Stocks Tick Lower After Two Straight Weeks of Gains for Major Indexes

Dayforce Shares Soar on Report of Talks With PE Firm

1 hr 17 min ago

Dayforce (DAY) shares surged Monday on indications that private equity firm Thoma Bravo is in talks to purchase the human resources software provider.

Bloomberg reported that people familiar with the matter indicated that an agreement could be reached in as soon as a few weeks. They added that while the discussions are in the advanced stage, they could be delayed or stumble, and another suitor might emerge. 

In a note to investors, analysts at Jefferies noted that considering Dayforce’s stock had lost 28% year-to-date as of Friday’s close and the depressed valuation, “we are not surprised by PE interest.”

The analysts added they also wouldn’t be surprised to see Dayforce trying to sell because of the weakness in the stock price. They explained that it has been “tough sledding” for the company since the shares’ post-COVID highs, and they have underperformed the entire HR software group since the firm’s April 2018 initial public offering.

Dayforce shares were up 26% in recent trading, leading S&P 500 gainers.

–Bill McColl

Soho House Stock Soars on $2.7 Billion Take-Private Deal

1 hr 48 min ago

Shares of Soho House & Co. (SHCO) soared Monday after the exclusive members club announced plans to go private for roughly $2.7 billion including debt, in a deal involving hotelier MCR and actor Ashton Kutcher.

Shareholders will receive $9.00 per share in cash, well above the club’s $7.64 closing price Friday but much lower than Soho House’s $14 IPO price in 2021. The stock was up nearly 16% at $8.85 in recent trading.

An investor group led by MCR and its CEO, Tyler Morse, “will acquire the outstanding shares of Soho House not held by certain significant shareholders,” the release announcing the deal said. Billionaire Ron Burkle, Soho House’s executive chairman, and Yucaipa Companies LLC will maintain majority control, while Morse will join the board as vice chairman.

A consortium of strategic investors led by Kutcher will provide new equity capital, with the Hollywood star joining the company’s board once the deal is completed. Funds managed by affiliates of Apollo Global Management (APO) and Goldman Sachs (GS) Alternatives also are providing financing.

Assets of MCR, which the release said is the third largest hotel owner-operator in the U.S., include the TWA Hotel at New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport, The High Line Hotel and the Gramercy Park Hotel in Manhattan, and the BT Tower in London.

–Nisha Gopalan

Winklevoss Twins’ Crypto Trading Platform Files for IPO

2 hr 48 min ago

Gemini Space Station, the cryptocurrency trading platform founded in 2014 by famed cryptocurrency investors Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, has registered to launch an initial public offering.

In a filing with regulators, Gemini said that the number of shares and the price of the offering have not yet been determined. 

The company said that it has had a lifetime trading volume of $285 billion and boasted more than $18 billion worth of crypto under custody as of June 30.

The Winklevoss twins wrote in the prospectus that with crypto, “a new Golden Age is upon us.” They said the financial markets “are moving onchain” and that “digital assets are profoundly changing the way we transact and store value.” They added that “this is the crypto frontier” and that Gemini is a “Super App” for it. 

The company noted that it intended to trade on the Nasdaq under the ticker symbol “GEMI.”

–Bill McColl

Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy Approved to Treat Liver Disease

3 hr 45 min ago

Novo Nordisk (NVO) shares jumped in premarket trading after the Food and Drug Administration approved the pharmaceutical firm’s popular weight-loss drug, Wegovy, to treat a serious liver disease.

The Denmark-based firm reported the FDA said Wegovy could be used for adults suffering from noncirrhotic metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis, or MASH, who have moderate to advanced liver fibrosis, along with eating less and exercising more.

Novo Nordisk Chief Scientific Officer Martin Holst Lange noted that the decision means Wegovy is the only GLP-1 obesity medicine that has received regulatory approval to treat MASH. He explained that one in three overweight or obese people suffer from it, with some 22 million Americans among them. He added that Wegovy not only stopped the disease activity, it also reversed liver damage.

The company announced that Wegovy would be available immediately in the U.S. for the treatment of MASH.

The approval is welcome news to Novo Nordisk investors, who have seen the U.S.-listed shares slump as competition from others in the weight-loss category has siphoned away sales of Wegovy.

U.S.-listed shares of Novo Nordisk were up more than 4% in recent premarket trading. At the close of trading Friday, the shares were down nearly 40% year-to-date.

–Bill McColl

Major Index Futures Slightly Lower

4 hr 14 min ago

Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average were down fractionally.

S&P 500 futures slipped 0.1%.

Nasdaq 100 futures declined 0.2%.