Wall Street’s main stock indexes fluctuated between gains and losses ahead of a batch of large tech earnings results and amid investor concern over new coronavirus variants.
Microsoft Corp., Advanced Micro Devices, and Texas Instruments are among the tech names scheduled to report earnings results after markets close.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index and the Dow Jones Industrial Average both rose 0.1%. Meanwhile, the S&P 500 Index was almost flat.
Twitter has entered into a binding agreement to settle the shareholder derivative lawsuits that accused CEO Jack Dorsey and other executives of misleading shareholders about Twitter’s growth, while selling their own personal stock. Under the terms of the settlement, Twitter’s insurers will pay $38 million to the company that will be used for general corporate purposes. The lawsuits were first filed in October 2016 by shareholder Jack Porter, and accused Dorsey and his colleagues of misrepresenting the growth of Twitter’s user base and artificially inflating the share price. Shares surged 6.1%.
Shares of Apollo Global Management increased 4.4% after announcing that billionaire CEO Leon Black will step down from his position by July 31, but will continue to serve as the investment manager’s chairman. Black will be replaced by Apollo’s co-founder, Marc Rowan. The announcement coincides with the release of an independent review that exonerates Black from any criminal activities linked to financier Jeffrey Epstein. According to the findings of the review, “Apollo never retained Epstein for any services and Epstein never invested in any Apollo-managed funds.”
In M&A news, NCR has struck a deal to buy all of the outstanding shares of non-bank ATM operator Cardtronics, in a deal valued at $2.5 billion, including debt. NCR has agreed to pay Cardtronics stockholders $39 per share. The deal comes after rival bidders, which included an entity affiliated with Apollo Global Management and Catalyst Holdings, didn’t sweeten their $35 per share offer. NCR shares declined less than 1%, while Cardtronics retreated 0.1% and traded at $38.77.
US casino operator, Caesars Entertainment, has acquired a minority stake in fantasy sports platform, Superdraft. Caesars has an option to boost its stake to 100% over time at pre-determined levels. SuperDraft will join Caesars’ online brands, which include World Series of Poker, Caesars Online Casino, and William Hill, and will become part of Caesars’ single wallet solution that allows members more options to play games both live and online. Shares slipped 1.6%.
In automotive news, Veoneer has inked an agreement with chipmaker Qualcomm to jointly develop software technology for its advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS). As part of the collaboration, Veoneer and Qualcomm will create a software and chip platform for ADAS and autonomous driving solutions. For the purpose of the partnership, Veoneer has created Arriver, a software unit dedicated for the development of the complete perception and drive policy software stack. Arriver, which will be 100% owned by Veoneer, will be integrated with Qualcomm’s Snapdragon Ride portfolio of System on a Chip (SoC) hardware. Veoneer shares depreciated 4.2%, while Qualcomm fell 1.6%.
In cannabis news, shares of Tilray jumped as much as 14% after the cannabis producer said that it was selected by a French national health agency to supply GMP (Good Manufacturing Processes) certified medical cannabis products to patients in the country. The cannabis producer will distribute medical cannabis products for medical experimentation in France, for a period of 18 months to 24 months. The experiment is due to begin in the first quarter of this year. Tilray’s CEO, Brendan Kennedy said, “Today’s announcement marks another milestone for Tilray as we expand operations in Europe.“
In earnings news, Crane was down 3.5% after reporting disappointing fourth quarter results. The industrial product manufacturer earned $1 per share, which missed analysts’ expectations of $1.10 per share. EPS declined 37% year-on-year. Revenues also came in lower than expected at $726 million compared to analysts’ forecasts of $736 million. The company expects 2021 to see a recovery based on improving trends seen towards the end of 2020.
