Stocks to Watch: Apple, PepsiCo, Sears, Tesla, Estee Lauder, Abbott Laboratories, Tyson Foods, Nike

By Francesca Fontana and Amrith Ramkumar

Here are some of the companies with shares expected to trade actively in Monday's session. Stock movements reflect premarket trading.

Apple Inc. -- Up 0.2%: Under fire from Chinese state media, Apple said it removed illegal gambling apps from its App Store in China -- a move that could help quell the latest challenge for the American tech giant in its most important market outside of the U.S. Apple shares rose every day last week, including a 2% climb Friday, and the stock has fallen just twice this month.

PepsiCo Inc. -- Up 0.3%: PepsiCo agreed to buy SodaStream International Ltd. for $3.2 billion. It's the latest move by the cola giant to diversify away from sugary sodas and salty snacks. SodaStream shares are up 10%.

Sears Holdings Corp. -- Down 3.4%: Sears CEO Edward Lampert for years has called the shots as its chief executive, largest shareholder and biggest lender. But his latest play to keep the struggling chain afloat is out of his hands.

Tesla Inc. -- Down 6.1%: JP Morgan analysts cut the firm's price target for Telsa, saying that CEO Elon Musk's claim to have funding secured to take the company private was likely not the case.

Nike Inc. -- Up 2.3%: Susquehanna analysts raised the athletic footwear company to buy, saying the company is gaining share from Adidas and others as it improves its product offerings. Piper Jaffray analysts also upgraded the stock to overweight.

Estée Lauder Companies Inc. -- Up 4%: The cosmetics company beat earnings and revenue expectations for its fourth fiscal quarter, reporting growth in brands including its namesake Estée Lauder and La Mer skin care.

Abbott Laboratories -- Up 0.4%: The Wall Street Journal's Heard on the Street writes that the company is growing its top line faster than just about any health-care company of comparable size and since it doesn't sell pharmaceuticals in the U.S., it is relatively insulated from regulatory risk.

Tyson Foods Inc. -- Down 0.2%: Tyson has agreed to buy Keystone Foods, a major supplier of chicken nuggets to McDonald's Corp. and other companies, for $2.16 billion as part of its strategy to bolster its protein offerings and expand globally.

This is an expanded version of the "Stocks to Watch" section of our Markets newsletter. To receive it every morning via email, click here.

Write to Amrith Ramkumar at amrith.ramkumar@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

August 20, 2018 09:25 ET (13:25 GMT)

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