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Good Morning,

Magnificent Seven stocks are hot again, Apple dialed back its driverless car ambitions, Netflix acquired WWE’s rights, Trump beat Haley in New Hampshire, Chinese property developers are resorting to bizarre marketing tactics, and airlines are souring on Boeing.

Want to keep up with the biggest stories in finance and tech? Check out and subscribe to The Information.

Let’s dive in.

Before The Bell

Markets

• US stocks closed mixed as investors digested corporate earnings

  • The Dow fell 0.25%, while the Nasdaq rose 0.43% 

• Asian stocks mostly rose as Chinese authorities weigh a market rescue plan

Earnings

• Netflix shares jumped ~8% after beating Q4 revenue and subscriber growth estimates; the company missed on earnings (CNBC) 

• Verizon shares jumped 7% after beating Q4 earnings estimates, posting its highest quarterly subscriber addition in nearly two years, and forecasting annual profit above estimates (YF) 

• 3M shares plunged 11% after forecasting full-year earnings below Wall Street estimates due to the macro environment (RT) 

• What we're watching this week:  

  • Today: Tesla, AT&T, IBM, ASML, Progressive

  • Thursday: Intel, Visa, Blackstone, American Airlines, Comcast, Next Era Energy

  • Friday: American Express

• Full calendar here

Headline Roundup

• Tech’s ‘Magnificent Seven’ stocks are back on top (WSJ)

• Apple dials back car’s self-driving features, delays launch to 2028 (BBG)

• Hedge fund stars who got China wrong are paying a big price (BBG)

• SpaceX, Blue Origin space race is boosting suppliers’ bottom lines (BBG)

• Desperate Chinese property developers resort to bizarre marketing tactics (WSJ)

• Johnson & Johnson to settle talc baby powder investigation, will reportedly pay $700M (CNBC)

• Alaska Airlines and United CEOs cast doubt on Boeing after 737 MAX 9 issues (AX)

• Trump cruises in New Hampshire primary election, Haley vows to fight on (RT)

• Trian’s big Disney bet drove fund’s 2023 underperformance (RT)

• Boeing 757 loses nose wheel while preparing for takeoff in Atlanta (RT)

• Alibaba gains as Jack Ma, Joe Tsai buy $200M in stock (BBG)

• Southwest Airlines flight attendants authorize strike (WSJ)

• Turkey approves Sweden’s NATO membership bid (WSJ)

A Message From The Information

Every single day we are bombarded with hundreds of stories across tech and finance, and it’s tough to separate the signal from the noise. My favorite source to cut through the noise is The Information.

In just the last week, reporters from The Information broke news on high-flying startup Brex’s burn rate, covered the travel habits of tech leaders fundraising in the Middle East, and discussed Google’s coming wave of job cuts in 2024.

The Information consistently publishes exclusive, quality content that can’t be found anywhere else, and Exec Sum readers can start reading The Information by clicking below:

Deal Flow

M&A / Investments

• Netflix acquired the exclusive rights to Raw as well as other programming from World Wrestling Entertainment for $5B over the course of 10 years (BBG) 

• Swiss stock market operator SIX Group is considering a bid for fund distribution company Allfunds, which has a $3.9B market cap (RT) 

• Walgreens is exploring options including a sale of specialty pharmacy business Shields Health Solutions, which could be valued at over $4B in a sale (BBG) 

• French pharmaceutical company Sanofi agreed to buy the clinical-stage US biotech Inhibrx for as much as $2.2B (BBG) 

• London-based PE firm Henderson Park will acquire the Arizona Biltmore hotel in Phoenix from Blackstone for $705M (BBG) 

• Indonesian internet provider PT Link Net is considering a stake sale in its fiber business to raise as much as $500M for expansion (BBG)

VC

• Edtech startup Byju’s is looking to raise $100M-$200M in new funding at a valuation below $2B (TC)

• Identity security startup Silverfort raised a $116M round at a ~$1B valuation led by Brighton Park Capital (TC)

• Visit Group, a Gothenburg-based hospitality and travel software startup, received a $109.7M investment from PSG (FN)

• TravelPerk, a business travel management platform, raised a $104M round at a $1.4B valuation led by SoftBank Vision Fund 2 (TC)

• EDX Markets, a digital asset marketplace, raised a $100M Series B led by Pantera Capital and Sequoia Capital (BW)

• Instagrid, a startup using software to improve portable batteries, raised a $95M Series C at a $400M-500M valuation led by Teachers’ Venture Growth (TC)

• EV ecosystem startup Monta raised an $86.3M Series B led by Energize Capital and GreenPoint Partners (EU)

• Calluna Pharma, a startup developing therapies for inflammatory and fibrotic diseases, raised an $81.9M Series A led by Forbion (BW)

• Accent Therapeutics, a biopharmaceutical company developing small molecule precision cancer therapies, raised a $75M Series C led by Mirae Asset Capital Life Science (PRN)

• Pharmacy benefits management startup SmithRx raised a $60M Series C led by Venrock (BW)

• Elephas, an oncology imaging diagnostics platform, raised a $55M Series C led by Venture Investors Health Fund and the State of Wisconsin Investment Board (PRN)

• Climate resilient infrastructure startup AiDash raised a $50M Series C led by Lightrock (BW)

• Cybersecurity automation startup Torq raised a $42M Series B extension from Bessemer Venture Partners, GGV Capital, Insight Partners, Greenfield Partners and Evolution Equity Partners (TC)

• Welligence Energy Analytics, an energy data and intelligence firm, raised $41M in growth funding led by Elephant (FN)

• Robots-as-a-Service startup Bluewhite raised a $39M Series C at a valuation between $200M and $300M led by Insight Partners (TC)

• Albedo, a startup building satellites that orbit very close to Earth, raised a $35M Series A-1 led by Standard Investments (TC)

• Clerk, a startup creating a suite of embeddable UIs, APIs, and admin dashboards, raised a $30M Series B led by CRV (TC)

• Open-source vector database startup Qdrant raised a $28M Series A led by Spark Capital (TC)

• Captura, a startup using Direct Ocean Capture (DOC) technology to extract CO2 from the atmosphere, raised a $21.5M Series A extension led by Future Planet Capital (VC)

• Ansel, an insurtech startup focused on building simpler supplemental insurance, raised a $20M funding round led by Portage (BW)

• ModernFi, a startup helping banks grow their deposit base, raised an $18.7M Series A led by Canapi Ventures (TC)

• S2 Genomics, a manufacturer of tissue sample preparation systems for single cell genomics assays, raised a $16M Series A led by BroadOak Capital Partners and Research Corporation Technologies (BW)

• Norm Ai, a startup building a regulatory AI agent platform, raised an $11.1M seed round led by Coatue (PRN)

• PhageLab, a biotech company aiming to develop bacteriophage-based treatments for multidrug resistant bacteria in the livestock industry, raised an $11M round from Nazca, Collaborative Fund, and more (BW)

• CardioSignal, a startup developing tech to detect heart diseases without specialized medical hardware, raised a $10M Series A led by DigiTx Partners (BW)

• Travel platform Daytrip raised a $10M Series B led by Taiwania Capital (BW)

• Optym, a startup helping transportation companies optimize their operations, received a $10M investment from Venture 53 (VC)

IPO / Direct Listings / Issuances / Block Trades

• BBB Foods, the operator of a discount retailer in Mexico, is seeking $500M in a US IPO (BBG) 

• US biotech Kallyope, which is developing oral weight loss drugs, is exploring an IPO (BBG) 

• Vietnamese internet company VNG withdrew its IPO registration in the US (RT) 

SPAC

• AI product developer Fusemachines is merging with CSLM Acquisition Corp. in a $200M deal (BBG) 

Debt

• Hydrogen company Plug Power is close to finalizing a $1.6B loan from the US Energy Department (BBG) 

Bankruptcy / Restructuring

• A UK court overturned a lower court’s approval of German property firm Adler Group’s $6.5B restructuring (BBG) 

• Medical scrubs designer and distributor Careismatic Brands, which is owned by PE firm Partners Group, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy to eliminate $833M in debt (WSJ) 

Fundraising

• Private debt firm Arcmont Asset Management raised $10.9B for its fourth European direct-lending fund (BBG)

• European early-stage investment firm Plural launched its second early-stage fund at $434M (FN) 

• Indonesia-based VC AC Ventures closed its ACV Capital V at $210M (FN)

Crypto Corner

• Donald Trump doubled down on his opposition against central bank digital currencies (CD)

• Crypto-trading venue EDX Markets, which is backed by Citadel and Fidelity, is building an exchange in Singapore (BBG)

Exec’s Picks

• The Information’s Natasha Mascarenhas discussed how Reid Hoffman calmed Microsoft nerves during their OpenAI debacle.

• Drew Dickson discussed what a post-Musk Tesla might be worth in Financial Times.

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