AMC gains amid report on efforts to refinance $2.5 billion in debt

AMC is enjoying a solid start to the week as management looks to make progress on managing its onerous (and expensive) debt load.

Bloomberg reports that the theater chain is marketing a $750 million term loan and seeking $1.73 billion in secured debt, citing a person with knowledge of the matter.

The obligations that the chain is reportedly looking to refinance are its $2 billion term loan due in 2029 (priced at one-month SOFR plus 700 basis points) and $400 million in senior notes due next year that carry a coupon of 12.75%.

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Luke Kawa2h

Walmart’s earnings have high bar to clear as search for safety pushes valuations into stratosphere

If recent history is any guide, Walmart’s Q4 earnings release Thursday before the bell will be appointment viewing.

This time last year, it wasn’t the DeepSeek freak-out or tariff chatter that caused the S&P 500 to definitively begin its downturn from all-time highs. It was Walmart’s underwhelming full-year guidance that catalyzed a momentum stock meltdown.

Since then, the retail behemoth has become a more important — and richly valued — part of the S&P 500, joining the trillion-dollar market cap club in the process. Investors have clamored for safety within the US stock market in 2026, and that’s meant bidding up the income streams associated with moving loads of volume at everyday low prices.

Jeff Jacobson, head of derivatives strategy at 22V Research, offers some perspective on just how well things have been going for the Bentonville-based giant:

Walmart versus the SPDR S&P 500 ETF is at its highest level since the aftermath of the global financial crisis;
The implied volatility of calls that offer exposure to additional upside in Walmart is very elevated relative to history (that is, they’re expensive);
This is the only time in the past five years where Walmart has traded above Wall Street’s 12-month price target.

That makes the bar to clear, regardless of how the actual numbers and guidance end up, fairly high.

In Jacobson’s view, it would be prudent for Walmart holders to try to take advantage of this elevated implied volatility by selling upside, or attempting to lock in gains after this hot run.

His recommendations:

Covered calls: sell April $145 calls at $3 or better.
Collar the position: sell WMT May $155 calls, buy May $125 put, sell May $110 put.

Max Knoblauch3h

Florida-based construction company announces $1.5 billion merger with drone maker Xtend in pact backed by Eric Trump

Florida-based construction company JFB Construction Holdings climbed 14% in premarket trading on Tuesday following an announcement that it will merge with Israeli drone maker Xtend in a $1.5 billion deal.

The shares were halted for news pending Tuesday morning, per a Bloomberg trading notice, before resuming trading.

JFB said the deal is backed by investments from Eric Trump. Unusual Machines, a drone tech company linked to Donald Trump Jr., is also listed as a strategic investor.

Xtend has marketed some of its drone products as “low cost‑per‑kill” and in November announced it won a multimillion-dollar Pentagon contract.

Luke Kawa4h

ServiceNow CEO steps up with $3 million stock purchase announcement as executives cancel stock-selling plans

ServiceNow’s executives have banded together to try to restore confidence in the struggling software company’s stock.

A filing released this morning showed CEO Bill McDermott entered into an agreement to purchase $3 million in company stock on February 27.

In addition, the CEO, CFO Gina Mastantuono, and three other executives ended their 10b5-1 trading plans (in which company stock is typically divested by an insider’s broker according to a preset schedule).

Shares were up about 3% in early trading before paring much of those gains.

ServiceNow was one of many software stocks to struggle this earnings season despite reporting better-than-expected results and rosy near-term guidance, as investors worry about the potential for industry-wide disruption by AI tools.

McDermott had attributed the slide in the stock to acquisitions announced in December. During the conference call following the company’s Q1 earnings report in late January, he told investors, “The worry is gone, you can give us back the market cap.”

Luke Kawa

Fund managers fretting over Corporate America’s “overinvestment” are only worried about one thing

Being concerned about “overinvestment” is really a very narrow statement about worries over hyperscalers’ ROI.

Tom Jones5h

Netflix has granted Warner Bros. a 7-day waiver to resume deal talks with Paramount to hear out its best and final offer

Warner Bros. Discovery will resume talks with Paramount Skydance to hear out its best and final offer after Netflix granted a limited weeklong waiver, according to a statement released Tuesday morning.

The Warner Bros. Discovery board, per the statement, continues to unanimously back the merger with Netflix, while the streamer will retain its rights to match or exceed any forthcoming offer from Paramount. This fresh negotiation period ends on February 23.

Shares of Warner Bros. Discovery rose on the news, up 2.6% as of 7:46 a.m. ET. Netflix shares also gained about 1% following the press release — suggesting that investors think the streaming giant might be overpaying at the originally agreed-upon price, and that losing out to Paramount could be a blessing in disguise.

Warner Bros. Discovery also confirmed that a Paramount representative told the company it would be willing to pay $31 per share “pending engagement” — that would be up about 3% from the current $30-per-share offer and also doesn’t constitute PSKY’s “best and final” proposal, per the representative.

The headline offer price had, up until now, proved a sticking point for both sides of the Paramount/Warner deal, while a clause covering the $2.8 billion breakup fee with Netflix in PSKY’s most recent offer could also prove enticing.

WBD shareholders will vote on the proposed Netflix merger on March 20. Interestingly, though the WBD board continues to “unanimously recommend” taking the Netflix deal, some prediction markets have now swung to place Paramount as the favorite in the acquisition battle.

(Event contracts are offered by Robinhood Derivatives, LLC. Data is sourced from KalshiEX LLC.)

Warner Bros. Discovery Agrees to Engage With Paramount in Sales Talks, but for Now Still Backs Netflix Deal as It Sets March 20 Shareholder Vote

(Event contracts are offered by Robinhood Derivatives, LLC. Data is sourced from KalshiEX LLC.)

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