AT&T is planning to spin off its media business and merge it with Discovery Inc. , according to people familiar with the matter, Bloomberg reported.

A deal could be announced as soon as this week, according to the people, who asked not to be identified (Bloomberg report).The merger could potentially be a competitor to entertainment giants Netflix Inc. and Walt Disney Co. 

AT&T acquired some of the biggest brands in entertainment through its acquisition of Time Warner Inc., which was completed in 2018.

Discovery meanwhile is available in 220 countries and territories, and owns brands like Food Network Kitchen, MotorTrend OnDemand, Group Nine Media, Discovery Channel, Travel Channel, MotorTrend, Science Channel and the Oprah Winfrey Network.

 

Beverage behemoth Coca-Cola   said that it’s dropping its energy-drink line in the U.S. and Canada --  less than 18 months after launching it.

Coca-Cola Energy began to be sold in January 2020.However, it will still be sold overseas.

"Our strategy is focused on scaling big bets across a streamlined portfolio,” a company spokeswoman told Reuters.

Shares of The Walt Disney Company  fell on Thursday, following mixed results for the quarter ended April 3.

The entertainment giant’s fiscal second quarter earnings increased +32% year-over-year to 79 cents per share, compared to analysts’ expectations of 27 cents per share.

Revenue of $15.61 billion, however, came in below the  $15.87 billion expected in the Refinitiv survey of analysts.

Paid subscribers of Disney+ was 103.6 million compared to 109 million expected by analysts polled by FactSet.

Average monthly revenue per user fell -29% year over year to $3.99, which the company attributed to Disney+ Hotstar.The service has lower average monthly revenue per paid subscriber than traditional Disney+ in other markets, pulling down the overall average.

 

 

Movie theatre chain AMC Entertainment   announced it has completed the offering of 43 million shares it launched on April 29.

The offering amounts to $428 million of new equity capital, before commissions and fees, at an average price of $9.94 a share.

The capital “will immediately buttress and fortify our liquidity profile,” CEO Adam Aron said, and “puts AMC in a stronger position to tackle the challenges and capitalize on the opportunities that lie ahead.”

AMC stock also has achieved  interest among Reddit readers.About 133,000 Reddit interactions with the word “AMC" happened over the past week, according to Facebook’s CrowdTangle data tool, Bloomberg reported.

GrowGeneration Corp.  reported first-quarter results that surpassed analysts’ expectations.

The farm supplies company’s first-quarter earnings came in at 10 cents per share, compared to the 8 cents per share expected by analysts polled by FactSet.

Revenue surged +173% year-over-year to $90 million in the quarter, also beating analysts’ estimate of $86.4 million. 

Same-store sales grew +51% year-over-year,  despite port delays and supply chain challenges (according to the company).

The company boosted its full-year revenue guidance between $450 million and $470 million – compared to its March guidance of between $415 million and $430 million.Analysts are expecting $426 million.

Poshmark  shares fell more than -12% in after-hours trading Wednesday , even after the social commerce marketplace reported a narrower-than-expected first-quarter loss per share on 42% higher revenue.

Adjusted for one-time items, Poshmark incurred a loss of -33 cents a share, compared to the -37 cents loss a share anticipated by analysts polled by FactSet.

Revenue increased to $81 million from the year-ago quarter’s $57.1 million.The analysts surveyed by FactSet forecast around $81 million.

 

 

Electric-vehicle-battery maker QuantumScape Corp.  posted first-quarter results that fell short of analysts’ expectations.The loss was -6-cent loss in the year-earlier quarter.

In a letter to investors, QuantumScape said it met a contractual milestone with Volkswagen AG and delivered battery cells for further testing at the car maker, leading to an additional $100 million investment from Volkswagen into QuantumScape in April.

QuantumScape expects to enter 2022 with greater than $1.3 billion in liquidity, reflecting a net increase of more than $300M compared to its liquidity entering the year.

FuboTV  reported better-than-expected revenue in the first quarter, on the back of solid subscriber growth.

The streaming service company’s first-quarter revenue grew +135% year-over-year to $119.7 million, beating analysts’ expectations of $103.6 million."

 

 

On Thursday, Shake Shack posted first-quarter revenue that fell short of analyst forecasts, leading to some analysts to lower their share-price targets. 

The fast casual restaurant chain’s revenue for the quarter came in at $155.3 million, versus $161.6 million expected by analysts’ (according to a Bloomberg consensus estimate).However, same-store sales growth of +5.7% handily topped the -1.74% expected by analysts.

Adjusted loss for the quarter was -1 cent vs. -$0.09 anticipated by analysts.

Analysts at Cowen cut its price target on Shake Shack shares to $93 from $97, while affirming its market-perform rating. 

Wedbush analysts lowered its target to $114 from $122 and maintained its rating at neutral.

 

 

Expedia Group’s shares climbed on Friday, as it posted first quarter results better than expected by analysts.

The online travel booking company’s adjusted loss came in at -$2.02 a share, compared to a loss of -$2.30 a share anticipated by analysts polled by Factset.But the figure beat that $1.11 billion that analysts surveyed by FactSet had expected.

“Travel remains a study in contrasts – with strong vacation rental growth and demand for domestic travel continuing to drive us forward, while demand for international and business travel and conventional lodging remain challenged,” said Expedia Chief Executive Peter Kern.

Sports-betting platform DraftKings  reported first quarter results that was better than analysts’ expectations, on the back of strong revenue growth.

DraftKings’ adjusted loss for the quarter came in at - 36 cents a share, narrower than the  -43 cents loss a share anticipated by analysts polled by FactSet.

The company’s revenue surged +252.6% from the year-ago quarter to $312.3 million, exceeding analysts' estimates of $236.2 million.

The number of monthly unique players was 1.5 million as of its first quarter, vs. 1.31 million expected by analysts (according to FactSet).It was boosted by increased engagement with its iGaming and mobile sports betting product offerings, as well as cross-selling, the company said.

Looking ahead, DraftKings boosted its fiscal 2021 revenue guidance from a range of $900 million to $1 billion to a range of $1.05 billion to $1.15 billion.

Roku posted first-quarter earnings, even as analysts expected a loss.

The streaming company’s  first quarter profit came in at 54 cents per share, compared to the loss of -13 cents per share that analysts were expecting.

Revenue surged +79% year-over-year to $574.2 million, vs. $491.6 million expected by analysts.

The company said it added 2.4 million active accounts in the quarter to touch 53.6 million, compared to 54.2 million expected by analysts polled by FactSet.

For the second quarter, Roku projects total net revenue of $615 million vs. analyst expectations of $550 million, according to FactSet.

"We are pleased with our start to 2021 and believe the broad secular trends combined with the investments we are making will drive long term growth.Different rates of recovery worldwide from COVID-19, combined with persistent supply chain constraints, make it difficult to predict an economic return to normalcy," said CEO Anthony Wood. 

Square   shares climbed in after-market trading Thursday, following  after the company posted earnings beat for the first quarter.

The digital payments company’s adjusted earnings per share came in at 41 cents, handily topping the 16 cents expected in a Refinitiv survey of analysts.

Revenue soared almost four times in the quarter to $5.057 billion,  compared to $3.36 billion expected by Refinitiv.

Gross profit climbed +79% year over year to $964 million in the quarter that ended Mar.Cash App gross profit surged +171% from the year-ago quarter to $495 million.

Square generated $3.5 billion in bitcoin revenue, up 11 times year over year.

ODP  shares climbed on  first-quarter earnings beat and plans to spin off its distribution business into a separate publicly traded company.

For the first quarter, adjusted earnings came in at $1.21 a share, exceeding the FactSet consensus estimate of 72 cents a share. 

Revenue rose +13% from the year-ago quarter to $2.36 billion, but was below the FactSet estimate of $2.41 billion.

Office Depot owner ODP Corp said it would spin off its distribution platform, which schools and offices use to buy supplies, into a separate company.The separated company would include ODP's business solutions division and Canadian office supplies retailer Grand & Toy.

The new company will also own ODP's regional office supply distribution businesses, it said.

 

 

On Tuesday, American Express Global Business Travel,  a joint venture 50% owned by American Express Co., announced that it planned to   acquire Egencia, the corporate-travel business of online travel-services company Expedia .

Under the proposed deal, Expedia will become a shareholder in and will enter into a long-term commercial agreement with Global Business Travel.

“In Egencia, we would welcome the industry's leading digital business travel platform," said Paul Abbott, the chief executive of GBT.

According to Expedia,  the supply agreement reached between the two companies will "meaningfully further Expedia Group's goal of powering businesses across the entire eco-system." 

Shares of pet food retailer Chewy Inc. shares got   a buy rating from Guggenheim analysts who initiated coverage of the stock.

Guggenheim analysts set a $95 price target on the shares.The analysts cited a fast-growing market, a leading industry position, significant new and existing customer opportunities and other tailwinds for Chewy.

"As of today, although CHWY only participates in ~70% of the combined pet products and services market, the recent launch of telehealth tele-triage service (connect with a vet) in October 2020 and compounding medication (customized medicines) in November 2020 showcases management’s commitment to driving increased participation in the services-related needs of pet parents," analyst Steven Forbes wrote.  According to Forbes, Chewy customers have shown "an extreme level of customer loyalty".

Chewy’s  active customer base has grown to 19.2 million in 2020 from 1.5 million in 2015, implying 66% compound annual growth.

They also slashed price target to $170 a share from $240.  Analyst Chris Carey called Clorox shares "dead money, at best, with downside."  

According to Wells Fargo analysts, Clorox sales in the professional and international segments ( "new growth drivers") missed estimates – something that makes it hard to argue for 'underappreciated' upside, as indicated by the analysts.

 

MicroVision   shares fell more than -20% in premarket trading on Friday, after the laser-scanning technology company posted a steeper-than-expected quarterly loss.The company incurred a loss of -4 cents a share in the first quarter, compared to a loss of -3 cents a share anticipated by analysts poled by FactSet.

Sales fell to $500,000 from $1.5 million a year ago.

Sports betting company DraftKings Inc.  shares got a buy rating at Guggenheim Securities that initiated coverage of the sports betting company with a $75 price target.

Guggenheim estimates suggest that the online sports betting and iGaming opportunity in North America will range between $7.6 billion and $10.6 billion when fully mature, with EBITDA margins of 30% or more.Doug Ducey (R.), as well as regulatory clearance.

Analyst Curry Baker said that  in addition to legalization and the tailwinds from new states/markets, there are several other competitive advantages driving the firm’s positive outlook for DraftKings.

Caterpillar Inc.  reported its first quarter earnings that surpassed analysts’ expectations, on the back of  solid construction sales.

The construction equipment company’s adjusted earnings for the three months ending in March increased +48% from the year-ago quarter to $2.87 per share, well ahead of the Street consensus forecast of $1.94 per share.

Revenues climbed +12% year-over-year to $11.9 billion, which also exceeded analysts' estimates of $11.1 billion.

Construction sales rose +27% year-over-year to $5.46 billion in the quarter.Resource, energy and transportation sales increased +6.5% to $2.216 billion.

There was  a -1% decrease in rolling three-month sales in North America. Nevertheless, Latin American sales for the rolling three-month period rose +54%, while world machines sales were up +13%.