TheChek News Flow

>>> US Gapping down

Gapping down
In reaction to earnings/guidance:

KARO -7.1%, APEI -6.9%, PNC -2.2%, HWC -1.3%

Other news:

FGNX -11.2% (stock offering by selling shareholders, relates to warrants)
ASPI -10.4% (files for $250 mln mixed securities shelf offering; also files for stock offering)
NEWP -7.7% (C$35.1 mln bought deal financing)
EYPT -6.5% (provides details for Phase 3 program on DURAVYU; also prices offering consisting of common stock and warrants)
IVA -5.6% (files for $300 mln ordinary share offering)
ARGX -2% (to Highlight Key Data and Breadth of Immunology Innovation at 2025 AANEM Annual Meeting and MGFA Scientific Session)
CIVB -1.9% (receives regulatory approvals to complete Farmers acquisition)
GRDN -1.7% (stock offering by co and by selling shareholders)

>>> US Gapping up

Gapping up
In reaction to earnings/guidance:

VERI +51.6% (also announces VDR contract wins with hyperscalers), DLTR +5.8% (guidance), BAC +4.9%, BG +4.8% (guidance), ASML +4.3%, FHN +4.3%, SYF +1.5%

Other news:

CVV +16.7% (receives order for two PVT150 systems)
PZZA +14.4% (APO making another attempt to acquire PZZA, according to Reuters)
BTDR +13.9% (Sept production and operations update)
LAES +7.7% (SEALSQ Corp partners with WISeSat.Space to test post-quantum communication in space via SpaceX launch)
NA +6.8% (announces up to $25.0 million share repurchase program)
XRAY +6.7% (SEC concludes investigation, does not intend to recommend any enforcement action)
BTSG +6.5% (to join S&P SmallCap 600)
GRND +5.6% (confirms receipt of letter from large shareholders re possible going private transaction)
WKEY +4.7% (SEALSQ Corp partners with WISeSat.Space to test post-quantum communication in space via SpaceX launch)
GPRE +3.5% (successful startup of CCS equipment)
GEVO +3.5% (received a letter from the DOE LPO granting an extension of the Conditional Commitment until April 16, 2026)
KROS +3.2% (plan for return of $375 million in excess capital)
NVDA +2.1% (Nscale contracts approximately 200,000 NVIDIA (NVDA) GB300 GPUs with Microsoft (MSFT) to deliver NVIDIA AI infrastructure across Europe and the U.S.)
CANG +2.1% (to terminate ADR program and list Class A Ordinary Shares directly on NYSE)
DRS +1.7% (US Army contract)
LBRT +1.2% (increases dividend)
OPRT +1.1% (adds additional warehouse capacity)

>>> US Early premarket gappers

Early premarket gappers

Gapping up:
- VERI +46.9%, CVV +16.7%, BTDR +14.3%, PZZA +12.6%, GEVO +8.6%, KROS +7.4%, LAES +7.1%, NA +6.6%, BTSG +6.5%, GRND +6%, XRAY +5.9%, ASML +4.5%, BG +4.4%, WKEY +4%, CFG +3.3%, DRS +2.6%, DLTR +2.5%, NVDA +2.4%, CANG +2.1%, SYF +1.5%, APO +1.4%, LBRT +1.2%, HAL +1.1%, OPRT +1.1%, STLA +0.9%, RGR +0.7%, SU +0.7%, NVFY +0.7%
Gapping down:
- KARO -11%, FGNX -10.5%, ASPI -8.7%, EYPT -7.4%, APEI -6.9%, IVA -5.6%, NEWP -3%, PNC -3%, ARGX -2.1%, CIVB -1.9%, GRDN -1.7%, HWC -1.2%

>>> Europe : Brokers Upgrades & Downgrades - 15th of October 2025 V3(++)

>>> Up

* Bossard Raised to Buy at Research Partners; PT 245 Swiss francs (+)

* flatexDEGIRO PT Raised to 37.50 euros from 32 euros at Citi

* Givaudan PT raised froùm 3,955 to 3,990 CHF at Berenberg

* JPMorgan Raised to Buy at Punto Casa de Bolsa; PT $327.63

* LDA SM Raised to Buy at JB Capital Markets; PT 1.60 euros

* Logitech Raised to Buy at Citi; PT 103.99 Swiss francs (++)

* NIBE Industrier Raised to Buy at Pareto Securities; PT 48 kronor

* Redeia Raised to Buy at CaixaBank BPI; PT 18.50 euros (+)

* Rovi Raised to Buy at Alantra Equities; PT 83.80 euros (+)
* Skandinaviska Enskilda price target raised to SEK 183 from SEK 175 at Citi

* Sunrun Raised to Market Perform at BMO; PT $19

>>> Down
* Alcon price target lowered to CHF 91 from CHF 101 at Citi

* Alma Media Cut to Reduce at Inderes; PT 15.50 euros

* America Movil ADRs Cut to Hold at Banorte; PT $18.69

* Antofagasta Cut to Sell at Peel Hunt; PT 2,200 pence

* BMW Cut to Hold at Jefferies; PT 85 euros

* Ekinops SAS Cut to Sell at Portzamparc; PT 2.30 euros (+)

* Ericsson Cut to Accumulate at OP Corporate Bank; PT 100 kronor (+)

* Ericsson Cut to Hold at Danske Bank Markets; PT 100 kronor (++)

* Erste Cut to Sell at Biuro Maklerskie mBanku; PT 79.60 euros (++)

* GE Vernova Cut to Sell at Rothschild & Co Redburn; PT $475

* Gerresheimer Cut to Equal-Weight at Barclays; PT 23 euros (+)

* Gerresheimer Cut to Hold at Hauck & Aufhaeuser; PT 30 euros (+)

* ICG Cut to Underperform at BNPP Exane; PT 2,100 pence

* Lyko Cut to Hold at Danske Bank Markets (++)

* Mapfre Cut to Neutral at JB Capital Markets; PT 4.30 euros

* Nexi Cut to Neutral at BNPP Exane; PT 5.30 euros

* Novartis Cut to Hold at Bank Vontobel (+)

* Siemens Energy Cut to Neutral at Rothschild & Co Redburn

* Theon International Cut to Reduce at Kepler Cheuvreux (++)

* Vossloh Cut to Neutral at Oddo BHF; PT 94 euros
* Wallenius Wilhelmsen Cut to Hold at Arctic Securities

* Ypsomed PT cut from 450 to 420 CHF at Barclays

>>> Initiation

* Adidas ADRs Rated New Neutral at BTIG

* Air France-KLM Rated New Equal-Weight at Morgan Stanley

* BASF Resumed Buy at Citi; PT 52 euros

* Capri Holdings Reinstated Buy at BTIG; PT $30
* Carlsberg Rated New Outperform at Oddo BHF; PT 985 kroner

* Costco Rated New Buy at BTIG; PT $1,115

* DoorDash Rated New Buy at Guggenheim

* EasyJet Rated New Underweight at Morgan Stanley

* Gap Rated New Buy at BTIG; PT $30

* IAG Rated New Overweight at Morgan Stanley

* ID Logistics Group SACA Rated New Buy at Marex; PT 750 euros (+)

* Instacart Rated New Neutral at Guggenheim

* Jet2 Rated New Equal-Weight at Morgan Stanley

* Kohl's Rated New Neutral at BTIG

* Legal & General Rated New Add at Peel Hunt; PT 255 pence

* Levi Strauss Rated New Buy at BTIG; PT $27

* Lufthansa Rated New Underweight at Morgan Stanley

* Lyft Rated New Buy at Guggenheim

* Macy's Rated New Neutral at BTIG

* Nike Rated New Buy at BTIG; PT $100

* PVH Rated New Buy at BTIG; PT $100

* Ralph Lauren Rated New Buy at BTIG; PT $400

* RENK Group Cut to Sell at Citi; PT 64 euros (+)

* Ryanair Rated New Overweight at Morgan Stanley

* Tapestry Reinstated Buy at BTIG; PT $140

* Uber Rated New Buy at Guggenheim

* Under Armour Rated New Neutral at BTIG

* Walmart Rated New Buy at BTIG; PT $120

* Wizz Air Rated New Equal-Weight at Morgan Stanley

>>> Call

* Antofagasta’s Valuation Is Stretched, Cut to Sell at Peel Hunt (+)

* Aumovio Rated New Underperform at Jefferies; PT 30.60 euros

* BMW Downgraded to Hold at Jefferies, Now Favoring Mercedes

* IAG Top Airline Pick at Morgan Stanley, Lufthansa Underweight

* Nibe Rises as Pareto Upgrades to Buy on Improving Outlook (++)

* Renk Slides as Citi Says Firm Overvalued Following Stellar Rally (+)
* Uber and Lyft Rated New Buy at Guggenheim, Instacart New Neutral

L'Informe : Ardian Raises €12 Billion for Its Latest Infrastructure Fund

Ardian Raises €12 Billion for Its Latest Infrastructure Fund

Including co-investment commitments, the Place Vendôme-based firm will be able to deploy up to €20 billion across Europe and, to a lesser extent, North America.

Ardian has long been a dominant player in the private equity secondary market, following the $30 billion fund it raised earlier this year. But the Paris-based firm is now cementing its leadership in infrastructure as well. According to our information, Ardian has gathered €12 billion for its sixth-generation infrastructure fund — a colossal amount that hits its hard cap (the maximum fundraising target). On top of that, an additional €8 billion has been secured through co-investment vehicles. With a total investment capacity of around €20 billion, Ardian now stands as the largest infrastructure investor in the European market, with a small portion of the fund also earmarked for the United States and Canada.

The situation came together in the final stretch. Shortly before the summer break, Ardian’s target was closer to a €10 billion final close, amid challenges convincing certain Middle Eastern investors, including Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF). The process eventually unlocked thanks to strong demand from American Limited Partners. Several major U.S. pension funds — such as those for the New York Police Department, California’s teachers, state employees from Texas and Indiana, and Los Angeles County — as well as public entities like the New Mexico State Investment Council, all committed capital.

Ardian Infrastructure VI is therefore twice the size of its predecessor, positioning the firm alongside global infrastructure heavyweights such as the Nordic manager EQT and U.S.-based GIP. In March, EQT also hit its hard cap with a €21.5 billion fund, while GIP raised $25.2 billion this summer — a global record.

Ardian’s infrastructure team, led by Mathias Burghardt, is active across renewable energy, transport, and digital infrastructure. This year alone, the firm acquired renewable power producer Akuo for over €2 billion and increased its stake in London Heathrow Airport by 10 percentage points to 32.6%. Notably, Ardian granted Saudi Arabia’s PIF a key role in the Heathrow transaction.

Ardian declined to comment.

L'Informe : Ardian lève 12 milliards d’euros pour son fonds d’infrastructure

Ardian lève 12 milliards d’euros pour son fonds d’infrastructure

En cumulant les poches de co-investissement, la firme de la place Vendôme va pouvoir investir pas moins de 20 milliards d’euros en Europe, et dans une moindre mesure en Amérique du Nord.

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On savait Ardian omniprésent sur le marché secondaire du private equity, depuis la levée d’un fonds de 30 milliards de dollars en début d’année. Mais la firme de la place Vendôme est aussi sur le point d’ancrer son leadership en matière d’infrastructure. Selon nos informations, elle a amassé 12 milliards d’euros pour son fonds de 6e génération. Un montant colossal, correspondant au hard cap (le maximum visé), auquel s’ajoutent près de 8 milliards d’euros provenant des poches de co-investissement. Avec une force de frappe de quelque 20 milliards, Ardian fait donc désormais office de plus gros investisseur du marché européen, une petite partie de cette somme pouvant être investie aux États-Unis et au Canada.

La situation s’est débloquée dans la dernière ligne droite. Peu avant la trêve estivale, l’ambition d’Ardian était alors plus proche d’un closing final à 10 milliards, en raison de difficultés à convaincre certains investisseurs du Moyen-Orient, comme le PIF, le fonds public d’investissement d’Arabie saoudite. Mais la situation s’est débloquée, notamment grâce à l’engouement des « Limited Partners » américains. Nombre de fonds de pension, comme celui de la police de New York, des enseignants de Californie, des employés de l’État du Texas, de l’Indiana ou des employés du comté de Los Angeles, ainsi que des entités publiques comme le New Mexico State Investment Council ont répondu présent.

Ardian Infrastructure VI s’avère ainsi deux fois plus important que son prédécesseur. Il vient ainsi directement concourir face à d’autres géants mondiaux de l’infrastructure, à l’instar du gérant nordique EQT ou de l’américain GIP. En mars, le premier a aussi bouclé un fonds au hard cap, à 21,5 milliards d’euros, tandis que le second a levé cet été 25,2 milliards de dollars : un record mondial.

L’équipe « infra » d’Ardian, pilotée par Mathias Burghardt, est notamment active dans les secteurs des énergies renouvelables, des transports et des infrastructures numériques. Cette année, elle a notamment racheté le producteur d’énergie renouvelable Akuo pour plus de 2 milliards. Et elle a renforcé sa participation de 10 % pour atteindre 32,6 % dans l’aéroport britannique d’Heathrow. Un dernier dossier dans lequel Ardian a accordé une place de choix au saoudien PIF.

Contactée, Ardian n’a pas souhaité commenter.

WWD : Moncler Launches Campaign Fronted by Al Pacino, Robert De Niro

Moncler Launches Campaign Fronted by Al Pacino, Robert De Niro

Marking their first joint campaign, the legendary actors embody friendship and connection in Moncler's global "Warmer Together" initiative.

MILAN — In such divisive and challenging times, Moncler is celebrating love — and warmth — in alignment with its product offer of cozy puffers and outerwear.

To convey the message of human warmth and connection, the brand has turned to two legendary friends, Al Pacino and Robert De Niro, who appear in Moncler’s “Warmer Together” global campaign bowing Wednesday. This is their first shared campaign.

“For decades, Moncler has been associated with winter and puffer jackets, but I have always felt that Moncler is about something deeper: love and a sense of togetherness,” said chairman and chief executive officer Remo Ruffini. “These values have shaped everything we’ve done for over 70 years. Across every product and every campaign, there runs a consistent thread of emotion and human connection. Through their story of friendship, Al Pacino and Robert De Niro embody everything Moncler truly stands for: affection, warmth and the belief that we are all better and warmer together.”

Lensed in New York by renowned portrait photographer Platon, the campaign unfolds in bold black-and-white images and a series of short films hinging on the five themes of friendship, respect, connection, trust and warmth, completed by behind-the-scenes moments.

“Warmth was never about the outside. It was always about what was happening on the inside,” De Niro says in a teaser released ahead of the launch. In the campaign, he wears a Maya 70 jacket, a down-quilted hero model crafted in longue saison recycled nylon with a detachable hood, and a signature of the brand. The campaign also highlights the Bretagne jacket, introduced for fall 2025, a short-hooded puffer with a cocooning silhouette.

“Friendship is the greatest thing you can have. Friends, people whom you share the same world with. There is just an innate trust. And the understanding of life,” Pacino says.

The two prolific actors have worked together in movies including “The Godfather Part II,” “Heat,” “The Irishman” and “Righteous Kill.”

As a soundtrack to the Moncler campaign, artist and Moncler ambassador Tobe Nwigwe, together with his wife Fat, has recorded a new rendition of Bill Withers’ classic track “Lean on Me,” echoing the campaign’s message of comfort found in companionship.

Starting Wednesday, Moncler brings “Warmer Together” to life globally across outdoor, press, web and social, followed by a second wave of films and behind-the-scenes moments in the days after.

Moncler was founded in 1952 in Monestier-de-Clermont, near Grenoble, France, and it is issuing a manifesto with the campaign that reads: “Warmth was never about the outside. It was always about what was happening on the inside. Warmth comes from the walks and the talks. From pulling up a chair and having a chat. The caring conversations. More than the weather, warmth is, and will always be, about being together, no matter what. Warmer Together.”

TechCrunch : Inaudible sound might be the next frontier in wildfire defense

Inaudible sound might be the next frontier in wildfire defense

A decade ago, two college students built a fire extinguisher that snuffed out a fire using nothing more than a booming 10-inch subwoofer. The internet lapped it up, and Jimmy Fallon even booked a demonstration for “The Tonight Show.”

But since that brief viral moment, there hasn’t been much more than a whisper about the technology.

It’s not for lack of trying. The college kids weren’t the first to prove the concept. DARPA was on the case in 2012; and a search of the scientific literature reveals dozens of researchers investigating the idea.

One startup now claims to have cracked the problem. Sonic Fire Tech has built an acoustic fire suppression system that doesn’t just extinguish flames, it might also protect homes and other buildings from wildfires. The startup has raised a $3.5 million seed round from investors, including Khosla Ventures and Third Sphere, TechCrunch has exclusively learned.

Wildfires cost the U.S. as much as $424 billion annually. The problem has become so acute in places like California that insurers are refusing to renew policies after repeated blazes have reduced large swathes of the state to ashes.

Sonic Fire Tech has been developing its technology over the last several years. Michael Thomas, who is chairman of the startup’s board, had been tinkering with the idea of using sound to fight fires, and when he hit a wall, he reached out to Geoff Bruder over LinkedIn. Bruder had worked for NASA, where he focused on heat and acoustics.

“This is kind of a new-age founding story,” Bruder, the startup’s CEO and CTO, told TechCrunch.

Bruder was intrigued with Thomas’ idea and set about building a prototype. “I got a subwoofer and some parts from Home Depot and AutoZone and said, ‘Hey, let’s see if we can do any better than other people had,’” Bruder recalled. “We knocked a fire out from seven feet in my driveway.”

The startup soon ditched the subwoofer and moved to lower frequencies. The problem with audible frequencies is that any system powerful enough to suppress a fire would be damaging to people’s hearing, Bruder said. “You’ve basically got to throw a speaker design in the trash and start from scratch,” he said.

There are competing theories as to how exactly acoustic energy can disrupt combustion, but the soundless demonstrations certainly suggest that Sonic Fire Tech is onto something.

The new system uses a reciprocating piston much like those inside a car’s engine, but it is significantly larger. An electric motor turns a crankshaft, which pulses the two-foot piston to produce infrasound, the technical term for sound that’s below people’s hearing range, or about 20 Hz.

“Since we designed everything ourselves, we dropped the frequency to where we’re below audible range, which helps us transmit further, and it makes it safe,” Bruder said.

Sonic Fire Tech’s current record is 25 feet. A bigger system could work as far away as 330 feet, Bruder said. The company plans to sell and install its system for about 2% of a home’s value, and it’s talking with insurance companies to qualify the technology.

To protect a house, Sonic Fire Tech routes infrasound from a single generator through rigid ducts that sit on the roof’s ridge and under the eaves. On the ridge, they fire down the pitch to catch any fires that might start in debris in the gutters. Under the eaves, they are aimed toward the ground to suppress any flames that pop up near the walls. The system turns on when sensors detect a flame.

A home-based system draws around 500 watts of electricity, and in case of a power outage, Sonic Fire Tech is drawing up plans to use lead-acid batteries for backup. Unlike sprinkler systems, it doesn’t require a source of water, which can be in short supply in wildfire country.

The startup is working with PG&E and Southern California Edison to demonstrate the technology on homes, and it has signed a letter of intent with a chemical storage facility.

“The natural progression is, if we get certified as a sprinkler replacement, then you can just run a pipe into your house and protect your kitchen and everywhere you would need to protect,” Bruder said.

FT : UK data centre start-up Nscale strikes $14bn Microsoft deal in push for IPO

UK data centre start-up Nscale strikes $14bn Microsoft deal in push for IPO

Nvidia-backed AI cloud group secures huge new contract as chief executive eyes public listing in ‘back end of next year’

Nvidia-backed cloud provider Nscale has struck a deal with Microsoft worth up to $14bn, in a boost to the UK-based start-up’s hopes of launching a successful initial public offering as soon as next year.

The companies announced on Wednesday that Nscale will deploy about 104,000 of the latest Nvidia GB300 chips for Microsoft at a facility in Texas over the next 12-18 months. Nscale will also deliver another 12,600 graphics processing units (GPUs) for Microsoft at the Start Campus data centre in Portugal.

The move builds on Nscale’s deals last month with both Microsoft and OpenAI to build artificial intelligence infrastructure in the UK and helps position the London-headquartered company for a stock market debut — if it can complete construction of the facilities on time.

“We have public market ambitions, and execution is an enormous focus of mine,” Nscale chief executive Josh Payne told the Financial Times. He hoped to go public in the “back end of next year”, he added.

The deal is the latest indication that Big Tech companies are pushing ahead with construction of infrastructure for AI, despite growing concerns from investors that the market for it is starting to overheat.

Spun out of an Australian Bitcoin miner and relaunched as an AI cloud provider just last year, Nscale has raised $1.5bn in new funding over the past month alone, valuing it at about $3bn. Nscale planned to close its next private financing “soon . . . simply due to overwhelming demand” from investors, Payne said.

Nscale’s new deals with Microsoft build on an existing contract valued at $6.2bn for Nscale to deploy 52,000 Nvidia GPUs for Microsoft at its facility in Norway.

Nscale and Microsoft did not provide a figure for Wednesday’s deals but based on a similar contract value per GPU, the new contracts would likely generate as much as $14bn in revenue for the start-up.

Nscale’s latest Microsoft contract is a huge undertaking for a company that has quickly become one of Europe’s best-capitalised AI data centre providers. Its sudden rise has fuelled concern that Nvidia, the dominant supplier of AI chips, is using its formidable balance sheet to pump the biggest tech bubble since the dotcom boom.

Last month, Nvidia chief executive Jensen Huang said the chipmaker would invest £500mn in Nscale to accelerate its deployment of up to 300,000 of its GPUs, declaring it a “national champion for the UK”.

Huang said AI facilities running those chips could generate as much as £50bn in revenues over the next six years. “Nscale is going to be a very large UK technology company,” Huang said.

Nvidia’s backing turned investor sentiment around on Nscale very rapidly, according to Spencer McLeod, partner at G Squared. “The inflection for this business transpired in two weeks,” he said. “Suddenly everyone went from sitting on the fence to going all in.”

The Silicon Valley chipmaker is also investing in several companies that buy its GPUs — from Nscale’s cloud rivals CoreWeave and Nebius to OpenAI — to accelerate a new generation of AI-focused data centres.

Payne told the FT he had no concerns that the data centre market was overheating because it had “real hard asset value protecting your downside”.

“The larger chance we see a market slowdown is not going to be because of lack of demand, it’s going to be because of lack of power,” he said. “We’ve almost sold out our capacity for the next 12 months. And we would expect that to continue as we get into the next GPU cycle.”

As well as Nvidia, Nscale’s strategic investors include server maker Dell and networking provider Nokia, as well as private investors such as Sandton Capital, G Squared, Fidelity and Blue Owl.

Last month’s $1.1bn financing was led by Aker, the Norwegian energy and industrial group that Nscale is already working with to build a data centre that will serve customers, including OpenAI, in Narvik in northern Norway.

However, while Nscale has expanded its facility in Norway, it is yet to complete a new build from scratch.

“Nscale is a young company, there’s no question about that,” said Payne. “However, the individuals that we have involved and the resources we have are [those] of a much more experienced company.”

Payne pointed to Alex Sharp, a data centre industry veteran who is now Nscale’s chief operating officer, and David Power, chief technology officer, who has been building supercomputers for 20 years, as examples of the expertise that he has been able to recruit since publicly launching the business last year.

Securing affordable and largely renewable sources of energy has been crucial to the young company winning such big contracts.

The site in Texas, which Nscale is leasing from Bitcoin miner Ionic Digital, has 240MW of power today, sourced from the Texas grid. Microsoft had an option to add a further 700MW of capacity starting in late 2027, the two companies said.

The campus could ultimately scale up to as much as 1.2GW, Payne said, similar to the computing capacity that OpenAI is building with its Stargate project with Oracle and Crusoe in the same state. 1GW of power consumption is as much energy as 1mn typical US households consume in a year.

Jon Tinter, Microsoft’s president of business development and ventures, said: “Nscale is an ideal partner for this mission, given its deep expertise in providing AI infrastructure services at scale.”

Plenty of chips from Nvidia and big contracts from Microsoft will also help Nscale raise the capital it needs to continue its growth. “This is a high capex intensity business,” Payne said. “You’re never not fundraising.”

>>> Europe : Brokers Upgrades & Downgrades - 15th of October 2025 V2(+)