Blackstone Group   and Carlyle Group   along with privately owned company Hellman & Friedman are buying a majority stake in Medline Industries. Medline Industries is privately held, family-led health care firm that generated  $17.5 billion in revenue in 2020.

The deal is valued around $34 billion, according to a Wall Street Journal report that cited people familiar with the matter.The transaction is expected to be completed in 2021.

After the deal, while the private equity group will own a majority stake in Medline, the Mills family will continue to be the largest shareholder in the company and will retain their leadership roles.

The Bank of Nova Scotia  posted  second-quarter fiscal 2021 adjusted net income of C$2.46 billion ($1.95 billion), that  was +85.5% higher year over year.

The bank’s total revenues fell -2.8% year-over-year to C$7.74 billion ($6.15 billion).

Net interest income was down -5.5%, while non-interest income rose marginally from the year-ago period.Provision for credit losses fell -73.1%.

Nova Scotia’s total assets were C$1.13 trillion ($0.92 trillion) as of Apr 30, 2021, -3.3% below that of the prior quarter.

DocuSign  reported better-than-expected fiscal first quarter results.

The electronic signature solutions company’s first-quarter revenue surged 58% year-over-year to $469.1 million, beating FactSet consensus for $437.6 million.

The company’s adjusted earnings came in at 44 cents a share, compared to FactSet consensus of 28 cents.

Billings rose 54% year-over-year to $527.4 million, surpassing FactSet estimate of $466.7 million.

GAAP gross-profit margin widened 3 percentage points to 78%.

For the fiscal second quarter, DocuSign is expecting revenue in the range of $479 million to $485 million – compared to $474.2 million predicted by analysts polled by FactSet.

For full fiscal year 2022, the company projects revenue in the range of $2.03 billion to $2.04 billion, while FactSet's survey estimates $1.99 billion.

JPMorgan analyst Ryan Brinkman hiked his price target on Ford Motor’s  shares by $2, to $18 per share -- a Wall Street-high.  Brinkman held his 'overweight' rating on the automaker.

 The analyst cited an improving price mix, an easing of the global shortage in semiconductor supplies, and stable labor costs.

"Ford may not see the same degree of improvement in semiconductor availability in 2Q as GM but we believe it may see some, including after it was reported earlier this week that a fire-damaged semiconductor plant in Japan to which it is disproportionately exposed has nearly returned to full capacity," Brinkman noted.

According to Brinkman, Ford may also see tailwinds from the continued strong pricing environment, given the analyst’s estimate that the company’s  management may have been more cautious at the time of 1Q earnings than was GM’s in flowing “extremely strong” 1Q pricing trends through the full year.

The company also surpassed revenue estimates.

Express  quarterly net loss came in at -55 cents per share, vs. loss of -58 cents expected by analysts.Express is  expecting same-store sales to rise sequentially throughout the year.

Gross margin rose to 22.8% of net sales, vs. - 22.0% a year ago.

Express stock has surged 615.4% year to date through Wednesday, amid the frenzy surrounding meme stocks.

Shares of Tellurian  climbed, following news of natural gas company finalizing a 10-year deal to provide energy trader Vitol with LNG from its proposed liquefaction facility terminal in Louisiana.

The deal, valued at at about $12 billion in revenue over the deal period, is for  3 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) of LNG.

Last week, Tellurian also inked a 10-year agreement with commodity trader Gunvor Group for 3 MTPA of LNG.The LNG would be delivered from the proposed liquefaction facility Driftwood LNG, near Lake Charles, Louisiana in the U.S. Gulf Coast.

Devon Energy   shares rose Tuesday, following a rating upgrade and price target increase by  Raymond James analyst.

 Analyst John Freeman boosted rating on the energy company’s shares to strong buy from outperform. Freeman hiked his price target to $40 from $34.

Freeman mentioned that the solid performance of Devon's Delaware wells offer opportunities for productivity gains – something that would boost Devon's free-cash-flow-to-enterprise-value ratio, which could lead toa a higher dividend yield, according to Freeman .

Shares of Roblox  rose Tuesday, after Truist Securities boosted price target on the stock to a Wall-Street-high .

Truist Securities raised the price target on the online game platform’s shares to $103 from $83.

According to Truist, second-quarter bookings (the amount of virtual currency users purchase in a given period ) seem to be tracking at least mid-single-digit-percent above consensus (upwards of low-double-digit-percent).

Truist said that 2021 consensus seems “a low hurdle”. 

"Beyond numbers, the focus is likely to remain China, new features/platforms and new branded experiences", Truist noted.

President Joe Biden unveiled a proposal of $6 trillion budget.

The plans include proposals for a $2.3 trillion infrastructure plan and $1.8 billion in spending on education and families.Both of these, however, are facing pushback from Congressional Republicans. 

The plan indicates spending of $6 trillion, $4.2 trillion in revenue, with a $1.8 trillion deficit for fiscal year 2022.

Biden’s proposal mentions  a 39.6% top tax rate on capital gains and dividends for millionaires.

The clothing company also raised its full-year guidance.

For the quarter ended May 1, Gap’s adjusted earnings came in at 48 cents a share, while analysts polled by FactSet expected adjusted loss of -5 cents a share.

Revenue rose to $3.99 billion,  from $2.1 billion a year ago.Analysts polled by FactSet were expecting $1.43 a share.

The company projects net sales growth between the low to mid 20% range for fiscal 2022, compared with its earlier guidance of mid-to-high teens percent.

 

 

 

The company projects revenue to be between o $6.22 billion to $6.23 billion, higher than analysts’ estimate of  $6.15 billion.

For the full 2022 fiscal year, Salesforce projects adjusted earnings in the range of $3.79 to $3.81 per share – higher than analysts’ expectation of $3.43 .While Salesforce predicts revenue $25.9 billion to $26.0 billion (22% growth), analysts polled by Refinitiv expect $25.76 billion in revenue.

AMC Entertainment  stock’s market value surpassed $10 billion for the first time.

The world’s largest movie theatre chain’s stock has more than doubled since the company reported its quarterly results on May 6.The offering generated $428 million of new capital, before commissions and fees, at an average price of $9.94 a share.

AMC has raised more than $1 billion to avoid bankruptcy in recent months.

Chipotle Mexican Grill  got a rating boost from Stephens analyst James Rutherford, to overweight from equal weight.

Rutherford also hiked his share-price target to $1,700 from $1,600.This implies 26% upside from Wednesday's closing price

The analyst cited same-store sales long-term growth prospects, strong presence in the suburbs, and near-term sales drivers including reopening, new long-term opportunities (brisket being tested), digital growth, a return of dine-in sales, a bigger ad budget as some of the factors behind the improved outlook on the shares.

FactSet poll showed analysts’ expectations of $163.7 million for revenue and $185.4 million for billings.

Looking ahead, Zscaler projects adjusted earnings of 8 cents to 9 cents a share on revenue of $185 million to $187 million for the fiscal fourth quarter, and about 47 cents a share on revenue of $660 million to $664 million for the year.Analysts had expected earnings of 9 cents on revenue of $173.9 million for the fiscal fourth quarter, and 40 cents a share on revenue of $637.5 million for the year.

On Monday, exercise equipment and media company Peloton Interactive  said that it plans to build its first U.S. factory in Troy Township in Wood County, Ohio.

The company expects that the factory will begin making Peloton Bike, Bike+ and Peloton Tread starting in 2023.

According to Peloton, it will commit $400 million to the facility, which will span more than 200 acres and have more than 1 million square feet of space.The facility is expected to create more than 2,000 new jobs.

In April, one of Peloton’s  treadmills was slapped with an urgent safety warning after several people were injured and a child died.

The company also said that 2021 production of its Endurance truck will be half prior expectations.

Lordstown incurred a net loss of -72 cents a share, compared with a loss of -28 cents a share expected by analysts polled by FactSet.The year-ago quarter’s loss was - 16 cents a share.

Chairman and CEO Steve Burns said Endurance production this year will be limited and would be "at best 50%" of the company's prior expectations of 2,200 trucks.

Its owners include Highland Capital Partners, Anchorage Capital, Davidson, Kempner Capital Management, Solus Alternative Asset Management and Owl Creek Investments.

MGM owns several popular movie and TV franchises, such as The Pink Panther, Rocky, and Legally Blonde.It also owns a studio, which has produced hit TV shows, including “Fargo.” The company also owns many popular reality TV shows, including “Shark Tank,” “Survivor,” and “The Voice.”

 

 

 

Hodulik also hiked the price target to $35 from $32.

According to the analyst, AT&T’s decision to  spin-off  its streaming business with Discovery Communications could simplify the structure for AT&T. “We see a favorable risk-reward at the current valuation given a more simplified set of connectivity-based assets, lower dividend payout, better visibility into EBITDA growth and lower leverage,” Hodulik said.

Hodulik said that a goal of free cash flow of $20 billion is achievable by 2023.The deal structure could lead to $7 to $8 per share in a one-time tax-free payment via shares of DiscoveryWarner, which represents four to five years of lump-sum dividend payment, Hodulik said.

 

Applied Materials got bullish views from several analysts, following its fiscal second-quarter earnings beat.

Morgan Stanley analyst Joseph Moore boosted the price target on the semiconductor equipment company’s shares to $139 from $137.Moore maintained an Equal-weight rating on the shares.

Moore noted that tight supply conditions led to better near-term spending conditions, thereby boosting Applied Materials’ performance relative to peers in the quarter.However, even as the company’s guidance implied continued wafer fab equipment, or WFE, growth through 2022, Morgan Stanley sees the growth plateauing ahead in the second half of 2021.

Needham analyst Quinn Bolton reiterated a Buy rating and $153 price target.

What's more, the guidance for the fiscal  third quarter is also higher than analysts' forecast.

The company’s net income came in at $1.43 a share, increasing from 82 cents a share in the year-ago period. Analysts polled by FactSet had expected $5.41 billion.

For the third quarter, Applied Materials project adjusted earnings of $1.70 to $1.82 a share on sales of $5.72 billion to $6.12 billion.