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Good Morning,

Musk’s Tesla comp package got voided by a Delaware judge, JPM quants warned of Dot-Com style concentration in US stocks, UPS to cut 12,000 jobs, Evergrande’s bond holders could wait years for payouts, and Walmart announced a stock split.

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Let’s dive in.

Before The Bell

Markets

• US stocks closed mixed as investors wait for the Fed’s latest interest rate decision and big tech earnings

  • The Nasdaq fell 0.76%, while the Dow rose 0.35% 

• Chinese stocks fell as investor optimism over a potential market rescue package fades

Earnings

• Microsoft beat Q2 earnings and revenue expectations thanks to stronger-than-expected Azure cloud growth (CNBC) 

• Alphabet shares declined ~6% despite better-than-expected Q4 revenue and earnings due to disappointing ad revenue (CNBC) 

• UPS shares dropped ~8% after reporting a drop in Q4 international and domestic shipping volume and missing analyst revenue expectations; the company announced 12,000 layoffs to cut costs (CNBC)

• AMD shares fell ~4% after offering a Q1 forecast that fell short of expectations; the chipmaker reported Q4 earnings in line with analyst expectations and beat on revenue (CNBC) 

• What we're watching this week:  

  • Today: Qualcomm, Boeing, Novo Nordisk

  • Thursday: Apple, Amazon, Meta, Royal Caribbean, Altria

  • Friday: Exxon, Chevron, Bristol Myers Squibb, AbbVie, Cigna

• Full calendar here

Headline Roundup

• Elon Musk’s $56B Tesla compensation voided by judge, shares slide (CNBC)

• Fed to hold interest rates steady but start considering cuts (BBG)

• JPMorgan quants warn of Dot-Com style concentration in US stocks (BBG)

• UPS to cut 12,000 jobs and mandate return to offices five days a week (WSJ)

• Pimco squares up for bareknuckle fight in private credit (BBG)

• Evergrande’s bond holders could wait years for little payout (RT)

• Dollar bond sales in Asia see worst start to year since 2016 (BBG)

• The real estate downturn comes for America’s premier office towers (WSJ)

• Walmart announces 3-for-1 stock split (WSJ)

• Universal Music, TikTok fail to reach new licensing agreement (RT)

• China’s factory activity shrinks again, weak demand hobbles economy (RT)

• The world’s last wave of oil refining bets is all about India (BBG)

• PayPal will cut 2,500 jobs, or 9% of global workforce (CNBC)

• GM’s bullish outlook boosted by gas-engine models, narrower EV losses (WSJ)

• Traders pile into wagers targeting a bigger bond market selloff (BBG)

• White House touts highest consumer confidence in more than 2 years (CNBC)

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Deal Flow

M&A / Investments

• PE-backed German consolidator Viridium will not proceed with its purchase of Zurich Insurance’s $20B German life insurance back book due to considerations relating to Viridium’s current ownership structure (FT) 

• ​​Merchant bank BDT & MSD Partners is exploring a sale of Alliance Laundry Systems that could value the US laundry equipment manufacturer at ~$5B, including debt (RT)

• JetBlue Airways and Spirit Airlines are seeking an expedited appeal of a ruling that blocked their $3.8B combination (BBG) 

• Motor Fuel Group will purchase sister company and UK supermarket chain Wm Morrison’s petrol forecourt business for $3.2B; both companies are owned by US PE firm CD&R (FT) 

• KKR and South Korean conglomerate Taeyoung Group plan to sell their JV Ecorbit in a deal that could value the environment company at over $2B (RT) 

• Electronics equipment maker Amphenol will acquire Carlisle Companies’ Carlisle Interconnect Technologies unit, which supplies cables and connectors for defense and industrial end markets, for $2B cash (RT) 

• US-listed Chinese industrial firm Hollysys Automation Technologies rejected an improved $1.8B offer by a consortium led by Dazheng Group in favor of a ~$1.66B takeover proposal from PE firm Ascendent Capital Partners (BBG) 

• Italy's Treasury and KKR agreed to the terms for a bid for Telecom Italia's submarine cable unit Sparkle; KKR’s previous bid was estimated at $758M-$867M (RT)

VC

• Kore.ai, a startup building conversational AI for enterprises, raised a $150M round led by FTV Capital, Nvidia, and more (TC)

• Rebellions, a South Korean fabless AI chip startup, raised a $124M Series B at a ~$658M valuation led by KT (TC)

• Cour Pharmaceuticals, a clinical-stage biotech company focused on autoimmune diseases, raised a $105M Series A led by Lumira Ventures and Alpha Wave Ventures (FN)

• Inari, a startup using AI to develop higher-yielding seeds, raised $103M in funding from Hanwha Impact, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, Rivas Capital, and more (PRN)

• Restoration Forest Products Group, a sustainable forest products company, raised $95M in financing led by Invesco (BW)

• Codeium, a startup building an AI-powered coding toolkit, raised a $65M Series B led by Kleiner Perkins (PRN)

• Portal, a fintech provider advancing financial self-sovereignty for Bitcoin and diverse crypto markets, raised a $34M seed round from Coinbase Ventures, Arrington Capital, OKX Ventures, and Gate.io (BW)

• Enterprise Therapeutics, a biopharmaceutical company focused on respiratory disease, raised a $33.1M Series B led by Panakes Partners (BW)

• Sema4.ai, a startup bringing open-source AI to enterprise work, raised a $30.5M round led by Benchmark and Mayfield Fund (FN)

• Boston Metal, a metals technology solutions company, raised a $20M Series C2 from Marunouchi Innovation Partners (BW)

• Crux, a sustainable finance technology company, raised an $18.2M Series A led by a16z (VC)

• Vital Interaction, a healthcare technology startup combining healthcare data, business intelligence, and workflow automation, raised a $15M Series A led by Next Coast Ventures (BW)

• Cultivo, a startup building a pipeline of nature-based carbon removal projects, raised a $14M Series A led by MassMutual Ventures and Octopus Energy Generation (BW)

• Tau Group, an Italian energy transition and decarbonization startup, raised a $12.1M Series B extension led by DP Venture Capital and Santander Alternative Investments (FN)

• Nile, a startup building a Postgres-powered data layer for SaaS applications, raised an $11.6M seed round led by Benchmark’s Eric Vishria (TC)

IPO / Direct Listings / Issuances / Block Trades

• Indian home loans provider Aadhar Housing Finance, which is owned by Blackstone, is seeking to raise $600M-$650M at a valuation of up to $3B in a local IPO (RT) 

• Volkswagen is pushing back plans for an IPO of its battery unit due to slower demand for EV’s (BBG) 

• Chinese jewelry chain-store operator Zhou Liu Fu Jewelry is considering a Hong Kong IPO as soon as this year (BBG)

Debt

• Japan’s three largest banks, MUFG Bank, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking, and Mizuho Bank, agreed to lend $16B to Nippon Steel to fund its acquisition of United States Steel (BBG) 

• Japanese e-commerce conglomerate Rakuten Group raised the size of a planned dollar-denominated 3-year senior note issuance to ~$1.8B (RT) 

• The Biden administration is poised to offer Holtec International a $1.5B loan to restart a closed Michigan nuclear power plant (BBG) 

• The African Development Bank raised $750M through the sale of a perpetual note after receiving over $5B of orders (BBG)

Bankruptcy / Restructuring

• Rite Aid hired liquidators at the request of company lenders as the bankrupt pharmacy chain continues negotiations with at least two potential buyers (BBG) 

• Chilean casino operator Enjoy announced its second restructuring in two years due to liquidity issues (BBG)

Fundraising

• VC Uncorrelated Ventures raised $315M for a new fund, which will focus on software and crypto (BBG) 

Crypto Corner

• Standard Chartered expects the SEC to approve Ethereum ETFs in May (BBG) 

• German police seized $2.1B of Bitcoin as part of an investigation in an illegal file-sharing platform (BBG) 

• Terraform Labs says its bankruptcy filing will enable an appeal for its securities fraud case with the SEC (RT)

Exec’s Picks

• Reddit is likely going public soon. Dave Lee asks whether or not this could spell disaster for the internet’s biggest forum site.

• Ben Thompson discussed how poor strategic decisions caused Intel to fall behind.

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