Credit Suisse’s (stock symbol: CS) American Depositary Receipts fell about 55% to about 90 cents after bigger rival UBS (UBS) agreed to buy Credit Suisse in a deal worth about $3.2 billion. The merger of Switzerland’s two largest banks – engineered over the weekend by Swiss authorities – comes against a backdrop of industry turmoil. US-listed UBS shares rose 2.7%.
First Republic Bank (FRC) fell 36.7%. The regional lender was downgraded deeper into junk territory by S&P Global. Last Wednesday, Standard & Poor’s Global downgraded the bank’s credit rating to the speculative zone. The stock has been falling as the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and two other US banks raised concerns about the health of the US banking system. JPMorgan Chase (JPM) and other major banks stepped in last week to shore up First Republic Bank to the tune of $30 billion.
Flagstar Bank, a subsidiary of New York Community Bancorp (NYCB), on Sunday announced the acquisition of much of what was once Signature Bank. Starting Monday, all 40 Signature Bank branches will operate under Flagstar Bank. Signature Bank collapsed just over a week ago, days after Silicon Valley Bank faced the same fate. Shares of New York Community Bancorp were also upgraded to Outperform from Neutral by analysts at Wedbush. Shares rose 31.8%.
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Backwest Bancorp (PACW) rose 8.3%, pulling bluechips of regional banks higher after last week’s volatile trading.
Bed Bath & Beyond (BBBY) sank 18.9%, continuing its slump on Friday when the retailer revealed plans for a reverse stock split.
PDD Holdings’ American Depositary Receipts, or Pinduoduo (PDD), fell 12.9% after the Chinese e-commerce company reported fiscal fourth-quarter revenue that fell short of analysts’ expectations.
Franchise Group shares
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(FRG), which owns Vitamin Shoppe, American Freight and Pet Supplies Plus, rose 10.7% after it “acquired Unsolicited non-binding proposalTo be purchased for $30 per share in cash.
Enphase Energy (ENPH), a maker of batteries used in solar power systems, rose 5.3% after upgrading the stock to Outperform from Market Perform in Raymond James.
Shares of Dell Technologies (DELL) rose 3.8% after analysts at Goldman Sachs initiated coverage of the stock with a buy recommendation. Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) and HP Inc. (HPQ) at neutral, with shares up 2.3% and 1.9%, respectively.
Shares of Amazon.com (AMZN) fell 2.2% after the online retailer and tech giant said it plans to cut another 9,000 jobs, following an earlier round of 18,000 layoffs announced in January.
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Foot Locker shares fell 2%. The shoe retailer’s earnings forecast for this year was lower than expected, but management expects strong long-term growth as new CEO Mary Dillon moves to reset the business.
Write to Joe Woelfel at [email protected]
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