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Shares of Roche Holding AG gained 1.9% in premarket trading on Friday after the drug maker said hospitalized COVID-19 patients taking rheumatoid arthritis drug Actemra were less likely to need mechanical ventilation than those receiving placebo. The Phase 3, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study focused on enrolling minority patients with COVID-19-related pneumonia; there are 389 participants enrolled in the trial. However, the drug did not lead to a difference in mortality, Roche said. Roche is also testing Actemra with Gilead Sciences Inc.’s remdesivir, which is the only new drug to receive an emergency use authorization from the Food and Drug Administration as a COVID-19 treatment during the pandemic. Earlier this week Eli Lilly & Co. and Incyte Corp. said their rheumatoid arthritis drug Olumiant when paired with remdesivir shortened recovery time for hospitalized coronavirus patients. Both findings, neither of which have been published yet in a peer-reviewed medical journal, for the first time in months point to a clinical benefit for rheumatoid arthritis drugs when treating some COVID-19 patients after a series of setbacks over the summer. Shares of Roche have gained 16.4% so far this year. Shares of Roche have gained 16.4% so far this year, while the S&P 500 is up 3.9%.

Oracle would own less than 20% of TikTok as the deal is structured now.

Technology

Vitru Ltd. said Friday that its initial public offering priced at $16 a share, at the low end of the expected range of between $16 and $18 a share. The Brazil-based digital education company raised $96 million as it sold 6 million shares in the IPO, which was lowered Thursday from 11.23 million shares. With 23.06 million shares outstanding after the IPO, the pricing values the company at $368.9 million. The stock is expected to start trading Friday on the Nasdaq exchange under the ticker symbol “VTRU.” The company is looking to go public at a time that the Renaissance IPO ETF has soared 58.5% year to date while the S&P 500 has gained 3.9%.

Technology

Technology

XL Fleet, a provider of electric vehicle technology, said Friday it has agreed to merge with Pivotal Investment Corporation II , a special purpose acquisition corporation, or SPAC, in a deal with a pro forma enterprise value of about $1 billion. A SPAC, or blank-check company, is one that goes public and then seeks to acquire a business or businesses. The new entity will be named XL Fleet and will remain listed on the New York Stock Exchange, under a new ticker, “XL.” XL’s customers include FedEx, The Coca-Cola Company, PepsiCo, Verizon, the City of Boston, Seattle Fire Department, Yale University, and Harvard University, among other blue-chip companies, municipalities, and institutions, the companies said in a joint statement. On close, the company expects to receive about $300 million of cash that will be used to expand, to develop new products and services, pay down or prepay debt and for general corporate purposes. The deal is expected to close in the fourth quarter. Pivotal shares were up 19% premarket.
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Shares of NetEase Inc. surged 2.8% in premarket trading Friday, enough to pace all of the Nasdaq 100 early gainers, after the China-based internet technology company announced a ratio change for its U.S.-listed shares which effectively results in a 5-for-1 stock split. The company said each American depositary share (ADS) will represent five ordinary shares, effective Oct. 1, compared with the current ratio of one ADS for 25 ordinary shares. The ADS will start trading on a split adjusted basis on the Nasdaq exchange on Oct. 2. The stock closed Thursday at $470.01, which would be adjusted to $94.00 after the split. The stock has run up 53.3% year to date through Thursday, while the Nasdaq 100 has gained 6.0% and the S&P 500 has tacked on 3.9%.

Shares of Tesla Inc. rose 2.2% in premarket trading Friday, bouncing after a 5.9% drop over the past two days, after Wedbush analyst Dan Ives raised his price target to above current levels, citing signs of “robust and stronger-than-expected” demand in China. Ives raised his price target to $475, which is 12.2% above Thursday’s closing price of $423.43, from $380, while reiterating the neutral rating he’s had on the stock since April 2019. “The pent-up demand in the China EV market for Model 3’s and recent price cuts are catalyzing strong unit deliveries for Musk & Co. in this key market with increased market share vs. domestic competitors as the Giga 3 success story continues to play out,” Ives wrote in a note to clients. He said because Model 3s sold in China have incrementally higher margins compared with those sold in the U.S. and Europe, he believes the strength in China could increase Tesla’s profitability profile over the next few years. And for the much-anticipated Battery Day scheduled for Sept. 22, Ives said Chief Executive Elon Musk will announce a number of potential “game changing” battery developments. The stock’s selloff the past two days snapped a 5-day win streak in which the stock soared 36.2%, which in turn came after a five-day bear-market selloff in which the stock sank 33.7%. It has run up more than fivefold (406.1%) year to date, while the S&P 500 has gained 3.9%.

Athira Pharma Inc. priced its initial public offering at $17 a share, the top end of its proposed price range. The company upsized the deal to 12 million shares from an original plan to offer 10 million shares, to raise $204 million. The stock will start trading on Nasdaq later Friday, under the ticker “ATHA.” Goldman Sachs, Jefferies and Stifel were lead book runners on the deal with JMP Securities acting as co-manager. Proceeds will be used to finance clinical trials. “We are a late clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing small molecules to restore neuronal health and stop neurodegeneration,” the company says in its IPO prospectus.