Aetna’s decision to reduce its Obamacare business appears to stem from the Department of Justice’s lawsuit to block Aetna’s merger with rival Humana. In short, it’s an act of retaliation. As a result, Aetna continues to dominate Sentifi Top Attentions list for the third consecutive day. For more on the story, stick with Sentifi.
1/ Aetna: Retaliates the DOJ by scaling back on Obamacare
A July letter to the investors revealed that Aetna planned to take retaliation via reducing its Obamacare business if the Department of Justice sued to block its merger with Humana. Thus, instead of expanding to 20 states in 2017 following the acquisition, the company decided to produce to only four states because the DOJ indeed blocked its deal with Humana.
2/ Gawker Media: Gawker.com’s fate remains unclear after acquired by Univision
Following the acquisition, Univision said it has yet to decide whether to take Gawker Media’s website. A few people who are familiar with the deal said the future of the website is unclear.
3/ Humana Inc: The reason for Aetna’s scaling back on Obamacare
Humana happens to be the primary reason for Aetna’s dialing back on Obamacare. When the regulators came in to block the merger between Aetna and Humana, Aetna decided to reduce its Obamacare business to just four states as an act of retaliation.
4/ Lowe’s Companies: Stock falls on weak earnings
Shares plunged 6.5 percent after the company presented earnings per share of $1.31, which missed analysts’ estimate of $1.41. The company’s revenue was up 5.3 percent year over year.
5/ Target Corp: Shares drop 6 percent after revenue declines
The second-quarter earnings call underlined a double-digit electronics segment revenue decline, which may have been due to the falling sales of the iPhone. The retailer plans to focus on newness and innovation in the back half of the year when many customers will be looking for the new products.
6/ Barnes & Noble Inc: Stock nosedives 10.99 percent after firing CEO
The worst stock declined in eight months just took place at Barnes & Noble after its CEO got sacked. 75-year-old founder Leonard Riggio and other executives will handle the management duties for the time being while the company searches for a new CEO.
7/ Olacabs: Lays off 700 employees and shuts down TaxiForSure
A year and a half after acquiring rival TaxiForSure for $200 million, Olacabs is shutting down the business as it’s integrating TaxiForSure offerings into its own app. But, 700 employees are being let go as part of the transition. The company is also in a restructuring phase to beef up its core taxi business, a necessary strategy considering Uber has decided to make India its most important overseas market.
8/ URBN Inc: Shares soar 17.1 percent thanks to strong Q2 results
Urban Outfitters reported a 1 percent increase in the comparable retail segment. Share volume came in at 6.2 million, an increase from an all-day average of 2.2 million.
9/ Cathay Pacific: Suffers a revenue slump in the first half of 2016
The cargo revenue of the airline fell 17.2 percent due to falling yields. Despite the increase in cargo capacity of 0.6 percent, the load factor decreased by 1.9 percent points to 62.2 percent. Overall profit decreased 82.1 percent.
10/ BHP Billiton: Future depends on dividend payouts and reduction of debt
The company’s weak balance sheet may keep it from funding all reverse declining volumes in the petroleum segment. If commodity prices stay flat or fall, it will be harder for the company to deliver dividends and cut debts.
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