Let’s take a look at some of the companies making waves in premarket deals. Keranova — Shares rose more than 6% in the premarket after food maker Keranova agreed to be acquired by snack maker Mars for $83.50 per share in cash. The deal values Keranova at about $36 billion and is expected to close in the first half of 2025. Alphabet — Shares fell more than 1% after Bloomberg News reported that U.S. regulators are considering breaking up the tech giant. The report, citing people familiar with the discussions, said Google’s Chrome browser and Android operating system are the most likely to be sold if the Justice Department pushes through a breakup. Flutter — FanDuel’s parent company rose 6.3% after second-quarter revenue beat expectations and it raised its full-year guidance. The sports betting company posted $3.61 billion in the second quarter, beating the Street accounts’ consensus estimate of $3.4 billion. Brinker International — Shares of the restaurant chain that owns Chiliz slumped 15% after the company reported disappointing fourth-quarter results and missed expectations with its full-year profit outlook. Adjusted earnings were $1.61 a share, below the FactSet consensus estimate of $1.72 a share. Brinker expects earnings per share of $4.35 to $4.75 for fiscal 2025, below the estimate of $4.78. ARM Holdings — U.S. shares of the British semiconductor design company rose 1.7% after Intel sold 1.18 million shares. Intel shares, which are coming amid restructuring and cost-cutting efforts, edged up before the close. Cardinal Health — Healthcare company Cardinal Health rose 6.3% after reporting better-than-expected fourth-quarter results. Cardinal reported earnings per share of $1.84 (excluding overhead) on revenue of $59.87 billion, compared with $1.73 per share and $58.64 billion expected by analysts surveyed by Street Accounts. The Ohio-based company also raised its full-year guidance for earnings per share. Starbucks — Shares fell about 0.3% in premarket trading after rising 24.5% the previous day after the coffee chain said it would replace its current CEO with Chipotle CEO Brian Nicol. Analysts at several firms, including Deutsche Bank and Stifel, raised their ratings on the company’s shares, reflecting their bullish outlook for the management transition. EQT — Natural gas shares rose 1.1% after Wells Fargo raised the stock to overweight from equal weight. Wells Fargo said the announcement follows the completion of its merger and earnings last month. Illumina — Shares rose 1.5% after TD Cowen upgraded the stock to buy from hold. The firm said the biotech company’s recent management changes and revised guidance could lead to a rise in the stock. CNBC’s Fred Imbert, Michelle Fox, Pia Singh and Sarah Min contributed to the report.
K, GOOGL, FLUT, etc.
