Shares of the social club network Soho House surged more than 15% after the company announced plans to go private in a $2.7 billion deal led by MCR Hotels. Under the agreement, shareholders will receive $9 per share, a premium of nearly 18% over last week’s closing price.
In other company news, TeraWulf shares jumped over 10% after Google increased its stake in the bitcoin miner and data center operator. Google will provide up to $1.4 billion in additional backstop financing to support TeraWulf’s campus expansion in New York, raising its total commitment to about $3.2 billion and its stake in the company to 14%.
Novo Nordisk shares rose more than 4% in premarket trading after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved its Wegovy drug for treating metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH), a severe liver disease, in certain adults.
Among other midday movers, language education company Duolingo saw its stock climb 12% following an upgrade to “overweight” by KeyBanc Capital Markets. Analysts cited new products and viral marketing as potential catalysts, setting a price target that implies nearly 41% upside. Meanwhile, Meta Platforms fell almost 3% on reports of a planned overhaul of its AI operations, while Target gained 3% after Evercore ISI added the retailer to its “tactical outperform” list ahead of its earnings report.
Looking at the broader market, Citigroup noted that the S&P 500 is on a “parallel path” to more gains, driven by a combination of mega-cap tech leadership and strengthening performance in other market sectors.
The cryptocurrency market faced a downturn to start the week, with Bitcoin falling 2% to $115,255 after hitting a new all-time high last week. Ether slid 4% to $4,283. The sell-off, linked to macroeconomic concerns, led to over $500 million in forced selling of long positions and pressured crypto-related stocks.
Internationally, Asia-Pacific markets closed mostly higher. Japan’s Nikkei 225 gained 0.77% to finish at an all-time high, and Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 also edged up. However, South Korea’s Kospi declined by 1.5%, and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index fell 0.37%.
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