Gainers:
- Keywords Studios (+50%): The UK-listed Irish publisher of software for the video game and entertainment industries has received a takeover offer from private equity firm EQT, valuing it at £2.2 billion. The group had already rejected four proposals from the Swedish investor, but this enhanced offer finally seems to delight the board, which is recommending the offer to shareholders.
- Grayscale Ethereum Trust (+48%): This week, the SEC, the US financial markets watchdog, approved spot Ethereum ETFs, i.e. funds backed by Ether, four months after authorizing the equivalent for Bitcoin. The announcement boosted the cryptocurrency's capitalization (+27% in 5 days) and that of the sector's players.
- First Solar (+35%): The US photovoltaic specialist is rising on the back of favorable recommendations from analysts. BNP Paribas, Piper Sandler, Citigroup and UBS have significantly raised their price targets on the stock, anticipating strong demand for the group's products from utilities and data centers in the US. The stock has gained 45% since the beginning of the year.
- Moderna (+25%), BioNtech (+6%): After two cases of human infection by avian flu were confirmed in the United States, US health authorities held talks with laboratories on the development of a possible vaccine for humans, boosting sector stocks. Moderna shares have risen by nearly 65% since January 1.
- Wix.com (+23%): The web development platform is doing well. The company reported solid quarterly results, ahead of expectations, with sales up 12% and net income of $24 million, compared with a loss of $10.4 million a year ago. In the wake of this, several analysts raised their recommendation and price target on the stock.
- Hargreaves Lansdown (+22%): The British financial services group received and then rejected a takeover proposal from a consortium including CVC Advisers and the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, which valued the company at £4.67 billion. However, the main shareholder, Peter Hargreaves, is open to privatization and has held talks with other investors. This should boost the bidding.
- Nvidia (+12%): The AI star continues to set one record after another. Buoyed by demand for its data center products, the group reported $26 billion in first-quarter revenues, better than expected, and $14.9 billion in profits, up 628% year-on-year. The chip specialist's stock, which passed the $1,000 mark, has already gained 116% since January.
Losers:
- Polestar (-36%): Last month, the Swedish electric vehicle manufacturer announced a second delay in the publication of its Q4 and 2023 financial results, while it rectified accounting inaccuracies in its 2021 and 2022 financial statements. It had, however, confirmed its intention to publish its Q1 results at the end of May. In the end, this will not be the case, as the Group has once again given the all-clear. Last week, Polestar also received a warning from Nasdaq for failing to file its annual report with the SEC, thereby risking delisting from the index.
- XP inc (-12%): This Brazilian brokerage firm, listed in the United States, did not fall short of expectations. It reported higher sales and net income for the quarter, but these results, which missed estimates, failed to convince the markets. The company also announced a $195 million share buyback program.
- Reddit (-12%): Last week, the social network jumped after unveiling a partnership with OpenAI, enabling Reddit to leverage the start-up's technology, and the ChatGPT platform to use Reddit content to power its AI models. A week later, there was a backlash: it seems that the platform's aficionados didn't appreciate this overture.
- Target (-10%): Inflation and economic uncertainty continue to weigh on Americans' discretionary spending and consequently on the results of the retailer, which announced that it expects comparable sales and profits well below Wall Street expectations for the second quarter. However, the company said it was cutting prices again on a wide range of products to reverse the trend.
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