| The S&P 500 rallied 1.4% on Thursday, and the Dow closed with a 1.0% gain. The Nasdaq led the US benchmark indexes with a 1.7% advance, and the small-cap Russell 2K jumped 1.5%. Today, futures are sliding ahead of the open. S&P 500 contracts are down 0.4%. US regulators are close to making a deal that would allow them to review audit records of US-listed Chinese companies.Droughts in the Midwest US are fueling supply concerns in the grain market, as recent data shows many soybean and corn crops are failing under extreme heat. Electronic Arts [EA] - Last Close: $127.61 Electronic Arts is surging on buyout rumors. The USA Today broke a story today that claimed rumors had surfaced indicating Amazon has made a formal offer to acquire Electronic Arts. Market chatter has been speculating about a potential EA acquisition for weeks, with potential suitors including Apple, Disney, and Amazon. Now, it appears Amazon has pulled the trigger with an offer. USA Today cites sources close to the matter and says it expects an announcement to be made later today. Electronic Arts did not reply to our requests for comment. EA is leading the S&P 500 with a 7.4% gain. My Take: This could be a great opportunity to buy the rumor. Shares are only up 7.4%, and the stock could go up more depending on the terms of the deal. However, rumors are rumors, so nothing is certain here. Farfetch [FTCH] - Last Close: $9.54 Farfetch is trending after releasing its quarterly earnings report. The London-based eCommerce stock released its Q2 earnings results following Thursday's closing bell. Farfetch reported an adjusted Q2 loss of $0.21 per share, worse than the year earlier's loss of -($0.17) per share but enough to beat the Street's -($0.25) EPS forecast. Revenues grew to $579.35 million from $523.31 million a year ago and beat the consensus estimate of $566.53 million. FTCH is rallying on news of the strong quarter. It's up 14.3% on active premarket trading volume. My Take: Farfetch is showing signs of progress, but I think it still has a ways to go before it becomes an established eCommerce company. However, it's on pace to break through a key resistance point at $10 per share if it holds onto its gains, and more gains may follow. This could be a great swing trade candidate. Micro Focus Intl. PLC [MFGP] - Last Close: $3.13 News of buyout deal is skyrocketing shares of Micro Focus International. The enterprise software company is soaring after a late Thursday announcement revealed it had agreed to be acquired by Open Text in a $6 billion deal. Under the terms of the deal, Open Text will pay 532 pence per share to acquire Micro Focus. That's nearly double MFGP's Thursday closing price of 267.8 pence. Open Text (OTEX.NaE) said the friendly acquisition will bring US$400 million in costs savings and will be funded by US$4.6 billion in debt and US$1.3 billion in cash and is subject to shareholder, court and regulatory approvals. The deal is expected to close in early 2023, and it will help Open Text achieve its goal of becoming "one of the world's largest software and cloud businesses". Shares of MFGP have skyrocketed 94.3% on news of the deal. My Take: Wow, what a move. Unfortunately, there's not a lot of upside left in this trade, and there could be significant downside if the deal falls through. If you're not already in this stock, safe to say you missed the boat. American Virtual Cloud Technologies [AVCT] - Last Close: $0.1360 Shares of American Virtual Cloud Tech are rallying after a major announcement. Following Thursday's closing bell, the pure-play cloud firm said it had initiated a strategic review process to explore the sale of the entire business or selected assets. As part of the effort, the company has named a new CEO. Chief Transformation Officer Kevin Keough will take the wheel, and CFO Tom King will transfer to interim chief of staff. Larry Mock will again assume the role of board chair, replacing Michael Tessler, who will leave the company. Former CEO Darrell Mays will continue to serve as executive vice chairman, the company said. News of the board shakeup and deal-making agenda is lifting shares of AVCT to big premarket gains. The stock is up 41.8% and it's this morning's most active premarket stock. My Take: If AVCT wants to sell itself, there could be a big catalyst in its future. Then again, just because AVCT wants to sell itself doesn't mean anyone wants to buy it. This could be a promising speculative trade, but make sure you're aware of all the risks before you place a big bet. |
