IIn today’s top stories, Berkshire Hathaway was on a buying spree in the second quarter, while Elliott Management sold the majority of its stake in SoftBank. Meanwhile, Walmart hopes to rival Disney and Netflix with a streaming service, GSK closes its deal to buy Affinivax, and BofA predicts a potential S&P 500 drop.
Buffett triples his stake in Ally Financial
Despite market turbulence, Warren Buffett continued to spend in the second quarter. Berkshire Hathaway’s latest 13F filing revealed that its stake in Ally Financial [ALLY] tripled to 30 million, while its Activision [ATVI] position increased to 68.4 million. While Apple [AAPL] remains his largest holding, he left Verizon [VZ]. Ray Dalio’s Bridgewater Associates also took new stakes last quarter, including 459,200 shares in Sea [SE] and 575,700 shares in Meta Platforms [META].
Elliott Management sells SoftBank
In another blow of confidence in SoftBank [9984.T] and its CEO Masayoshi Son, Elliott Management has sold most of its stake in the Japanese conglomerate. The hedge fund, however, disclosed a large position in Cardinal Health [CAH] and appointed directors for five positions on the medical products distributor’s board of directors. Dan Loeb’s Third Point is also moving into consumer healthcare, adding a $159 million stake in Colgate-Palmolive [CL] in the last trimester.
Walmart enters the streaming war
A few days after Disney [DIS] dethroned Netflix [NFLX] in number of subscribers, Walmart [WMT] entered the streaming wars, striking a deal with Paramount [PARA] to bundle Paramount+ into Walmart+ subscriptions. “[Walmart needs to think] to be a channel for other content providers,” said Lopez Research analyst Maribel Lopez. Yahoo finance. Paramount aims to reach 100 million subscribers by 2024.
GSK finalizes agreement with Affinivax
The pharmaceutical giant GSK [GSK.L] completed the acquisition of US clinical-stage vaccine developer Affinivax. According Looking for Alpha, the British pharmaceutical giant has paid $2.1 billion upfront and will pay two sums of $600 million once certain clinical development milestones are met. GSK Chief Scientific Officer Tony Wood said Affinivax’s pneumococcal vaccine candidates, technology and talent will help strengthen GSK’s pipeline and presence in Boston, Massachusetts.
BofA says the S&P 500 could fall 7%
Stocks have been battered in recent weeks and BofA has warned that the S&P 500 could return 7% from its current level assuming the Fed continues its quantitative tightening. But Jane Edmondson, founder of EQM Capital, thinks the Fed’s plans have already been priced in. “The market celebrated that the next rate hike will likely be 50 basis points, not 75,” Edmonson said. Bloomberg.
Shortages shake the foundations of Persimmon
Homebuilders are on shaky ground. The khaki [PSN.L] the stock price has risen about 5% in the past month, but is down 35% since the start of the year. A combination of material and labor shortages resulted in lower-than-expected legal completions for the first six months of the year: 6,652 vs. 7,406. Falling house prices in the coming months could also put pressure on its profit margin.
Atlantic Lithium reports positive results
West Africa Explorer Atlantic Lithium [ALL.L] announced positive results following the drilling of its flagship Ewoyaa project in Ghana. It will apply for a mining permit once its feasibility study has been published. The stock is up 25% in the past month through Aug. 15 and 37.6% year-to-date, driven in part by the lithium surge. The Australian company plans to debut on the ASX on August 23.
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