FT : BP rivals run the numbers on a takeover of the struggling oil major

BP rivals run the numbers on a takeover of the struggling oil major
British company left vulnerable to a takeover after a sharp slide in its shares over the past year

The slide in BP’s share price has left the UK energy major vulnerable to a takeover as rivals weigh the opportunity to buy at a steep discount and put an end to its 116 years as an independent company.

Listed companies Shell, Chevron, ExxonMobil and TotalEnergies, as well as Abu Dhabi’s Adnoc, have separately run the numbers, according to industry sources and advisers, while oil trader Vitol could be interested in elements of the business.

A sum of the parts valuation suggests BP’s assets are worth in excess of £120bn, without including debt and liabilities, more than twice its current market capitalisation of £57bn, which follows a sharp slump in its shares over the past 12 months.

“The continued underperformance of BP makes it open to a takeover,” said a person close to the activist investor Elliott Management, which has built a leading stake in the company.

The M&A teams of major oil companies routinely assess the business case for big takeovers. And while any deal for BP would be complex, triggering competition and political concerns, the prize is significant.

BP’s oil and gas assets, including those in the Gulf of Mexico, and US shale business alone are worth $82bn, according to UBS analyst Joshua Stone — above its market value. But the UK company is weighed down by $77bn of debt and long-term liabilities, including those stemming from the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill.

Shell
A deal for BP would be transformational for Shell, creating an energy giant pumping out close to 5mn barrels per day of oil and gas — more than ExxonMobil or Chevron. It would also have as much as a quarter of the world’s LNG market and a significant presence in the US. 

Shell chair Andrew Mackenzie worked at BP for more than two decades, and Shell has considered a combination with BP several times in the past, including a proposed 2004 tie-up that ex-BP chief executive John Browne recently told the Financial Times would have been a “marriage made in heaven”.

Shell has spent much of the past two years improving its financial health. Chief financial officer Sinead Gorman told analysts last week that it was flush with “more than $35bn” of cash and “incredibly well-positioned” to strike deals. 

For Shell, the most appealing element of BP’s portfolio would be the gas and LNG assets. Its chief executive Wael Sawan told the FT last week that he wanted Shell to be “the undisputed leader in integrated gas and LNG”.

But asked if he wanted to buy BP, Sawan replied that buying back shares was better value for his company’s investors.

Analysts are unsure of the merits of the deal. “We struggle with the maths,” said Biraj Borkhataria, an RBC Capital Markets analyst, who questioned whether Shell would want BP’s trading business, its refineries or its operations in Azerbaijan, India, Iraq and Abu Dhabi.

“Shell would be much better served to carry on with its [current] plan,” he added. 

The integration of the two businesses, with very different cultures, would take several years, according to insiders at both companies, and there would probably be tens of thousands of job losses, a potential political problem for the UK government.

But the cost to Shell of sitting idle could be high. “Could they really stand on the sidelines and let someone else buy BP?” asked one investor.

ExxonMobil and Chevron
As US majors ExxonMobil and Chevron assess how a BP deal would stack up, they are entangled in their own high-stakes takeover drama. 

An arbitration ruling is expected soon on Chevron’s $53bn deal for energy company Hess, which would give it a significant stake in the Stabroek block in Guyana, among the most valuable oil discoveries in decades. Exxon has argued that its ownership of a share in the same block gives it first refusal to buy the rest.

The result is that “Chevron and ExxonMobil are focused on Hess”, according to Andrew Gillick, at research group Enverus. But an adverse ruling for Chevron could force the US group to seek growth elsewhere.

Both US companies could be attracted by BP’s gas and trading businesses, and were able to pay a “hefty premium” compared with European rivals because of their higher valuations, said Michael Alfaro at hedge fund Gallo Partners.

Exxon’s chief executive Darren Wood told analysts last week that he was on the “constant lookout” for opportunities, especially as low oil prices left some companies with weaker foundations vulnerable.

Yet there could be political challenges to a transatlantic tie-up, according to Dan Pickering, chief investment officer at Pickering Energy Partners in Houston. “I would put the odds that Exxon and Chevron would make a run [for BP] at pretty low,” he said. One US-based banker said BP’s assets were not attractive enough for Exxon.

Exxon and Chevron did not respond to requests for comment.

Adnoc
Abu Dhabi National Oil Company has a close relationship with BP, dating back to the discovery of oil in the United Arab Emirates in 1958. BP owns minority stakes in Adnoc’s onshore and LNG business, and the pair have a joint venture in Egypt.

Bernard Looney, former BP chief executive, is on the board of an Adnoc subsidiary, and the Abu Dhabi company is keen to expand internationally, recently doing a string of multibillion-dollar gas and chemicals deals.

One oil industry veteran said that since Adnoc did everything from extracting oil to refining and trading oil products, there would be “linkages all along the value chain” with BP.


Two other industry sources suggested the UK government might be receptive to a BP deal if it was part of a broader investment plan by the UAE into UK assets.

But the relationship between the two countries was damaged by the furore around a 2023 Emirati-backed bid for the Telegraph newspaper, and Adnoc would be cautious about running into a repeat of the episode.

In 2015, the UK government under David Cameron warned it would oppose any attempt by a foreign company to buy BP. In recent weeks, BP has been sounding out people close to the government over whether Sir Keir Starmer would also seek to defend against a takeover, according to two people with knowledge of the efforts.

Adnoc declined to comment.

TotalEnergies
Patrick Pouyanné, the dealmaking boss of France’s TotalEnergies, may relish a swoop for a proud British oil company, and would be interested in BP’s gas and LNG assets, as the third-largest global LNG provider seeks to catch up with Shell. 

But like Shell, Total is busy buying back its shares, and Pouyanné told analysts the company would have to compare the attraction of buybacks with whether it can “do a beautiful acquisition”. 

TotalEnergies, which declined to comment, would be one of the few suitors with an interest in BP’s clean energy assets, since it is committed to growing its own renewable power business. 

But elsewhere, analysts said it would be less keen on BP’s refineries, its US shale business or its US offshore wind assets, given the anti-wind stance of the Donald Trump administration.

Ahmed Ben Salem, an analyst at ODDO BHF, a French-German financial group, said Total might find easier deals to pursue elsewhere.

“What’s the point in buying a building if you’re only going to keep hold of a few apartments?” he said.

FT : Power prices surge in Portugal as it suspends Spain link after blackout

Power prices surge in Portugal as it suspends Spain link after blackout
Lisbon paused imports from its neighbour ‘as a precaution’ after catastrophic blackout on April 28

Portugal is enduring a dramatic surge in electricity prices after deciding to temporarily slash its power imports from Spain, whose grid collapse last week triggered a blackout across the Iberian peninsula.

Wholesale electricity prices in Portugal were nearly five times higher than those in Spain earlier this week as Lisbon halted imports from its neighbour. Usually the two countries pay roughly the same for power.

The Iberian peninsula functions as an “energy island” in which Portugal last year imported one-fifth of its electricity from its neighbour, but the power wipeout that began in Spain on April 28 has created tensions between the two countries.

In the aftermath of the still unexplained power outage, Maria da Graça Carvalho, Portugal’s energy minister, said her country was suspending electricity imports from Spain “as a precaution”.

Five days after the blackout, on Saturday, her country’s electricity prices began to climb far above those of its neighbour. The gap reached a peak on Tuesday, when Spain’s average wholesale price was €10.24 per megawatt hour but Portugal’s leapt to €47.92/MWh.

The price jump will not immediately hit most households or businesses that pay prices set in longer-term contracts.


REN, Portugal’s grid operator, told the Financial Times that the decision to “close the importation” from Spain was “made to ensure the safety of the Portuguese national electric system”.

Imports remained suspended on Wednesday. When REN restarted limited inflows from Spain on Thursday, the price gap narrowed. Spain’s average electricity price that day was €16.76/MWh versus €41.86/MWh in Portugal, according to OMIE, the Iberian market operator. OMIE’s “day ahead” prices for Friday showed the gap should narrow further.

REN has said it would limit import capacity to 1,000 megawatts per day up until May 12, a level that is less than one-fifth of Portugal’s maximum daily imports in recent years.

The grid operator stressed that although the “trade” in electricity had been paused, cross-border connections had remained open to facilitate the technical balancing of the Iberian system “if needed”.

Energy minister Carvalho told the FT: “A comprehensive and phased plan to fully normalise energy trade between the two countries is currently under development, with the dual objective of ensuring operational security and market stability.”

The Spanish and Portuguese electricity systems have been integrated since the 1980s. In recent years Lisbon has benefited from Spain’s rapid rollout of solar power plants, which has given it access to abundant cheap power.

“In Portugal we have been delayed in solar power generation compared to Spain,” said João Peças Lopes, a professor of electrical engineering at Porto university. “The electricity produced in Spain is cheaper than what’s produced in Portugal, so why not profit from it?”

It is common for spot electricity prices to fall to zero in the afternoon in Spain because the country produces so much solar power.

Armindo Monteiro, head of CIP, Portugal’s main business lobby, said his country “does not and should not live in electric isolation”, arguing that its access to low-cost Spanish power boosted its economic competitiveness. “But it is necessary to reflect on the appropriate and necessary security conditions for the current level of dependence,” Monteiro added.

A few minutes before last week’s blackout, Portugal was importing 35 per cent of its electricity from Spain, according to REN. Lopes noted that Portugal was using some of that electricity to pump water uphill at hydroelectric plants dubbed “water batteries”, which provide a form of storage.

After the blackout, Portugal was able to use those hydroelectric plants to restore power on its own. Spain had to rely on France and Morocco, via its interconnections with those countries, to get its system back online.

FT : US pushes financial regulators to backtrack on climate risk project

US pushes financial regulators to backtrack on climate risk project
Effort to weaken Basel committee task force comes as Trump administration steps back from environmental issues

US regulators are calling on the world’s financial rulemakers to downgrade a flagship project to tackle the risks of climate change in the latest sign of America’s retreat from environmental causes since Donald Trump became president.

Top officials at US financial watchdogs are seeking to weaken the power of a high-level task force set up in 2020 to examine climate change risks to the financial system by the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision, the standard-setter for global financial regulation.

The proposal to dilute the Basel committee’s task force is on the agenda for a meeting of the world’s top central bank governors and financial supervisors on Monday, according to three people briefed on the matter. 

The move comes as the Trump administration has taken steps to force all arms of the US government, along with international bodies such as the World Bank and IMF, to ditch their focus on climate-related issues.  

The four US regulators on the Basel committee — the Fed, the New York Fed, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation — are calling for the task force to be downgraded to a working group, according to two of the people briefed on the matter. 

Some central bankers at the meeting are likely to argue against the US-backed proposal, according to one person familiar with Monday’s meeting. “It is not clear if there is enough support to pass it,” said the person.

Europe-based regulators are likely to be among those defending the task force after both the European Central Bank and the Bank of England recently called on the banks they supervise to step up their efforts to address climate risks.

The project is co-chaired by Kevin Stiroh, a senior New York Fed official currently seconded to the Fed board in Washington and who leads its climate supervision committee, and Frank Elderson, an executive board member at the European Central Bank.

Since being set up five years ago, the body has produced a number of reports, including proposals to establish a global framework for banks to disclose climate risks and a set of principles for banks and their supervisors to tackle threats from global warming.

If the Basel committee dilutes the importance of its flagship climate project it is likely to prompt uproar among environmental groups.

“It’s the wrong move at the worst possible time,” said Benoît Lallemand, secretary-general of the lobby group Finance Watch.

“Disbanding the Basel committee’s climate task force would send the absurd signal that climate risks are no longer a concern for financial stability, just as extreme weather, credit losses and asset repricing accelerate,” he added. “This regressive decision would undermine the credibility of the BCBS and its role as a standard-setter.” 

In January, the Fed left the Network for Greening the Financial System, a central banking club for researching climate risks that is housed by the Banque de France. Jay Powell, Fed chair, denied at the time that the decision reflected the Trump administration’s stance on climate issues, saying it was “really not driven by politics”. 

Kevin Warsh, seen as one of the frontrunners to replace Powell once his term as Fed chair ends in May 2026, last month attacked the US central bank’s involvement in issues such as climate change and inclusion — though he acknowledged it had now “changed its tune” by leaving the NGFS in January.   

Asked this week whether the Fed should focus on climate change, Powell distanced himself from the subject, saying its “role on climate is a very, very narrow one”. 

“It’s a real danger for us to try to take on a mandate like that, which [has a] very narrow application to our work,” the Fed chair said. “If you go for things that are really not in your mandate . . . then why are you independent?” 

The Basel committee, the Fed, the OCC, the FDIC and the New York Fed declined to comment on Monday’s meeting.

The Fed has also come under pressure from US banks over its so-called Basel III endgame proposals for banking capital requirements, based on rules global regulators agreed at the Basel committee a decade ago.

US lenders believed the original proposals were too draconian and threatened to sue the Fed, prompting it to drop them. Michael Barr, the Fed’s vice-chair for banking supervision, has since quit that role while remaining on its board. Barr has recently been replaced by Michelle Bowman, who is expected to release less stringent guidelines soon.

>>> US After Hours Summary: Busy earnings session; PINS +15.6%, GDOT +14.9%, TMD

After Hours Summary: Busy earnings session; PINS +15.6%, GDOT +14.9%, TMDX +13.5%, TTD +11.8%, LYFT +7.8%, MCHP +7.8% higher on earnings; GMED -17.2%, REAL -11.7%, ZIP -8%, EXPE -7.8%, MNST -1.9% lower on earnings

After Hours Gainers:

Companies trading higher in after hours in reaction to earnings/guidance: LASR +16.1%, PINS +15.6%, GDOT +14.9%, TMDX +13.5%, AMN +13.2%, ST +12.4%, MITK +11.8%, TTD +11.8%, PSIX +11.7%, NGVC +9.8%, PODD +9.6% (also authorizes new $125 mln share repurchase program), CLFD +9.1%, NET +8.5%, TOST +8% (also announces deal with Topgolf), ABL +8%, LYFT +7.8% (also increases share repurchase program to $750 mln), MCHP +7.8%, MNR +7.6%, ICUI +7.2%, AVPT +6.9%, RXT +6.9%, CARG +6.6%, FOXF +6.4%, PUBM +5.9% (also increases share repurchase authorization by $100 mln), PRTA +5.6%, AMPX +5.6%, TWNP +5%, TXG +4.3%, CRNX +4%, LNT +3.1%, ZD +3%, CLNE +2.9%, FNKO +2.9%, DIOD +2.7% (also authorizes new $100 mln share repurchase program), MCK +2.3%, SYNA +2.2%, FROG +2.1%, TXRH +2.1%, YELP +2.1%, NTRA +2%, SPT +2%, VCTR +2%, TKO +1.9%, DKNG +1.8%, WEST +1.6%, ZYME +1.6%, OLO +1.5%, RUM +1.5%, HUBG +1.3%, VREX +1.3% (also receives $25 mln in orders for inspection systems), WPM +1.3%, XIFR +0.8%, MP +0.6%, POST +0.3%, AGO +0.1%, SGHC +0.1%

Companies trading higher in after hours in reaction to news: CRVS +46.6% (new interim data from phase 1 trial evaluating soquelitinib), PHX +20.7% (to be acquired by WhiteHawk Income), MAT +3.6% (names new CFO), ICHR +2.3% (CEO buy shares), MODG +1.7% (announces deal with TOST), WY +1.5% (authorizes new $1 bln share repurchase program), HRTG +1% (full placement of reinsurance program), ECL +0.6% (names MCD exec to board), HSTM +0.5% (authorizes new $25 mln share repurchase program), AA +0.5% (names new non-executive Chairman)

After Hours Losers:

Companies trading lower in after hours in reaction to earnings/guidance: IOVA -42%, WOLF -23.4%, RCEL -20.4%, ORGO -18.5%, GMED -17.2%, DCGO -16.7%, FIGS -12.2%, PCRX -11.7%, REAL -11.7%, EXFY -10.5%, KODK -10.3%, INOD -10.2%, HROW -9.7%, XPOF -9.5%, AAOI -9.4%, GRND -9.4%, ONTO -9.2%, SG -9%, AFRM -8.9%, CVRX -8.7%, FLWS -8.3% (also names new CEO), ZIP -8%, EXPE -7.8%, HUBS -6.9% (also authorizes new $500 mln share repurchase program), OUT -5.9%, SOUN -4.8%, ARLO -4.3%, ASTH -4%, CLSK -4%, GSAT -3.7%, BILL -3.5%, COIN -3.5% (also files mixed securities shelf offering), MTUS -3.4%, COMP -3.4%, RKLB -3% (also to launch Neutron for U.S. Air Force), ILMN -2.9%, QXO -2.9%, SOLV -2.6%, AKAM -2.4%, BBDC -2.3%, AUR -2.3%, DV -2.1%, MARA -2.1%, MNST -1.9%, SUZ -1.9%, BHF -1.4%, FNV -1.4%, TREX -1.4%, DBX -1.3%, RKT -1.3%, RNG -0.8%, AHR -0.7%, ALRM -0.6%, TMCI -0.5%, ATGE -0.4%, EVH -0.3%, PARA -0.3%, INGM -0.3% (also increases dividend), OS -0.1%, PBA -0.1%

Companies trading lower in after hours in reaction to news: CTLP -3.4% (partnership with Carnival Cruise), AUTL -3% (files for 54,584,250 ADS offering by selling shareholders), KROS -2.7% (responds to "misleading" statement from ADAR1), TERN -2% (files for $300 mln mixed securities shelf offering), QUBT -1.9% (names new COO), PRMB -1.5% (47.5 mln share offering by selling shareholders), IDA -1.3% (commences $450 mln share offering), MGM -0.4% (new employment agreement with CEO), VTRS -0.2% (files mixed securities shelf offering), WMS -0.1% (acquires River Valley Pipe), CNS -0.1% (reports April AUM), NHC -0.1% (increases dividend), CTVA -0.1% (files mixed securities shelf offering), CDTX -0.1% (files for $500 mln mixed securities shelf offering)

FT : Pakistan’s bellicose army chief is playing with fire

Pakistan’s bellicose army chief is playing with fire
At a time of crisis, the country is being led by a general not known for his restraint

On May 7, Indian jets targeted several sites deep inside Pakistan, killing 31 people according to Islamabad. The attack was expected, especially given that India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi promised to punish the perpetrators of the April assault that killed 26 civilians inside Indian-administered Kashmir. Now, Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has authorised his army chief to retaliate.

However, a further response runs the risk of escalating tension to a boiling point between the two nuclear-armed neighbours. This is happening at a time when geopolitical alliances are in flux. Unlike in past India-Pakistan wars when great powers restrained the warring parties, no one is seeking to hold them back now.

The US isn’t acting forcefully to lower the temperature between New Delhi and Islamabad. Although Donald Trump has offered his mediation services, there is no rush of senior US officials to the region. The rowdy boys have been left to fight alone with no headmaster present to march them to their respective corners. Other actors like Saudi Arabia and the UK may urge de-escalation but that won’t have the same effect as pressure from Washington.

In Pakistan, the public — unaware of militant training camps in their midst and conditioned to see Pakistan as the victim — is clamouring for retaliation. Whatever happens next will depend on one man: the country’s army chief, Asim Munir. Munir controls Pakistan’s strategic decision-making far more than the elected government led by Sharif. And he is not a figure known for his restraint.

One of the reasons that New Delhi believes that Pakistan-based militants were behind the April attack is because of a speech that Munir delivered a week earlier. In it, he referred to Kashmir as Pakistan’s “jugular vein” and vowed not to leave Kashmiris alone in their struggle for independence from India. 

He also expressed the polarising view that Pakistan came into being in 1947 because the Hindus and Muslims of the subcontinent could not live together. In so doing, Munir has departed dramatically from the outlook of his predecessor, Qamar Javed Bajwa, who in 2021 spoke about burying the hatchet with India, mainly because in his estimation Pakistan couldn’t afford to fight a war. 

Munir was once Bajwa’s head of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), the military’s prime intelligence agency. Back then, he didn’t contradict his boss. Now that he’s in charge, he seems intent on taking the military back to its old posture of vying for control of Kashmir and treating India as the prime enemy. 

Munir has a reputation for hewing to his religious and ideological beliefs and disliking being challenged. Indeed, some of his older colleagues recall him leaving the room when contradicted, even during informal conversations among officers.

He is now seeking to play the role of strongman in a country that has been riven by political divisions in recent years. Many Pakistani voters suspect Munir of manipulating the 2024 elections and helping to force the cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan out of power. The ongoing conflict with India may have rehabilitated his image temporarily but, given the defence establishment’s dominance of the country’s institutions, it will also put pressure on him to prove the military’s might — in a real conflict against a larger neighbour at a time when the country is under huge economic pressure. 

Controlling everything from politics to the economy makes Munir a powerful man, but he’s not a magician who can rescue Pakistan from its economic troubles. A war that pits him against Narendra Modi, another nationalist strongman, will complicate matters even more. The decision Munir must take now is whether to seek a dialogue with India to end the conflict — or get sucked into a greater strategic abyss. 

FT : WeightWatchers blames diet drugs and social media for bankruptcy

WeightWatchers blames diet drugs and social media for bankruptcy
Problems for the well-known brand began with the Coronavirus pandemic and continued as prescriptions gained favour

A one-two punch of diet drugs and TikTok undermined one of the most trusted brands in fat loss, lawyers for WeightWatchers told a US bankruptcy judge on Thursday, as the bankrupt company seeks to reorganise into a slimmer version of itself.

WeightWatchers, officially known as WW International, Inc., filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Tuesday night in a Delaware federal court with the company having already cut a pre-packaged deal to hand control of the business to secured lenders and bondholders.

As recently as 2018, WeightWatchers, whose core business relied on hosting workshops for people sharing the experience of fighting fat together, had $1.5bn in annual revenue and a market capitalisation of more than $7bn. Oprah Winfrey owned a tenth of the company and joined its board of directors.

But the Coronavirus pandemic gutted the WeightWatchers workshop model, and annual revenue fell to under $800mn by 2024. Winfrey left the company’s board last year. Its lawyers said it could no longer service a $1.6bn debt load because of an “evolution in consumer preferences and the rapid rise of GLP-1s”, and it was seeking an aggregate valuation of $700mn.

“Consumers are increasingly prioritising holistic health and rejecting traditional weight-loss narratives,” WeightWatchers wrote in a court filing submitted this week. 

“The rise of free and low-cost do-it-yourself (“DIY”) weight-loss apps reflects consumers’ growing demand for self-guided, flexible solutions. The DIY trend is further fuelled by influencers sharing personal success stories and guidance via social media, including Instagram, TikTok and YouTube.”

In 2023, WeightWatchers bought the telehealth start-up Sequence for $106mn. Sequence then became the company’s clinical offering that could prescribe GLP-1s like Ozempic and Wegovy. Still, the company remained largely wedded to the workshop model even as its subscriber count fell 12 per cent to 3.3mn in 2024, and its new prescription business failed to make up the difference.

By comparison, Him and Hers, a telehealth company that went public in 2021 and also offers weight loss drug prescriptions, has seen its market capitalisation soar to more than $11bn. 

WeightWatchers is expected to exit bankruptcy next month. Its lawyers told the court current shareholders could get just under a tenth of the company’s reorganised equity, potentially worth $20mn or $30mn, if certain milestones are hit during the bankruptcy process.

Last year, the company’s then chief executive officer, Sima Sistani, told the FT that WeightWatchers was attempting to be a judgment-free “weight health” company embracing “a full spectrum of solutions”. She left the company five months later.

>>> US Gapping down

Gapping down
In reaction to earnings/guidance:
  • ERII -24.3%, DNUT -19.6%, FLNC -14%, ASPN -10.4%, G -10.2%, ARM -9.5%, LNW -8.5%, ARGX -8.4%, FTNT -8.1%, SHOP -8.1%, ENOV -8%, FWRD -7.8%, EQX -7.6%, CLF -7.4%, SGI -7.2%, SPB -6.7%, TLN -6.7%, STAA -5.8% (also initiates cost controls and restructuring; also withdraws previous outlook), ASLE -5.5%, WRBY -4.7%, MBUU -4.7%, GPRE -4.5%, BBSI -4.3%, CNR -4.3%, SEMR -4.1%, MUSA -3.9%, NTR -3.8%, FNF -3.6%, TAP -3.6%, PTON -3.3%, INSM -3.3%, CENX -3.1%, ARHS -3.1%, CTVA -3%, USFD -2.9%, ADMA -2.7%, PLNT -2.7%, CCOI -2.7%, YETI -2.6%, PENN -2.4%, HASI -2.3%, SWKS -2.2% (also names new CFO), QNST -2.1%, ZG -2%, TNK -2% (also declares $1/sh special dividend), BLBD -2%, WBD -2%, ADTN -1.9%, TM -1.9%, SBGI -1.7%, SITC -1.7%, FUN -1.7%, COLD -1.7%, GT -1.6%
Other news:
  • XGN -13.5% (stock offering)
  • VRDN -0.8% (receives FDA Breakthrough Therapy Designation for Veligrotug)

>>> US Gapping up

Gapping up
In reaction to earnings/guidance:
  • SEZL +36.1%, PBPB +35.7%, MXCT +31.8%, DAVE +28.7%, KRO +20.8%, HCAT +20.7%, EBS +20.3%, LZ +16.1% (also $100 mln increase in share repurchase authorization), QBTS +16%, TPC +15.7%, APP +14.9% (also to sell mobile gaming business to Tripledot), LEU +14%, KAR +12.6%, STKL +12.4%, STR +12.1% (also increases buyback authorization by $300 mln), ALVO +12.1%, RUN +11.5%, MGNI +11.2%, EPAM +10.5%, MEG +10.2%, ACVA +10.1%, UTI +9.8%, OMI +9.5%, TPR +9.1%, MELI +8.7%, VYX +8.6%, GRPN +8.5%, BMBL +8.4%, SN +8.4%, TTEK +8.2%, GDRX +8.2%, BV +7.9% (also $100 mln share repurchase program), CMP +7.5%, MQ +7.3%, TGLS +7.3%, PBI +7.2% (also increases dividend), IONQ +7% (also to acquire Lightsynq; also to launch satellite quantum key distribution network), COHR +6.8%, STGW +6.7%, AXON +6.2%, LTH +6.1%, ALGM +6%, MMS +5.9%, NXST +5.9%, CON +5.6%, CORZ +5.5%, AOSL +5.2%, APPN +5.2%, CXW +5%, FSLY +5%, NABL +5%, SNEX +4.8%, VAC +4.8%, WWW +4.8%, VCYT +4.7%, EVTC +4.7%, XRAY +4.7%, CVNA +4.6%, SITM +4.6%, STVN +4.5%, ROOT +4.4%, CXT +4.3%, RELY +4.3%, BKH +4.3%, KVUE +4.3%, QDEL +4.1%, JBI +4.1%, MRUS +4%, AMG +3.9%, MKSI +3.8%, EE +3.8%, CDE +3.8%, RVMD +3.8%, JOBY +3.7%, NOMD +3.7%, ORA +3.5% (also to sell its Blue Mountain geothermal power facility), SLNO +3.4% (also provides update on US launch of VYKAT XR), RXST +3.4%, CNQ +3.4%, ESE +3.3%, ECPG +3.3%, XPER +3.3%, PAAS +3.2%, SPNS +3.2%, IIPR +3%, ATHM +3%, SSYS +3%, SDGR +2.9%, IHG +2.9%, PRMB +2.7%, CPK +2.6%, ACIW +2.6%, APA +2.5% (also to sell 13,320 net acres from PR), ESTA +2.5% (also names new CEO), AWR +2.4%, QTWO +2.4%, ACMR +2.4%, HUT +2.4%, CF +2.3% (also authorizes new $2 bln share repurchase program), GXO +2.3%, BROS +2.2%, LNC +2.2%, BHF +2.1%, SNDK +2%, EOLS +2%, ABEV +2%, SYM +1.9%, NATL +1.9%, CSGS +1.9%, PRI +1.9%, YOU +1.9%, INSW +1.9%, BIGC +1.9%, CROX +1.8%, REAX +1.8%, JXN +1.7%, MIRM +1.7%, CG +1.6%, CW +1.5%, HLI +1.5% (also increases dividend), BUD +1.5%, COP +1.5%,
Other news:
  • DSGN +52.6% (files for $300 mln mixed securities shelf offering)
  • WGRX +8.1% (Secures $50 mln credit facility and launches XRP-Powered Payment Initiative)
  • HNST +6.5% (names new CFO)
  • DVAX +2.9% (issues statement to shareholders)
  • EIG +2.5% (CFO purchased 3,050 shares)
  • VLRS +2.5% (reports April traffic)
  • HUN +2.3% (CEO purchased 42,000 shares)
  • TKC +1.9% (wins tender)
  • FFAI +1.8% (files three patent applications through its future AIHER Subsidiary)

The Information : Ex-Synapse CEO’s Robot Startup Targets $1 Billion Valuation

Ex-Synapse CEO’s Robot Startup Targets $1 Billion Valuation

The Takeaway
• Synapse’s former CEO founded the startup before the fintech’s collapse
• The startup, Foundation, is close to raising $100 million
• It aims to sell humanoid robots to the military, car makers

A humanoid robotics startup founded by the former chief executive of failed fintech firm Synapse is aiming to finalize a $100 million fundraising that will value the year-old company at $1 billion, according to people who spoke to the company’s founders this week.

The startup is in talks to raise money from the family office of a member of the Saudi Arabia royal family among other investors, according to the people. The steep fundraising target, for a company that has just started to generate revenue, speaks to the recent investor excitement for robotics startups—even those whose leader has a checkered history.

CEO Sankaet Pathak incorporated Foundation in February 2024 shortly before the collapse of fintech Synapse amid a dispute with its banking partners about discrepancies in its ledgers, which saddled customers with tens of millions in unaccounted funds.

The Justice Department’s Southern District of New York convened a grand jury in 2024 to investigate the matter, according to a court filing in the Synapse bankruptcy case. Pathak has publicly denied any wrongdoing and blamed the banks for moving funds they shouldn’t have. He did not respond to a request for comment.

By that point, Pathak was running Foundation, which he co-founded with Tribe Capital co-founder Arjun Sethi and robotics startup cofounder Mike LeBlanc.

The San Francisco-based Foundation makes humanoid robots that aim to perform dangerous jobs in place of people, such as refueling vehicles in conflict zones. The robots could also manufacture goods in places with labor shortages or handle household tasks.

It plans to lease the robots and charge regular fees for software to run them. It’s been generating some revenue so far from grants and trials from customers in the U.S. military, carmakers and supply chain and logistics companies.

The company, which has around 35 employees, earlier this year debuted its first humanoid robot, Phantom. One of the robots played DJ at a San Francisco bar in January.

Last year the company raised $11 million in a seed round from investors including Tribe Capital and Defined Capital, an artificial intelligence-focused venture capital firm that was founded by a former Tribe managing partner. Defined and Tribe are also in talks to invest in Foundation’s latest round, according to people familiar with the discussions.

Foundation is one of a growing number of startups and large tech firms, including Tesla and OpenAI, looking to harness recent breakthroughs in AI to develop robots that can perform a wide variety of tasks. Figure AI, another humanoid robotics startup, has told investors it wants to raise $1.5 billion at a nearly $40 billion valuation despite generating no revenue last year.

The new valuation for Foundation would add to the handful of robot startups worth at least $1 billion, according to The Information’s Generative AI Database. Another humanoid maker, Agility Robotics, has been in talks to raise $400 million at a pre-investment valuation of $1.75 billion.

While investors are enthusiastic, the founders face a host of challenges, including obtaining enough data to train the robots and the rising cost of hardware due to the recent trade war with China.

They are also in fierce competition with each other. Pathak recently posted on X that Figure’s strategy of raising large sums of money before going to market was “flawed and a total distraction.” Pathak also claimed his robots were “twice as strong” as Figure’s.