Stocks to Watch: Chesapeake Energy, Cerner, PayPal and CenturyLink

   By Cara Lombardo 
 

Among the companies with shares expected to trade actively in Friday's abbreviated session include Chesapeake Energy Corp., Cerner Corp., PayPal Holdings Inc., CenturyLink Inc., Micron Technology and Hanesbrands Inc.

Chesapeake Energy shares were up 2% premarket. The oil company's stock, down 44% this year, has been lagging its peers and the company has said it plans to sell $2 billion to $3 billion worth of assets over the next several years to tackle a sizable debt load.

Cerner Corp. shares rose 0.2% premarket, a day after CNBC reported that Amazon.com Inc.'s cloud-computing service plans to partner with Cerner to help health-care providers make predictions using patient data.

PayPal shares rose 0.4% premarket. PayPal last week announced plans to sell $6 billion of consumer loans to fund growth and this week said it will begin offering robo investing.

CenturyLink shares rose 0.7% premarket. The Federal Communication Commission's draft order to reverse net neutrality outlined Tuesday would be welcome news for internet providers, including CenturyLink and Comcast Corp., who under the rules could start to charge different prices for different content.

Shares of Micron Technology shares were up 0.6% premarket. The semiconductor company's stock is up 124% this year, in part due to a tight supply of memory chips, which has prompted company executives to sell more than four times as many shares this year as last.

Hanesbrands Inc. shares rose 2.4% premarket on low volume. A research report released this week found the underwear maker was one of several companies poised to benefit from a sock market that has been growing faster than the overall apparel industry as socks become more of a fashion statement than a commodity.

Write to Cara Lombardo at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

November 24, 2017 09:33 ET (14:33 GMT)

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