Shares of Celldex Therapeutics ( CLDX ) jumped ~18% on Wednesday after the company said that enrollments in a late-stage program for its lead asset, barzolvolimab, concluded ahead of schedule. The enrollments for its Phase 3 program designed to test barzolvolimab against a skin condition known as chronic spontaneous urticaria concluded six months before the guidance, the Hampton, New Jersey-based ...
Shares of Celldex Therapeutics ( CLDX ) jumped ~18% on Wednesday after the company said that enrollments in a late-stage program for its lead asset, barzolvolimab, concluded ahead of schedule. The enrollments for its Phase 3 program designed to test barzolvolimab against a skin condition known as chronic spontaneous urticaria concluded six months before the guidance, the Hampton, New Jersey-based biotech said in a statement. The global development program was designed to recruit more than 1,900 adults with CSU who remain symptomatic despite prior H1 antihistamine therapy. With topline data expected in Q4 2026, the program comprising two Phase 3 trials—EMBARQ-CSU1 and EMBARQ-CSU2—is expected to run, involving more than 500 study sites across 43 counties, as Celldex ( CLDX ) plans to submit a marketing application for barzolvolimab to the FDA next year. More on Celldex Seeking Alpha’s Quant Rating on Celldex Historical earnings data for Celldex Financial information for Celldex
BlackJack3D As crypto prices rebounded Wednesday, short interest data highlight where bearish positioning remains most concentrated in the crypto exchange-traded-fund complex. Bitcoin ( BTC-USD ) staged a comeback after four straight days in the red, jumping 6.2% in the last 24 hours to $68K in midday trading, while ether ( ETH-USD ) reclaimed the $2K mark for the first time in a week, bouncing 10...
BlackJack3D As crypto prices rebounded Wednesday, short interest data highlight where bearish positioning remains most concentrated in the crypto exchange-traded-fund complex. Bitcoin ( BTC-USD ) staged a comeback after four straight days in the red, jumping 6.2% in the last 24 hours to $68K in midday trading, while ether ( ETH-USD ) reclaimed the $2K mark for the first time in a week, bouncing 10%. Still, prices have a long way to go before meeting prior records, with bitcoin's price sliced in half since its all-time highs of over $126K in October. Below is a list of 10 crypto-linked ETFs carrying the highest short interest as a percentage of float, offering a snapshot of where investors are maintaining the largest downside bets. Each fund has at least $1B in assets under management. ProShares Bitcoin ETF ( BITO ), short interest 10.7% Fidelity Ethereum Fund ETF ( FETH ), 5.72% iShares Ethereum Trust ETF ( ETHA ), 3.57% Grayscale Ethereum Staking ETF ( ETHE ), 2.82% ARK 21Shares Bitcoin ETF ( ARKB ), 2.10% iShares Bitcoin Trust ( IBIT ), 2.02% Grayscale Bitcoin Trust ( GBTC ), 1.99% Fidelity Wise Origin Bitcoin Fund ETF ( FBTC ), 1.79% VanEck Bitcoin ETF ( HODL ), 1.28% Grayscale Bitcoin Mini Trust ETF ( BTC ), 1.17% More on Bitcoin USD, Ethereum USD Bitcoin And Ethereum On Their Way To 2026 Lows: Is A Double-Bottom Coming? Bitcoin's Quantum Rigidity Is Ethereum's Biggest Bull Case VanEck Mid-February 2026 Bitcoin ChainCheck Bitcoin rebounds after four-day slide; Circle jumps 19% on strong Q4 results Bitcoin regains some momentum, rises 4.5%
chameleonseye/iStock Editorial via Getty Images PayPal: Stripe Wants to Buy Out PYPL? Wow! Investors in PayPal Holdings, Inc. ( PYPL ) have been given a lifeline (sort of?), as PYPL has mounted an incredible revival, with the market apparently sizing up the opportunity of a possible buyout (nothing confirmed yet), whether in parts or in full. The reported interest in PayPal has already been gainin...
chameleonseye/iStock Editorial via Getty Images PayPal: Stripe Wants to Buy Out PYPL? Wow! Investors in PayPal Holdings, Inc. ( PYPL ) have been given a lifeline (sort of?), as PYPL has mounted an incredible revival, with the market apparently sizing up the opportunity of a possible buyout (nothing confirmed yet), whether in parts or in full. The reported interest in PayPal has already been gaining momentum recently, but following yesterday's (February 24) update that Stripe ( STRIP ) could be one of the major bidders on PYPL’s assets, I think it has resonated with the investor class that PYPL’s deeply undervalued shares are finally attracting enough attention. I highlighted the stock’s deep value appeal in my last PYPL update . However, I didn't quite expect PayPal’s rivals to return so quickly to potentially conjure up an offensive to acquire the company in full or break it into parts to subsume. Despite that, I did highlight that PayPal has amazingly solid assets, particularly in Venmo, even though that particular part of the business does not fully mitigate the headwinds in its branded segment. As a result, the market was still focused on the market share losses that have clearly hampered the previous reign of former CEO Alex Chriss, leading to his unceremonious departure on account of poor execution. And with these recent updates, particularly from Stripe as it announced a new tender offer for employees valuing the company at a valuation of almost $160 billion, it has also elevated the company's ability to put in an offer to fully acquire PayPal’s business. Let's not "conveniently" forget that PayPal truly holds solid assets. It still owns a highly sticky two-sided network that could be integrated into Stripe’s merchant-strong ecosystem. Former PayPal President David Marcus noted in an interview in February that PayPal still possesses “formidable assets” and also labeled the P2P platform Venmo as “phenomenal.” We know that Venmo now boasts 100M total active acc...
Andrei Akushevich/iStock via Getty Images The Roundhill Sports Betting & iGaming ETF ( BETZ ) is a passively managed exchange-traded fund designed to provide investors with exposure to the global sports betting and iGaming equity market. BETZ is a pure-play strategy and may not be considered a diversified portfolio strategy, making it appropriate as a satellite position within a diversified portfo...
Andrei Akushevich/iStock via Getty Images The Roundhill Sports Betting & iGaming ETF ( BETZ ) is a passively managed exchange-traded fund designed to provide investors with exposure to the global sports betting and iGaming equity market. BETZ is a pure-play strategy and may not be considered a diversified portfolio strategy, making it appropriate as a satellite position within a diversified portfolio. About Roundhill Sports Betting & iGaming ETF BETZ was launched by Roundhill Investments on June 4, 2020, on the NYSE Arca Exchange. BETZ has an expense ratio of 75 bps, modestly higher than many industry-focused ETFs. BETZ exhibits relatively thin liquidity with $51mm in net assets and an average of $379k in share value changing hands on a daily basis, potentially impacting bid/ask spread risk. Seeking Alpha BETZ pays out an annual distribution, though it can be intermittent. Due to this factor, BETZ should be held as a growth investment rather than for income. Seeking Alpha BETZ was designed to track the Morningstar Sports Betting & iGaming Select Index . The Index was designed to reflect the performance of the market theme, selecting companies that are associated with the iGaming industry. This includes physical and digital bookmaking, companies that operate market and/or customer acquisition in the iGaming industry, and media-related companies that generate content related to iGaming. The Index requires constituents to have a minimum market capitalization of $100mm and an average daily trading volume of at least $250k. The Index uses a hybrid weighting methodology, balancing sector themes and market capitalization with the constituents having the highest-ranking score being the most heavily weighted. Thematic ranking is based on the percentage of revenue generated from the iGaming and sports betting markets. The Index caps constituents at 10%, and the combination of constituents weighting 5% or greater cannot sum to 40% of the total portfolio weight. The index is re...
The Hong Kong government has produced a consolidated surplus earlier than expected, its first in four years, ahead of a rare transfer into coffers from the Exchange Fund and other sources. Wednesday’s budget pointed to fund transfers of HK$127.83 billion and an 11.1 per cent jump in government revenues contributing to another surplus for 2026-27, on top of the one for the 2025-26 financial year. “...
The Hong Kong government has produced a consolidated surplus earlier than expected, its first in four years, ahead of a rare transfer into coffers from the Exchange Fund and other sources. Wednesday’s budget pointed to fund transfers of HK$127.83 billion and an 11.1 per cent jump in government revenues contributing to another surplus for 2026-27, on top of the one for the 2025-26 financial year. “We will bring back about HK$15.8 billion from funds established outside the government’s accounts,...
TSMC (NYSE:TSM) is adding advanced chip fabrication facilities in the United States, Japan, and Europe to increase global production capacity. The company is targeting growing AI chip demand while spreading its manufacturing base across multiple regions. Management is focusing on automation and government incentives to help offset higher overseas operating costs. These moves highlight TSMC's centr...
TSMC (NYSE:TSM) is adding advanced chip fabrication facilities in the United States, Japan, and Europe to increase global production capacity. The company is targeting growing AI chip demand while spreading its manufacturing base across multiple regions. Management is focusing on automation and government incentives to help offset higher overseas operating costs. These moves highlight TSMC's central role in supplying advanced semiconductors and addressing supply chain and geopolitical...
Kevin Dietsch Republican attorneys general from 11 states have urged the Justice Department to thoroughly review the deal between Warner Bros. Discovery ( WBD ) and Netflix ( NFLX ), saying the proposed transaction threatens the U.S.'s leadership in the film industry, according to a Wednesday report by Reuters , citing a letter. The report said state attorneys general want the DOJ to closely inves...
Kevin Dietsch Republican attorneys general from 11 states have urged the Justice Department to thoroughly review the deal between Warner Bros. Discovery ( WBD ) and Netflix ( NFLX ), saying the proposed transaction threatens the U.S.'s leadership in the film industry, according to a Wednesday report by Reuters , citing a letter. The report said state attorneys general want the DOJ to closely investigate how the deal would impact streaming services customers, as well as the theatrical industry. The deal "will likely result in undue market concentration that stifles competition and therefore creates higher prices, lower reliability, and less innovation for one of America’s major industries—all to the detriment of American consumers," the attorneys general wrote in the letter seen by Reuters . Hollywood critics have vehemently expressed their concerns and fear the deal would hurt the movie theater market, but Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos has repeatedly reassured that it would not do so. On Tuesday, Warner Bros. said the revised offer from rival bidder Paramount Skydance ( PSKY ) might be 'superior' and was reviewing it, but for now, continued to recommend shareholders vote for the Netflix transaction. More on Warner Bros. Discovery, Netflix, etc. Warner Bros. Discovery: The New Offer Is Unlikely To Be The Last I Missed The 2022 Netflix Turnaround - I Won't Miss This One (Rating Upgrade) Warner Bros. Discovery Merger: How To Play The Three Scenarios Paramount Skydance Corporation Q4 2025 Earnings Preview Warner Bros. Discovery says raised Paramount Skydance bid may be 'superior'
Former Treasury Secretary and president emeritus and professor at Harvard University, Larry Summers attends the Allen & Company Sun Valley Conference on July 9, 2025 in Sun Valley, Idaho. Kevin Dietsch | Getty Images Larry Summers, the former U.S. Treasury secretary who has been dogged by his past friendship with Jeffrey Epstein, announced Wednesday that he will resign from teaching at Harvard Uni...
Former Treasury Secretary and president emeritus and professor at Harvard University, Larry Summers attends the Allen & Company Sun Valley Conference on July 9, 2025 in Sun Valley, Idaho. Kevin Dietsch | Getty Images Larry Summers, the former U.S. Treasury secretary who has been dogged by his past friendship with Jeffrey Epstein, announced Wednesday that he will resign from teaching at Harvard University by the end of the current academic year, the university said. Summers previously served as president of Harvard. His resignation came as the university was conducting a review of emails and other documents detailing Summers' connection to Epstein, which were released in recent months by the Department of Justice and Congress. Summers has not been accused of wrongdoing in connection with Epstein. "In connection with the ongoing review by the University of documents related to Jeffrey Epstein that were recently released by the government, Harvard Kennedy School Dean Jeremy Weinstein has accepted Professor Lawrence H. Summers' resignation from his leadership position as co-director of the Mossavar-Rahmani Center for Business and Government," Harvard spokesman Jason Newton told CNBC in a statement. "Professor Summers has announced that he will retire from his academic and faculty appointments at Harvard at the end of this academic year and will remain on leave until that time," Newton said. Read more CNBC politics coverage State of the Union 2026 recap: Trump touted economic gains Epstein files: Trump sexual abuse claims withheld by DOJ Senators tell CFTC prediction market contracts need clear guidance Democrats seek to force refunds after Supreme Court blocks Trump tariffs Trump demands Netflix fire Susan Rice as DOJ probes Warner deal In a statement to The Crimson , the university's student newspaper, Summers called his decision to leave his professorship "difficult," but also said he remained "grateful to the thousands of students and colleagues I have been privilege...
Kobus Louw/E+ via Getty Images Thesis: SEP-631 Phase 1 data, the early driver Septerna ( SEPN ) has just recently announced an inducement equity grant for its new Chief Legal Officer, Mark A. Wilson. With the upcoming advances in their clinical pipeline this year, it seems the company wants to lock in some leadership going forward. We should also keep in mind that the award was made under Nasdaq R...
Kobus Louw/E+ via Getty Images Thesis: SEP-631 Phase 1 data, the early driver Septerna ( SEPN ) has just recently announced an inducement equity grant for its new Chief Legal Officer, Mark A. Wilson. With the upcoming advances in their clinical pipeline this year, it seems the company wants to lock in some leadership going forward. We should also keep in mind that the award was made under Nasdaq Rule 5635(c)(4), so this would suggest the compensation was specifically tied to recruitment rather than routine pay. It’s a hefty 165,000-share stock option, priced at the market close of $25.41. It should align Wilson’s incentives with shareholder value and long-term company performance since it’s on a four-year vesting schedule. Now, this also aligns very well with the busy 2026 Septerna have coming up. The biggest previous stock catalyst was, of course, that collaboration announcement with Novo Nordisk ( NVO ). I explain later on exactly why Novo is willing to pay so much upfront to Septerna and why they're willing to wait for a result. But in short, Novo is looking for a true small-molecule GPCR drug that can activate or modulate receptors like GLP-1 or GIP. However, I still think it is very early days in terms of procuring a strong candidate for Novo, and investors would benefit more from focusing on SEP-631. This is a small-molecule drug designed to treat mast cell-driven diseases, and as you would expect, it's tipped to do this by selectively targeting a GPCR. Septerna is building its pipeline around GPCRs, and I feel the upcoming Phase 1 trial readout for SEP-631 could be an early sign that this pipeline design could produce meaningful results. I also feel the trial data next month, if positive, could see a meaningful re-rate of the stock, which is why I'm choosing to give my thoughts on the candidate now. In my previous coverage , I went over the collaboration revenue with Novo. Since then, the stock hasn't done too much due to the pretty non-eventful end to the ye...
Every weekday the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer holds a "Morning Meeting" livestream at 10:20 a.m. ET. Here's a recap of Wednesday's key moments. 1. Stocks were higher Wednesday as gains in Club name Nvidia and Oracle supported the broader market. Jim Cramer was particularly optimistic — saying that, perhaps, Monday's sell-off was "an overreaction" to the Citrini Research post that warned of...
Every weekday the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer holds a "Morning Meeting" livestream at 10:20 a.m. ET. Here's a recap of Wednesday's key moments. 1. Stocks were higher Wednesday as gains in Club name Nvidia and Oracle supported the broader market. Jim Cramer was particularly optimistic — saying that, perhaps, Monday's sell-off was "an overreaction" to the Citrini Research post that warned of AI as a killer of jobs and stock values. Jim derided the report as a "dystopian tale ... of science fiction," during "Mad Money" on Monday. While tech was bouncing again Wednesday, defensive stocks that have been strong lately took a back seat. Shares of TJX Companies were among the exceptions — up modestly after the off-price retailer reported another fantastic quarter. Look for our full Club earnings analysis on TJX shortly and an update on the entire portfolio during Friday's Monthly Meeting. 2. Corning received an upside 30-day catalyst from Citi ahead of this year's Optical Fiber Communications conference, coming up in mid-March. Analysts also raised the price target on Corning's stock to $170 per share, up from $120. At the conference, Citi expects various optical industry announcements to spotlight key advancements in high bandwidth and AI-driven network architecture. Last month, Meta announced a deal to pay Corning up to $6 billion for fiber-optic cables in its AI data centers. Corning's stock surged on the news and hasn't looked back. It hit another all-time high on Wednesday, a day after we raised our price target to $160. 3. Nvidia reports earnings after market close. Analysts are modeling about $66.1 billion in sales and adjusted earnings per share of $1.54. We'll be looking for any updates on China sales. Nvidia's chip sales to China have not been included in its guidance and would serve as pure upside. Salesforce also reports Wednesday evening. "We have not been recommending the stock," Jim said. The company will need beats across the board, Jeff Marks, direc...
Some giants of the technology industry have the resources and will to build their own vertically integrated businesses that include both semiconductor chip design and production. However, for the vast bulk of chip designers, having Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (NYSE: TSM) available as the go-to foundry for turning their top artificial intelligence chip designs into actual products is a vital...
Some giants of the technology industry have the resources and will to build their own vertically integrated businesses that include both semiconductor chip design and production. However, for the vast bulk of chip designers, having Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (NYSE: TSM) available as the go-to foundry for turning their top artificial intelligence chip designs into actual products is a vital part of their business models. For its part, Taiwan Semi has been more than happy to scale up its operations to take advantage of AI demand and demonstrate its continued reliability even during a supply crunch. Taiwan Semi stock has acted as you might expect, soaring in the wake of strong financial performance. But with shares near record levels, the question on many shareholders' minds is whether the foundry specialist can continue to expand and maintain market share, and how long AI-powered demand is likely to grow at its current breakneck pace. In this third and final article on Taiwan Semi for the Voyager Portfolio , you'll get a closer look at what CEO C.C. Wei and his executive team see as the key strategic points driving the company's future plans. Image source: Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing. Continue reading
Earnings Call Insights: Owens Corning (OC) Q4 2025 Management View Brian Chambers, President, CEO & Chair, opened by highlighting, "2025 was a year of progressively more challenging market conditions with weakening U.S. residential trends and distribution destocking in the back half of the year." Chambers emphasized the company’s ability to "deliver strong margins and make great progress on key in...
Earnings Call Insights: Owens Corning (OC) Q4 2025 Management View Brian Chambers, President, CEO & Chair, opened by highlighting, "2025 was a year of progressively more challenging market conditions with weakening U.S. residential trends and distribution destocking in the back half of the year." Chambers emphasized the company’s ability to "deliver strong margins and make great progress on key initiatives to enhance our operational efficiency and accelerate our organic growth." Chambers reported, "We delivered fourth quarter results consistent with our enterprise guidance with revenue of $2.1 billion and adjusted EBITDA of $362 million with an adjusted EBITDA margin of 17%. For the full year, we generated revenue of $10.1 billion and adjusted EBITDA of $2.3 billion with an adjusted EBITDA margin of 22%." The company completed the sale of its business in China and Korea and announced the divestiture of its glass reinforcements business. Chambers stated, "We have made major strategic moves to shift into more residential product categories that leverage our customer and channel expertise and further strengthen our long-term financial performance." Owens Corning increased its dividend by 15% in December, marking the 12th consecutive year of dividend growth, and committed to returning another $1 billion of cash to shareholders by the end of 2026. The company exceeded its $125 million run rate enterprise cost synergy target by mid-2026 and is on track for an additional $75 million in structural cost improvements. Todd Fister, Executive VP & CFO, stated, "Despite near-term market headwinds, we have multiple paths to deliver strong results by leveraging the OC Advantage... The impact of these structural improvements and investments will be amplified as residential markets recover later in 2026 and into 2027." Outlook Chambers indicated, "For 2026, we expect the near-term market environment to remain challenging with conditions improving in the second half of the year." Fir...
Earnings Call Insights: Blackstone Secured Lending Fund (BXSL) Q4 2025 Management View Brad Marshall, Trustee, Chairman & Co-CEO, opened with an assessment of the macroeconomic environment, highlighting resilience in corporate earnings and consumer strength, supported by "ongoing technology and AI-driven investment cycle" and a "fundamentally healthy economic backdrop." Marshall emphasized, "BXSL ...
Earnings Call Insights: Blackstone Secured Lending Fund (BXSL) Q4 2025 Management View Brad Marshall, Trustee, Chairman & Co-CEO, opened with an assessment of the macroeconomic environment, highlighting resilience in corporate earnings and consumer strength, supported by "ongoing technology and AI-driven investment cycle" and a "fundamentally healthy economic backdrop." Marshall emphasized, "BXSL reported another strong quarter with our net investment income or NII of $0.80 per share, representing an 11.8% annualized return on equity, made up overwhelmingly of interest income rather than income from PIK or dividends. Our distribution of $0.77 per share was 104% covered by our net investment income per share and represents an 11.4% annualized distribution yield on NAV." Deployment activity spiked, with "the fourth quarter... our second most active quarter of funding since 2021." The portfolio expanded to 316 companies, with 13 new credits funded at an average LTV of 41% and average spread near 500 basis points. Major fundings included AmTrust, Mankind, IEM, Saber Power, and a co-led deal for Jefferson, a digital aviation solutions business. Marshall addressed concerns over private credit bubbles and AI risk, stating, "if you look at the top 90% of our names in the portfolio, these companies are growing EBITDA at 9% over the past 12 months and have interest coverage over 2x and have an average mark of 99%." He further clarified the portfolio's defensive orientation by focusing on "vertical software, ERP, data infrastructure, data management and security," which have seen "40% EBITDA growth since underwriting." On underperformers, he cited Medallia, now marked at 77.75, and shared, "the watch list declined this quarter compared to last quarter." Marshall explained, "If you take this bottom 10% and just punitively assume the company is all defaulted...this would only impact the equity by approximately 100 basis points per year." Teddy Desloge, Chief Financial Officer, s...
Earnings Call Insights: United Therapeutics (UTHR) Q4 2025 Management View CEO Martine Rothblatt announced a "category killer product called [Tresmi]"—a proprietary soft mist inhaler formulation of treprostinil, designed to reduce coughing by up to 90% in human studies. "We intend to file for its approval in PAH and ILD this year and commercially launch it next year," with the aim of ending therap...
Earnings Call Insights: United Therapeutics (UTHR) Q4 2025 Management View CEO Martine Rothblatt announced a "category killer product called [Tresmi]"—a proprietary soft mist inhaler formulation of treprostinil, designed to reduce coughing by up to 90% in human studies. "We intend to file for its approval in PAH and ILD this year and commercially launch it next year," with the aim of ending therapy discontinuation due to cough. Rothblatt also stated, "the unblinding of our outcome study next week... will usher in a new era of once-a-day treatments for pulmonary hypertension" with a new "super prostacyclin" that lasts longer and binds more efficiently than other prostacyclins. The company plans to file for approval and launch three major products by June 2027: the once-daily super prostacyclin for PAH, [Tresmi] for ILD, and a new IPF treatment. Rothblatt outlined "fruitful discussions with three great pharmaceutical companies" interested in the company's AI-enabled digital lung model, emphasizing its ability to run hundreds of in silico Phase III trials faster than traditional methods. She also highlighted advancements in transplantation, with two patients transplanted in an FDA-approved trial and commercial Xeno product targeted for 2030. On liver and kidney regenerative medicine, Rothblatt said, "We've now fully enrolled and successfully completed the first manufactured liver clinical trial ever." President & COO Michael Benkowitz reported, "2025 marked another year of record-breaking revenue, driven by double-digit percent revenue growth from Tyvaso and Orenitram, leading to [11%] total revenue growth over full year 2024 and surpassing $3 billion in total revenue for the first time in our history." He detailed $790 million in total revenue for Q4 and $464 million in Tyvaso revenue, with Tyvaso DPI growing 24% year-over-year. Benkowitz introduced 80-microgram cartridges and new combination kits, designed to improve dosing flexibility and convenience. Outlook Rothbl...