Catch up on the weekend’s top five stories with this list compiled by The Fly:
1. General Electric (GE) is nearing a $30B-plus deal to combine its aircraft-leasing business with Ireland’s AerCap (AER), The Wall Street Journal’s Cara Lombardo and Emily Glazer reported, citing people familiar with the matter. Though details of how the deal would be structured couldn’t be learned, it is expected to have a valuation of more than $30B, some of the people said. An announcement is expected Monday, assuming the talks don’t fall apart, the authors added.
2. Evolv Technology is combining with a special-purpose acquisition company to go public in a deal that values the crowd-safety company at about $1.7B, The Wall Street Journal’s Amrith Ramkumar reported. Backed by investors including Microsoft (MSFT) co-founder Bill Gates and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, Evolv is merging with the SPAC NewHold Investment Corp. (NHIC), the author noted.
3. Lowe’s (LOW) was a lockdown winner and investors are having second thoughts about its stock now that reopening looms, but Lowe’s is far more than just a COVID-19 play, Teresa Rivas wrote in this week’s edition of Barron’s. Concerns are probably overblown and with COVID receding, Lowe’s is set to become a more profitable company, while housing might be more resilient than it’s given credit for, the author contended.
4. Disney’s (DIS) “Raya and the Last Dragon” easily won the weekend box office, the biggest since pandemic shut down theaters as New York City was finally allowed to reopen at 25% capacity. The movie sports an A CinemaScore and took in an estimated $8.6M in its North American debut. Overseas, “Raya and the Last Dragon” earned $17.6M from 32 markets for a global total of $26.2M.
5. Mytheresa (MYTE), Vertex Pharmaceuticals (VRTX), Broadcom (AVGO), Cisco (CSCO), Qualcomm (QCOM) and Texas Instruments (TXN) saw positive mentions in this week’s edition of Barron’s.