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Nikola Corporation has rung the Nasdaq Closing Bell remotely from around the world.

Source: The Nasdaq

Check out the companies making headlines on Monday lunchtime:

Nikola – Shares in the electric vehicle maker rose nearly 6% after a JPMorgan analyst said he saw “less dramatic” news flow for the company in 2021. “We expect Nikola to post a video of a working Tre in January “We expect a steady flow of updates for the truck in 2021 as the test milestones are reached,” the analyst said.

Myovant Sciences – Shares rose 25% after agreeing to collaborate with Pfizer to develop prostate cancer drug Relugolix. The drug is also being studied for possible uses for women’s health.

Weibo – The stock fell more than 10% despite a better-than-expected quarterly report from the Chinese social media company. Weibo posted adjusted earnings of 66 cents per share, 6 cents above Refinitiv’s estimates. Sales were also above the analysts’ forecasts. However, some analysts pointed to the slowdown in business growth with average daily active users.

Astrazeneca – US-listed shares in the drug maker rose more than 1% after several reports said the company’s Covid vaccine, developed in partnership with Oxford University, is expected to be approved in the UK this week. The AstraZeneca shot is expected to launch next week if approved in the next few days.

Apple – The tech giant’s shares rose more than 3% on the strength of big tech. Progress comes after Apple makes its fourth straight week of profits.

Novavax – Shares fell more than 2% after the biotech company announced that its coronavirus vaccine candidate entered a phase 3 study in the United States and Mexico. “This study is a critical step in building a global portfolio of safe and effective vaccines to protect the world’s population,” said CEO Stanley Erck in a statement.

DoorDash – The food company fell 3.8% after a column in the Wall Street Journal highlighted how a new bill in California could affect delivery service. The regulation would require companies to have agreements with restaurants, potentially affecting the growth strategy for some services.

CNBC’s Pippa Stevens, Jesse Pound and Yun Li contributed to this report.

The number of shipments delivered through the country’s busiest container port complex in Los Angeles has increased significantly from the first half, driven by a recovery in business and a change in consumer habits.

Gene Seroka, executive director of the Port of Los Angeles, said during an appearance on CNBC on Monday that cargo volume increased 50% in the second half of 2020 after arriving at the docks in the first six months of the year, and that loaded ships often anchor at sea waiting for a dock to open.

“It’s all the change in the American consumer,” Seroka said on Power Lunch. “We don’t buy services, we buy goods.”

The surge in shipments has put a strain on the seaport supply chain, which is managed by the Los Angeles Port Authority. It’s a stark contrast to spring, when volume plummeted as the coronavirus pandemic plunged the global economy into recession.

With retailers seeing a surge in online ordering and e-commerce in the world of stay-at-home, it has created long delays in unloading ships at ports across the country and a lack of desired storage space.

Seroka said the port expects demand to surge. The Port of Southern California has been the busiest container port in North America for the past two decades, welcoming 17% of all US cargo.

In November, the Port of Los Angeles saw 890,000 shipments, equivalent to 20 feet, passing through its facilities, up 22% from the same month last year, partly due to vacation orders. Imports from Asia are at a record level, announced the port authority. Meanwhile, exports at the port have declined in 23 of the last 25 months, partly due to trade policy with China.

“In addition to trade policy, it is the strength of the US dollar that makes our goods a bit more than would otherwise be the case for competing nations in the same product categories,” Seroka said. “And right now the most amazing statistic is that we are sending back twice as many empty boxes as we are American exports through our docks.”

Monthly cargo volumes averaged 930,000 units in 20 foot units since August, which Seroka called “unusual” at the end of the year. The activity is expected to last several months.

Seroka said the port has been focusing on digitization to streamline shipping schedules and logistics.

“The port is tense,” he said.

The lack of Covid testing capacity in the US could mean that the new, highly transmissible strain of coronavirus, which first appeared in the UK, is already making its way through communities in the US

That’s what Dr. Nahid Bhadelia, the medical director of the Special Pathogens Unit at Boston Medical Center.

“To find this strain, we need to take a percentage of the diagnosed samples and do an in-depth genetic analysis (in the) In the US, our capacity was not spectacular, “said the infectious disease doctor “The News with Shepard Smith” on Monday. “If the burden is here, we may be missing it because the holes in our net are too wide.”

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the new variant was not discovered in the United States

However, the agency said viruses were only sequenced from approximately 51,000 of the 17 million infections in the country. The UK recorded the most sequences with 125.00. The infections in Great Britain reached their second highest daily value on Christmas Eve. The country confirmed 39,036 new Covid-19 cases that day.

As of Monday, the US will have to provide evidence of a negative Covid-19 test from all travelers flying from the UK as concerns about the new variant of the virus grow.

Dr. Bhadelia, who is also the medical assistant for NBC News, said the measures did not go far enough.

“You can still have people who test negative, get on the plane and then come back positive. So I think testing needs to be linked to some kind of quarantine,” she said.

Japan has taken stricter measures and stopped all arrivals of foreign nationals. More than a dozen countries have reported cases of the rapidly spreading mutation, including Canada, France, South Africa, Australia, Japan, and South Korea.

Health experts in the UK and US found that while the new variant appears to be more transmissible, there is still no evidence that it is more lethal. Dr. Bhadelia warned that the results shouldn’t make people complacent when it comes to the new strain.

“The problem is that while we don’t think it increases mortality, the fact that it is more easily transmitted is also a bigger problem because the more people get infected, the more people end up in hospitals. and possibly die, “she added.

Despite the number of productions delayed this year by the coronavirus pandemic, Imax CEO Richard Gelfond said on CNBC Monday the New Year could prove to be a lucrative one for his company.

While studios paused recording, film releases were also delayed as cinemas closed across the country in response to the Covid-19 outbreak earlier this year. Gelfond expects at least some of the revenue that was missed in 2020 will be amortized if optimistic forecasts to contain the global health crisis work as hoped and give Imax a boost when movie lovers look for immersive entertainment they can’t can at home.

“In a way, 2021 is an embarrassment of wealth when things open at the beginning of the year,” he said in an interview with Closing Bell. “There is a lot of content, and that applies worldwide.”

Highly anticipated films Gelfond is betting on release next year include “Top Gun: Maverick”, “Black Widow” and “Fast & Furious 9”. Each of their planned releases for 2020 has been postponed to 2021. Imax also has contact with overseas box offices with locations in 82 countries where other films are also lagging behind, Gelfond said. North America accounts for a third of Imax’s global business.

Imax had its most successful year in 2019 with box office sales of $ 1.035 billion. It was the second year in a row that the company had revenues of more than $ 1 billion. This streak was broken in 2020.

Imax sales reached $ 395.7 million in 2019 for three consecutive years of at least $ 370 million. Sales have suffered heavily in the last three quarters and are 70% lower than in the same period last year of 70 months.

“Fortunately, there is already a large backlog of films,” said Gelfond.

As vaccination campaigns begin around the globe and health professionals plan potential reopening schedules, companies are planning when to expect business to rebound to pre-pandemic levels.

Gelfond plans to improve business at the Imax theaters by the summer with the launch of Top Gun: Maverick starring Tom Cruise and Jennifer Connelly.

“I think by then you will be nearing 100% and then it will surely be fully open by the fourth quarter,” he said. Given the optimism that the US economy will recover quickly after the country hits ideal immunity levels, “I think it is very likely that things will open up here from the second quarter onwards.”

Imax’s shares rose 4% on Monday to trade at $ 17.70. The stock has fallen 13% since the start of the year.