Gainers:
- Cerevel Therapeutics (+ 58%): The US biopharma agrees to be acquired by AbbVie for $8.7 billion. AbbVie is looking to expand its portfolio of treatments for neurological diseases such as schizophrenia and Parkinson's disease. This is not a risk-free operation, since some of Cerevel's flagship treatments are still in mid-stage studies. As a reminder, AbbVie already acquired ImmunoGen a few days ago for around $10 billion.
- Smart Metering Systems (+47%): The British energy infrastructure group, specializing in utility connections, smart metering and energy management, has accepted a takeover offer from investment giant KKR, valuing it at around £1.4 billion, a 40% premium to Wednesday's closing price. The deal is expected to close in the first quarter of 2024.
- Viking Therapeutics (+39%): The US biopharmaceutical company is riding the wave of weight-loss drugs. Its dedicated treatment, VK 2735, showed an average weight reduction of up to 6% in an early-stage study, and could well earn it a nice place in the lucrative market for obesity treatments. The stock gained 91% since January 1.
- Robinhood Markets (+23%): The trading specialist yesterday launched Robinhood Crypto, a commission-free crypto-currency trading app in the European Union. 25 crypto-assets can be traded on the platform. A few days earlier, as part of its expansion plans, it announced the roll-out of a brokerage service in the UK.
- SentinelOne (+18%): The US cybersecurity group reported quarterly sales ahead of Wall Street estimates, up 42% year-on-year, and revised upwards its annual revenue forecasts. The company's growth is being driven by increased cybersecurity spending, growing customer volumes, and the popularity of its Data Lake and Purple AI programs. Following the announcements, several analysts raised their price targets on the stock.
- Carnival (+14%), Norwegian Cruise (+14%), Royal Caribbean (+8%): Cruise operators are once again on a roll, buoyed by a high booking rate and a very encouraging outlook for 2024. Carnival, the sector's largest, reported record quarterly sales ($6.9 billion), enabling it to post its first quarterly net profit since the start of the pandemic ($1 billion). However: the group is burdened with $24 billion more debt than its pre-Covid levels.
- Walgreens Boots Alliance (+10%): Shares in the US drugstore chain surged on the back of a favorable court ruling in the Tylenol trial, which could save the company from a series of lawsuits. Kenvue Inc, the company behind the drug, is also clearly on the rise. Walgreens sales and margins are recovering, and the group is expanding its Covid and flu screening services.
Losers:
- Sprinklr, Inc (-32%): The customer experience management software company reported solid quarterly results, with revenues and earnings ahead of expectations, and higher subscription revenues. But the market sanctioned the company's timid forecasts for the coming year, which were revised upwards but fell short of expectations. Analysts also held back management's talk of a deceleration in future growth.
- Palantir Technologies (-15%): Two downward vectors for the US data analysis specialist. On the one hand, Japanese company Sompo Holdings sold part of its long-term stake in the group, reaping a gain of $584.2 million in the process. On the other hand, the Group is poised to lose a major contract with the US Army, according to analyst William Blair, who reiterated his bearish opinion on the stock. However, the share has gained 169% over the year, boosted by the AI trend.
- Games Workshop (-14%): The manufacturer and retailer of figurines and board games showed signs of slowing down in the past quarter, after a solid first quarter. While the company unveiled interim results and a rather encouraging outlook for the future, the market was disappointed. Analysts pointed in particular to the drop in licensing revenues, expected to come in at just £12 million, compared with £14.3 million a year earlier.
- Texas Pacific Land Corp (-13%): The landowner and resource manager's stock folded on insider selling. BlackRock and other institutional investors reduced their positions in the group. Note that the stock has lost 35% since the beginning of the year.
|