Here are the companies making headlines on Wall Street.
MSG Entertainment – The parent company of Madison Square Garden announced Friday that it is buying media company MSG Networks in an all-stock deal. The companies said in a release that the combined entity would be better positioned to take advantage of the expansion of sports betting. Shares of both companies fell more than 9%.
Nio – The U.S.-traded shares of the Chinese electric vehicle stock fell more than 8% after Nio announced that it was idling one of its production plants for five days. The company cited the global semiconductor shortage as a reason for the pause and lowered its guidance for first-quarter deliveries.
Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase – Most bank stocks rose slightly after the Federal Reserve announced that the companies could resume buybacks and raise dividends after June 30. Shares of Bank of America rose 1.4%, while JPMorgan added 0.7%.
Snowflake – Shares of the data company gained more than 5% after Evercore ISI initiated coverage with an outperform rating. “We believe there are few software firms over the last decade that have as large a growth opportunity as Snowflake,” the firm wrote in a note to clients. Evercore has a $311 target on the stock, which is about 36% above where shares traded Friday.
ViacomCBS, Discovery – Shares of the media companies continued to tumble as Wall Street worries about the valuation of these television and streaming stocks. Shares of ViacomCBS fell 12.9% after being downgraded to underweight from equal weight by Wells Fargo, while those for Discovery dropped 19.5% after being downgraded to equal weight from overweight by the same firm.
BowX Acquisition – The special purpose acquisition company jumped nearly 8% after news that it will take office-sharing company WeWork public in a deal worth $9 billion, including debt. The valuation is a far cry from the $47 billion that WeWork was valued for a traditional IPO in 2019.
Root – Shares of the auto insurer jumped more than 16% after a bullish call from Citron Research. The research firm said Root is a “disruptive tech company” and that it’s been misunderstood. Citron recently ditched its short-selling strategies after the GameStop mania and is now only focused on the long side.
Progress Software – The tech stock jumped 4.9% after reporting stronger-than-expected results for the first quarter. Progress reported earnings of 91 cents per share on revenue of $129 million. Analysts surveyed by Refinitiv were projecting 78 cents in earnings per share and $128 million in revenue.
