Apple, AMC Entertainment Rise Premarket; Merck Falls By Investing.com

By Peter Nurse 

Investing.com — Stocks in focus in premarket trade on Monday, January 25th. Please refresh for updates.

• GameStop (NYSE:GME) stock soared 48%, continuing Friday’s surge, as the video games retailer finds itself in the middle of a battle between short-seller Citron Research and day traders on the web site Reddit.

• AMC Entertainment (NYSE:AMC) stock climbed 36% after the movie theater chain raised $917 million in equity and debt to help it through its difficulties caused by the pandemic.

• Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) stock rose 2.8% after Wedbush lifted its price target to a Street high, up to $175 from $160, with the investment firm saying it expects “eye-popping” iPhone unit sales results later this week.

• Merck (NYSE:MRK) stock fell 1.3% after the drugmaker ended its Covid-19 vaccine program, citing an inferior immune response.

• Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) stock 1.5% after the drugmaker said that its Covid-19 vaccine is effective against both the U.K. and South African variants of the virus.

• Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) stock rose 1.7% after the personal care company beat expectations for its fourth quarter on both the top and bottom lines, raised its dividend and introduced a new $5 billion stock repurchase program.

• Blackberry (TSX:BB) stock soared 39%, continuing recent strong gains following that the news the software company has settled its patent dispute with Facebook (NASDAQ:FB).

• Philips (NYSE:PHG) ADR rose 0.9% after the company, which now focuses on healthcare, reported a 7% rise in quarterly earnings

• Express (NYSE:EXPR) stock soared 140% after the apparel retailer earlier this month announced a deal to add $140 million in financing.