Research Calls
- Upgrades:
- Asana (ASAN) upgraded to Buy from Neutral at DA Davidson; tgt raised to $21
- EnLink Midstream upgraded to Buy from Neutral and placed on 90-day Positive Catalyst Watch at Citigroup; tgt $13
- Exact Sciences (EXAS) upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Citigroup; tgt raised to $90
- First Quantum Minerals (FQVLF) upgraded to Neutral from Underweight at JP Morgan
- Hilton (HLT) upgraded to Overweight from Equal Weight at Barclays; tgt raised to $168
- ITV plc (ITVPY) upgraded to Buy from Hold at Deutsche Bank
- Nuvei Corporation (NVEI) upgraded to Outperform from Neutral at Credit Suisse; tgt raised to $45
- Vertex (VERX) upgraded to Neutral from Underperform at BofA Securities; tgt raised to $20
- VICI Properties (VICI) upgraded to Overweight from Sector Weight at KeyBanc Capital Markets; tgt $36
- Downgrades:
- ABM Industries (ABM) downgraded to Neutral from Outperform at Robert W. Baird; tgt lowered to $51
- DiaSorin S.p.A. (DSRLF) downgraded to Underperform from Neutral at Exane BNP Paribas
- Etsy (ETSY) downgraded to Underperform from Buy at Jefferies; tgt lowered to $85
- Fortune Brands Innovations (FBIN) downgraded to Underperform from Neutral at Credit Suisse; tgt $48
- Gaming and Leisure Properties (GLPI) downgraded to Sector Weight from Overweight at KeyBanc Capital Markets
- Guardant Health (GH) downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Citigroup; tgt lowered to $33
- Highwoods Prop (HIW) downgraded to Equal-Weight from Overweight at Morgan Stanley; tgt lowered to $26
- Hyatt Hotels (H) downgraded to Equal Weight from Overweight at Barclays; tgt lowered to $125
- loanDepot (LDI) downgraded to Mkt Perform from Outperform at William Blair
- Ranger Oil (ROCC) downgraded to Hold from Buy at Truist; tgt lowered to $43
- The Trade Desk (TTD) downgraded to Sell from Hold at The Benchmark Company; tgt $38
- Ternium S.A. (TX) downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform at Itau BBA; tgt raised to $49
- Others:
- Bausch + Lomb (BLCO) initiated with a Hold at Needham
- Bio-Techne (TECH) placed on Positive Catalyst Watch at Citigroup
- BigCommerce (BIGC) initiated with a Neutral at DA Davidson; tgt $11
- CSG Systems (CSGS) initiated with a Hold at Stifel; tgt $60
- CVR Energy (CVI) initiated with a Neutral at UBS; tgt $36
- CVR Energy (CVI) initiated with a Neutral at UBS; tgt $36
- CymaBay Therapeutics (CBAY) initiated with a Buy at BTIG Research; tgt $15
- Danaher (DHR) placed on Positive Catalyst Watch at Citigroup
- Delek US Holdings (DK) initiated with a Neutral at UBS; tgt $29
- Exelixis (EXEL) initiated with an Overweight at Wells Fargo; tgt $23
- HF Sinclair (DINO) initiated with a Neutral at UBS; tgt $58
- Marathon Petroleum (MPC) initiated with a Buy at UBS; tgt $165
- MoonLake Immunotherapeutics (MLTX) initiated with a Buy at BTIG Research; tgt $36
- Nurix Therapeutics (NRIX) initiated with an Overweight at Barclays; tgt $20
- Par Pacific (PARR) initiated with a Neutral at UBS; tgt $34
- PBF Energy (PBF) initiated with a Neutral at UBS; tgt $53
- PerkinElmer (PKI) placed on Positive Catalyst Watch at Citigroup
- Sysco (SYY) resumed with a Buy at BofA Securities; tgt $90
- Valero Energy (VLO) initiated with a Buy at UBS; tgt $176
- VTEX (VTEX) initiated with a Buy at DA Davidson; tgt $5
Gapping down
In reaction to earnings/guidance:
- SIVB -30.6% (lowers guidance; announces proposed offering of $1.25 bln of common stock and $500 mln of depositary shares; also in sympathy with SI news), ARHS -16.3%, MDB -10.9%, GCO -5.8%, JD -5.6%, MIRM -5.4%, KRO -5%, VSEC -3.8%, ESTE -3.2%, MEI -3.2%, BTAI -3%, DCBO -1.3%, NDLS -1%
Other news:
- SI -50.3% (to wind down operations and voluntarily liquidate Silvergate Bank)
- SBNY -9.8% (in sympathy with SI news)
- CWAN -6.3% (prices secondary offering of common stock priced at $15.00 per share)
- CS -5.5% (announces technical delay of publication of 2022 Annual Report)
- STGW -4.7% (16 mln share offering launched by selling shareholders)
- COIN -3.8% (in sympathy with SI news; confirmed has no client or corporate cash at Silvergate)
- HELE -2.6% (CFO to step down)
- PTON -2.1% (US import ban over its streaming technology according to Reuters)
- TNL -1.3% (increases dividend)
- LLY -1.1% (provides update on A4 Study of Solanezumab)
- AER -0.8% (prices secondary offering of 23.0 mln shares at $58.50 per share)
Analyst comments:
- ETSY -6.7% (downgraded to Underperform from Buy at Jefferies)
- GH -3.1% (downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Citigroup)
- FBIN -2.5% (downgraded to Underperform from Neutral at Credit Suisse)
- TX -1.1% (downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform at Itau BBA)
- H -1% (downgraded to Equal Weight from Overweight at Barclays)
Gapping up
In reaction to earnings/guidance:
- ASAN +18%, SOVO +14.4%, BBW +12.2%, HLLY +6.6%, HDSN +5.8%, ANIP +5%, BJ +4.7%, VET +4.5%, FCEL +4.5%, EWCZ +3.7%, PSFE +2.7%, EOLS +2.1% (also files for $250 mln mixed securities shelf offering), SMRT +1.8%, NAPA +1.3%, GE +1% (guidance at investor conf)
Other news:
- MGNX +9.6% (to sell its royalty interest on TZIELD to DRI Healthcare Trust for up to $200 mln)
- GPRK +5.5% (increases dividend)
- SONX +4.5% (files for $100 mln mixed securities shelf offering)
- UBER +1.3% (considering spinning off its Freight Logistics arm according to Bloomberg)
- AXP +1.2% (increases dividend; also approves share repurchase program for up to 120 mln shares)
- AZN +1% (Tagrisso and Imfinzi updates)
Analyst comments:
- EXAS +2.3% (upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Citigroup)
- HLT +0.6% (upgraded to Overweight from Equal Weight at Barclays)
Early premarket gappers
- Gapping up:
- ASAN +21%, BBW +11.5%, SOVO +9.4%, NAPA +6.7%, VET +6%, MGNX +5.6%, HDSN +5.6%, BJ +5%, MIRM +4.9%, SONX +4.5%, EOLS +2.1%, PTRA +2%, LYTS +1.9%, AXP +1.2%, AZN +1.2%, UBER +0.9%, JD +0.8%
- Gapping down:
- SI -46.4%, SIVB -29.1%, MDB -11.3%, SBNY -9.1%, CWAN -6.8%, CS -5.9%, HELE -5.8%, STGW -5%, KRO -5%, VSEC -3.8%, ESTE -3.2%, COIN -3%, ONL -3%, NDLS -2.5%, TNL -2.2%, PTON -2.1%, AER -1.6%, SPOT -1.5%
Ukraine reels from massive Russian missile attack
In a rare move, Moscow fires six of its nuclear-capable hypersonic missiles
Russia has carried out one of its largest strikes on Ukraine, including with nuclear-capable hypersonic missiles which hit cities and knocked off back-up power at Europe’s largest atomic plant.
Of the more than 80 rockets fired, six were nuclear-capable hypersonic Kh-47 Kinzhal air-to-surface missiles, according to Ukrainian officials. The assault has left much of Kyiv without electricity.
Russia has never before fired so many Kinzhals in one attack, said Yuriy Ignat, spokesperson for Ukraine’s air force, who added that Russia only has dozens of these missiles. The barrage included other types of missiles Ukraine was unable to intercept, such as X-22 supersonic missiles.
The use of these weapons suggests Moscow prioritised the destruction of Thursday’s targets, which included residential areas in Kyiv and Europe’s largest nuclear power plant at Zaporizhzhia, whose back-up power was cut off in the attack, according to nuclear power company Energoatom.
Josep Borrell, the EU’s chief diplomat, said on Thursday that 40 per cent of Kyiv’s population was without electricity as a result of the strikes, along with some blackouts in other parts of the country.
The Zaporizhzhia plant was forced to rely on diesel generators for cooling systems, the company said. Located in southern Ukraine and under Russian occupation since March 2022, the plant has been repeatedly hit by artillery strikes and has lost back-up power supply several times.
“Currently, the power plant is de-energised and stays in blackout mode for the sixth time during the occupation,” Energoatom said in a statement.
“If the off-site power supply to the plant cannot be restored . . . an accident may occur having radiation consequences for the whole world,” the company added.
Explosions were also recorded in the capital city Kyiv and in the western Ukrainian region of Lviv, where officials said five civilians were killed.
The full extent of damage to Ukraine’s electricity infrastructure is not yet clear. Weekly air strikes in previous months triggered hours-long power outages across the country, but supply was largely stable in past weeks during a relative lull in Russian missile attacks.
“It’s been a difficult night. A massive rocket attack across the country,” Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a Telegram post. “The occupiers can only terrorise civilians. That’s all they can do. But it won’t help them. They won’t avoid responsibility for everything they have done.”
E-bike maker Cowboy raises new funding round and launches AdaptivePower
Brussels-based startup Cowboy has been in the news lately for its cash burn rate. But the company wants to control its narrative again with some product and business news. Cowboy is launching a new feature called ‘AdaptivePower’, which automatically adjusts the power of the motor depending on the current slope and weather conditions.
Cowboy’s electric bikes are pretty straightforward — there is no gear and there are no + and – button to adjust the power of the motor. The company thinks riding a bike should be as easy as jumping on the saddle and putting a foot on the peddle.
But that minimalistic approach has some drawbacks. While the default power mode works fine in most cities, it’s not enough in hilly cities like San Francisco.
Instead of releasing a new bike with gears or buttons, the company is leveraging the sensors in the existing Cowboy lineup, such as the gyroscope and accelerometer. While these sensors were originally included for crash and theft detection, they can be leveraged to make the bike smarter. Based on the current torque, speed and other factors, Cowboy automatically increases the power delivery of the electric motor or reduces it.
This feature will be rolled out to Cowboy’s latest models that were released a couple of years ago — the C4 and its step-through version the C4ST. It will be an over-the-air software update. Once the update is installed, you’ll be able to choose between the ‘adaptive’ and ‘eco’ options in the mobile app for the motor power settings.
In other product news, the company is also releasing some new colors for the C4ST as you can see in the image at the bottom of this article.
New funding round at a lower valuation
In January 2022, Cowboy announced an $80 million funding round. A bit more than a year later, the company is raising more money. But it isn’t disclosing the dollar figure of this new funding round.
Of course, things have changed drastically for tech startups. VC firms aren’t deploying capital as rapidly and startup founders sometimes struggle to raise their next funding round. For a hardware company like Cowboy, supply chain issues and inflation also had some impact on the company’s margins.
A few weeks ago, Cowboy co-founder and CTO Tanguy Goretti said in a spicy LinkedIn post that the company was “in the process of closing a €15M round” (that’s $15.8 million at today’s exchange rate). From what I’ve heard, Cowboy ended up raising a bit less than that, but an equity crowdfunding part is going to round up that round.
He also added in his LinkedIn post that this recent funding round is a down round. The company’s total valuation is down by 44% compared to the previous funding round. In other words, it’s a long and windy road for Cowboy and the past few months have been more difficult than expected.
But the startup’s existing investors chose to invest more money in the company, which should improve the company’s runway right before the peak season of Cowboy sales (between March and October). After some logistics challenges a year or two ago, Cowboy’s margins are also back to where they should be.
With AdaptivePower, Cowboy can now think about other potential vehicles as well. For instance, this feature would work particularly well with cargo bikes. But there’s nothing to announce on this front for now.
“2022 has been our best year ever with €41 million in revenue and sales growing by 2.7x year over year,” co-founder and CEO Adrien Roose said in a statement. Cowboy has sold 50,000 since 2018. And 2022 wasn’t so bad at all as the company told me it managed to sell 20,000 bikes in a single year.
Turkey raises $2.25bn in first bond deal since February earthquake
Tens of billions of dollars needed to rebuild homes, hospitals and schools
Turkey has raised $2.25bn in its first international bond deal since last month’s earthquakes killed thousands and ravaged a swath of the country.
The country sold the dollar-denominated debt, which matures in 2029, at a yield of 9.5 per cent, according to a person familiar with the matter.
Turkey will need to spend tens of billions of dollars to rebuild residences, commercial buildings, hospitals, schools and infrastructure in the wake of the February 6 quake, say engineers and international organisations.
Economists expect Turkey to fund the recovery partially through fundraising on debt markets and bilateral deals with international partners.
Turkey has retained its access to international financing despite deep concerns over President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s management of the economy.
Inflation exceeded 85 per cent last year as the central bank slashed interest rates in contrast to most other countries which hoisted them higher.
Thursday’s debt deal was first reported by Bloomberg. Deutsche Bank, HSBC and JPMorgan were hired on Wednesday to manage the fundraising.
France's EDF sounds out possible advisers as it weighs options for Edison-sources
- EDF under pressure to raise cash to fund revamp
- Edison minority stake sale seen as possible
- Sale of Edison's gas storage business also under review
MILAN/LONDON, March 8 (Reuters) - EDF (EDF.PA) has been in contact with potential advisers that may assist the French power giant to review strategic options for its Italian subsidiary Edison as it seeks ways to cut debt after a record loss, two sources said.
While a decision over Edison's future is expected only later this year, EDF has started informal discussions with banks jostling for an advisory role, the sources told Reuters.
The sources said various options were being considered for Edison, which one senior energy industry source said could be valued at 7 billion to 9 billion euros ($7.4 billion-$9.5 billion).
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The sale of a minority holding has gained ground as an alternative to a full blown sale, one of the sources said, adding that preparations for a divestment could start in earnest in the third or fourth quarter.
EDF, which is in the process of being fully nationalised, is under pressure from the French government to fix its finances. In a December letter seen by Reuters, Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne gave EDF's new government-appointed CEO Luc Remont six months to come up with a strategic plan for the utility and the group has been expected to look at how it could extract value from Edison as part of that overhaul.
EDF declined to comment. Edison was not immediately available for comment.
Given the size of the deal EDF is expected to hire more than one adviser, the two sources said.
Edison, which has been owned by EDF since 2012, produces and distributes electricity from traditional and renewable sources and is on course for record earnings in 2022-2023.
When asked in February about the fate of EDF's foreign operations, Remont said it would be a mistake for the group to sell international businesses that were making a positive contribution to its earnings just because it faced a challenging situation at home.
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But he also said the group did not need to own 100% of its assets to develop their business.
An initial public offering of Edison is among the options under consideration but is seen as less likely than a sale, one of the sources said.
Separately, another three people close to the matter said another move also being considered is the sale of Edison's gas storage business in Italy, which would fit the Italian government's energy security strategy.
State-controlled Italian gas grid firm Snam (SRG.MI) has already said it would be interested in the asset if it was up for sale.
EDF slumped to a net loss of 17.9 billion euros ($19 billion) in 2022, hammered by an unprecedented number of outages at its nuclear reactors. Its net debt rose to 64.5 billion euros from 43 billion a year earlier.
Remont has promised significantly better results for this year, but the group must also fund big investments of 33 billion euros through 2028 on its existing reactors, while a plan announced by French President Emmanuel Macron to build six new reactors by 2050 is expected to cost 52 billion euros.