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Tag: Corporate Funding

  • Like choosy shoppers at a retail store, IPO investors are demanding discounts and displaying price sensitivity

    Like choosy shoppers at a retail store, IPO investors are demanding discounts and displaying price sensitivity

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    IPO investors, much like retail shoppers in recent years’ inflationary environment, are demanding clear discounts and demonstrating sensitivity to price and valuations, according to Renaissance Capital.

    The provider of IPO exchange-traded funds and institutional research said that’s a positive — even if tech unicorns in the pipeline would prefer it were not the case.

    “Quality consumer names are working,” said Matthew Kennedy, senior strategist at Renaissance, listing Kenvue, Cava Group Inc., Gen Restaurant Group Inc. and Savers Value Village Inc. as examples of recent new issues that enjoyed strong debuts.

    Kenvue
    KVUE,
    +1.65%    ,
    the former consumer arm of Johnson & Johnson
    JNJ,
    +0.87%
    and parent of household-name products such as Tylenol and Band-Aid, raised $3.8 billion in its May IPO at a valuation of $41.08 billion, making it the biggest deal of the year to date.

    Cava Group
    CAVA,
    -5.93%    ,
    the loss-making Mediterranean-style fast-casual restaurant group, raised $317 million in its mid-June deal at a valuation of $2.5 billion. The stock popped more than 99% on its first day of trade.

    For more: Cava Group CFO is confident restaurant chain will be profitable — but she won’t say when

    Gen Restaurant Group
    GENK,
    +13.95%
    is a profitable Korean barbecue chain that made its debut Wednesday with a more than 50% pop in early trade.

    “But broadly investors are still demanding clear discounts to public peers, especially if they take issue with certain aspects of a deal. So it’s good to see that valuation sensitivity,” said Kennedy.

    Savers Value Village
    SVV,
    +3.45%
    went public Thursday with some fanfare, closing 27% above its $18 issue price. The company is the biggest for-profit thrift-store chain in North America, with 317 stores that operate under multiple names.

    The company is profitable, with net income of $11.9 million in the quarter through April 2, after a loss of $10.2 million in the same period a year earlier. For all of 2022, it had net income of $84.7 million, up from $83.4 million in 2021.

    Revenue for the quarter came to $327.5 million, down from $345.7 million in the year-ago period. Revenue totaled $1.4 billion for 2022, up from $1.2 billion in 2021.

    See: Money-losing food chain Cava showed IPO success. Is it finally time for some tech deals?

    Two other deals that made their debut on Thursday fared less well, however.

    Texas-based Kodiak Gas Services Inc. 
    KGS,
    +3.44%
     and Fidelis Insurance Holdings Ltd. closed lower after pricing below their estimated ranges and making other accommodations to get their deals through.

    Bermuda-based Fidelis, a reinsurer, downsized its deal to 15 million shares from a previous expectation that it would offer 17 million. The initial public offering was priced at $14 a share, below the proposed $16-to-$19 range.

    Maker of oil- and gas-production equipment Kodiak opened almost 3% below its issue price of $16, which was well below its proposed price range of $19 to $22.

    Fidelis has an unusual structure, in that it uses a third party for origination, underwriting and claims management, said Kennedy.

    “We think insurance investors wanted a discount for a company that didn’t own the underwriting group,” he said. “It has an experienced management team, though, so now they’ll just need to execute.”

    Kodiak, meanwhile, carries substantial debt and will need to undertake significant capital spendig in the coming years, just as gas prices have fallen back.

    It’s also worth noting that the last big oil and gas IPO, Atlas, “is slightly below its offer price,” Kennedy said.

    Atlas Energy Solutions Inc.
    AESI,
    -2.75%
    went public in March at an issue price of $18 a share. The stock was last quoted at $17.52.

    Still, Renaissance is expecting a gradual reopening of the IPO market in the second half, said Kennedy, who noted that the IPO ETF
    IPO,
    +1.38%
    has gained about 30% in to date in 2023, outperforming the S&P 500’s
    SPX,
    +1.23%
    14% gain.

    To date, there have been 52 IPOs this year, up 33% from the same time last year, when the market was effectively frozen. Almost $9 billion in proceeds have been raised, up 115% from last year but well below levels seen in frothier times.

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  • Banks Boost Dividends After Passing Stress Test. Their Stocks Are on the Rise.

    Banks Boost Dividends After Passing Stress Test. Their Stocks Are on the Rise.

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    Banks Boost Dividends After Passing Stress Test. Their Stocks Are on the Rise.

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  • Ford Venture Gets Record $9.2 Billion Government Loan for EV Batteries

    Ford Venture Gets Record $9.2 Billion Government Loan for EV Batteries

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    Ford Venture Gets Record $9.2 Billion Government Loan for EV Batteries

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  • Cathie Wood Sold More Tesla Stock. She Might Not Be Done.

    Cathie Wood Sold More Tesla Stock. She Might Not Be Done.

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    Cathie Wood Sold More Tesla Stock. She Might Not Be Done.

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  • Cava Group CFO is confident restaurant chain will be profitable — but she won’t say when

    Cava Group CFO is confident restaurant chain will be profitable — but she won’t say when

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    Cava Group, the Mediterranean-focused fast-casual restaurant chain that’s making its trading debut on Thursday, is confident it has access to enough funding to expand its business and make a profit, according to Chief Financial Officer Tricia Tolivar.

    But Tolivar declined to provide a timeline to profitability in an interview with MarketWatch.

    The…

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  • Mediterranean fast-casual restaurant chain Cava prices IPO at $22 a share

    Mediterranean fast-casual restaurant chain Cava prices IPO at $22 a share

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    Mediterranean fast-casual restaurant chain Cava Group on Wednesday priced its initial public offering of 14.4 million shares at $22 a share, up from a prior range, giving the company a valuation of roughly $2.45 billion.

    Shares are expected to begin trading Thursday on the New York Stock Exchange with the ticker symbol CAVA.

    The rapidly-growing…

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  • UBS inks pact with Swiss government as Credit Suisse deal may close next week

    UBS inks pact with Swiss government as Credit Suisse deal may close next week

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    UBS said Friday that it’s signed a loss protection agreement with the Swiss government covering up to 9 billion francs ($10 billion) of losses once the takeover of Credit Suisse is completed.

    The finalized deal sets the stage for the merger of the Swiss banks to be completed as early as June 12.

    Terms call for the guarantee to only be implemented if UBS takes 5 billion francs of losses from what are called non-core assets of Credit Suisse.

    The protection applies to roughly 3% of the combined assets of the merged bank. UBS is paying the Swiss government an upfront fee of 40 million francs, as well as an annual maintenance fee of 0.4% and a risk premium depending on how much of the guarantee is used. UBS does have the right to terminate the guarantee at any time.

    The per-share value of the UBS offer
    UBS,
    -0.05%

    UBSG,
    -0.25%
    has climbed slightly since the deal was first announced, as it’s now worth 0.81 francs per share, valuing Credit Suisse at 3.2 billion francs, or $3.6 billion.

    UBS agreed to buy its rival for an initially announced 3 billion francs after Credit Suisse
    CS,
    +0.49%

    CSGN,
    -0.20%
    was unable to stem outflows from its wealthy clients.

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  • Cummins spinoff Atmus Filtration’s stock soars 14% in trading debut

    Cummins spinoff Atmus Filtration’s stock soars 14% in trading debut

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    Atmus Filtration Technologies Inc.’s stock soared 14% Friday in its trading debut, after the Cummins Inc. spinoff priced its initial public offering in the middle of its proposed price range.

    The Nashville, Tenn.-based company sold 14.1 million shares priced at $19.50 each to raise $275 million. With 83.3 million shares to be outstanding after the deal, the company’s valuation is $1.6 billion.

    The stock
    ATMU,
    +11.90%
    is trading on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker ATMU. Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase were lead book-running managers on the deal, with 10 other banks acting as co-managers.

    Although the company is issuing primary shares, Atmus will not receive any of the IPO proceeds; all of the proceeds will go to debt-for-equity exchange parties, namely underwriters Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan, and will indirectly pay down parent Cummins’
    CMI,
    +1.03%
    debt, according to the filing documents.

    Atmus makes products for on-highway commercial vehicles and off-highway agriculture, construction, mining and power-generation vehicles and equipment, mostly under the Fleetguard brand. The company had pro forma net income of $34.9 million in the first quarter on sales of $418.6 million.

    About 16% of its 2022 sales went to original-equipment manufacturers, where its filters are used for new vehicles and equipment, and about 84% were aftermarket sales.

    The company was created by Cummins, a maker of diesel and natural-gas engines, in 1958.

    The IPO comes in a thin year for deals. There have been just 44 IPOs this year to raise $7.3 billion in proceeds, according to Renaissance Capital, a provider of IPO exchange-traded funds and institutional research.

    That’s up 29.4% from the same period in 2022, when deal flow slowed to its lightest in decades.

    “Deal flow started at a decent pace but failed to pick back up after the February lull, as hawkish signals from the Fed, renewed recession fears, and turmoil within the banking industry caused a spike in volatility,” Renaissance wrote in April commentary.

    The biggest deal of the year to date was that of Kenvue Inc.
    KVUE,
    -0.11%    ,
    a spinoff from Johnson & Johnson
    JNJ,
    +0.14%    ,
    which is parent to a number of household brands, including Tylenol, Band-Aid, Listerine and Benadryl.

    For more, see: Kenvue stock cheered in Wall Street debut, as Tylenol and Band-Aid brand parent is valued at $48 billion

    Kenvue raised $3.8 billion after pricing above range and achieving a valuation of $41 billion.

    The Renaissance IPO ETF
    IPO,
    +2.06%
    has gained 18% in the year to date, while the S&P 500
    SPX,
    +1.34%
    has gained 9%.

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  • Cineworld’s Proposed Restructuring Now Backed by Most Lenders — Update

    Cineworld’s Proposed Restructuring Now Backed by Most Lenders — Update

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    By Joe Hoppe

    Cineworld Group said Thursday that its proposed restructuring has the backing of lenders controlling almost all of its legacy credit lines and most of the outstanding debt under its debtor-in-possession facility.
    

    

    The London-based cinema company–which owns Regal Cinemas–said more lenders under its term loans due in 2025 and 2026 and revolving credit line due this year, have agreed to amended and restated versions of the restructuring support agreement and the backstop commitment agreement, first filed in early April in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court.
    

    Now, the proposed restructuring has support of those holding and controlling 99% of the legacy credit lines and at least 69% of the outstanding indebtedness under the debtor-in-possession facility, the company said.
    

    The proposed restructuring is expected to reduce indebtedness by around $4.53 billion, raise $800 million and provide $1.46 billion in new debt financing, the company said on April 3. The proposed restructuring doesn’t provide for any recovery for holders of Cineworld’s existing equity interests.
    

    Cineworld now expects to emerge from Chapter 11 bankruptcy in July. During the restructuring, the company has continued to operate its business and cinemas as usual, it said.
    

    Cineworld entered into Chapter 11 in September, with around $1.94 billion of debt, and had been in talks with stakeholders since then to develop a reorganization plan to maximize value. The company’s shares fell in late February after it said it had received a number of proposals from potential parties to buy some or all of its business, but none involve an all-cash bid for the entire company, leaving shareholders empty handed
    

    During its bankruptcy process, AMC Entertainment held discussions regarding a potential strategic acquisition of theaters and talks about reviving a previously scrapped merger with Cineplex were also held
    

    In early April, Cineworld said it had entered a restructuring support agreement and a backstop commitment agreement with some lenders. At the same time, Cineworld said the marketing process in the U.S., the U.K. and Ireland will be terminated. Proposals for the rest of the world business–outside of the U.S., the U.K. and Ireland–continued to be considered, it said.
    

    Write to Joe Hoppe at joseph.hoppe@wsj.com
    

    

    

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  • 
		
		
    
			
    PacWest sells its real-estate lending business to Roc360
    
			
    PacWest sells its real-estate lending business to Roc360
    
			
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    PacWest Bancorp will sell its real-estate lending arm to Roc360, as the beleaguered regional bank moves to refocus on its core business.
    

    The deal, first reported late Tuesday by the Wall Street Journal, comes a day after Los Angeles-based PacWest
    
        PACW,
    
        +7.74%
    
       unveiled a plan to sell a $2.6 billion portfolio of real-estate construction loans.
    

    

    In a statement Tuesday night, Roc360 said it will buy PacWest’s Civic Financial Services unit for an undisclosed sum. Roc360 will take on the unit’s business operations, but not its previously extended loans or loan-servicing operations.
    

    “In the face of market difficulties, we continue to expand and develop more products and services for real-estate investors,” Roc360 Chief Executive Arvind Raghunathan said in a statement. “We believe that America’s housing stock is severely undersupplied, with more than 50% of homes in deferred maintenance, lacking the modern-day energy efficiencies that our clients install with each loan they take from us. We will continue to prudently expand and invest for long-term solutions to these structural problems.” 
    

    New York-based Roc360 is a financial services platform for residential real-estate investors, and includes the brands Roc Capital, Finance of America Commercial, ElmSure, Wimba Title and Tamarisk Appraisals. 
    

    On Tuesday, PacWest shares jumped 8% on news of Monday’s loan sale, which also fueled gains among other regional-bank stocks.
    

    PacWest shares have sunk nearly 70% year to date, amid a wider downturn by regional banks following the failures of Silicon Valley Bank, Signature Bank and First Republic Bank.
    

    

    

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  • 
		
		
    
			
    PacWest’s stock jumps 5% premarket on news bank to sell real estate  loans worth $2.6 billion
    
			
    PacWest’s stock jumps 5% premarket on news bank to sell real estate  loans worth $2.6 billion
    
			
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    PacWest Bancorp.’s stock jumped 3% premarket Monday, after the bank announced asset sales that would allow it to focus on its core community banking business. 
    

    The regional bank
    
        PACW,
    
        -1.88%
    
       said it has entered an agreement to sell a portfolio of 74 real estate construction loans with a principal balance of about $2.6 billion to a unit of real-estate investment company Kennedy Wilson Holdings. 
    

    

    “Kennedy Wilson or its designees will also assume all remaining future funding obligations under the acquired loans of approximately $2.7 billion,” PacWest said in a regulatory filing. 
    

    The bank has also agreed to sell an additional six real estate construction loans to Kennedy Wilson with a principal balance of about $363 million. 
    

    The sale of the loans is subject to Kennedy Wilson’s satisfactory due diligence. The company will place $20 million into a third-party escrow account that will be refundable.
    

    The deal is expected to close in several tranches in the second and third quarters. “There can be no assurance that the transaction will be completed in part or at all,” said the filing. 
    

    See also: FDIC set to levy big banks to pay for $15.8 billion bailout of Silicon Valley, Signature Banks
    

    PacWest shares are down 75% in the year to date, after being caught up in the regional-bank stock rout that followed the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank in March. 
    

    The bank said it lost 9.5% of deposits during the week ending May 5 amid market volatility following JPMorgan’s
    
        JPM,
    
        -0.23%
    
       rescue of First Republic Bank. 
    

    See: Here’s why people are still worried about regional banks and commercial real estate
    

    Other regional banks were also rising premarket. Western Alliance Bancorp. was up 0.4% and KeyCorp. was up 1.7%. 
    

    The S&P 500
    
        SPX,
    
        -0.14%
    
       has gained 9% in the year to date. 
    

    

    

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  • 
		
		
    
			
    Icahn stock renews skid as Hindenburg says latest company disclosure raises more questions about company debt, losses
    
			
    Icahn stock renews skid as Hindenburg says latest company disclosure raises more questions about company debt, losses
    
			
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    Icahn Enterprises LP’s stock was trading down 0.7% Thursday, after short seller Hindenburg Research intensified his bearish bet on Carl Icahn’s investing arm, and said he’s now taking aim at its bonds.
    

    Hindenburg, run by Nate Anderson, said the latest disclosures made Wednesday by IEP raised more questions about Icahn’s personal margin loans, or debt, from the company as well as portfolio losses at IEP. The short seller also said disclosures, intended to counter Hindenburg’s May 2 report, failed to address the issues raised. 
    

    

    The original report raised questions about asset valuations and Icahn’s own borrowing from the company using his units as collateral. 
    

    Hindenburg Research, which typically aims to profit from the decline in value of the shares of companies that it writes negative reports about, kicked off such a bet against Icahn Enterprise earlier this month but has now also set its sights on the company’s debt. 
    

    For more, see: Icahn calls Hindenburg short-seller report self-serving, as market value of his company’s stock plunges by $4 billion
    

    “As noted in our earlier report, Icahn had not disclosed “basic metrics around his margin loans like loan to value (LTV), maintenance thresholds, principal amount, or interest rates.” This is still the case,” said Hindenburg.  
    

    IEP has not said why Icahn had borrowed against his holdings. The company didn’t respond to a request for comment on Thursday’s report.
    

    On Wednesday, IEP disclosed a federal probe into its corporate governance and other issues. It is unclear if that investigation by the Southern District of New York is related to Hindenburg’s report and allegations, but the news put further pressure on the stock.
    

    The bonds, which have been more active than usual since the first report, took another leg down on Thursday, as the attached charts from market-data company BondCliQ show, as Hindenburg said it has taken a short position in them. 
    

    The longest-dated bonds, the 4.375% notes that mature in February of 2029, were trading at around 75 cents on the dollar, as of midmorning.
    

    

    

    
          
    
            IEP corporate bond prices. Source: BondCliQ
    
          
    
  
    

    

    

    

    
        
      
    
          
    
            IEP bond volumes. Source: BondCliQ
    
          
    
  
    

    

    Icahn owns 84% of IEP shares and disclosed in a 2022 filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission that he had pledged more than 181 million units, or 60% of his holdings, for margin loans. 
    

    On Wednesday, IEP
    
        IEP,
    
        -1.77%
    
       said that pledge had increased to 202 million units, which Hindenburg estimates was valued at $6.5 billion as of Wednesday’s close, based on his calculations.
    

    The battle between the iconic activist investor and the short seller has clobbered IEP’s stock, which has fallen 39% in the month to date at a cost of more than $6 billion of market cap. 
    

    Also read: What we know about Carl Icahn’s margin loan
    

    IEP posted an unexpected loss on Wednesday of $270 million, or 75 cents per depositary unit, for the first quarter, after income of $323 million, or $1.06 a unit, in the year-earlier period. The FactSet consensus was for income of 19 cents.
    

    Revenue fell to $2.758 billion from $2.968 billion a year ago, ahead of the $2.559 billion FactSet consensus. Analysts on its conference call didn’t pose any question of executives who briefly outlined the quarterly numbers.
    

    The company on Wednesday also issued a rebuttal of the May 2 report from Hindenburg and said it would “take all appropriate steps to protect our unit holders and fight back.”
    

    Icahn acknowledged that the investment segment has underperformed in recent years, which he blamed on its bearish view of the market and large net short position, which it has now scaled back. 
    

    IEP offers exposure to Icahn’s personal portfolio of public and private companies, including petroleum refineries, car-parts makers, food-packaging companies and real estate. Its unit holders are mostly individual investors, which means the market-cap loss prompted by the report has hurt those individual investors, said Icahn.
    

    

    

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  • 
		
		
    
			
    Apple earnings show surprise jump in iPhone sales and a 4% dividend hike
    
			
    Apple earnings show surprise jump in iPhone sales and a 4% dividend hike
    
			
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    Apple Inc. on Thursday revealed surprise growth in its iPhone business during the first three months of the year, overcoming a shortfall in Mac revenue as the company promised investors billions more in dividends and stock repurchases.
    

    Apple shares
    
        AAPL,
    
        -0.99%
    
       rose 2.5% in extended trading.
    

    

    The company reported fiscal second-quarter revenue of $94.8 billion, down from $97.3 billion a year before, while analysts had been expecting $92.9 billion. Revenue for the iPhone category rose to $51.3 billion from $50.6 billion, with analysts surveyed by FactSet expecting a decline to $48.7 billion. 
    

    Chief Financial Officer Luca Maestri said on the earnings call that the iPhone growth was driven by “strong performance in emerging markets from South Asia and India to Latin America and the Middle East.”
    

    The company recently opened its first two Apple stores in India, and Chief Executive Tim Cook noted opportunity in India. 
    

    “What I do see in India is a lot of people entering the middle class, and I’m hopeful that we can convince some number of them to buy an iPhone,” he said. 
    

    Apple logged net income of $24.2 billion, or $1.52 a share, compared with $25 billion, or $1.52 a share, in the year-prior quarter. Analysts were modeling $1.43 a share in earnings on average, according to FactSet.
    

    Apple’s results arrived amid concern about the state of consumer-electronics spending, given worrisome third-party data points and cautious signals from players like Qualcomm Inc.
    
        QCOM,
    
        -5.54%
    
       and DuPont de Nemours Inc.
    
        DD,
    
        -0.53%    .
      
    

    See also: Qualcomm stock falls as backed up Apple iPhone inventory contributes to weak outlook
    

    The company saw steep revenue declines in both the iPad and Mac categories. Sales of iPads fell to $6.7 billion from $7.6 billion a year ago and matched the FactSet consensus. Mac revenue sank to $7.2 billion from $10.4 billion, while analysts were looking for $7.8 billion. 
    

    The Mac segment was up against tough comparisons to a year-ago period that saw the “incredibly successful rollout of our M1 chips,” Cook noted. It’s “facing some macroeconomic and foreign exchange headwinds as well.”
    

    Apple’s wearables, home and accessories category was essentially flat, with sales of $8.8 billion. The FactSet consensus called for $8.4 billion. The services segment showed growth, with revenue up to $20.9 billion from $19.8 billion, roughly in line with the FactSet consensus of $21.0 billion.
    

    Maestri noted that “certain services offerings, such as digital advertising and mobile gaming, continue to be affected by the current macroeconomic environment,” though advertising, Apple Care and video set revenue records for the March quarter.
    

    Executives shared some very big-picture views on recent financial-services initiatives, though without any financial specifics. Apple’s recently launched savings account, which has a 4.15% yield, has had an “incredible” initial response, while Apple Pay Later, a buy-now-pay-later product, has received “really good” feedback as well, they said.
    

    Read: Apple Card savings account has an attractive 4.15% interest rate, but beware of these pitfalls before signing
    

    Apple also announced Thursday that it was boosting its buyback program by $90 billion while upping its quarterly dividend by 4% to 24 cents a share. That compares to a $90 billion increase to the share-repurchase authorization and 5% dividend hike a year ago. 
    

    While Apple stopped giving traditional guidance at the start of the pandemic, Maestri said on the call that he expects June-quarter revenue growth to be similar to what was seen in the March quarter on a year-over-year basis, assuming a stable macroeconomic climate.
    

    

    

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    Mullen Automotive now a ‘go to’ meme stock, says influential trader
    
			
    Mullen Automotive now a ‘go to’ meme stock, says influential trader
    
			
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    Mullen Automotive Inc. is attracting more meme-like attention from retail investors than traditional meme stock darlings AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc. and GameStop Corp., according to an influential meme-stock trader.
    

    The electric vehicle company’s stock has become the “meme go to” for retail investors, said the trader, who goes by the name Obi. The trader participates in the WallStreetBets group on Reddit under the user name Major-Access2321.
    

    

    Obi, whose Making Easy Money YouTube channel has over 28,000 subscribers, said that Mullen
    
        MULN,
    
        -7.98%
    
       is generating plenty of buzz across social media. “When it comes to meme stock world on Reddit, Twitter and now even Facebook, groups are popping up calling themselves the ‘MULN army’,” he told MarketWatch.
    

    The trader said that “less and less” people are speaking about AMC Entertainment
    
        AMC,
    
        +3.14%
    
       and GameStop
    
        GME,
    
        +2.38%    .
    
       “More and more people are speaking about MULN … they call it the meme that makes sense,” he added.
    

    Mullen shares have seen a dramatic spike in trading volume recently, with average trading volume of 1.1 billion shares Wednesday and 547.8 million shares over the past five days, according to FactSet data. The stock’s 65-day average trading volume is 279 million shares. Mullen ended Wednesday’s session down 21.1% on the company’s announcement of a reverse stock split.
    

    Related: Mullen Automotive shares plunge on reverse stock split announcement
    

    AMC’s stock ended Wednesday’s session up 4.4% on trading volume of 25.1 million shares, below its 65-day average trading volume of 35.4 million shares. GameStop’s stock closed up 1.7% Wednesday on trading volume of 3.2 million shares, below its 65-day average of 4.8 million shares.
    

    The stock was down 18% on Thursday.
    

    The over outlook for the EV market looks bright, according to Obi. “Retail feel like they have something special here with MULN,” he added.
    

    On Wednesday Mullen Automotive Inc. announced that it will conduct the 1-for-25 reverse stock split as the electric-vehicle company looks to maintain its Nasdaq listing.
    

    The stock will continue to trade on the Nasdaq Capital Market under the existing symbol “MULN” and will begin trading on a split-adjusted basis at market open Thursday.
    

    In March, Mullen announced that the Nasdaq had approved the company’s request for a 180-day extension to meet the $1 minimum-bid-price requirement. On Sept. 7, 2022, the Nasdaq notified the company that its stock was not compliant with rules as it had traded below $1 for more than 30 days.
    

    Related: After TOP Financial’s surge, influential meme-stock trader looks for next big opportunity
    

    Mullen’s stock soared last year after Amazon.com Inc.’s 
    
            AMZN,
    
        +0.34%
    
       delivery partner placed an order for up to 600 cargo vans, and the company has since teamed up with Rapid Response Defense Systems to supply vans for federal government business.
    

    In December, Mullen announced that it is partnering with Loop Global Inc. to build public and private EV-charging technology, infrastructure and network solutions. Earlier this year, Mullen joined forces with Qiantu Motors to launch what they called an EV supercar.
    

    

    

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  • 
		
		
    
			
    Johnson & Johnson’s Kenvue IPO to command valuation of more than $40 billion in biggest public debut since 2021
    
			
    Johnson & Johnson’s Kenvue IPO to command valuation of more than $40 billion in biggest public debut since 2021
    
			
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    A unit of Johnson & Johnson is headed for the biggest initial public offering in more than a year after its shares were priced near the top of the expected range Wednesday evening.
    

    Johnson & Johnson JNJ will charge $22 a share in the IPO for Kenvue, the companies said in a statement Wednesday evening. Kenvue, which is expected to begin trading Thursday morning on the New York Stock Exchange, under the ticker “KVUE,” will hold a wealth of consumer brands that includes Band-Aid, Tylenol and Listerine.   
    

    Johnson…
    
    

    

    

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    UBS profit halves due to U.S. litigation, but draws billions new money
    
			
    UBS profit halves due to U.S. litigation, but draws billions new money
    
			
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    UBS Group AG said Tuesday that earnings declined in the first quarter, hurt by litigation, but that the bank drew in billions in net new money at its global wealth-management business following the news of its acquisition of Credit Suisse Group AG.
    

    The Swiss bank UBS CH:UBSG said its result was affected by $665 million in provisions related to U.S. residential mortgage-backed securities litigation.
    

    UBS…
    
    

    

    

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    Bed Bath & Beyond: from home-goods behemoth to bankruptcy
    
			
    Bed Bath & Beyond: from home-goods behemoth to bankruptcy
    
			
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    It’s the end of the road for Bed Bath & Beyond Inc., a company that was once a shining star of U.S. retail.  
    

    The troubled home-goods retailer BBBY filed for chapter 11 on Sunday, after spending several months teetering on the brink of bankruptcy. The company said it aims to achieve an orderly wind down of its operations, while also seeking to find an interested buyer for some or all of its assets. It has $240 million of debtor-in-possession financing to provide the liquidity needed to support its operations through the process….
    
    

    

    

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    Moody’s Downgrades 11 Regional Banks, Including Zions, U.S. Bank, Western Alliance
    
			
    Moody’s Downgrades 11 Regional Banks, Including Zions, U.S. Bank, Western Alliance
    
			
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    Moody’s Downgrades 11 Regional Banks, Including Zions, U.S. Bank, Western Alliance
    

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    Why Snap is suddenly eligible to join the S&P 500
    
			
    Why Snap is suddenly eligible to join the S&P 500
    
			
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    Snap Inc.’s initial public offering led to changes that barred the company and others like it from joining major stock indexes, but at least one major index provider has decided to drop those limitations after less than six years.
    

    S&P Dow Jones Indices announced Monday afternoon that a 2017 rule barring companies with multiple share classes from joining indexes such as the S&P 500
    
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       has been dropped. The move comes after the index manager consulted with “market participants” at the end of last year to discuss several potential changes to the policy.
    

    

    Snap
    
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       was the poster child for the initial change, after the parent company of the Snapchat mobile app went public in 2017 by selling a class of shares with no voting rights. That unprecedented move ensured that co-founders Evan Spiegel and Bobby Murphy would retain absolute power over their company even while selling shares to the public. 
    

    Snap’s move was an acceleration of an approach used by a generation of Silicon Valley tech companies to ensure that founders retained control of their companies even while selling shares to the public. Companies such as Facebook parent Meta Platforms Inc.
    
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       and Google parent Alphabet Inc.
    
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       used similar structures that provided their leaders with special shares that included increased voting rights, which Snap took further by offering no voting rights. 
    

    From 2017: Snap backlash, Facebook capitulation won’t stop founder-friendly stock structures
    

    In response, FTSE Russell established rules about putting votes in the public’s hands while selling stock, and S&P Dow Jones Indices completely barred all companies that had multiple classes of stock from joining its core indexes. While FTSE Russell’s rule — which requires that at least 5% of votes rest in the hands of public investors — remains, S&P Dow Jones Indices will now drop its rule entirely, after roughly 80% of respondents voted in favor of a change in 2017.
    

    There were other options besides completely dropping the rule. Participants in the consultation process were given several options and asked to rank them, including barring companies that only offer nonvoting stock to the public — such as Snap — or allowing companies that establish “sunset” provisions that would eventually revert all shares to equal voting rights.
    

    Related: Investors want change, but founders like Mark Zuckerberg hold them off
    

    Snap declined to comment Monday afternoon.
    

    The change to allow all companies with multiple share classes to join the S&P Composite 1500 and its multiple component indexes is effective as of Monday, S&P Dow Jones Indices announced, though no changes were immediately made to any index. Tracking stocks will still not be eligible for inclusion, according to the announcement.
    

    For more: As Snap melts down, its founders make sure to protect the people who matter — themselves
    

    

    

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    Jamie Dimon discourages use of term credit crunch on call with analysts
    
			
    Jamie Dimon discourages use of term credit crunch on call with analysts
    
			
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        “‘It’s not like a credit  crunch.’”
      
    

            
    
          — Jamie Dimon
    
        
    

    

    While it will be more expensive for banks to deploy capital this year, talk of a possible credit crunch tied to higher interest rates remains overblown, JPMorgan Chase & Co. CEO Jamie Dimon said Friday.
    

    Although Dimon acknowledged that more challenging lending conditions are  already being seen in the real-estate sector, he said bank credit overall will continue to flow despite concerns about a credit crunch voiced by Chicago Fed President Austan Goolsbee on Friday.
    

    

    “Obviously, there’s going to be a little bit of tightening, and most of that will be around certain real-estate things,” Dimon said, according to a transcript of JPMorgan’s first-quarter earnings call with analysts. “You’ve heard it from real-estate investors already, so I just look at that as a kind of thumb on the scale. It just [means] the fast conditions will be a little bit tighter, [which] increases the odds of a recession. That’s what that is. It’s not like a credit crunch.”
    

    In real estate, banks have been hit both by a drop in mortgage demand due to higher interest rates as well as a looming wall of debt from office properties affected by  slack demand for space. For its part, JPMorgan said Friday that its office-sector exposure is less than 10% of its portfolio and is focused in dense urban markets. 
    

    Also read: JPMorgan Chase stock moves positive for the year after it blasts past earnings and revenue estimates
    

    On the call, analyst John McDonald of Autonomous Research asked, “There’s a narrative out there that the industry could see a credit crunch. Banks are going to stop lending, and even [Federal Reserve Chair] Jay Powell mentioned that as a risk.”
    

    Dimon responded: “Yeah, I wouldn’t use the word ‘credit crunch’ if I were you.”
    

    Dimon was also asked about the regulatory landscape for banks after the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank in March. 
    

    “Look, we’re hoping that everyone just takes a deep breath and looks at what happened and the breadth and depth of regulations already in place,” Dimon said. “Obviously, when something happens like this you should adjust, think about it.”
    

    Down the road, Dimon said, he could see potential limitations on held-to-maturity assets and perhaps more total loss-absorbing capacity for certain banks, as well as more scrutiny around interest-rate exposure.
    

    “It doesn’t have to be a revamp of the whole system — just recalibrating things the right way,” Dimon said. “The outcome you should want is very strong community and regional banks. And certain [drastic] actions … could actually make them weaker. So that’s all it is.”
    

    JPMorgan is also expecting to absorb higher capital requirements under the so-called Basel IV international banking measures, as well as an assessment to banks of the costs of the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., he said. 
    

    Also read: JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon says looser rules did not cause recent bank failures
    

    

    

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