PRISM Market Moves on Monday: Medical Properties Trust Surges; Tesla and Apple Slump
US equities are mixed on Monday at midday, well off best levels after stocks sold off on Friday with all the major indexes down. Investment banks, money center banks, industrial metals, A&D, semi cap equipment, pharma and apparel/accessories are outperforming, while EVs, cloud software, homebuilders and REITs, department stores are weaker. Treasuries are under, the Dollar is index flat, Gold is down (0.3%), Bitcoin futures are down (3.6%) and WTI crude is down (1.1%).
Outperformers at midday are Medical Properties Trust ($MPW) which has surged +18.2% after selling a 75% interest in five Utah hospitals for $886M to a joint venture which has also provided new non-recourse secured financing. Encore Wire ($WIRE) is up +13.3% after the company announced it has agreed to be acquired by Prysmian for $290/share, and Extreme Networks ($EXTR) has gained +5.6% on being upgraded to buy from neutral at B Riley. Analysts cited recent positive commentary from one of the company’s major customers TD Synnex ($SNX) and noted improving demand and Extreme Network’s conservative revenue outlook.
The day’s decliners are Salesforce ($CRM) which is down (5.4%) after Reuters reported that the company is in talks to acquire Informatic ($INFA). Tesla ($TSLA) has lost (3.3%) on an Electrek report stating that the company is considering reducing its global headcount by ~10%, approximately 14K employees. The report cited an internal memo from CEO, Elon Musk, discussing the need for cost reductions and increased productivity after a period of rapid corporate growth. Apple ($AAPL) has dropped (1.0%) after Reuters reported that smartphone shipments are said to be down around 10% in the first quarter of 2024.
