Category Archives: oud

AT&T May Push Verizon Aside In Yahoo Auction Battle

AT&T ( T ) is poised to make its own run for Yahoo ’s ( YHOO ) Internet business, potentially thwarting telecom rival Verizon Communications ( VZ ), which has been viewed as the front-runner. Bloomberg reported  Wednesday that AT&T “remains a contender” to acquire Yahoo’s Internet business. AT&T is mulling its own play for the Web portal after YP Holdings decided to back off, Bloomberg reported. While Verizon has a huge debt load as the result of acquiring Vodafone’s 45% stake in Verizon Wireless for $130 billion, AT&T’s balance sheet is in better shape from its acquisition of DirecTV Group. YP Holdings, now a digital advertising business, is AT&T’s former print yellow pages unit. Cerberus Capital Management controls YP Holdings, though AT&T still holds a stake in it. Lowell McAdam, Verizon’s CEO, restated an interest in buying part or all of Sunnyvale, Calif.-based Yahoo at a JPMorgan conference on Tuesday. “It’s a possibility to gain greater scale,” McAdam said. Verizon acquired AOL for $4.4 billion in 2015. A second round of bidding for Yahoo is expected to conclude in early June. Aside from Verizon, bidders are said to include private equity firm TPG and a consortium led by Bain Capital LP and Vista Equity Partners. Berkshire Hathaway ( BRKB ) Chairman Warren Buffett, a noted investor who generally stays away from tech companies, might back a group led by Quicken Loans founder Dan Gilbert, if it makes a bid. Yahoo owns stakes in China e-commerce giant Alibaba Holdings ( BABA ) and in Tokyo-listed Yahoo Japan. Those assets may be excluded from a sale of the Internet and advertising business.

Tesla Price Target Cut On Model 3; Monsanto Hiked; Best Buy Not A Buy

RBC Capital lowered its price target on Tesla ( TSLA ), Jefferies upped its price target on Monsanto ( MON ) on views that Germany’s Bayer will sweeten its $62 billion takeover offer, and  Best Buy ( BBY ) was downgraded by Citigroup and Deutsche Bank. Tesla RBC Capital trimmed its price target on Tesla to 242 from 252. The electric automaker last week announced a $2 billion stock offering that will be used to fund a production ramp-up for the Model 3. RBC Capital forecast a fresh $1 billion equity raise in 2017 and lowered its estimate for Model 3 shipments. “We were always below Tesla’s vehicle delivery targets of 500,000 by 2018 and 1 million by 2020, but after speaking with industry contacts and reconsidering our model, we are tempering our delivery forecast to account for a slower Model 3 ramp,” said the RBC Capital report. Tesla shares rose 0.9% to 219.90 in early afternoon action on the stock market today . Monsanto Jefferies upped its price target on Monsanto to 132. “We believe a higher-than-$130-per-share transaction is highly likely, with details emerging by August,” Jefferies said in the report. Monsanto on Tuesday rejected a $122-per-share cash offer from  Bayer ( BAYRY ), but signaled it might be open to a higher price. Late Tuesday, Bayer issued a statement sounding hopeful that a deal could be reached. “To date, activist pressure has been limited. If a deal falters, we would expect (a) step-up in pressure for Monsanto to do more with its balance sheet,” said Jefferies. Monsanto stock rallied 2.5% intraday. Bayer fell fractionally. Best Buy Best Buy, which on Tuesday forecast current-quarter profit below views and said its CFO was leaving, was downgraded to neutral by Citigroup and Deutsche Bank. Citigroup cited a lack of hot new consumer electronics products. Virtual reality will not take off until 2017, said Citigroup. “Categories with no secular threats — home improvement and auto parts — are performing better and are more predictable,” Citigroup said. Best Buy shares rebounded 3.6% after tumbling 7.4% on Tuesday. Fleetmatics Pacific Crest Securities upgraded Fleetmatics ( FLTX ) to overweight with a price target of 54. Shares in the mobile fleet management software provider are down 20% in 2016 after surging 43% last year. “With plenty of solid runway for growth, rising (customer turnover) now better understood, a positively received management transition and a conservative earnings outlook for the year, we turn more positive on FLTX,” said the Pacific Crest report. Fleetmatics stock rose 2.4% intraday. In other analyst moves, Needham upgraded Workday ( WDAY ) to buy and raised its price target to 85 from 80. Workday rose 1% to 77.69 intraday.

Sanofi Moves To Replace Medivation’s Board As New Buyers Rumored

Small drugmaker Medivation ( MDVN ) continued to battle  Sanofi ‘s ( SNY ) hostile takeover bid Wednesday as the latter tried to replace its board, while big biotechs Celgene ( CELG ) and Gilead Sciences ( GILD ) were said to be thinking of joining the fray. Sanofi proposed eight candidates “who are willing to fully and fairly evaluate all of Medivation’s strategic options,” which it believes Medivation’s current board did not do when it unanimously rejected Sanofi’s unsolicited $9.3 billion bid on April 29. Medivation responded with a statement urging shareholders to reject the attempt, which it called “a tactic for Sanofi to facilitate its substantially inadequate and opportunistically timed proposal to acquire Medivation.” While Sanofi is the only suitor that’s gone public, anonymous sources have been telling the media that a variety of other companies are thinking of making a bid. On May 9, Medivation reportedly signed non-disclosures agreements with Pfizer ( PFE ) and Amgen ( AMGN ), implying that it is open to being bought by somebody other than Sanofi. On Wednesday Bloomberg said that Celgene and Gilead were talking to advisors about the idea, though they hadn’t actually approached the company. Both Celgene and Gilead have been urged by investors and analysts to make a sizable acquisition — especially Gilead, as its massive hepatitis C franchise is already eroding in the face of competition. Medivation’s current $1 billion in 12-month sales wouldn’t make that big of an impact on Gilead’s $33 billion top line, but much of the interest comes from Medivation’s future prospects: its prostate-cancer drug Xtandi is still ramping while the company studies its use in other diseases, and it also has a few earlier-stage drugs in the pipeline. Medivation stock, which has lately gone tight after a sharp run-up amid the buyout speculation, was down a fraction, near 62, in late morning trading on the stock market today . Sanofi was up 2%, near 41. Gilead was flat, near 86, and Celgene was up 1%, near 105.