Newsquawk Daily US Equity Opening News: Thoma Bravo in talks to acquire DAY; NVO's Wegovy approved by the FDA

TODAY'S AGENDA:

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  US INDEX FUTURES: ES -0.1%, NQ -0.2%, YM flat, RTY +0.1%.


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  DAY AHEAD: There is no tier 1 US data on Monday. On the speaker slate, Fed's Bowman (voter) is scheduled to speak at 17:45BST/12:45EDT on Bloomberg. However, the highlight of the day is the US/Ukraine meeting. The White House said US President Trump will greet Ukrainian President Zelensky at 13:00EDT/18:00BST on Monday and will participate in a bilateral meeting with Zelensky at 13:15EDT/18:15BST, while European leaders will arrive at the White House on Monday at 12:00EDT/17:00BST and President Trump will greet European leaders at 14:15EDT/19:15BST with a multilateral meeting to take place at 15:00EDT/20:00BST. To see the full Newsquawk preview, please click here.


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  BROKER MOVES: RUN upgraded at RBC; OXY downgraded at MS. For the full list, click here.


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  MAJOR MORNING MOVES RECAP: SHCO, NVO, DAY, TSLA, WULF. For the full list, click here.


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  US DAILY CONFERENCE CALENDAR: CSCO. For the full list, click here.

EQUITY NEWS:

MACRO

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  US/Russia - US President Trump said they made great progress in the meeting with Russian President Putin which he said was "a 10" and there are just a few points left to agree upon and a few things left to resolve, but added there is no deal until there is a deal and there are one or two significant items left to agree on and it is ultimately up to NATO and Ukraine to agree. Trump said they negotiated on NATO, security and land, while he also stated that he could meet Putin again soon and could see a Moscow meeting possibly happening, as well as noted that Putin wants to see an end to the killing like he does. Putin said he is sincerely interested in ending the conflict, but all ‘root causes’ must be eliminated and all Russia’s concerns must be taken into account. Putin said negotiations were productive and useful. Putin said the personal meeting has been overdue and was necessary to rectify the situation, while he hopes that a mutual understanding will bring peace to Ukraine and he agrees with Trump on the need for Ukraine’s security. Furthermore, he said the agreements should be a starting point and that a Russia-US Investment partnership has huge potential. It was also reported that Putin told Trump that if Ukraine fully withdraws from eastern Donetsk and Luhansk regions, Russia would freeze the front line in the southern regions of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia. It was also reported that the Kremlin said a trilateral summit with Ukraine was not discussed yet and there is no date set for another Trump-Putin meeting.

CONSUMER DISCRETIONARY

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  Tesla (TSLA) - Nearly halves monthly payments in the UK amid a sales slump, according to The Times.


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  Soho House (SHCO) - MCR Hotels is leading a group of investors to take Soho House (SHCO) private for around USD 9/shr or USD 1.8bln, according to WSJ citing sources. Note, SHCO closed Friday at USD 7.64/shr.


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  Six Flags (FUN) - WSJ writes has had a "nightmare" of a summer following its merger with Cedar Fun due to severe thunderstorms and excessive heat, new rides being delayed, competition from new rivals, quality issues and economic uncertainty. Co. is looking to sell and close some parks to help it build more roller coasters and reduce debt.


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  Xpeng (XPEV) - China CITIC Bank to grant CNY 10bln in credit to support business ops and development.

COMMUNICATIONS

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  Alphabet (GOOGL) - Australia's ACCC says Google has cooperated with ACCC, admitted liability, and agreed to jointly submit to court that Google should pay total penalty of AUD 55mln related to anti-competitive conduct involving Google Search in Australia.


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  Meta Platforms (META) - Will undergo its fourth restructuring of its AI efforts in six months, according to The Information. Cos. new AI organization, Meta Superintelligence Labs, is anticipated to be divided into four groups as part of the restructuring. In other news, META may debut "Hypernova" smart glasses with display for USD 800 in September, via BBG.

HEALTH CARE

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  Novo Nordisk's (NVO) - Wegovy gets accelerated US FDA approval for liver disease MASH.


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  Tonix Pharmaceutical (TNXP) - FDA approved Cos. drug to manage pain related to a type of chronic condition called fibromyalgia. The non-opioid drug, to be sold under the brand Tonmya will be available by Q4.


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  Ascentage Pharma (AAPG) - Received clearance by the US FDA and the EMA, to conduct GLORA-4 study, a global registrational Phase III study of lisaftoclax, APG-2575, a proprietary Bcl-2 inhibitor, in combination with azacitidine, for the treatment of patients with newly diagnosed higher-risk myelodysplastic syndrome.


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  Merck (MRK) - Cos. ifinatamab deruxtecan has been granted Breakthrough Therapy Designation by the FDA for the treatment of adult patients with extensive-stage small cell lung cancer with disease progression on or after platinum-based chemotherapy.

INDUSTRIALS

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  Vestas Wind Systems (VWDRY) - IRS provides new guidance. Clarifies how taxpayers can begin construction by performing on-site or off-site physical work on solar and wind facilities.


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  Lockheed Martin (LMT) - Awarded USD 110.9mln Navy contract modification.


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  Dayforce (DAY) - Thoma Bravo is in talks to acquire Dayforce, according to Bloomberg citing sources; deal could be reportedly be announced as soon as the coming weeks, but, while the discussions are advanced, they could still be delayed or faltered.

METALS

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  Steel/Aluminium names - The Trump admin added 407 derivative product codes to the list of goods subject to the 50% tariffs on steel and aluminum imports. Steel names include ArcelorMittal (MT), Cleveland-Cliffs (CLF), Nucor (NUE), Steel Dynamics (STLD) and US Steel (X), while aluminum names include Alcoa (AA) and Century Aluminum (CENX).

TECH

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  Big Tech - WSJ writes that tech Cos. are paying AI researchers billions and using unconventional methods to hire founders and top AI researchers at startups but, while these moves might help them in the near term, this could stifle innovation in the long run.


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  Amphenol (APH) - Announced a definitive agreement to acquire Trexon for roughly USD 1bln in cash, subject to customary post-closing adjustments. Trexon is expected to have 2025 sales and EBITDA margins of ~USD 290mln and 26%, respectively.


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  Strategy (MSTR) - Acquired 430 Bitcoin for USD 51.3mln at USD 119,666.


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  Yext (YEXT) - Announced that Michael Walrath, its CEO and chairman of the board of directors, has submitted a proposal to acquire all outstanding shares of the company not already owned by him at a price of USD 9/shr.


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  Terawulf (WULF) - Google (GOOGL) increases stake in Terawulf to 14%; WULF announces proposed private offering of USD 400mln of convertible notes due 2031.

ENERGY

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  Exxon (XOM) - Russia's President Putin signed a decree on Friday that could allow foreign investors, including Exxon Mobil to regain shares in the Sakhalin-1 oil and gas project.

18 Aug 2025 - 13:39- MetalsResearch Sheet- Source: Newsquawk