Press Release: Alert: Rowley Law Pllc Is Investigating Proposed Acquisition Of Bluebird Bio, Inc

Bluebird Bio said Friday it agreed to be acquired by Carlyle Group (CG) managed funds and SK Capital Partners.

Under the terms of the deal, bluebird shareholders will receive $3.00 per share in cash and a contingent value of $6.84 per share, payable in cash if bluebird's current product portfolio earns $600 million in net sales in any trailing 12-month period before or ending on Dec. 31, 2027.

Shares slumped 41% following a surge in intraday trading volume to over 4.5 million from a daily average of about 392,000.

AXT reported a wider Q4 non-GAAP loss late Thursday compared with a year ago and sequentially. Wedbush adjusted AXT's price target to $4.50 from $5.50 while maintaining its outperform rating.

Shares of AXT sank 31%, with intraday trading volume catapulting to over 5.3 million versus a daily average of about 361,000.

Akamai Technologies has "limited" short-term growth opportunities, BofA Securities said in a note Friday, following the company's Q4 results overnight. BofA downgraded Akamai to neutral from buy and cut its price target to $100 from $125.

Shares fell 20%, with intraday trading volume surging to over 13.6 million versus a daily average of about 1.7 million.

Health care stocks dropped Friday afternoon with the NYSE Health Care Index easing 0.1% and the Health Care Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLV) down 0.4%.

The iShares Biotechnology ETF (IBB) shed 0.3%.

In corporate news, Novo Nordisk resolved its shortage of weight-loss drugs Ozempic and Wegovy, according to an update on the US Food and Drug Administration website. Companies such as Hims & Hers Health will no longer be legally allowed to make and sell compounded alternatives. Novo Nordisk shares jumped 5%, while Hims & Hers tumbled 23%.

Bluebird bio shares plunged 41% after the company agreed to be acquired by funds managed by Carlyle (CG) and SK Capital Partners.

UnitedHealth Group on Friday refuted a report by The Wall Street Journal that the US Department of Justice started an investigation into the health insurer's Medicare billing practices. UnitedHealth shares fell 7%.

Bluebird bio's deal to be taken private will leave investors with a rich reward or a steep haircut, depending on sales of the company's gene therapies over the next three years. Analysts at William Blair think it will be the latter. Bluebird holders will get an initial $3 a share, 57% below Thursday's closing price, but contingent value rights that would be triggered by 12-month sales of $600 million would bring another $6.84 a share, for a 40% premium. William Blair says it currently models bluebird's sales reaching only $546.4 million in 2027, making the probability of achieving the CVR contingency low. Bluebird slide 39% to $4.29. (colin.kellaher@wsj.com)

All three major US stock indexes were down around midday trading on Friday as weak consumer sentiment data weighed on markets.

In company news, UnitedHealth Group is under investigation by the US Department of Justice for allegedly encouraging doctors to record diagnoses that result in extra payments to the insurer's Medicare Advantage plans, The Wall Street Journal reported Friday, citing people familiar with the matter. In the Medicare Advantage system, insurers receive lump-sum payments from the federal government to administer enrollee's Medicare benefits, and when patients have certain diagnoses, the payments go up, creating an incentive to diagnose more diseases, according to the report. UnitedHealth shares were down 9% around midday.

Novo Nordisk has resolved its shortage of weight-loss drugs Ozempic and Wegovy, according to an update on the US Food and Drug Administration website. The resolved shortage issue means other companies, like Hims & Hers , will no longer be legally allowed to produce and sell compounded alternatives. Novo Nordisk shares were up 5.8%, while those of Hims & Hers were down 21%.

The DOJ and the US Securities and Exchange Commission are investigating a $32 million deal between CrowdStrike Holdings and Carahsoft to provide cybersecurity tools to the Internal Revenue Service, Bloomberg reported Friday, citing two people familiar with the matter and a document it saw. Carahsoft paid CrowdStrike for the deal, but the IRS never bought the products, Bloomberg first reported in October 2024. CrowdStrike shares were down 2.9%.

Rivian Automotive reported a Q4 loss late Thursday of $0.70 per diluted share, narrowing from a loss of $1.58 a year earlier and less of a loss than the $0.77 expected by analysts surveyed by FactSet. Fourth-quarter revenue was $1.73 billion, up from $1.32 billion in the year-ago period and above the FactSet consensus analyst estimate of $1.40 billion. The automaker said it expects to deliver 46,000 to 51,000 vehicles in 2025, down from 51,579 deliveries in 2024. Rivian shares were down 3.5%.

Coinbase said Friday the US SEC agreed in principle to withdraw its enforcement case against the company, pending commissioner approval. Coinbase shares were down 0.7%.

bluebird bio said Friday it has agreed to be acquired by funds managed by the Carlyle Group (CG) and SK Capital Partners. Under the terms of the deal, bluebird shareholders will receive $3.00 per share in cash and a contingent value of $6.84 per share, payable in cash if bluebird's current product portfolio earns $600 million in net sales in any trailing 12-month period before or ending on Dec. 31, 2027. Shares of bluebird were down 38%, while those of Carlyle were down 2%.

Alphabet's Google is facing charges from the European Union for allegedly breaching Digital Markets Act rules after proposed changes to its search results failed to address regulators' and rivals' concerns, Reuters reported Friday, citing people with direct knowledge of the matter. The European Commission has been probing Google for potential breaches of the DMA since March 2024, according to the report. Alphabet shares were down 1.8%.

Apple is removing Advanced Data Protection, its most advanced end-to-end encrypted security feature for cloud data, in the UK following a government order to build a backdoor for accessing user data, Bloomberg reported Friday, citing a company statement. Apple shares were up 0.5%.