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Good Morning,

Regional bank stocks got rekt, US job openings fell for a third-straight month, the Chinese IPO market has been hot this year, Hindenburg is coming for Icahn, Australia’s central bank hiked rates by 25 bps, IBM expects AI to replace thousands of jobs, Chegg is getting clapped by AI, Ford cut its Mustang Mach-E prices, and the NYSE is delisting First Republic Bank shares.

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Let’s dive in.

Before The Bell

Markets

• All three major US indexes fell ~1% on worries that the Fed's forthcoming rate hike may worsen the current economic outlook

  • Regional bank stocks closed at lowest since 2020, driven by selloffs in PacWest and Western Alliance

  • The VIX closed at nearly a one-week high

• The pan-European Stoxx 600 shed 1.2%

• Oil slumped 5% to a five-week low on US debt default fears

Earnings

• HSBC beat earnings estimates on a 3x increase in Q1 profits as rising interest rates boosted its income; the bank announced its first quarterly dividend since 2019 (RT)

• BP beat Q1 estimates fueled by strong oil and gas trading, but shares slid 6% as their $1.75B buyback fell short of last quarter’s $2.75B move (WSJ)

• Uber beat Q1 revenue estimates and posted a smaller than expected loss on a continued return of drivers to its ride-hailing business and series of investments in new services; their stock surged 11.5% (NYT)

• AMD beat Q1 estimates but saw revenue drop 9% YoY as the PC industry remains in a deep slump with shipments down 30% in Q1 (MSN)

• Pfizer beat Q1 estimates despite a 29% decline in revenue driven by lower demand for the Covid vaccine (CNBC)

• Ford beat Q1 estimates on a 20% YoY sales increase but indicated that its turnaround was not complete and had ways to go before its EV segment turns profitable (NYT)

• What we're watching this week:

  • Today: CVS Health, Qualcomm, Zillow, Starbucks

  • Thursday: Apple, DoorDash, Shopify, Block, Kraft Heinz, Coinbase, Lyft, Bumble

  • Friday: AMC, Warner Bros Discovery

• Full calendar here

Headline Roundup

• US job openings fell for third-straight month to a two year low (RT)

• Chinese IPOs raised over five times more than US IPOs this year (FT)

• A short seller report by Hindenburg erased 20% of Icahn empire's value (RT)

  • Related: Carl Icahn’s wealth plunged by $10B on the report (BBG)

• Australia’s central bank hiked rates by 25 bps (CNBC)

• UK's financial regulator proposed sweeping changes to UK listing regime (FT)

• Investors are piling into actively managed ETFs (WSJ)

• Short sellers tightened grip on regional bank shares last week (BBG)

• PNC's parent firm offered $15B in short-term debt to provide additional liquidity (RT)

• European investment in China’s car sector hit a record high as companies try to claw back market share from Chinese EV makers (FT)

• IBM expects AI to replace thousands of jobs, in first such acknowledgement (AX)

• Morgan Stanley is in talks to resolve US block trading probes (BBG)

• Morgan Stanley plans to cut 3,000 jobs across IB and S&T (BBG)

• Britain’s housing slowdown leaves more homes on the market (BBG)

• Blackstone limited REIT investor redemptions again in April (RT)

• Plans for a double-leveraged Tesla-only ETF were filed with the SEC (BBG)

• Chegg shares dropped over 40% after company says ChatGPT is killing its business (CNBC)

• Ford cuts prices of Mustang Mach-E after Tesla moves (RT)

• NYSE will delist First Republic Bank shares (RT)

• Hollywood writers went on strike (NYT)

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Deal Flow

M&A / Investments

• France won court approval for its $10.7B offer to buy out minority shareholders of debt-laden utility Electricite de France (BBG)

• Chinese energy giant Sinopec and French energy firm TotalEnergies are in talks to invest up to $10B in Saudi Aramco's Jafurah gas project in Saudi Arabia (BBG)

• PE firm Apax Partners together with CPPIB is weighing a bid to take US-listed technology consultancy Thoughtworks private; the firm has a current $2.3B market cap (BBG)

• India’s largest mortgage financier HDFC picked Jefferies to manage the sale of its student loans unit HDFC Credila, which could fetch $1B (BBG)

• Abu Dhabi's sovereign wealth fund Mubadala will invest $500M in US-based broadband service provider Brightspeed (RT)

• Italian investment bank Tamburi Investment Partners agreed to buy a 50.7% stake in Italian Design Brands for $241M, with options to acquire 20% more (RT)

• South Africa’s Gold Fields will acquire a 50% stake for $221M in a Canadian Windfall gold mining project JV with Canadia's Osisko Mining (RT)

• Conservative pundit Ben Shapiro acquired a 4.8% stake worth $4.7M in a struggling Israeli pharma company Oramed (BBG)

• Swiss chemicals giant Sika completed its acquisition of smaller German peer MBCC (RT)

VC

• Generative AI start-up Cohere is in talks to raise a $250M Series C at a $2B valuation led by Inovia Capital (FT)

• Automated network startup Mavenir raised a $100M round led by Siris (TC)

• AI-powered intranet platform Simpplr raised a $70M round led by Sapphire Ventures (TC)

• Foretellix, a provider of safety-driven verification and validation solutions for automated driving systems, raised a $43M Series C led by 83North (PRN)

• Uwill, a mental health and wellness solution for college students, raised a $30M Series A led by Education Growth Partners (PRN)

• Nigerian payment service provider Nomba raised a $30M pre-Series B led by Base10 (FN)

• Odaia, a Toronto-based developer of an AI-powered commercial insights platform for pharmaceutical companies, raised a $25M Series B led by Threshold Ventures and Monograph Capital (FN)

• Digital therapeutics startup Hygieia extended its Series B round to $22M led by Firstime Ventures (BW)

• Pocket FM, an audio series platform, raised $16M in debt financing from SVB (PRN)

• Tom Brady-backed Hero Bread, a maker of low-carbohydrate bread, tortillas and buns, has raised $15M in a Series B financing round; investors include Cleveland Avenue, Union Grove Partners, and the D’Amelio Family Fund (BBG)

• Kinnos, a startup colorizing disinfectants, raised $15M in financing led by a group of current and former industry leaders (BW)

• Thesis, a custom nootropics solution, raised $13.5M in funding led by Unilever Ventures, Redo Ventures, and more (BW)

• Gappify, an Oakland-based provider of accounting automation solutions, raised a $10M Series B led by FINTOP Capital (FN)

• Anavo Therapeutics, a startup focusing on phosphatase biology, raised a $9.4M seed extension led by MRL Ventures Fund (BW)

• Tangem, a provider of secure hardware wallet solutions, raised an $8M round led by Shima Capital (PRN)

• Testbirds, a Munich-based crowdtesting platform provider, raised a $7M round led by Round2 Capital (FN)

• Aligned, a provider of a B2B buyer-seller network, raised a $5.8M seed round led by Hetz Ventures and NFX (FN)

• Website builder Makeswift raised $3M in funding led by Active Capital (PRN)

• Gigs, a job platform that connects companies with job seekers in their neighborhood, raised a $2.7M pre-seed round led by Slauson & Co (BW)

IPO / Direct Listings / Issuances / Block Trades

• Swiss-based Montana Aerospace hired Berenberg as sole global coordinator for an IPO of its energy components unit ASTA, which could be valued at about $549M (BBG)

• German air taxi firm Lilium will raise up to $250M, including a new investment from its largest shareholder Tencent (RT)

SPAC

• Ares Management launched a second $500M SPAC in the biggest SPAC deal to price since January 2022 (BBG)

Debt

• Spanish bank BBVA placed a 3-year $1.1B issue (BBV)

• Japanese hotel chain Unizo is seeking to restructure its $73M in debt maturing in May (BBG)

Bankruptcy / Restructuring

• Revlon emerged from bankruptcy less than a year after filing for Chapter 11, after cutting over $2.7B in debt (RT)

• Indian airline Go First filed for bankruptcy, blaming faulty Pratt and Whitney engines, the company currently has $800M in debt on its balance sheet (RT)

Fundraising

• PE firm Weil Leads raised $500M for its inaugural PE fund (LAW)

• Ex-Kleiner Perkins partner Wen Hseih is in advanced talks to launch a new $200M fund with contributions from Kleiner Perkins and Taiwanese chipmaker TSMC (RT)

• Noble Capital, an Austin-based PE firm, is raising $80M across four funds to assist late-stage founders facing the ‘Founder’s Dilemma’ (BW)

• BrokerTech Ventures, an-Iowa based convening platform and accelerator program, launched a $34M fund with VC ManchesterStory Group (FN)

Crypto Corner

• Coinbase opened an international crypto derivatives exchange as it expands overseas (CD)

• Ex-Coinbase CTO Balaji Srinivasan closed out early from a losing $1M Bitcoin bet/prediction (BBG)

• Crypto loses some of 24/7 luster as weekday trading sees uptick (BBG)

• UK plans to ban cold call financial product sales, including crypto (BBG)

• US is seeking to implement a 30% energy use tax on crypto miners (CD)

Exec’s Picks

• Farmland produces the food, fiber and fuel we rely on daily, and when prices rise, generally so do farmland values. When you invest in farmland, you invest in American agriculture and the enterprising farmers who support it. Join investors from across the U.S. in diversifying your portfolio with AcreTrader.*

• Hindenburg published a high profile short report on Carl Icahn’s Icahn Enterprises.

*AcreTrader Financial, LLC, member FINRA/SIPC. Farmland investing is speculative and involves high degree of risk, including complete loss of principal and not suitable for all investors. Past performance does not guarantee future results and there is no guarantee this trend will continue.

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