aan – Scalper1

AT&T Expands Cricket Store Reach In Prepaid Battle Vs. T-Mobile

AT&T ( T ) has again expanded the retail reach of it Cricket brand, with distribution deals at Best Buy ( BBY ) and Aaron’s ( AAN ), as it battles T-Mobile US ( TMUS ) in the prepaid wireless market. AT&T acquired Leap Wireless and its Cricket brand for $1.2 billion in 2014. Since then, AT&T has stepped up Cricket advertising while opening more retail stores. T-Mobile acquired prepaid specialist MetroPCS in 2013. AT&T says it will add 1,000 Best Buy locations and 2,000 stores through Aaron’s, a nationwide lease-to-own retailer, to its Cricket distribution network. AT&T earlier signed deals with Target, Wal-Mart, and GameStop ( GME ). AT&T has nearly 4,000 Cricket-owned stores. Cricket wireless services now will be sold at 12,000 outlets across the U.S., including AT&T’s Cricket stores and distribution at Target ( TGT ), Wal-Mart ( WMT ), GameStop, Best Buy, Aaron’s and other locations. About one-fifth of U.S. mobile phone users buy prepaid wireless services. Prepaid customers buy calling minutes and data as needed. Many prepaid plans renew automatically every month, blurring the line with postpaid subscribers that have service contracts. Prepaid customers typically buy less-pricey phones upfront, and spend less on data services. T-Mobile and AT&T both added 469,000 prepaid subscribers in Q4, while Verizon Communications ( VZ ) shed 157,000 and Sprint ( S ) lost 491,000. Some of Sprint’s prepaid subscribers upgraded to postpaid plans. AT&T stock was up a fraction in midday trading in the stock market today , above 39. Shares are more than 7% extended from a 36.55 buy point first touched on Feb. 3. T-Mobile stock also was up a fraction midday Monday.

Bluebird Bio Up As Gene Therapy Scores Against Rare Disease

Biotech Bluebird Bio ( BLUE ) stock rose Friday after the company released positive data on its gene-therapy treatment for a rare disease. Late Thursday, a number of abstracts were released for presentations at next month’s meeting of the American Academy of Neurology (AAN). Bluebird highlighted its Starbeam study, which treated 17 boys with cerebral adrenoleukodystrophy, a rare genetic disease that leads to a breakdown of the nervous system. Bluebird used Lenti-D, which modifies the patient’s own stem cells to correct the gene mutation and re-implants them. Bluebird said that six months after treatment, subjects showed no worsening in neurological function and were expressing the protein needed to prevent the neurodegeneration. The company said that one serious adverse event possibly related to the drug had occurred, as a patient was infected with the BK virus, which is associated with transplants. However, Bluebird said the case had been resolved. Lenti-D is one treatment Bluebird is developing using its lentivirus platform for delivering gene therapy to patients. The better-known treatment LentiGlobin is being studied as a treatment for severe anemia, and it has driven the stock up and down over the last year as early trial results have trickled in. “While Lenti-D represents only a very modest commercial opportunity, we believe positive interim data at AAN should provide investors with more comfort that Bluebird’s technology can be applied effectively and consistently as a potential curative approach for severe genetic diseases,” Leerink analyst Michael Schmidt wrote in a research note. Bluebird will report full results at the AAN meeting in Vancouver on April 20. Bluebird stock was up 6.5% in midday trading on the stock market today , near 57. The stock is still more than 70% off last May’s record high above 197.