U.S. stocks fell hard on Tuesday morning amid heightened trade tensions as the Trump administration threatened once again to raise tariffs on hundreds of billions of dollars in imported Chinese goods. As of 11:30 a.m. EDT, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI -0.11%) was down 368 points to 26,070, the S&P 500 (^GSPC 0.02%) dropped 40 points to 2,892, and the Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC 0.10%) had plunged 123 points to roughly 8,000.
As for individual stocks, shares of Andarko (APC) held steady after the oil specialist formally accepted a new buyout bid, and American International Group (AIG 0.05%) soared in the wake of exceptional first-quarter 2019 results.
Anadarko accepts Occidental's offer
Shares of Anadarko are hovering around $75.46 after the oil-exploration company confirmed late yesterday that its board has unanimously determined a sweetened takeover bid from Occidental Petrolum (OXY -0.09%) represents a "superior proposal" to a previous offer from Chevron (CVX 0.44%).
Anadarko favors the bid received on Sunday to be acquired for a combination of $59.00 in cash and 0.2934 shares of Occidental common stock for each share of Anadarko outstanding. Previously, it had agreed to be acquired by Chevron for $16.25 per share in cash and 0.3869 shares of Chevron for each outstanding Anadarko share.
Image source: Getty Images.
But this bidding war may not be over yet. Chevron, for its part, has four business days (until May 10, 2019) to either revise its previous offer or make a new proposal. If Chevron declines and Anadarko moves ahead with Occidental, Anadarko will pay Chevron a $1 billion termination fee per the terms of their terminated merger agreement.
AIG's strong start to the year
Shares of American International Group are up 7.7% after the insurance giant announced first-quarter 2019 results. Revenue climbed 7.9% year over year to $12.64 billion, translating into adjusted (non-GAAP) earnings of $1.58 per share. Both the top and bottom lines crushed analysts' consensus estimates for earnings of only $1.04 per share on revenue closer to $12.28 billion.
AIG CEO Brian Duperreault called it a "strong" quarter, largely crediting the relative outperformance of its general insurance segment, which he says reflects "significant foundational work throughout 2018 to position AIG for sustainable, profitable growth."
To be sure, the general insurance business delivered a combined ratio of 97.4% -- which means it earned $2.60 for every $100 in premiums it wrote -- and an adjusted accident year combined ratio of 96.1%. Both metrics mark significant improvements from 103.8% and 99.7%, respectively, in the year-ago period.
"We achieved an underwriting profit on a calendar year and accident year basis in the first quarter and we expect that to continue for the full year," Duperreault added.
