Lokibaho/iStock Unreleased via Getty Images Versant Media ( VSNT ), the owner of CNBC, Golf Channel and E!, agreed to sell the youth-sports app SportsEngine to PlayMetrics, a competitor that's backed by Genstar Capital. Versant shares rose 2.3%. A deal could be announced as soon as Friday, according to a Bloomberg report , which cited people familiar with the matter. Terms of the transaction weren...
Lokibaho/iStock Unreleased via Getty Images Versant Media ( VSNT ), the owner of CNBC, Golf Channel and E!, agreed to sell the youth-sports app SportsEngine to PlayMetrics, a competitor that's backed by Genstar Capital. Versant shares rose 2.3%. A deal could be announced as soon as Friday, according to a Bloomberg report , which cited people familiar with the matter. Terms of the transaction weren't immediately known. Bloomberg News reported in October that Versant hired an advisor to review a sale that would value SportsEngine at $400 million to $500 million. Versant and Genstar declined to comment to Bloomberg. A representative for PlayMetrics didn’t respond to a request for comment. More on Versant Media Group, Inc. What Versant's StockStory Deal Says About Life Beyond Pay-TV Versant Media: The Jury Is Still Out Here Versant Media Group, Inc. (VSNT) Presents at Deutsche Bank 34th Annual Media, Internet & Telecom Conference Transcript Greenlight takes new positions in Versant, Crocs, SLM - Q1 letter Versant acquires AI-driven financial insights platform StockStory
Former One Direction member cancelled US shows after recent hospitalization for an unspecified illness Zayn Malik , the former One Direction musician, has cancelled all US dates for his upcoming tour following hospitalization for an unspecified illness. Malik wrote in an Instagram story: “To my fans: Thank you so much for all the support and love you’ve shown me on the album release and more impor...
Former One Direction member cancelled US shows after recent hospitalization for an unspecified illness Zayn Malik , the former One Direction musician, has cancelled all US dates for his upcoming tour following hospitalization for an unspecified illness. Malik wrote in an Instagram story: “To my fans: Thank you so much for all the support and love you’ve shown me on the album release and more importantly your love, prayers, and well wishes for my health. I’ve felt it, and it’s meant the world. I’ve been at home recovering and I’m doing well and will be better and stronger than before. Continue reading...
Raymond James lifted its price target on Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) stock to $280 from $225, maintaining its Outperform rating. The firm argues that major artificial intelligence (AI) partnerships and expanding agentic capabilities are reinforcing Amazon Web Services (AWS) as the key platform for enterprise and consumer AI commercialization. For long-term investors, the revised outlook warrants a ... Ra...
Raymond James lifted its price target on Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) stock to $280 from $225, maintaining its Outperform rating. The firm argues that major artificial intelligence (AI) partnerships and expanding agentic capabilities are reinforcing Amazon Web Services (AWS) as the key platform for enterprise and consumer AI commercialization. For long-term investors, the revised outlook warrants a ... Raymond James Lifts Amazon Price Target to $280 on AI Partnerships: Is AWS Still the Stealth AI Winner
Seaport Therapeutics Inc. , shares jumped 17% in the firm’s trading debut, after the company raised nearly $255 million in an upsized initial public offering. The Boston-based company’s shares opened at $21 each, above the IPO price of $18 apiece. The biotech firm sold 14.16 million shares in the IPO, after having offered 11.8 million shares for $16 to $18 each. The trading gives the company a mar...
Seaport Therapeutics Inc. , shares jumped 17% in the firm’s trading debut, after the company raised nearly $255 million in an upsized initial public offering. The Boston-based company’s shares opened at $21 each, above the IPO price of $18 apiece. The biotech firm sold 14.16 million shares in the IPO, after having offered 11.8 million shares for $16 to $18 each. The trading gives the company a market value of $1.1 billion, based on the outstanding shares. The listing was more than 10 times oversubscribed, people familiar with the matter said earlier. Biotechnology IPOs have picked up in recent weeks. The latest, blood coagulation disorder drugmaker Hemab Therapeutics Holdings Inc., raised $301.5 million in an upsized US initial public offering. Seaport expects to release second phase trial results for its lead drug, a treatment for major depressive disorder, in the first half of 2027. Earlier this month, the company reported positive data from an early-stage trial of its second candidate, an oral drug to treat generalized anxiety disorder, and revealed plans to advance the drug to two parallel trials. The company, which is backed by PureTech Health Plc , had a net loss of $74.9 million last year, compared with a net loss of $46.9 million a year earlier, according to an earlier filing. For the latest news on equity capital markets activity in the US, Canada and Latin America, follow the channel or visit NI BFWECMUS . To subscribe to ECM Watch , Bloomberg’s daily roundup of news from around the region, click here . Nasdaq and London Stock Exchange-listed PureTech’s stake was expected to decline to 33% after the offering from 43%, the filings show. Affiliates of Arch Ventures Partners were set to have a 10% stake, down from 13%, and General Atlantic was set to have 6.6%, down from 8.6%. Seaport’s Chief Executive Officer Daphne Zohar was previously the co-founder of Karuna Therapeutics . That company was acquired for $14 billion by Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. in 2024. The ...
A Russian hacker who helped to breach critical oil and gas facilities in the US, Ukraine and other countries pleaded guilty to charges that carry as many as 27 years in prison. Artem Vladimirovich Revenskii, a Russian national known in cybercriminal circles as “Digit,” was charged by federal prosecutors in California earlier this month with conspiracy to cause damage to protected computers, wire f...
A Russian hacker who helped to breach critical oil and gas facilities in the US, Ukraine and other countries pleaded guilty to charges that carry as many as 27 years in prison. Artem Vladimirovich Revenskii, a Russian national known in cybercriminal circles as “Digit,” was charged by federal prosecutors in California earlier this month with conspiracy to cause damage to protected computers, wire fraud and identity theft. On Thursday, Revenskii entered into a plea agreement in exchange for a reduced sentence recommendation. Revenskii was part of a Russian government-sponsored hacking group known as Sector16, prosecutors said. Revenskii worked with the group to gain access and damage critical systems for oil and gas infrastructure facilities in the US and Ukraine, in addition to member states of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization , or NATO, according to federal court filings. Revenskii, who primarily resided in Russia, came into US custody on Nov. 2, 2025, prosecutors said. Revenskii was arrested the Dominican Republic and put on a plane to New Jersey, according to his lawyer, John Targowski, who declined further comment. Sector16 took control of oil pumps and storage reservoirs at an unnamed Texas facility in January 2025, prosecutors said. That year, the group also hacked an oil and gas facility in North Dakota, and developed a plan to sell access to the Russian government, according to a criminal information filed April 21 in federal court in the Central District of California. Industrial facilities in New York and Pennsylvania were also successfully hacked. Sector16 also plotted to sabotage critical infrastructure in Ukraine, including gas stations in Kiev, and it planned to disable Ukraine’s whole electric grid, authorities said. In September, the hackers accessed a natural gas facility in Poltava, Ukraine, they said. In text messages, Revenskii discussed a plan to use the access to cause physical damage by attacking the hardware, deforming the gas pipeline a...
Earnings Call Insights: Aon plc (AON) Q1 2026 Management View "We started 2026, the final year of our 3x3 Plan, with strong momentum," said Gregory Case (President, CEO & Executive Director), adding that Aon is "reaffirming our guidance for 2026" and that management "remain[s] confident in our long-term outlook." Case highlighted Aon Business Services (ABS) and AI as central enablers of the strate...
Earnings Call Insights: Aon plc (AON) Q1 2026 Management View "We started 2026, the final year of our 3x3 Plan, with strong momentum," said Gregory Case (President, CEO & Executive Director), adding that Aon is "reaffirming our guidance for 2026" and that management "remain[s] confident in our long-term outlook." Case highlighted Aon Business Services (ABS) and AI as central enablers of the strategy, saying, "By year-end, we expect to have invested approximately $1.3 billion in talent and technology," and arguing these investments are "materially improving productivity and execution for clients." Case pointed to data centers as a growth vector tied to AI-driven demand, stating, "Our data center life cycle insurance program, which we recently increased capacity by another $1 billion to $3.5 billion, allows our firm to lead as a market maker." Edmund Reese (Executive VP & Chief Financial Officer) tied the quarter to the company’s financial model, saying, "The fundamentals of our business are strong, resilient and evident in our results," and reiterating the company’s organic growth objective as "mid-single-digit or greater." Reese described opportunistic capital deployment in the quarter, stating, "[W]e recognized the unique market conditions and opportunistically deployed $500 million to repurchase shares," and also noted Aon "allocated $349 million toward high-growth tuck-in acquisitions in middle market." Outlook Reese reaffirmed 2026 guidance, stating, "[W]e are reaffirming our 2026 full year guidance for mid-single-digit or greater organic revenue growth" and "reaffirming our expectations for 70 to 80 basis points of margin expansion for the full year." Reese reiterated capital return intentions, saying Aon "remain[s] firmly on track to deliver at least $1 billion in share repurchases for the year" while continuing to pursue M&A under stated return thresholds. Compared with the prior quarter, management’s framework for 2026 guidance was consistent; in Q4 2025 Ree...
hapabapa/iStock Editorial via Getty Images Today, we check in on and cover the just-reported fiscal Q3 2026 earnings of Axos Financial, Inc. ( AX ). We have been covering a number of regional banks this earnings season to look for any signs of economic weakness that might be cropping up. Thus far, we just are not seeing any evidence that this is the case. Banks and financials have on balance repor...
hapabapa/iStock Editorial via Getty Images Today, we check in on and cover the just-reported fiscal Q3 2026 earnings of Axos Financial, Inc. ( AX ). We have been covering a number of regional banks this earnings season to look for any signs of economic weakness that might be cropping up. Thus far, we just are not seeing any evidence that this is the case. Banks and financials have on balance reported stellar results. We see no real signs of reduced loan demand. One thing to note here, folks, is that most banks we cover pay a dividend, and its also a digital only bank, which does save on physical expenses. But for Axos, there is not one. We typically do prefer a dividend from financials unless there is incredible growth. Axos is growing, but the stock has effectively not moved much since the summer. It struggled with the $100 mark, which were some gains, but has given most of them back. So, no dividend, and modest growth. Instead of a dividend, the company continues to reinvest for growth through strategic acquisitions, including the recent closing of the Verdant Commercial Capital deal and major deposit agreements w ith Capital One and Jenius. Overall, the key metrics for Axos have held up, but it was a mixed quarter. Let us discuss the results. Axos Bank fiscal Q3 headline results and net interest income Axos saw total revenue of $392.3 million, which was a significant jump from previous quarters and beat analyst estimates by roughly $11.8 million. This top-line strength was driven by a massive 157.7% surge in non-interest income to $86.0 million. Of course, this was mostly inorganic in nature stemming from having Verdant’s equipment finance business. Net interest income also grew to $306.3 million, up 11.2% year-over-year. However, profitability was disappointing compared to estimates. While the as reported EPS was $2.15, adjusted EPS came in at $1.90, which actually falling short of consensus expectations by $0.23. Now, we should also note that the provision for ...
Earnings Call Insights: American International Group (AIG) Q1 2026 Management View "We had a very strong start to 2026 and delivered an exceptional first quarter, the strongest first quarter that we've seen since I've been at AIG," Quote (CEO & Chairman Peter Zaffino) and added that AIG is "delivering balanced net premiums written growth with excellent accident year combined ratios to support earn...
Earnings Call Insights: American International Group (AIG) Q1 2026 Management View "We had a very strong start to 2026 and delivered an exceptional first quarter, the strongest first quarter that we've seen since I've been at AIG," Quote (CEO & Chairman Peter Zaffino) and added that AIG is "delivering balanced net premiums written growth with excellent accident year combined ratios to support earnings expansion across our core businesses, while also focusing on our nominal expense base." "General Insurance net premiums written increased 18% year-over-year on a constant dollar basis," Quote (CEO & Chairman Zaffino), including "Global Commercial Insurance" up "21%" and "Global Personal Insurance" up "11%." "We grew net premiums written 11%" in Global Personal and "the accident year combined ratio as adjusted improved 570 basis points to 89.9%," Quote (CEO & Chairman Zaffino), while "the calendar year combined ratio was 89.4%, a strong improvement from 107.9% in the prior year." "During the quarter, we returned $760 million of capital to shareholders," Quote (CEO & Chairman Zaffino), and "the AIG Board of Directors approved an 11% increase in our quarterly dividend to $0.50 per share starting in the second quarter of 2026." "At the end of the first quarter, our equity interest in Corebridge was approximately 5.6%," Quote (CEO & Chairman Zaffino), adding, "We anticipate fully exiting our position by selling down our remaining stake in 2026, subject to market conditions" and "We expect the primary use of these proceeds will be for additional share repurchases." "The Lexington large account shared and layered business in Excess & Surplus Lines... has been under significant pricing pressure," Quote (CEO & Chairman Zaffino), and "we have been contracting our Lexington large account portfolio, and you should expect that to continue throughout the year if the current market environment persists." "This quarter, in close partnership with Palantir and Anthropic, we've begun the...
US oil giants report big drops in profits due to Iran war disruptions but are expected to eventually reap benefits Exxon Mobil and Chevron reported drops in profit in their first quarter despite surging oil prices, a result of stalled deliveries and supply disruptions in the Middle East. Exxon’s quarterly earnings fell to $4.2bn from about $7.7bn the same quarter last year, a decline of about 46%,...
US oil giants report big drops in profits due to Iran war disruptions but are expected to eventually reap benefits Exxon Mobil and Chevron reported drops in profit in their first quarter despite surging oil prices, a result of stalled deliveries and supply disruptions in the Middle East. Exxon’s quarterly earnings fell to $4.2bn from about $7.7bn the same quarter last year, a decline of about 46%, while Chevron’s profits fell to $2.2bn from about $3.5bn, down about 37%. Still, both companies beat Wall Street expectations. Continue reading...
Getty Images By Elior Manier Ethereum has slowly broken out of its October downtrend that had led to its progressive but brutal 64% correction. Global disinterest in high-beta, AI, and tech assets had shunned interest in cryptocurrencies, but with the conflict turning the script on energy prices, hence normal consumption, traders slowly turned away from traditional assets. The idea is that digital...
Getty Images By Elior Manier Ethereum has slowly broken out of its October downtrend that had led to its progressive but brutal 64% correction. Global disinterest in high-beta, AI, and tech assets had shunned interest in cryptocurrencies, but with the conflict turning the script on energy prices, hence normal consumption, traders slowly turned away from traditional assets. The idea is that digital assets are fairly isolated from any rise in crude oil or nat gas, quite the contrary. Crypto mining is energy intensive; hence, with higher costs, mining gets less interest, so that provides a temporary supply restriction, which has a boosting effect on cryptos. Since the beginning of the conflict, Bitcoin ( BTC-USD ) and Ethereum ( ETH-USD ) are up 20%, while the total market cap is up just a bit less (~18%) – While there is still a lot to cover to return to all-time highs, this is strong progress; bulls will want to keep pushing, and they might just turn the trend around. Crypto Total Market Cap – Source: TradingView. May 1, 2026 ETH/BTC – Bull flag formation? ETH/BTC – Source: TradingView. May 1, 2026 The Second to First Crypto ratio is essential to track the appetite for altcoins, key to depth in the digital asset market, as Bitcoin had taken a significant advantage since it started rallying to its first $100,000 trip – The initial drop in ETH in August 2025 marked a top in the ratio. Today, ETH/BTC is hanging right around the 3% level, which itself does not imply much about the state of the crypto market; however, a bull flag formation could bring some happy days for Alternative Coins. Its target is at 6% of the Bitcoin price; hence, that would signify a significant rally in Ethereum, which tends to trigger altcoin rallies (except if Bitcoin slashes its value, but in the past, that often reduced the ratio in a flight to crypto safety) . Ethereum Technical Analysis ETH Daily Timeframe Ethereum Daily Chart, May 1, 2026 – Source: TradingView Ethereum has now officially c...
Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) stock just received its most aggressive price target raise of the cycle. Citi lifted its price target to $500 from $405, maintaining a Buy rating, citing a beat-and-raise quarter and improving visibility into AI-driven hard disk drive (HDD) demand. The move arrives alongside fresh revisions from Barclays and UBS, sharpening the debate ... Citi Raises Western Digital Pr...
Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) stock just received its most aggressive price target raise of the cycle. Citi lifted its price target to $500 from $405, maintaining a Buy rating, citing a beat-and-raise quarter and improving visibility into AI-driven hard disk drive (HDD) demand. The move arrives alongside fresh revisions from Barclays and UBS, sharpening the debate ... Citi Raises Western Digital Price Target to $500: Is the HDD Bull Case Just Getting Stronger?
Seth Ravin: Thank you, Dean, and thank you, everyone, for joining us. A growing number of organizations are leveraging Rimini support and our proven Rimini Smart Path to execute their global ERP and operational transaction processes faster, better and cheaper with more agility and speed to value, all within existing budgets. Rimini Street can help just about any organization lower its total operat...
Seth Ravin: Thank you, Dean, and thank you, everyone, for joining us. A growing number of organizations are leveraging Rimini support and our proven Rimini Smart Path to execute their global ERP and operational transaction processes faster, better and cheaper with more agility and speed to value, all within existing budgets. Rimini Street can help just about any organization lower its total operating costs and improve competitive advantage or improve return for government constituents using technology.