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Dj He Bought A Sub Shop As A Teen. Now He's Selling Jersey Mike's For $8 Billion.
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Benzinga's 'Stock Whisper' Index: 5 Stocks Investors Secretly Monitor But Don't Talk About Yet
Each week, Benzinga’s Stock Whisper Index uses a combination of proprietary data and pattern recognition to showcase five stocks that are just under the surface and deserve attention.
Investors are constantly on the hunt for undervalued, under-followed and emerging stocks. With countless methods available to retail traders, the challenge often lies in sifting through the abundance of information to uncover new opportunities and understand why certain stocks should be of interest.
Here's a look at the Benzinga Stock Whisper Index for the week ending Nov. 22:
Delta Air Lines: Reader interest in Delta comes after the company hosted an investor day in New York. Among the items shared at the investor day were goals of mid-teen operating margins, 10% average annual EPS growth and $3 billion to $5 billion in annual free cash flow over the next three to five years.
Delta could also be seeing interest with the new White House administration being ushered in. Delta CEO Ed Bastian recently said President-elect Donald Trump could provide a "breath of fresh air" for the airline sector after years of "overreach." The Biden administration passed various regulations that protected airline consumers, including automatic refunds after canceled flights and a requirement for airlines to disclose all additional fees and taxes upfront.
Delta also announced it will start serving Shake Shack burgers to first-class passengers on some flights.
The carrier’s shares were down over the past week, but remain up over 50% year-to-date. The Benzinga Pro chart below shows the five-day performance.
Nike Inc : Bill Ackman's Pershing Square has increased its bet on the apparel company. After taking a 3 million share stake in the second quarter, a new filing revealed that Ackman added 13 million shares in the third quarter. His firm now owns around 1.3% of the company. Nike shares trade near 52-week lows after first-quarter financial results saw revenue miss analyst estimates and analysts weigh how quickly a new CEO can help turnaround the company.
"A comeback at this scale takes time, but we see early wins – from momentum in key sports to accelerating our pace of newness and innovation," Nike CFO Matthew Friend said after the Q1 results. "Our teams are energized as Elliott Hill returns to lead Nike's next stage of growth."
Investors could also be closely watching Nike stock to see how big of an impact Trump's promise to increase tariffs on other countries could hurt the company.
Nike shares were up slightly on the week and remain down over 27% year-to-date in 2024.
Autodesk Inc: The software company is seeing strong interest from Benzinga readers ahead of third-quarter financial results scheduled for Tuesday, Nov. 26. Analysts expect the company to report quarterly revenue of $1.56 billion, up from $1.41 billion in last year's third quarter. Analysts also expect quarterly earnings per share of $2.12, up from $2.07 in last year's third quarter.
Autodesk has beaten analyst estimates for revenue and earnings per share both in five straight quarters. Over the last 10 quarters, Autodesk has beaten analyst estimates for revenue eight times and earnings per share eight times. The company said that it was focusing on disciplined execution and seeing GAAP margins among the best in the sector.
Autodesk CEO Andrew Anagnost said these factors “will deliver sustainable shareholder value over many years.”
Some recent analyst ratings and price targets are listed below:
Wells Fargo: Maintained Overweight rating, raised price target from $340 to $350
Morgan Stanley: Maintained Overweight rating, raised price target from $320 to $375
KeyBanc: Maintained Overweight rating, raised price target from $325 to $330
Scotiabank: Initiated with Sector Outperform rating, $360 price target
Baird: Maintained Outperform rating, raised price target from $305 to $330
Stifel: Maintained Buy rating, raised price target from $320 to $340
Barclays: Maintained Overweight rating, raised price target from $310 to $355
Autodesk shares were up 6% over the last five days and are up around 35% year-to-date in 2024.
Coinbase Global : The cryptocurrency company is seeing strong interest as Bitcoin continues to smash through new all-time highs and near the $100,000 level.
The rising valuation of other cryptocurrencies could also help offset concerns from Coinbase's recently reported third quarter, which saw revenue and earnings per share miss Street estimates. Trading volume and transaction revenue were down 18% and 27% quarter-over-quarter respectively in the third quarter.
The pro-crypto stance of the incoming Trump administration also boosted interest in cryptocurrency-related companies like Coinbase.
Coinbase stock was up on the week, but trailed the 9.5% gains of Bitcoin. Coinbase stock is up 93.5% year-to-date in 2024, also trailing the year-to-date 122.5% gains for Bitcoin.
Blackstone Inc: The world's largest alternative asset manager announced plans to acquire a majority stake in Jersey Mike's, a fast-casual restaurant brand.
While Blackstone won't IPOJersey Mike'sanytime soon. Still, it could benefit from the likelihood that more big IPOs are expected in 2025.
Reuters reports that medical supply firm Medline, which is partially owned by Blackstone, seeks a $5-billion IPO.
Stay tuned for next week’s report, and follow Benzinga Pro for all the latest headlines andtop market-moving stories here.
Read the latest Stock Whisper Index reports here:
November 1
November 8
November 15
Read Next:
Stock Of The Day: Delta Air Lines Bullish Pattern Suggests Upside Ahead
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Medline Industries targets over $5 billion in 2025 IPO - Reuters
Medline Industries, a private equity-owned medical supplies provider, is setting its sights on a U.S. initial public offering (IPO) that could potentially raise over $5 billion, Reuters News reported. The Northfield, Illinois-based company's IPO is anticipated to take place in 2025, possibly as soon as the second quarter, and may value the firm at around $50 billion. This projection, however, is dependent on market conditions, which could lead to adjustments in the company's plans.
Owned by prominent buyout firms Blackstone (NYSE:BX), Carlyle, and Hellman & Friedman, Medline has reached out to several investment banks to compete for leading roles in what is expected to be one of the standout IPOs of next year. The discussions, which are still in the confidential stage, come as the market prepares for a wave of high-profile listings following a period of volatility that has seen the IPO market largely subdued over the last two years.
Medline's move towards an IPO is part of a broader trend, with companies such as CoreWeave, an AI cloud platform operator, and SailPoint, a cybersecurity firm, also progressing with their plans to go public next year.
The company, which is one of the foremost manufacturers and distributors of medical supplies, including surgical equipment, gloves, and laboratory devices, was acquired by its current owners in a deal valued at $34 billion in 2021. Medline's significant global footprint includes operations in over 100 countries and a workforce of approximately 43,000 people. With annual sales surpassing $23 billion, Medline plays a critical role in supplying hospitals worldwide.
Medline's roots go back to 1966 when it was founded by brothers James and Jon Mills. It went public in 1972, only to be privatized again by the Mills family. The company's longtime CEO, Charlie Mills, son of founder James Mills, retired last year, with Jim Boyle, a company veteran, succeeding him.
While Medline has not yet responded to requests for comment on the IPO, and the involved private equity firms have declined to comment, the preparations for Medline's public offering were previously reported by Bloomberg in July.
This article was generated with the support of AI and reviewed by an editor. For more information see our T&C.
Risk Warnings and Disclaimers
You understand and acknowledge that there is a high degree of risk involved in trading. Following any strategies or investment methods may lead to potential losses. The content on the site is provided by our contributors and analysts for information purposes only. You are solely responsible for determining whether any trading assets, securities, strategy, or any other product is suitable for investing based on your own investment objectives and financial situation.
You understand and acknowledge that there is a high degree of risk involved in trading. Following any strategies or investment methods may lead to potential losses. The content on the site is provided by our contributors and analysts for information purposes only. You are solely responsible for determining whether any trading assets, securities, strategy, or any other product is suitable for investing based on your own investment objectives and financial situation.
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Blackstone Private Credit Fund Taps Debt Market for $1.5 Billion
(Bloomberg) -- Blackstone Inc.’s main private credit fund stormed the investment-grade bond market to raise a combined $1.5 billion in a single day, adding to the rush of direct lenders trying to lock in cheaper financing costs.
The fund, known as BCRED, sold $1 billion of senior unsecured bonds on Wednesday, alongside a $500.5 million collateralized loan obligation backed by its own loans. The issuance marked BCRED’s first 10-year bond sale and was only the second such tenor ever issued by a business development company, after Ares Capital Corp.’s $700 million deal in 2021, according to a person with knowledge of the matter, who asked not to be identified because they’re not authorized to speak publicly.
As the cost of capital for private credit managers has tightened, institutional funds have flocked to the market to diversify funding options and meet direct lending demand. These lenders have also turned to CLOs, vehicles that repackage a number of loans into bonds, which are then sold off to investors.
The $1 billion offering was made up of $400 million of five-year bonds and $600 million of the 10-year bonds, Bloomberg reported. Both deals are expected to be rated investment grade by both Moody’s Ratings and S&P Global Ratings.
The top-rated tranche of the CLO priced at 1.5 percentage points over the Secured Overnight Financing Rate, tighter than the average private credit CLO tranche rated AAA issued this year, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
A representative for Blackstone declined to comment.
Even as buyout activity has remained muted throughout most of the year, private credit funds have issued record levels of investment-grade debt. By the end of September, business development companies had already surpassed a 2021 record, selling $21.8 billion of investment-grade bonds, according to data from Deutsche Bank AG.
BCRED itself already issued $800 million of investment-grade bonds in September. Funds managed by Ares Management Corp., Blue Owl Capital Inc. and Sixth Street Partners have also issued bonds this year.
Barings LLC priced Europe’s first CLO backed by a pool of private credit debt this week. The €380 million ($400 million) vehicle was made up of nearly 50 senior secured, middle-market loans. So far this year, 67 middle-market and private-credit CLOs priced in the US, totaling $34.5 billion of new issuance.
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Market Chatter: Blackstone Acquires Stake in Lancium for $500 Million
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