Pfizer Vaccine Deal, Microsoft's Strong Performance
U.S.-China relations are on shaky ground after the U.S. ordered the closure of a Chinese consulate in Houston, alleging China meddling in U.S. affairs and intellectual property interference. This incident can point to future impact on Chinese companies doing business in with the U.S.
To the markets: All indices ended in the green today with the Dow Jones Industrial Average rising 0.62% to 27,005 points, the S&P 500 rising 0.57% at 3,276 points and the Nasdaq up 0.24% at 10,706 points.
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Pfizer Inc. (PFE): Today, Pfizer, the pharmaceutical company and BioNTech ( BNTX) have both announced an agreement with the U.S. government to place an "initial order of 100 million doses for $1.95 billion and acquire 500 million additional doses" to begin delivering a vaccine for the coronavirus to Americans in 2021, according to Pfizer's press release.
"This agreement is one of the many steps toward providing global access to a safe and efficacious vaccines for COVID-19. We are also in advanced discussions with multiple other government bodies and we hope to announce additional supply agreements soon," says Dr. Ugur Sahin, CEO and co-founder of BioNtech.
Following the release of this agreement, Pfizer shares spiked, increasing over 5% and BioNTech's shares surging over 13%.
Microsoft (MSFT): Microsoft released their highly anticipated fourth quarter results today and surpassed estimates. Their revenue increased by 13% to $38 billion, operating income increased by 8% to $13.4 billion and net income decreased by 15% to $11.2 billion, according to their earnings release.
There will be a dent in earnings comes due to the closure of physical Microsoft physical locations this year but demand for cloud products and services sharply increased in the work-from-home economy.
MSFT has been among the strongest performing tech stocks during the pandemic recording notable gains in 2020 thus far.
Tesla (TSLA): Tesla reported second quarter profits, beating Wall Street expectations.
The company's cash and cash equivalents by the end of the quarter increased by $535 million to $8.6 billion along with a high percentage of vehicle deliveries. Furthermore, they have the capacity to deliver 500,000 vehicle deliveries by the end of this year, according to their second-quarter update.
TSLA stock has been soaring throughout the quarter, showing continue profitability during the pandemic.
Paulina Likos is an investing reporter at U.S. News & World Report, covering investing and asset management. Before beginning her career as an investing reporter, Paulina graduated from Villanova University where she studied political science, communication and business management. Out of college, Paulina spent several years as a risk manager at Fannie Mae, predicting and reducing credit risk for the company.
You can follow and connect with Ms. Likos on LinkedIn, Twitter or send her a tip at plikos@usnews.com
