Trending tickers: Boots | Cava | Airbnb | Brent

Pedro Goncalves
A Covid test that can provide a result in 12 minutes will be made available at high street pharmacy Boots in selected stores over the next few weeks, London, Britain, 26 October 2020. The nasal swab test, which will cost £120, will be available in more than 50 stores across the UK to anyone who is not showing symptoms. The test, and the device needed to process it, have been approved by authorities in Europe and the US. In trials on more than 500 patients it accurately detected the virus in more than 97% of cases. (Photo by Maciek Musialek/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
US owner of Boots revives plan to offload UK pharmacy chain. (NurPhoto via Getty Images)

Walgreens Boots Alliance (WBA)

The US owner of Boots is weighing a £7bn ($8.76bn) UK listing of the high street pharmacy chain almost two years after a sale process was shelved.

Boots’ management is said to be pushing Walgreens toward an initial public offering (IPO) which would mark a return of the company to the London Stock Exchange (LSE) after 16 years, according to Bloomberg.

Walgreens is in a cost-cutting push and has brought in new chief executive Tim Wentworth to strengthen the company’s US focus.

Read more: LIVE: FTSE and European stocks higher ahead of Fed interest rate decision

Walgreens recently announced it was cutting $1bn of costs from its operations in America. It has also been cutting back the number of stores it has in the UK.

The Boots business has 2,200 stores across the UK which includes pharmacies, health and beauty stores.

Cava (CAVA)

Shares in US restaurant chain Cava climbed in after-hours trading following the Tuesday session as the IPO lockup expiration allowed insiders to sell shares.

The Mediterranean food chain noted there are currently no Wall Street "sell" ratings on the stock.

Read more: Stocks that are trending today

According to data from Benzinga Pro, the stock's 100-day average volume is 1.514 million shares, and 12.17% of available shares are being sold short.

The chain, which describes itself as bringing “heart, health, and humanity to food” raised $318m from its IPO in June, giving it a market capitalisation of $4.9bn.

Airbnb (ABNB)

Shares in Airbnb were lower in after-hours trading after analysts at Barclays downgraded it to "underweight" from "equal weight" with a price-target cut to $100 from $135.

Barclays has doubts about the industry’s ability to repeat its stellar performance next year.

"We think online travel growth slows from here as eventually the 'pent-up' travel demand will get exhausted — particularly as consumers' wallets are increasingly under pressure," Barclays analyst Trevor Young said in a note to clients.

Read more: Bank of England poised to leave interest rates on hold

The analyst cited extra risks for Airbnb, including a “myriad of regulatory and consumer headwinds from here, as frustration with excess fees and inconsistent cleaning policies has impacted the end-consumer experience somewhat.”

Brent (BZ=F)

Oil prices plunged to their lowest level in five months amid concerns of oversupply and after US inflation came in higher than expected.

The consumer price index, a closely watched inflation gauge, increased 0.1% in November, and was up 3.1% from a year ago.

Traders expect the US will keep dumping every available barrel in the market to try to keep the energy component cheap ahead of the US Presidential elections in 2024.

Another factor weighing on the oil price is news from the COP28 climate summit in Dubai, where nearly 200 countries agreed to a deal that, for the first time, calls on all nations to transition away from fossil fuels.

The West Texas Intermediate (CL=F) was trading at $68per barrel while Brent (BZ=F) crude slipped to $73.

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