- As traders get ready for the long holiday weekend, Omicron remained a key topic in Thursday's pre-market action. Novavax (NASDAQ:NVAX) gained ground on encouraging data pointing to the efficacy of its COVID vaccine against the fast-spreading new form of the virus.
- A broken takeover deal has also generated headlines during the pre-market period. Scientific Games (NASDAQ:SGMS) rallied on a decision to terminate its bid for SciPlay (NASDAQ:SCPL). However, the news sent SCPL plummeting.
- Elsewhere, JD.com (NASDAQ:JD) declined after Tencent (OTCPK:TCEHY) unveiled a plan to reduce its stake in the company. Meanwhile, weak financial figures sparked a pre-market sell-off in Mission Produce (NASDAQ:AVO).
Gainers
- Novavax (NVAX) revealed early data for its COVID vaccine that showed cross-reactive immune responses against Omicron. The information was derived from a Phase 2 trial of its NVX-CoV2373 vaccine, looking at a third dose of the vaccine six months after the conclusion of the original two-dose protocol.
- Bolstered by the encouraging data, NVAX climbed about 5% in pre-market action.
- In other news, Scientific Games (SGMS) advanced more than 7% after it canceled its offer to acquire SciPlay (SCPL). SGMS had been in talks to acquire the 19% of SCPL it does not already own, based on an offer of 0.25 shares of SGMS for each SCPL share.
Decliners
- While SGMS jumped on what analysts have characterized as a disciplined move to cancel the proposed deal, the news sent SCPL sharply lower in pre-market action. The stock tumbled about 18%.
- JD.com (JD) dropped nearly 7% after Tencent (OTCPK:TCEHY) announced a plan to distribute a special dividend in JD shares. TCEHY said the program will distribute 457M Class A ordinary shares of JD, which will cut its stake in JD from about 17% to about 2.3%.
- A disappointing earnings report sent Mission Produce (AVO) sharply lower in pre-market trading. The stock plunged 11% after it missed expectations with both its top and bottom lines.
- To track Wall Street's biggest winners and losers throughout the session, turn to SA's On The Move section.