What You Need To Know for May 23rd

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Headlines 🔍

• NVIDIA earnings were good - the party goes on!

  • They reported $26B of revenue, up 18% q/q and up 262% y/y!! This nicely beat expectations of $24.7B in revenue. The data center business grew a cool 427% y/y to $22.6B

  • 2Q revenue is expected to be roughly $28B (vs. analyst estimates of $26.6B), showing no signs of AI demand slowing down. This was a driver in shares up 6% after hour

  • A 10 for 1 stock split will take place on June 7th

  • Let the party go on….

• High Yield Harry takes a deep dive into the Ryan Reynolds Investment Portfolio. On Monday, Harry took a look into the Ryan Reynolds portfolio and found that it’s full of earnouts, financing rounds at the cycle top, and a clear instance of absentee board membership. Read the full piece here

• Scarlett Johansson is suing OpenAI: According to the star actress, Sam Altman tried to get her to voice the ChatGPT 4 system. After declining the offer, she and others realized that the ChatGPT 4 voice that was recently announced sounds very similar to her, causing her to therefore hire legal counsel to preserve her likeliness.

  • Here’s the full statement

• UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced general elections on July 4th. The Conservatives have been in charge for 14 years, but it seems like it’s Labour’s election to lose.

  • Here’s the full rundown

• Jamie Dimon’s succession is nearing, as he alluding to the fact it's probably a few years away at JPM’s Investor Day on Monday.

  • Along with discussion of his personal plans, Dimon turned up the heat on the proposed “Basel III Endgame,” arguing that the stricter capital requirements will hurt poorer Americans, knocking some out of the banking system.

• Eli Manning is looking to buy an NFL team. With Private Equity nearing the ability to buy up to 30% of an NFL team, Manning has his eyes on making a deal.

  • Since teaming up with sports investment group Brand Velocity Group in 2022, the former Giants star QB has partnered on deals to acquire stakes in women’s soccer team Gotham FC, as well as consumer brand companies.

  • Meanwhile, former Niners QB Steve Young, and Partner at HGGC, is also eying private equity involvement in the NFL. Young and Manning a part a new generation of professional athletes turned investors (think A-Rod, KD, Serena Williams, and others).

  • The NFL is currently discussing pre-approving Sponsors such as Ares, Carlyle, CVC, Arctos Partners, and Avenue Capital

• New college grads face a cooling job market. As the AI-induced efficiency boom accelerates, firms are trimming their workforces, and many students who are able to secure post-grad employment are working in roles that don’t require a degree. Leverage has continued to shift from employees to employers over the past year, a trend that seems unlikely to change over the medium term.

• Barclays employees are told they’ll need to be in the office 5 days a week due to FINRA regulations. This would impact any position that’s part of an operation overseen by FINRA regulation. Given how many Barclays employees got donut bonuses…plus given that they’re the lowest tier big bank now that Credit Suisse is gone..I’m not really sure what incentive there is to stick around Barclays..

• NYC rent is getting out of control…with only 5% of rentable properties affordable for the average renter. Based off an average salary of $89k, the average NYC worker can’t spend more than $2,216/month in rent without exceeding the “don’t spend more than 30% of your income in rent” rule.

  • Our Boots on the ground take: As a result, we’ve seen people 1) stick with a roommate (or roommates) longer, 2) move in with a significant other faster, or 3) leave more desirable parts of the city in search of a better deal

• Wall Street continues to expand into the Sun Belt, with markets like Dallas a key focus. Banks, hedge funds, and tech firms alike (see Musk headquartering Tesla and SpaceX in Texas) are flocking to states with no income tax and attractive, growing labor markets.

• Fidelity shutters their European private credit team

• RFK Jr. bought $24k of GameStop shares for some reason.. (to try to appeal to retail)

• Ivan Boesky, the infamous Wall Street icon busted in a 1980s insider trading scandal died this week. Son of a Detroit deli owner, Boesky surfed the golden age wave of corporate takeovers. His distinct flair and 1986 Commencement Address at Haas served as inspiration for Gordon Gekko’s famous declaration that “greed is good.”

• Continuing four months of deceleration, Canada’s core inflation gauge slowed to 2.7%. Although the news boosted June rate cut odds, policymakers noted they needed evidence of “further and sustained easing in core inflation” before bringing rates down

• ASML and TSMC Can Disable Chip Machines If China Invades Taiwan - Bloomberg

• Saudi Fintech’s $224 Million IPO Draws Orders Worth $29 Billion - Bloomberg

• Pixar has laid off 14% of their workforce (175 employees) as part of Disney’s pivot to “quality over quantity” of content.

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Transactions and M&A 💭 

Venafi, developer of a machine identity protection platform, has reached a definitive agreement to be acquired for $1.54B by CyberArk Software (NAS: CYBR).

Independent Financial (NAS: IBTX), a bank holding company, has reached a definitive agreement to be acquired for $2.0B by SouthState Bank (NYS: SSB). Keefe, Bruyette & Woods, and Raymond James advised on the sale.

Community Bank of the Bay (PINX: CBOBA), a community banking institution, has reached a definitive agreement to be acquired for $3.5B by CBC Bancorp through a reverse merger. Janney advised on the sale.

Shiver Entertainment, developer of gaming software, was acquired for $247.00M by Nintendo Company (TKS: 7974).

Arima Real Estate Socimi, a real estate company, was acquired for $263.32M by Jss Real Estate Socimi (MAD: YJSS).

Specialist Risk Group, provider of insurance brokerage services, has entered a definitive agreement to be acquired for $1.38B by Warburg Pincus and Temasek Holdings. Evercore advised on the sale.

Udacity, operator of educational services portal, was acquired for $1.0B by Accenture (NYS: ACN).

Pinnacle Midstream II, operator of an energy infrastructure company, has reached a definitive agreement to be acquired for $550.00M by Phillips 66 (NYS: PSX). Jefferies advised on the sale.

OSG Ship Management (NYS: OSG), a tanker company, has reached a definitive agreement to be acquired for $950.00M by Saltchuk Resources. Evercore advised on the sale.

Transactions Private Placements 💭

Berachain, operator of a blockchain company, has raised $100.00M of Series B venture funding led by Framework Ventures and Brevan Howard Asset Management.

Suno, operator of an AI music company, raised $125.00M of Series B venture funding led by Founder Collective, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Daniel Gross, Matrix Partners, and Nat Friedman at a pre-money valuation of $375.00M.

Scale AI, developer of a data-oriented platform, raised $1.0B of Series F venture funding led by Accel at a pre-money valuation of 13.0B.

Pheon Therapeutics, developer of Antibody-Drug Conjugate, has raised $120.00M of Series B venture funding led by TCG Crossover Management.

Farcaster, operator of a decentralized social network, raised $150.00M of Series A venture funding led by Paradigm at a pre-money valuation of $850.00M.

AltruBio, developer of an antibody therapeutics platform, has raised $225.00M of Series B venture funding led by BVF Partners.

Noteworthy Chart 🧭

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Best of YouTube ⌚️

Ever wonder why Chipotle has been falling off? Here’s a deep dive from a year ago that feels very relevant now…eventually rising prices and worse food/portions are going to hit Chipotle…

Meme Cleanser 😆 

Until next time!

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