A potential bid battle for Currys PLC (LSE:CURY) between Chinese giant JD.com and the owner of Waterstones is a sign of what could be a rich vein of merger and acquisition activity this year, according to analysts.
This morning, the electrical group said it had rejected a £700 million offer from Elliott Advisers on Friday, with Chinese e-commerce giant JD.com also confirming today that it is also potentially interested in a takeover.
Hot off the heels of the government paring down its NatWest Group PLC (LSE:NWG) stake even further, UBS analysts have reiterated their bullish outlook on the bank with a buy rating and an elevated price target of 265p from a previous 250p.
While revenues and earnings are expected to go down in full-year 2024, this follows hard-to-beat net interest margin (NIM) comparables in the past year.
BAT's set-up currently is appealing and there is a lot of upside potential at the cigarette group, reckon analysts at US bank Jefferies.
In particular, BAT’s non-US businesses are often overlooked but are growing handily and should be supported by a recovery in US industry volumes in both cigs and vape products.
Hipgnosis Songs Fund Limited (LSE:SONG) founder Merck Mercuriadis and his Hipgnosis Songs Management (HSM) firm refusing to provide indemnity over a High Court legal challenge confirms that the relationship between the board and investment manager is at "an all-time low", said analysts at Stifel.
This morning, the SONG investment trust said it was launching a new High Court claim to try and get indemnity, after legal proceedings were served upon Mercuriadis, HSM and the trust in November.
Burberry Group PLC (LSE:BRBY) is at a fork in the road, with the left path leading to luxury and the other leading to the lesser premium segment.
So say analysts at UBS, who pointed out that while Burberry has firmly decided on a brand elevation strategy, taking the left path could come with a considerable sacrifice to sales.
Mosman Oil’s planned Stanley workover programme in the US represents another positive result for the group, according to house broker SP Angel.
Analysts said it should increase the value if Mosman monetises the asset in the healthy Texas M&A market, and can add value overall if the proceeds are used to upgrade the Cinnabar wells to fulfil their full potential.
Quadrise’s collaboration with BTG (LSE:BTG) Bioliquids (BTL) and Euthenia Energy Group adds another multinational company to the list of those that have acknowledged its solutions for decarbonisation and committed to an agreement, says Shore Cap.
BTL has been working with Quadrise since June but Euthenia is a new partner focused on developing, financing and operating renewable energy projects.
AstraZeneca PLC (LSE:AZN) is set to see around a combined $3 billion peak annual sales boost from two new lung cancer treatments, according to UBS analysts, after the pharmaceuticals firm provided a pair of cancer drug updates today.
UBS anticipates peak sales of US$2.5 billion for Dato-DXd, which saw its application accepted by the US Food and Drug Administration on Monday.
Jefferies has reiterated its buy rating on the London Stock Exchange Group PLC (LSE:LSEG) (LSEG), with a price target set at 11,000p, with the positive stance buoyed by the impending final report from the Financial Conduct Authority's (FCA) Wholesale Data Market Study (WDMS).
WDMS is an in-depth investigation into the competitiveness of the wholesale data market, specifically focusing on benchmarks, credit ratings data, and market data vendor services.
JD Sports, Marks & Spencer, AO World and Dunelm could all see their share prices marked higher following Currys’ rejection of a £700 million takeover bid.
Analysts at Shore Capital noted how many small and mid-cap stocks have been operating at depressed values and therefore weren’t surprised management rejected the offer.