Jiujiu Financial Breakfast | Elon Musk to acquire Twitter for $44 billion

Wall Street news today

Goldman Sachs downgraded Verizon from buy to neutral. Goldman Sachs said the valuation gap between Verizon and AT&T is widening.

Goldman Sachs cut ThredUp from buy to neutral. Goldman Sachs said it currently believes that online thrift stores face too many short-term headwinds.

Wolfe initiated snowflakes as a purchase. Wolff said Snowflake is a "top software portfolio" stock.

Deutsche Bank downgraded Kellogg's rating from holding to buy. Deutsche Bank, in downgrading the stock, said it was more "cautious."

Piper Sandler upgraded GoDaddy from neutral to overweight. Piper calls website domain name companies a top-notch defensive idea.

Truist upgraded AutoNation to move up from neutral to buy. In upgrading the auto retailer, Truist said it was a "more structurally profitable business after the pandemic."

Raymond James upgraded Marvell from market target to outperforming market performance. Raymond James said the stock has become more attractive.

Raymond James upgraded Advanced Micro Devices from outperformance to a strong acquisition. Raymond James said it was "well positioned" to upgrade the stock.

Wells Fargo lowered Thermo Fisher from holdings to reducing holdings. Wells said in a downgrade rating for the scientific instrument company that the stock was "expensive and has a higher estimate."

Guggenheim Upgrade Gap is neutrally raised to buy. In his downgrade to Gap, the Guggenheim said the company remained in a "strong financial position."

Bank of America downgraded Deere from buy to neutral. Bank of America said the good news had been factored into Deere shares.

Morgan Stanley reiterated the increase in Palo Alto Networks. Morgan Stanley said Palo Alto is on track to become the first cybersecurity company with a market capitalization of $100 billion.

U.S. stocks surged higher on Monday as U.S. Treasury yields fell, taking the opportunity to buy hard-hit technology stocks and other growth stocks, the Wall Street Journal reported.

The S&P 500 rose 24.34 points, or 0.6 percent, to 4,296.12, and fell nearly 1.7 percent at one point during the session. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 238.06 points, or 0.7 percent, to 34,049.46.

The technology-based Nasdaq Composite rose 165.56 points, or 1.3 percent, to 13,004.85. Social media company Twitter Inc. Twitter shares rose 5.7 percent after accepting a $44 billion acquisition by Elon Musk.

The benchmark 10-year Treasury yield fell to 2.825 percent on Monday from 2.905 percent on Friday.

Twitter rose $2.77 to $51.70. Microsoft (Microsoft Corp., MSFT) rose $6.69, or 2.4 percent, to $280.72, with Google parent company Alphabet Inc. GOOGL rose $68.77, or 2.9 percent, to close at $2,461.48.

Meanwhile, energy stocks in the S&P 500 saw the biggest drop, down 3.3 percent. Schlumberger Ltd. (SLB) fell $2.96, or 7.1 percent, to $38.69. Halliburton Co. (HAL) fell $2.36, or 6.3 percent, to $35.33. Apache's parent company, APA Corp. (APA) fell $1.63, or 4%, to close at $39.08.

In other corporate news, Shares of Coca-Cola Co. (KO) rose 69 cents, or 1.1 percent, to $65.94. The company said demand remained strong amid rising prices, leading to sales growth in the latest fiscal quarter. Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) rose $2.55 to $90.69, or 2.9 percent, after analysts at Raymond James upgraded the company's stock.

In overseas markets, the European Stoxx 600 index fell 1.8%.

According to the Wall Street Journal, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said Monday it had expanded its approval of Veklury as the first COVID-19 treatment for infants and young children.

The FDA said it has approved Gilead Sciences Inc. (GILD)'s Veklury, or remedesivir, for pediatric patients 28 days and older, at least 3 kilograms.

The FDA said that due to today's approval, the veklury emergency use authorization that previously covered this group of children has been revoked. Prior to today's action, Veklury was only approved for the treatment of certain adult and child patients infected with the coronavirus.

According to the Wall Street Journal, Twitter Inc. (TWTR) accepted Elon Musk's offer on Monday, giving the world's richest man control of the influential social media network, one of its most influential users.

The deal marked the end of a dramatic buying process and a dramatic change in Twitter's attitude as many executives and board members initially opposed Musk's takeover proposal. The deal has polarized Twitter's employees, users and regulators over the tech giants' decisions about the boundaries of discourse acceptable on the internet and how these companies enforce the rules.

After working all night, the two sides finally reached a deal. Earlier monday, The Wall Street Journal reported that Twitter and Musk had reached an agreement to valuate Twitter at $44 billion.

If successful, it will be one of the largest in tech history and could have a global impact in the coming years, affecting the way billions of people use social media.

On Monday, after the Wall Street Journal reported that the deal was close to being concluded, Musk tweeted that he hoped the platform would remain a destination for widespread discussion and disagreement.

"I hope that even the harshest critics of me will stay on Twitter because that's what freedom of speech means," he wrote. ”

Jiujiu financial breakfast | Blackstone Inc. acquires AmericanCampus Communities Inc. for $12.8 billion.

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