>>> US Gapping down

Gapping down
In reaction to earnings/guidance:

  • X -0.8% (guidance)

Other news:

  • ACLX -12.6% (announces clinical hold for its iMMagine-1 Phase 2 Clinical Program)
  • PHVS -5% (entered into a subscription agreement relating to the offer and sale of an aggregate of 6,951,340 ordinary shares of the Company)
  • RYTM -3% (Presents Data Demonstrating BMI Reduction in Patients with Hypothalamic Obesity Treated with Setmelanotide over Six Months at ENDO 2023)
  • DDD -2.6% (updates its shareholders on its proposal for Stratasys (SSYS))
  • BABA -2.4% (announces Chairman and CEO succession plan)
  • BEEM -2.4% (acquires Amiga; provides guidance; prices 2.5 mln shares of common stock at $9.00 per share)
  • ATI -2% (secures estimated $1.2 billion in aerospace and defense sales commitments)
  • FUSN -1.3% (files for 4,784,689 share common stock offering by selling shareholders)

Analyst comments:

  • PFGC -1.1% (downgraded to Equal-Weight from Overweight at Morgan Stanley)

>>> US Gapping up

Gapping up
In reaction to earnings/guidance:

  • AVNS +4.7% (guidance), RTX +0.6% (guidance)

Other news:

  • DICE +38.4% (Lilly (LLY) to acquire DICE Therapeutics to advance innovation in immunology for $48 per share in cash)
  • VERA +8.8% (Positive Week 36 Efficacy and Safety Results of Phase 2b ORIGIN Clinical Trial of Atacicept in IgAN in Late-Breaking Presentation at 60th European Renal Association (ERA) Congress)
  • PGEN +6.6% (Receives Breakthrough Therapy Designation for PRGN-2012 AdenoVerse Immunotherapy for the Treatment of Recurrent Respiratory Papillomatosis)
  • ENTA +5% (announces positive data from a phase 1 clinical study of EDP-323, an oral, l-protein inhibitor in development for the treatment of respiratory syncytial virus)
  • MIST +3.7% (announces the publication of results in The Lancet from the Phase 3 RAPID clinical trial evaluating etripamil nasal spray, the Company's investigational calcium channel blocker, in patients with paroxysmal supraventricular tachycardia)
  • NR +3.3% (exploring strategic alternatives for the long-term positioning of its Fluids Systems division)
  • SNY +3.1% (prevails in Zantac arbitration initiated by Boehringer Ingelheim)
  • RDNT +2.8% (announces closing of public offering of 8.71 mln shares of common stock at price of $29.75/share, which includes entire overallotment option to underwriters of 1.14 mln shares)
  • CPRX +2.4% (to license North American rights to Vamorolone for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy from Santhera Pharmaceuticals)
  • PYPL +1.8% (PayPal and KKR (KKR) announce an exclusive multi-year agreement for a €3 billion replenishing loan commitment)
  • NKLA +1.7% (announces update on business optimization efforts, including streamlining of operations and decrease in cash spend; to reduce headcount, resulting in decrease in personnel-related cash spend by more than $50 mln annually)
  • BF.B +1.7% (divests Finlandia Vodka for $220 mln)
  • KEN +1.6% (announces the commencement by OPC's subsidiary CPV Group of construction of a solar power project with a capacity of 170 MW in Maryland, United States, in the PJM market, also called the Backbone project)
  • IOVA +1.4% (files mixed securities shelf offering)
  • KDNY +1.4% (Presents Data from CHK-336 Phase 1 Trial)
  • BBIO +1% (presents updated six month results from its phase 2 cohort 5 trial of infigratinib in Achondroplasia at the Endocrine Society 2023 Annual Conference)

Analyst comments:

  • CAR +4.1% (upgraded to Overweight from Equal-Weight at Morgan Stanley)
  • MLCO +2.2% (upgraded to Outperform from Neutral at Credit Suisse)
  • BIDU +0.8% (upgraded to Overweight from Equal-Weight at Morgan Stanley)

>>> US Early premarket gappers

Early premarket gappers

  • Gapping up:
    • DICE +40.2%, VERA +8.8%, FUSN +4.9%, RDNT +3.9%, NKLA +3.4%, SNY +2.7%, MCRB +2.4%, NMG +2.4%, CPRX +2.2%, KEN +1.6%, KDNY +1.4%, EVER +1.1%, EXK +1%
  • Gapping down:
    • ACLX -18.9%, BEEM -7.4%, RYTM -3%, BABA -2.4%, HEAR -2%, X -1.3%, DAL -0.7%, BF.B -0.5%

>>> Weekend Reading Summary

Weekend Reading Summary

Macro Related:
  • Chinese banks lowered lending rates (FXI). WSJ
  • Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Chinese President Xi to ensure that competitive relationship does not veer into a conflict. Mr. Xi praised both sides for making progress (FXI). NY Times
  • China and Cuba are negotiating terms for joint military training facility in Cuba. WSJ
  • Homeless numbers rising in several American cities. WSJ

Stock Specific:

  • Positive views on UMG & WMG. Barron's
  • Positive view on Adidas (ADDYY). Barron's
  • Positive view on Oracle (ORCL). Barron's
  • Positive view on KR, LEN, AMD. Barron's
  • Stellantis (STLA) limits gasoline powered car sales in 14 states amid emission rules. Bloomberg
  • Regulators are concerned about commercial real estate amid increasing vacancies (ESRT, VNO, SLG, BXP, ARE, CUZ, BDN, PDM). Bloomberg
  • Alibaba (BABA) co founder Jack Ma made appearance at company event. Bloomberg
  • GE Aerospace (GE) CEO Larry Culp says all options on table regarding A220 engine (EADSY). Reuters
  • Tesla (TSLA) offers discounts on Model S and Model X. ElecTrek
  • Google (GOOG) wants to move some Pixel production to India. Bloomberg
  • AstraZeneca (AZN) planning to spin off China unit. FT
  • Silicon Valley Bank (SIVB) customers in Asia might be on hook for loans. WSJ
  • Adobe (ADBE) acquisition of Figma could face long EU investigation. FT
  • UBS (UBS) will face hundreds of millions of dollars in penalties over Archegos Capital. FT
  • Abu Dhabi's sovereign wealth fund in discussions to take Lazard (LAZ) private. FT

FT : Northvolt receives $400mn funding from Canadian pension fund

Northvolt receives $400mn funding from Canadian pension fund
Investment Management Corporation of Ontario to boost Swedish battery start-up’s international expansion

One of Canada’s largest pension groups has invested $400mn into Northvolt, as the Swedish battery start-up pushes ahead with plans to build an additional factory in Germany. 

The Investment Management Corporation of Ontario — which has about $73bn invested and pools pensions from the region’s public sector — has bought convertible loan notes in the battery group, it said on Tuesday.

Northvolt, founded in 2017, is Europe’s largest homegrown battery maker, and its expansion is core to the region’s aim to avoid ceding battery leadership to Asian rivals, particularly China. 

The group has been constantly seeking funding as it expands from its current site near the Arctic Circle and is considering a stock market listing next year. 

“We’re excited to partner with IMCO’s fundamental equities and global infrastructure teams to build the future of clean energy together,” said Alexander Hartman, chief financial officer of Northvolt. “This investment fuels our expansion efforts, allowing us to further extend our global footprint and drive sustainable progress in our mission to deliver the world’s greenest battery.”

Convertible notes are debt that can convert to equity if certain conditions are met, and are an increasingly popular route for private groups to make large investments.
The deal is IMCO’s largest in Europe to date.

For Northvolt, the latest funding round is one of several it expects to make as it targets global expansion. It is in talks to raise about $5bn in equity financing, the FT reported in March, with a deal anticipated later this year.

This comes on top of the $1.1bn it raised through convertible notes last July, taking the total amount of debt and equity financing it has raised since its founding to $8bn. 

But the business is also examining a larger stock market listing, one that could give it a valuation of $20bn. The company is in talks with several banks about the move, with any float unlikely to happen until at least next year. 

The company is already Europe’s largest homegrown battery manufacturer, with aims to build a second facility in Sweden’s Gothenburg alongside Volvo.

Last month, the group picked Germany over the US for its third plant, after Berlin agreed to significant subsidies to counter the Inflation Reduction Act from the US.

>>> Europe : Brokers Upgrades & Downgrades - 20th of June 2023 V3(++)

>>> Up
* Barclays PT Raised to 320 pence from 300 pence at Jefferies
* Capital & Regional Raised to Add at Peel Hunt
* Heidelberg Materials AG Raised to Outperform at BNPP Exane
* Nordic Semiconductor Raised to Buy at Nordea; PT 160 kroner
* Philip Morris Raised to Buy at Citi; PT $117
* Shell Raised to Buy at AlphaValue/Baader (++)
* Supermarket Income Raised to Hold at Peel Hunt
* Vaisala Raised to Accumulate at Inderes; PT 44 euros

>>> Down
* Abrdn plc Cut to Hold at Numis; PT 217 pence (++)
* Agatos Cut to Hold at Intesa Sanpaolo; PT 50 euro cents (+)
* Cherry Cut to Neutral at Oddo BHF
* Colruyt Cut to Reduce at KBC Securities; PT 29 euros (+)
* Comet Cut to Market Perform at ZKB
* Getinge Cut to Hold at DNB Markets; PT 215 kronor
* Getinge Cut to Hold at Equita (++)
* Getinge Cut to Hold at Carnegie; PT 200 kronor
* Hexagon Cut to Hold at DNB Markets; PT 140 kronor
* Know IT Cut to Sell at Handelsbanken
* LXI REIT Plc Cut to Hold at Peel Hunt
* Mithra Pharma Cut to Hold at ING; PT 2.80 euros
* RWE Cut to Add at AlphaValue/Baader
* Sartorius Cut to Neutral at Oddo BHF; PT 325 euros
* Sats Cut to Hold at DNB Markets; PT 12 kroner
* Tritax EuroBox Cut to Hold at Peel Hunt
* Verkkokauppa.com Cut to Reduce at Inderes; PT 2.90 euros

>>> Initiation
* Adecco Rated New Buy at Redburn (+)
* Ecomembrane Rated New Buy at Equita; PT 12 euros (+)
* Hays Rated New Buy at Redburn (+)
* ManpowerGroup Rated New Buy at Redburn (+)
* NKT Rated New Buy at Carnegie; PT 500 kroner (++)
* Pagegroup Rated New Neutral at Redburn (+)
* Qiagen Reinstated Equal-Weight at Morgan Stanley; PT 50 euros
* Randstad Rated New Neutral at Redburn (+)
* Robert Half Rated New Neutral at Redburn (+)

>>> Call
* Comet Cut to Market Perform by ZKB Citing Lack of Further Upside (+)
* Know IT Slides as Handelsbanken Cuts to Sell on Weak Trends (++)
* Man Group Rated Buy at Peel Hunt, Low Valuation Is ‘Anomalous’
* Neoen Guidance Implies Meaningful Upside, Morgan Stanley Says
* Peel Hunt Rejigs Real Estate Ratings With Three Raises, Two Cuts
* Philip Morris Upgraded at Citi on Undervalued Smoke-Free Growth
* Philip Morris Upgraded at Citi on Undervalued Smoke-Free Growth (+)
* US Foods Upgraded at MS on Optionality, Performance Food Cut