Hot Stocks to Watch in the U.S. and Canada

   By Cara Lombardo 
 

Among the companies with shares expected to trade actively in Friday's session are Yelp Inc. (YELP), Cigna Corp. (CI), Fluor Corp. (FLR) and Viacom Inc. (VIAB).

Shares of Yelp were up 20% premarket after the company beat estimates on its second-quarter earnings and raised its 2017 outlook. Yelp also announced it will sell food-delivery network Eat24 to GrubHub Inc. (GRUB) for $287.5 million and partner with GrubHub to add order-ready restaurants to Yelp's platform.

Cigna shares were also on the rise as investors react to an earnings beat. The health insurer, which continues to be single after a planned merger with Anthem Inc. (ANTM) went sour earlier this year, said it grew business in all of its segments. But Anthem and Cigna are still locked in an ugly battle over who botched the merger, with a $1.35 billion breakup fee at stake. Cigna shares are up 1.7% premarket.

Fluor shares, on the other hand, are continuing to fall Friday morning after the construction and engineering company on Thursday posted an unexpected quarterly loss and cut its 2017 outlook. The company blamed the showing in part on its gas-fired power-plant projects. Fluor shares are down roughly 11% premarket.

Finally, Viacom shares slid 9.6% premarket after the media conglomerate saw a 2% decline in domestic advertising revenue. Higher ad prices only partially offset a reduction in the number of ads on the company's networks. A contractual dispute with Charter Communications Inc. (CHTR) over which Viacom channels appear on cable packages also threaten the company's short-term results.

Write to Cara Lombardo at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

August 04, 2017 09:08 ET (13:08 GMT)

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