank Credit Suisse to review options for its Maxwell House coffee business, which could include a potential sale, people familiar with the matter tell CNBC.READ MORE...

Campbell Soup's stock price climbed more than +5% Wednesday morning, on the back of better-than-expected earnings for the fiscal second quarter. The producer of canned soup reported adjusted earnings of 77 cents a share for the quarter, beating analysts’ estimates of 70 cents a share.Revenue came in at $2.71 billion - which is higher than analysts' expectations of $2.66 billion.  Campbell is currently in the middle of a restructuring, as it seeks to divest some of its international businesses and Campbell Fresh.

Dean Foods stock price took a hit in pre-market Wednesday, as the dairy food & beverage company reported a sharper loss than expected for the fourth quarter, and halted its dividend payouts. On an adjusted basis, Dean Foods loss of -50 cents a share in the quarter was worse than the -26 cents a share loss expected by analysts surveyed by FactSet. Sales of $1.93 billion, however, were higher than the FactSet consensus estimate of $1.91 billion.  The company announced that it is suspending its quarterly dividend. CEO Ralph Scozzafava indicated that the company is actively exploring ways to enhance shareholder value, and that it is reviewing “strategic alternatives” for that purpose.The largest U.S. supplier of milk and dairy food is apparently facing challenges from a growing popularity of non-dairy and private-label products. The stock plunged as much as -16% in pre-market trading Wednesday.

Palo Alto Networks reported better-than-expected earnings for the fiscal second quarter, and also announced a stock buyback program - leading to its shares jumping +11% in after-hours trading Tuesday. The cybersecurity company raked in  adjusted earnings of $1.51 per share in the three months ending January, beating analysts’ estimates of $1.22 per share (based on Refinitiv data).Product revenues, grew +33% to $271.6 million, while those from services increased +29% to $439.6 million. Palo Alto also announced that its board authorized up to $1 billion in share repurchases, and introduced its Cortex AI-based security platform. The company is apparently gung-ho in bolstering its cloud solutions and cyber security business.

Toll Brothers Inc. (TOL - Get Report) posted fiscal first-quarter net income of $112.1 million, or 76 cents a share on revenue of $1.32 billion, vs. earnings of 83 cents a share on sales of $1.2 billion in the same quarter a year ago. Read More...

Generic drugmaker Mylan on Tuesday reported lower-than-expected fourth-quarter profit and forecast 2019 earnings well below Wall Street estimates, as it grapples with significant problems at its Morgantown, West Virginia, plant. Read More...

Intel (NASDAQ: INTC) ends its partnership to share its 5G modem chips with Tsinghua Unigroup unit Unisoc, China's second largest chipmaker. Read More...

As Congress again wrestles over raising the level of debt the government can incur, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell cringed at what would happen if it fails to do so. Read More...

The company also announced its plans to use the cash received from the deal to defray its debts. According to the terms of the deal, Danaher will pay $21 billion in cash to GE but at the same time it will also assume certain GE pension liabilities. Expected to be complete by the fourth quarter, the deal is likely to see GE Life Sciences unit is expected to join Danaher’s Life Science as a stand-alone business.Danaher’s stock also jumped 8.5% to close at $123.15 a share. GE has already seen yields on its debt bonds fall to low levels along with a decline in risk premium demanded by investors in exchange for holding GE paper.

Shares of Tesla witnessed fell 4.3% yesterday after the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) asked a judge to hold the Company’s CEO, Elon Musk, in contempt of court for violating a settlement deal.The tweet says that Tesla would make “around” 500,000 vehicles this year which meant a production rate of 10,000 cars per week. Musk did not seek prior approval of the SEC before publishing his tweet.

Last Friday, video gaming giant Electronic Arts (EA) released a highly anticipated new game called the ‘Anthem,’ created by the Company’s partner developer BioWare.The game allows players to team with up to three others to explore vast ruins, battle deadly enemies, and claim outlandish artifacts while wearing powered exoskeletons known as “javelins.” Unlike the enthusiastic reviews of its last viral hit ‘Apex Legends’, the PC version of this new game performed poorly with an average critic score of 61 out of 100 on reviews aggregation site Metacritic. Yet video game consultants do not see any immediate cause of concern for investors.

The Center for Financial Services Innovation (CFSI) recently released a survey results for their U.S. Financial Health Pulse, which tracks the overall financial health of America's households. Most Americans, 55%, are "financially coping."Another 28% are "financially healthy," following a financial strategy that makes them resilient and able to handle financial setbacks. The remaining 17% are "financially vulnerable," struggling with almost every aspect of their finances.

Roche is buying U.S.-based gene therapy specialist Spark Therapeutics for $4.3 billion after developments in this area convinced the Swiss drugmaker to “step up”, Chief Executive Severin Schwan said on Monday. Roche will pay $114.50 per share for Spark for a portfolio that includes a blindness treatment that has U.S. and European approval and other projects for hemophilia and neurodegenerative disorders like Huntington’s disease. Philadelphia-based Spark’s shares are up about 30 percent this year.The U.S.-company’s stock tumbled last year after two of 12 patients showed an unfavorable immune response when treated with a higher dose of Spark’s haemophilia therapy SPK-8011.

Pharmaceutical industry executives testifying before Congress say quick fixes to lower drug prices could jeopardize future medical breakthroughs. Read more...

Etsy Inc ETSY 0.03% shares are soaring after reporting a fourth-quarter earnings beat. Read More...

Brent oil edged up to $65 a barrel on Tuesday as Saudi Arabia and the rest of OPEC were expected to stick to their policy of cutting production, despite renewed pressure from U.S. President Donald Trump. Read More...

Vancouver-based Electra Meccanica has confirmed that larger-scale production of its single-seat budget electric car is underway at a facility in central China. Read More...

Most of the nation’s leading business economists predict that the U.S. economy will tip into recession by the end of 2021. A survey from the National Association of Business Economics released Monday predicts that three-fourths of the association’s 281 members expect a recession by 2021.Although only 10% of the NABE expect a recession in 2019, 42% expect a recession in 2020. Despite the heightened recession risks, most of the economists say the Federal Reserve is on the right path of monetary policy.

The transaction is expected to close in the fourth quarter of this year. Chief Executive Officer Larry Culp has prioritized the three “Cs” of customers, competition, and cash flow in turning around GE.He’s already cut GE's quarterly dividend and announced several smaller asset sales to ultimately bring net industrial leverage down to 2.5 times a measure of earnings in an effort to regain a single-A credit rating. “This deal takes us approximately two-thirds of the way toward our goal of reducing net industrial leverage to 2.5 Ebitda,” Culp said Monday in an interview, referring to earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization.

The U.S. Justice Department formally asked a judge on Monday to approve its deal to allow CVS Health Corp to merge with insurer Aetna. Read more...