The Week Ahead - April 26th

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The Week Ahead Of Us 🔍

Welcome back!

A shooter targeting the Trump Administration was quickly captured on Saturday night, here’s the live updates from CNN.

President Trump called off sending his top negotiators to Pakistan for Iran peace talks, although Iran’s foreign minister is currently there. Trump stated that he wasn’t going to send Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff on an 18-hour flight given “we have all the cards” and “they can call us anytime they want.”

The DOJ investigation into Chair Powell was dropped, with Senator Tillis saying this now clears the way for Warsh to be nominated.

Futures are down just slightly. We’ve got a big week ahead, with a lot of Big Tech reporting this week. Here’s a look at the earnings schedule.

• Monday: Verizon, Brown & Brown, Nucor, Cadence Design, Public Storage, Domino’s

• Tuesday: Visa, Coca-Cola, Novartis, T-Mobile, Booking Holdings, S&P Global, Starbucks, Spotify, United Parcel Service, General Motors, Sherwin-Williams, Hilton, American Tower, Mondelez, Robinhood, NXP Semiconductors, Welltower, Sysco, Kimberly-Clark

• Wednesday: Alphabet, Microsoft, Amazon, Meta, Qualcomm, Equinix, General Dynamics, ADP, Yum! Brands, Ford, eBay, Chipotle, Carvana, UBS

• Thursday: Apple, Eli Lilly, Mastercard, Caterpillar, Merck, Royal Caribbean, Roblox, Rivian, Reddit, Roku, Wayfair, Hershey, Clorox, Valero Energy, Cigna, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Amgen

• Friday: Exxon Mobil, Chevron, Colgate, Ares, Estee Lauder, Moderna, Lazard, Dominion Energy

Here’s a look at economic data this week (estimates are in quotations).

• Tuesday: S&P Case-Shiller home price index 20 cities, Consumer confidence (89.1)

• Wednesday: Durable-goods orders (0.5%), Durable-goods minus transportation, Housing starts delayed report (1.35M), Building permits, Housing starts (1.38M), Building permits (1.39M), Advanced U.S. trade balance in goods, Advanced retail inventories, Advanced wholesale inventories, FOMC interest-rate decision, Fed Chair Powell press conference

• Thursday: Initial jobless claims (215,000), U.S. productivity, Construction spending, Construction spending, Consumer credit

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Earnings Corner 💸 

• Procter & Gamble $PG ( ▲ 2.46% ) beat on revenue ($21.24B vs. $20.5B) and EPS ($1.59 vs. $1.56), with sales up 7% y/y and organic growth driven by broad based strength across categories and a return to volume growth as demand stabilized. Margins were pressured by rising commodity and transportation costs tied to higher oil prices, and while guidance was maintained, management expects results to land toward the lower end of the range given macro uncertainty.

• HCA Healthcare $HCA ( ▼ 8.77% ) revenue had a slight beat at $19.1B, while EPS missed slightly ($7.15 vs. $7.19) as weaker patient volumes due to a mild respiratory season and weather disruptions offset gains from higher pricing and supplemental Medicaid payments. Guidance was maintained, as management views the volume weakness as temporary and expects recovery through the rest of the year.

• Charter $CHTR ( ▼ 25.5% ) revenue had a slight beat to $13.6B but declined 1% y/y, while EPS missed at $9.17 vs. $10.08 as continued broadband and video subscriber losses (120K internet and 60K video) weighed on growth, offsetting strength in mobile. Guidance was lowered, with management now expecting flat ARPU growth as customer losses persist, signaling limited near term revenue expansion.

On The Move 📈 📉

• Kratos Defense & Security Solutions’ $KTOS ( ▼ 6.5% ) stock has declined over the past 3 months, driven by a combination of valuation compression, significant share dilution from a large equity offering, and ongoing insider selling.

• AMD $AMD ( ▲ 13.91% ) stock rose even higher after Wall Street was caught off guard by Intel’s strong numbers. Qualcomm $QCOM ( ▲ 11.12% ) stock surged as well.

• Hims & Hers $HIMS ( ▲ 8.56% ) jumped after the FDA announced a review on peptides and JPMorgan initiated coverage at overweight.

• IHeart $IHRT ( ▲ 35.16% ) is in talks with Sirius XM $SIRI ( ▼ 4.96% ) about a potential sale.

IPO Roundup 📍 

• Lincoln International, a private capital-focused advisory firm, filed for a $100M IPO as it looks to tap public markets amid steady demand for M&A and valuation services tied to private credit.

• X-Energy $XE ( ▲ 26.96% ) shares closed 27% above their IPO price to give the Amazon-backed nuclear energy company a market value of $11.6B. X-Energy raised $1.02B in its upsized IPO.

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Today’s Headlines 📖🍿 

• Elon Musk’s lawsuit against OpenAI kicks off tomorrow; jury selection is to begin Monday. Musk is challenging OpenAI’s ability to transition from a nonprofit to a for-profit business, and Musk could take the stand as soon as Tuesday. OpenAI has claimed that Musk wanted to merge the AI lab with Tesla and made a competitor when things didn’t go his way. If Musk wins, this could roll back OpenAI’s for-profit transition and derail OpenAI’s IPO process.

• Chick-fil-A taps private debt market for $650M: The privately held restaurant chain raised $650M in investment-grade bonds via a four-part private placement led by Bank of America, refinancing existing debt with five-year notes pricing at +95 bps over Treasuries.

• L Catterton Launches $500M Athlete-Backed Consumer Fund: The LVMH-backed PE firm is teaming up with sports stars including Kevin Durant, Mike Trout, and Patrick Cantlay on “Champ,” a new vehicle that will invest in consumer brands and leverage athletes’ equity stakes and influence to drive growth.

• Clearlake’s $3.9B Padres bid rattles LPs amid fundraising push: Some of the firm’s largest investors are questioning whether co-founders José Feliciano and Behdad Eghbali are too focused on sports assets as Clearlake struggles to close its $14B flagship fund.

• Joshua Kushner announced the launch of Thrive Eternal, a permanent capital holding company that will own and steward assets that technology is unable to replace, like iconic franchises and cultural institutions. His first announced deal was to acquire the San Francisco Giants.

• Oracle’s $16B data center financing package priced, with BofA selling $14B of bonds tied to the project in a debt sale that was anchored by PIMCO, who bought ~$10B of the bonds. The financing will fund a Michigan data center that Oracle will use to power applications for OpenAI.

• U.S. Space Force awards Golden Dome contracts: SpaceX, Lockheed Martin, and Anduril were among the 12 companies to receive contracts for the defense project. The contracts are worth up to $3.2B and task the companies with developing prototypes for space-based interceptors by 2028.

• Maine vetoed a bill that would have banned new data center construction until November 2027. Governor Janet Mills said she broadly supports the bill, but could not sign off because it lacked an exemption for a key project in the state.

• Ricky Sandler is shuttering Eminence Capital and returning cash to investors after a 27-year run, citing poor returns and rising costs to retain talent and build out infrastructure.

• Manitoba plans to ban social media and AI for youth, with Premier Wab Kinew saying the platforms are a money grab designed to get people “addicted to the infinite scroll.”

M&A Transactions💭 

Tipico Group, operator of an online sports betting and gaming platform, was acquired for EUR 4.644B by BetClic Everest.

Talon.One, developer of a promotion software, has reached a definitive agreement to be acquired for EUR 750.0M by Adyen (AMS: ADYEN).

Iwasaki Electric, manufacturer of lighting equipment, was acquired for JPY 70.3B by Stanley Electric Company (TKS: 6923).

Day One Biopharmaceuticals, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, was acquired for $441.237M by Servier. EV/Revenue was 2.79x. Centerview Partners advised on the sale.

Qoria (ASX: QOR), engaged in developing a universal cyber safety and parental control platform, was acquired for AUD 3.0B by Aura. Stifel advised on the sale.

Private Placement Transactions💭 

Skydio, developer of AI-powered drones, raised $110.0M of Series F venture funding from undisclosed investors at a pre-money valuation of $4.29B.

Holiday Robotics, developer of AI-powered humanoid robots, raised KRW 150.0B of Series A venture funding led by IMM Investors at a pre-money valuation of KRW 800.0B.

Verda, provider of cloud-related services, raised $181.0M of Series A venture funding through a combination of equity and debt led by Founders, Life Ventures, and Skaala.

Restructuring Updates 💭

Wren US Holdings, Inc. (kitchen retailer)

• Type: Chapter 7 (liquidation)

• Debt: Not disclosed

• What happened: Filed Chapter 7 and is exiting the U.S. market (reported April 24)

• Scale signal: National retail footprint shutting down U.S. operations

ARC Burger, LLC (Hardee’s franchisee – ~77 locations)

• Type: Chapter 7

• Debt: ~$29M+ liabilities

• What happened: Filed April 20 following legal dispute with franchisor; liquidation underway

• Scale signal: ~77 restaurant closures across 9 states; 5,000–10,000 creditors

Friendly Franchisees Corp. (Carl’s Jr. franchisee)

• Type: Chapter 11

• Debt: Not disclosed

• What happened: Filed for bankruptcy protection in early April and remains an active, recently surfaced case in April tracking lists

• Scale signal: Large multi-unit Carl’s Jr. operator (part of broader franchisee distress trend)

Restructuring Rumors💭

Archdiocese of New York

• Type: Potential bankruptcy / large-scale restructuring (pre-filing)

• Debt: Hundreds of millions required; prior settlement discussions up to ~$2B

• What happened: Internal warning that bankruptcy may be necessary without ~$400M+ additional funding for abuse claims

• Scale signal: ~1,700 claims; one of the largest potential nonprofit restructurings in the U.S.

TG Jones (former WH Smith high street business, UK)

• Type: Distressed restructuring (potential insolvency)

• Debt: ~£50M creditor exposure

• What happened: Preparing aggressive restructuring (store closures, rent cuts, potential court “cram-down”)

• Scale signal: ~500-store retail chain facing possible collapse

Dental Care Alliance (U.S. healthcare services)

• Type: Out-of-court restructuring (creditor deal)

• Debt: ~$1.1B reduction targeted

• What happened: Negotiating lender agreement to cut >$1.1B in debt and raise new capital (reported Apr 25)

• Scale signal: Large multi-site dental services platform undergoing balance sheet reset

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