Analyst comments represented a key catalyst in Monday’s midday trading. Shopify (NYSE:SHOP) rallied on a bullish turn from Deutsche Bank, while AMD (AMD) and Qualcomm (QCOM) surged on a separate upgrade from Barclays.
In other news, Xylem (XYL) lost ground after announcing a deal to acquire Evoqua Water (AQUA). AQUA surged on the planned merger.
Gainers
Shopify (SHOP) showed strength in intraday action, rising about 7% following a bullish comment from Deutsche Bank. The firm raised its rating on the e-commerce platform to Buy from Hold, amid the ongoing migration of traditional brands to online operations.
“Many leading brands are now actively looking to migrate or are in the process of migrating over from legacy/competing solutions and we note this is in sharp contrast to our conversations over the last twelve months which consistently highlighted the pace of migrations slowing,” analyst Bhavin Shah wrote.
Analyst commentary also prompted buying in AMD (AMD) and Qualcomm (QCOM). Barclays raised its ratings on both stocks to Overweight from Equal Weight, amid an overall upbeat view on the semiconductor industry. AMD rose 8% in intraday action, while QCOM climbed about 7%.
“It would have been nice if the group got as cheap as we have seen in other downturns, but we underestimated the amount of money that wanted to move into semis and we don’t see the group testing October lows,” analyst Blayne Curtis stated.
Decliner
Xylem (XYL) slumped in intraday action, falling in the wake of an all-stock deal to acquire Evoqua Water (AQUA). The deal has an implied enterprise value of about $7.5B.
Under the deal, XYL will exchange 0.48 shares of its stock for each AQUA share. This equated to a value of $52.89 per share, a 29% premium compared to the closing price on Friday. After the transaction, current AQUA shareholders will own about 25% of the combined company.
Amid concerns about dilution, XYL dropped 9% in midday trading. Meanwhile, AQUA surged almost 14%.
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