Fly Intel: Top five weekend stock stories

Catch up on the weekend's top five stories with this list compiled by The Fly: 1. Hertz Global (HTZ) has announced that it and certain of its U.S. and Canadian subsidiaries have filed voluntary petitions for reorganization under Chapter 11 in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware. "The impact of COVID-19 on travel demand was sudden and dramatic, causing an abrupt decline in the Company's revenue and future bookings. Hertz took immediate actions to prioritize the health and safety of employees and customers, eliminate all non-essential spending and preserve liquidity. However, uncertainty remains as to when revenue will return and when the used-car market will fully re-open for sales, which necessitated today's action. The financial reorganization will provide Hertz a path toward a more robust financial structure that best positions the Company for the future as it navigates what could be a prolonged travel and overall global economic recovery," the company said in a statement. Hertz's principal international operating regions including Europe, Australia and New Zealand are not included in the U.S. Chapter 11 proceedings. In addition, Hertz's franchised locations, which are not owned by the company, also are not included in the Chapter 11 proceedings. 2. Regeneron Pharmaceuticals (REGN) announced the commencement of an underwritten public secondary offering of its common stock through which Sanofi (SNY) intends to exit its investment in Regeneron shares. The shares being offered by Sanofi will be sold in an underwritten public offering. Sanofi currently owns approximately 23.2M Regeneron shares and intends to sell approximately 12.8M shares in the public offering. Sanofi also expects to grant the underwriters a 30-day option to purchase an additional 10% of the shares offered in the base offering. The registered offering and share repurchase will have no impact on the ongoing collaboration between Regeneron and Sanofi. Regeneron also announced that subject to and immediately following the close of the secondary offering, Regeneron agreed to repurchase approximately $5B of common stock directly from Sanofi. The purchase price to be paid by Regeneron will be equal to the net offering price per share after deducting any underwriters' discount and commission. Following the offering and Regeneron's $5B share repurchase, and assuming that the underwriters exercise their option to purchase additional shares in full, Sanofi will have disposed of all of its shares, other than 400,000 shares it intends to retain. 3. The impact of COVID-19 hasn't been evenly felt among the nation's retailers, with the biggest and strongest not just surviving, but thriving, while many smaller store chains and mom-and-pop shops face disaster, Teresa Rivas wrote in this week's edition of Barron's. In the past five years, the rise of e-commerce has changed the retail industry, tilting the landscape in favor of behemoths such as Amazon (AMZN) and Walmart (WMT) that can afford slick websites and fast, free delivery service, the author noted. Now, without a vaccine or effective treatment for coronavirus available near-term, these well-capitalized companies are likely to keep gobbling up market share at the expense of smaller operators, Rivas contended. 4. Novavax (NVAX) announced enrollment of the first participants in a Phase 1/2 clinical trial of its coronavirus vaccine candidate, NVX-CoV2373, a stable, prefusion protein made using its proprietary nanoparticle technology. NVX-CoV2373 includes Novavax' proprietary Matrix-M adjuvant to enhance immune responses and stimulate high levels of neutralizing antibodies. Preliminary immunogenicity and safety results from the Phase 1 portion of the trial are expected in July 2020. The Phase 1/2 clinical trial is being conducted in two parts. The Phase 1 portion is a randomized, observer-blinded, placebo-controlled trial designed to evaluate the immunogenicity and safety of NVX-CoV2373, both adjuvanted with Matrix-M and unadjuvanted. The trial is enrolling approximately 130 healthy participants 18 to 59 years of age at two sites in Australia. The protocol's two-dose trial regimen assesses two dose sizes with Matrix-M and without. The Phase 2 portion is expected to be conducted in multiple countries, including the United States, and would assess immunity, safety and COVID-19 disease reduction in a broader age range. This Phase 1/2 approach allows for rapid advancement of NVX-CoV2373 during the pandemic. The trial is being supported by the recently announced funding arrangement with the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations. 5. Winnebago Industries (WGO), Pool Cor. (POOL), Yeti (YETI) and DropBox (DBX) saw positive mentions in this week's edition of Barron's.