US Stocks
Equities in the United States closed higher on Friday after a volatile trading week with the investors focus mainly around COVID-19 recovery.
Major companies across the globe that have made announcements include; Tesla, China International Marine Containers Group (CIMC), the world’s largest manufacturer of shipping containers, Evergrande among others.
Global Markets Major News
Evergrande Group Debt Crisis
Shares in troubled real estate developer China Evergrande Group and its property management unit Evergrande Property Services were suspended from trading in Hong Kong on Monday as investors awaited the next steps in the saga of its debt crisis.
According to media reports, another Chinese developer, Hopson Development Holdings, was planning to acquire a majority share in Evergrande Property Services Group.
Last week, Evergrande Real Estate Group has missed a second bond coupon payment deadline. The company also failed to notify investors about its inaction on the matter.
Meanwhile, the company also sold a Shengjing Bank stake worth 9.99 billion yuan ($1.5 billion) to settle some of its debts with the Shenyang local government.
Volvo to announce $25 billion IPO plans
Volvo Group is preparing to go public on Nasdaq Stockholm and could announce details of its plans as soon as Monday, according to a report by the Wall Street Journal on Sunday.
The Swedish auto maker owned by Zhejiang Geely Holding Group Co. of China, is seeking a valuation of more than $25 billion according to the Financial Times.
Volvo Group said that its car sales for the first half of 2021 increased 41% when compared to the same period last year, breaking the company’s record for most cars sold in the first half of a year.
The company reported that 380,757 cars were sold globally, driven by strong demand in China, the United States, and Europe.
GitLab US IPO
Coding platform GitLab, is looking to raise $624 million through an initial public offering in the United States, valuing the company at nearly $9 billion.
According to Bloomberg, the company will sell 8.42 million of its Class A common shares during the listing process, in addition to shareholders offering another 1.98 million.
Lenovo Shanghai listing
Chinese PC leader Lenovo will list on Shanghai’s tech-focused market, aiming to raise 10 billion yuan ($1.54 billion) to develop leading-edge businesses outside of hardware.
Lenovo plans a public offering using Chinese depositary receipts in the STAR Market, the Shanghai Stock Exchange’s answer to Nasdaq. The company will float no more than 10% of the share capital.
The company is already listed at the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.
CIMC to acquire Maersk’s cold container business for $1.08billion
China International Marine Containers Group (CIMC), the world’s largest manufacturer of shipping containers, will expand its market share in the refrigerated container business through a $1.08 billion deal with the Danish conglomerate A.P. Moller-Maersk, as announced on Tuesday in a statement.
Maersk Container Industry (MCI), a maker of reefer containers with an important manufacturing plant in the northern Chinese port city of Qingdao, generated $595 million in revenue last year.
“By leveraging technology and innovation we want to create a new growth platform within cold chain,” said Mai Boliang, chairman and chief executive of CIMC, praising the MCI’s existing “results and innovation.” The transaction is expected to close within the next year, subject to regulatory approvals.
J&J seeks approval for booster shot
Johnson and Johnson (J&J) will this week seek approval from the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the use of the booster shot of its vaccine against COVID-19, the New York Times (NYT).
According to the times, FDA will meet on October 15 to discuss the possibility of giving this booster shot the emergency use authorization (EUA).
The FDA has already approved the use of Pfizer Inc. and BioNTech SE’s booster dose.
Elliott fund builds up stake in Toshiba
Elliott Management Corporation, a hedge fund with approximately $48 billion in assets under management, has acquired “a sizeable stake” in Toshiba Corporation, the Financial Times reports.
“Our investment in Toshiba reflects our strong conviction in the company’s underlying value,” an Elliott spokesperson said in an emailed statement to Bloomberg. “We have been encouraged by the constructive nature of our engagement with the company in recent months.”
Google scraps bank account plans
Google said on Friday it has decided to abandon plans to offer users banking services.
“We’re updating our approach to focus primarily on delivering digital enablement for banks and other financial services providers rather than us serving as the provider of these services,” a spokesperson for the company told CNBC.
In 2020, Google announced plans to launch Plex Accounts in 2021, a service that would offer users checking and savings accounts with no monthly fees.
Tesla Q3 deliveries beats estimates
Tesla Inc. said on Saturday that its vehicle deliveries in the third quarter stood at 241,300. About 232,025 of the deliveries were either Model 3 or Model Y. The remaining 9,275 deliveries were either Model S or Model X.
The total figure surpassed market projections. The company also announced it produced 237,823 vehicles – 228,882 Model 3/Y and 8,941 Model S/X.
“Our delivery count should be viewed as slightly conservative, as we only count a car as delivered if it is transferred to the customer and all paperwork is correct. Final numbers could vary by up to 0.5% or more,” the carmaker noted in a press release.
Ford to slow down production due to chip shortages
Ford Motor Company announced on Thursday last week its plans to limit production capacity due to global semiconductor shortages.
During the week of October 4, the automaker’s production will be idled at Michigan and Missouri assembly plants, while the Kentucky plant will operate on one shift.
The announcement comes shortly after Ford revealed its $11.4 billion investment to build two new electric car plants in Tennessee and Kentucky for the manufacturing of F150 trucks and corresponding batteries for them.
