December 11, 2019
Plant-based meat alternative food maker Beyond Meat Inc BYND announced Wednesday its Beyond Beef product will be available to Canadian consumers. Canadian consumers have been enjoying Beyond Meat’s plant-based burgers and sausages since May.
December 11, 2019
Morgan Stanley – one of the world’s biggest investment banks – isn’t saving anyone from tears this holiday season: it just announced plans to make this Christmas the last one for 1,500 employees globally. The job cuts – which will mostly impact the technology, operations, and trading divisions – are part of a year-end efficiency push from the bank.
December 11, 2019
December 11, 2019
December 11, 2019
Public transport company Stagecoach has issued its interim results, reporting a decline in revenues to £800m from £1,010m in the previous year and adjusted earnings per share at 10.0p versus 12.9p. The company highlights the results reflect a reduction in scale of the group over the last eighteen months. That said, statutory earnings per share stood at 9.8 pence versus a loss of 5.5 pence in the last year. Stagecoach confirmed its full year expectations for earnings per share and maintained an interim dividend at 3.8 pence per share.
December 10, 2019
December 10, 2019
December 10, 2019
Multiple methods exist to gauge momentum in a stock, which entails both short term and long term positive returns. For the past three months the STI has generated a 1.5% total return, bringing its three year return to 20%.
December 10, 2019
Stocks this morning are falling in the US with S&P 500 futures pointing to a 10 point drop. Certainly, nothing to worry about, and substantially filling the gap from Friday’s sharp move higher. Exactly as I expected to happen when I noted it yesterday in my midday commentary and last night’s write-up.
December 10, 2019
Retailer Ted Baker has posted its third profit warning in a year and announced the departures of executive chairman David Bernstein and chief executive Lindsay Page. The group says full-year profits will be between £5m-£10 after trading in November and over the Black Friday weekend was below expectations with lower than anticipated margins. The announcement comes a week after the company warned of an £25m accounting error.
December 9, 2019
December 9, 2019
December 9, 2019
It’s just your typical Monday. Taking things from the top, China reportedly wants to get a trade deal worked out as soon as possible; there is some M&A buzz in the biotech space with ArQule (ARQL) and Synthorx (THOR) being taken out at huge premiums; worries about repo market functioning at year end are said to be festering; and there is a lot of interest in macro matters later in the week.
December 9, 2019
Democratic presidential candidates, including Joe Biden, Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders, have proposed a new tax on financial transactions. While candidates argue these new taxes could help pay for ambitious healthcare programs that could benefit the middle class, critics say they would suffocate retail stock traders.
December 9, 2019
The takeover battle for takeaway food platform Just Eat has taken another twist with South African technology investor Naspers lifting its cash offer to £5.1bn. The 740p-a-share offer, made through Naspers’ subsidiary Prosus, compares to the 710p bid it made in October, valuing the business at £4.9bn. Naspers says the new offer represents a 25.6% premium to Just Eat’s closing price the day before its October bid and a 24.6% premium to the recommended all-share offer from Dutch food delivery group Takeaway.com.
December 6, 2019
December 6, 2019
December 6, 2019
December 6, 2019
December 6, 2019
Hostess Brands (TWNK) announced this week that it would pay $320 million for Voortman Cookies, the number-one player in wafer cookies and sugar-free cookies in the United States. We have a positive view of the deal, which brings appealing 5% revenue growth and a low 20s operating margin after synergies expands Hostess’ presence into the $8.4 billion adjacent cookie category.
December 6, 2019
Phoenix Group Holdings has unveiled a £3.2bn takeover of rival closed life assurance and pension funds consolidator ReAssure Group from Swiss Re and Japan’s MS&AD Insurance Group. The deal creates Europe’s largest life and pensions consolidator with £329bn of assets under administration and 14.1 million policies. It will see Phoenix pay £1.2bn in cash and issue shares that will give the vendors a combined 28% stake in the enlarged group.
December 5, 2019
Only one sector, the Telecom sector, has a rising ROIC. Unsurprisingly, Telecom is also the top-rated sector according to our sector rating methodology and earns our Very Attractive rating. The Telecom sector – and specifically BCE Inc. (BCE: $48/share) – is this week’s Long Idea.
December 5, 2019
Tax discriminates against U.S. companies, is inconsistent with prevailing principles of international tax policy, and is unusually burdensome for affected U.S. companies. Specifically, USTR’s investigation found that the French DST discriminates against U.S. digital companies.
December 5, 2019
Investors are looking for consistent, competitive returns in their equity portfolios, and we believe our risk management team partnering with our portfolio management teams is crucial in that pursuit.
December 4, 2019
December 4, 2019
December 4, 2019
America struck back against France’s controversial new tech tax late Monday – and big US firms will be celebrating. While it failed to gain European Union-wide approval, France went ahead and introduced a 3% “digital services tax” anyway in August. La République is keen to ensure tech giants pay a fair level of tax relative to the amount of business they actually do in the country.
December 4, 2019
Rio Tinto has moved to “curtail operations” at its 74%-owned Richards Bay Minerals heavy minerals sands joint venture in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa after an escalation in violence in nearby communities. The company says there has been an increase in criminal activity towards employees, one of whom was shot and seriously injured.
