Mid-session AOF Wall Street analysis – Sharp decline in New York, Fed policy still in sight

(AOF) – US indices remain sharply lower on Monday as we approach mid-session. Investors continue to be cautious after the December jobs report, which showed far fewer job openings than expected, even though unemployment has fallen and wages are rising. Above all, the markets are worried before the publication of inflation on Wednesday: it is indeed expected to rise, which should support the Fed’s plans to hike its rates in March. Thus, the Dow Jones and the Nasdaq fell respectively 1.22% and 1.93%.

Zynga shares soared 45.08% to 8.70 dollars while that of its buyer, Take-Two, fell 14.65% to 140.49 dollars. Zynga was acquired for $ 12.7 billion in enterprise value in cash and securities, making it one of the largest acquisitions ever in the industry. Take-Two did not skimp on the price, hence its fall in the stock market, to strengthen itself in mobile games. Zynga is indeed known for its social games, like FarmVille.

Today’s economic figures

Wholesale inventories in the United States were up 1.4% in November 2021 from October, above the preliminary estimate of 1.2%. In October, they had increased by 2.5% over one month.

The values ​​to follow today

AT&T – Netflix

The 79th Golden Globes, the trophies of American television, distinguished HBO and HBO Max (subsidiaries of AT&T) and Netflix with several statuettes. HBO’s “Sucession” series won three awards: Best TV Drama, Best Actor (Jeremy Strong) and Best Supporting Actress (Sarah Snook). Kate Winslet won her fourth Golden Globe for her portrayal in HBO’s “Mare of Easttown” series. Netflix for its part won the trophy for best film, best director (Jane Campion) and best supporting role “The Power of The Dog”.

Lululemon Athletica

Lululemon Athletica said its fourth quarter 2021 sales and profit will come out at the lower end of its forecast range due to reduced opening times at some of its stores due to Omicron. The yoga clothing maker expects earnings per share, excluding special items, in the lower end of the range of $ 3.25 to $ 3.32. Revenue is expected to be in the lower end of the range between $ 2.125 billion and $ 2.165 billion.

Modern

Moderna announced that it achieved product sales of $ 17.5 billion in 2021. The pharmaceutical company also revealed that it has signed advance purchase agreements for 2022 covering product sales of around $ 18.5 billion ( against $ 17 billion announced in November 2021) and about $ 3.5 billion in options, including any potential update of the booster vaccine candidates against covid-19. The company is currently in active talks for additional contracts on the covid-19 vaccine in 2022.

Pfizer

Pfizer has entered into a partnership of up to $ 1.3 billion with Beam Therapeutics to develop three treatments for genetic diseases over the next four years. They will use Beam’s cutting-edge technology that precisely corrects typographical errors in our genes – a technology called “core editing”.

Take-Two

Video game publisher Take-Two has announced that it has bought Zynga for $ 12.7 billion in enterprise value, in cash and in securities. Take-Two offers $ 3.5 in cash and 6.361 Take-Two shares per Zynga stock, which is a 64% premium over Friday’s closing price. The transaction is expected to unlock approximately $ 100 million in annual cost synergies in the first two years following closing, and over $ 500 million in annual adjusted revenue opportunities over time.

Tesla

Tesla will increase the price of the autonomous driving assistance option in its vehicles sold in the United States from January 17. It will thus increase to $ 12,000. This is what Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla, announced on his Twitter account this weekend.

Tilray

Tilray recorded a net loss of $ 201,000, or a loss per share in the second quarter of its fiscal year. A year earlier, the cannabis producer had posted a net loss of $ 99.9 million, or -41 cents per share. Turnover increased from 129.46 million to 155.15 million in one year. Analysts on average expected a net loss per share of 9 cents and revenue of 170.5 million.

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