Gapping down
In reaction to earnings/guidance:
- ZTO -5.7%, CPA -4.7%, CUB -4.5%, M -4.3%, BJ -2.3%, NVDA -1.9%, SQM -1.9%, KEYS -1% (also announces $750 mln buyback program)
Other news:
- MGTX -9.8% (priced underwritten public offering of 5 mln of its ordinary shares at a public offering price of $12.85/share)
- BLI -5% (prices offering of 3 mln shares of common stock at $86.00 per share)
- GPRO -4% (convertible notes offering)
- STOK -1.8% (stock offering)
- ABB -1.5% (provides medium-term outlook at its Capital Markets Day)
- GPI -1.4% (reinstates quarterly dividend)
Gapping up
In reaction to earnings/guidance:
- SONO +19.7% (says it reached an inflection point in SepQ; also announces $50 mln stock repurchase plan), LB +16.9% (also comps +28%), FUTU +10.2%, PLCE +7.7%, BERY +6.6%, JACK +5.9% (also reports strong comps at +12.2%), BILI +5.5%, ATKR +4.7%, NUAN +3.9% (also to sell HIM Transcription and EHR Go-Live Services businesses), OCSL +3.9%, BRC +3.9%, KLIC +2.6%, PAGS +2.4%, NTES +2.3%, UGI +1.6%, .
Other news:
- APVO +32.5% (receives $50/share acquisition proposal from shareholder Tang Capital)
- CORT +21.1% (Patent Trial and Appeal Board upheld the validity of all claims of CORT's '214 patent)
- LNTH +11.3% (FDA approves sNDA for DEFINITY Room Temperature)
- AQST +9.9% (completes FDA meeting on Libervant; believes no additional clinical studies needed for NDA resubmission)
- RDHL +8.9% (announces unanimous DSMB recommendation to continue phase 2/3 COVID-19 study with opaganib; Emergency use authorization applications planned as early as Q1/2021)
- PLYA +7.9% (prices secondary offering of 13,575,739 of its ordinary shares by certain selling shareholders at $4.10 per share)
- RIG +4.1% (announces that Petrobras extends two rig contracts)
- PLTR +3% (receives prototype contract from the US Army)
- ORTX +3% (FDA clearance of IND application for OTL-200 for metachromatic leukodystrophy)
- SBGI +2.6% (Sinclair Broadcast and Bally's for strategic partnership for long-term sports betting and iGaming)
- VERI +2.5% (received three new patents for its battery control technology)
- BNTX +2.3% (QGEN and BNTX to collaborate on diagnostic development for HPV squamous cell carcinoma)
Early premarket gappers
- Gapping up:
- APVO +38.5%, SONO +20.4%, LB +16%, LNTH +12.3%, SBGI +7.4%, CORT +7.3%, JACK +6.5%, BILI +4.9%, RIG +4.1%, NUAN +3.9%, NTES +3.9%, OCSL +3.1%, PLTR +3%, PAGS +2.4%, BNTX +2.3%, ATKR +2.2%, CAMT +2.1%, UGI +1.6%
- Gapping down:
- MGTX -8.4%, ZTO -6.1%, CPA -4.7%, CUB -4.2%, GPRO -3.1%, BLI -2.5%, STOK -1.8%, ABB -1.7%, NVDA -1.6%, GPI -1.4%, ALGN -1.2%, JAMF -0.7%, SBUX -0.6%, TGI -0.5%, STAG -0.5%, ORA -0.5%
>>> Up
* Arrow Global Raised to Hold at Peel Hunt; PT 166 pence
* EasyJet Raised to Buy at Liberum; PT 1,300 pence
* Embracer Group AB PT Raised to 250 kronor at Berenberg
* Jacquet Metals SA Raised to Buy at Portzamparc; PT 13 euros (+)
* Renault Raised to Reduce at AlphaValue
* Rosenbauer Raised to Add at Baader Helvea; PT 40 euros
* Tallinna Sadam Raised to Buy at SEB Equities; PT 2 euros
* Trainline PT Raised to 527 pence at Deutsche Bank
* Tryg Raised to Buy at SEB Equities; PT 197 kroner
* Vonovia Raised to Buy at Jefferies; PT 66 euros
* Wm Morrison Supermarkets Raised to Buy at Goldman; PT 215 pence
>>> Down
* Amplifon Cut to Hold at Stifel; PT 38 euros
* FuelCell Cut to Neutral at JPMorgan
* Hannover Re Cut to Hold at SocGen; PT 155 euros
* Munich Re Cut to Hold at SocGen; PT 250 euros
* Reckitt Cut to Underperform at Jefferies; PT 5,845 pence
* RSA Cut to Hold at Investec; PT 685 pence (+)
* Siemens Cut to Hold at SocGen; PT 115 euros
* Technogym Cut to Hold at Stifel; PT 9.30 euros
* TGS Cut to Sell at SEB Equities; PT 105 kroner
>>> Initiation
* AAK Rated New Equal-Weight at Barclays; PT 181 kronor
* Augean Rated New Buy at Panmure Gordon; PT 225 pence
* Barry Callebaut Reinstated Equal-Weight at Barclays
* Chr. Hansen Reinstated Underweight at Barclays; PT 484 kroner
* Corbion Rated New Overweight at Barclays; PT 48 euros
* Credito Emiliano Raised to Neutral at Exane; PT 5.20 euros (+)
* Energean PLC Rated New Outperform at Credit Suisse (+)
* Glanbia Reinstated Overweight at Barclays; PT 11 euros
* Kerry Group Reinstated Overweight at Barclays; PT 133 euros
* MorphoSys ADRs Rated New Neutral at Goldman; PT $32
* Solaria Energia Reinstated Buy at Goldman; PT 24 euros
* Suedzucker Rated New Underweight at Barclays; PT 11.60 euros (+)
* Tate & Lyle Reinstated Equal-Weight at Barclays; PT 700 pence
* Vallourec Resumed Neutral at Oddo BHF (+)
* Zeal Network Rated New Buy at Hauck & Aufhaeuser; PT 52 euros (+)
>>> Call
* Arrow Global Set for Bigger, More Profitable Future: Peel Hunt
* Dermapharm a Unique Opportunity, Growing Above Market: Jefferies
* Easyjet Addressing Challenges, Has Pent-Up Demand: Liberum
* Good Outlook for Mortgage-Heavy Banks in Sweden: Handelsbanken (+)
* PNC’s BBVA Deal Deserves ‘Stringent’ Review, Maxine Waters Says
* Reckitt Consensus Too High, Faces Challenges in Flu: Jefferies
* SBB Gets New Buy Rating at Citi, Valuation ‘Attractive’
* Wacker Neuson Management Shakeup ‘Big Surprise:’ Jefferies
News Corp hits at Bertelsmann ‘behemoth of books’
Publisher raises antitrust concerns over German media group prevailing in battle for Simon & Schuster
Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp has warned that Bertelsmann will become an anti-competitive “behemoth of books” if it acquires the publisher Simon & Schuster, in an outspoken attack on a rival bidder for the company.
With final offers for the ViacomCBS publishing arm expected this week, Robert Thomson, chief executive, pointedly noted the “serious” antitrust issues that arise should German media group Bertelsmann prevail and expand the world’s biggest publishing empire.
“However cute and clever the structure, if Bertelsmann is their beneficiary [of the Simon & Schuster sale], it will be a book behemoth,” he told the News Corp annual shareholder meeting on Wednesday. “And this will certainly be a profound antitrust issue for the entire book industry and, no doubt, for authors around the world.”
Bertelsmann’s Penguin Random House already towers over the publishing trade, with around a 25 per cent market share in America that is almost twice that of its nearest rivals. With Simon & Schuster, one of the top five publishers in the US, it would hold about a third of the US market by revenue.
Thomas Rabe, the Bertelsmann chief executive, has publicly expressed his interest in Simon & Schuster and is planning to make an offer this week, potentially with private equity group Atairos as a financial partner.
Mr Thomson declined to elaborate on the planned bid by News Corp’s HarperCollins, the world’s third biggest book publisher, saying he would not “speculate on speculation and scuttlebutt”. Several people familiar with the process told the FT a final offer from News Corp was expected.
ViacomCBS has sought to set a minimum sale price set at $1.7bn, according to two people involved in the auction, a target well in excess of initial expectations. This has priced out private equity groups, leaving the contest dominated by trade buyers such as News Corp and Bertelsmann.
French media group Vivendi, which owns a roughly 27 per cent stake in the world’s second biggest book publisher Lagardère, is also weighing a bid.
Competition authorities rarely block five-to-four mergers and Mr Rabe has said he is confident they would use a broad view of the competitive players in the market.
“We looked at this and we don’t think it is an issue,” Mr Rabe told the Financial Times in September. “If you look at the market holistically, particularly the strength of Amazon, and it includes self-publishing and the like, we don’t think this will be an obstacle.”
But HarperCollins and other book publishers note Bertelsmann would gain outsized power in specific genres if it was able to acquire Simon & Schuster, with particular clout in hardcover fiction in the US market.
Within these genres, Penguin and Simon & Schuster combined would hold market share well in excess of the 40 per cent that can raise serious concerns with antitrust enforcers.
Any antitrust challenge that might arise would be potentially problematic for ViacomCBS, since it would delay its ability to redeploy the proceeds from the sale.