markets

3/6/25

Discord is chatting about an IPO

Nice scoop from the Gray Lady, reporting that online chat group network Discord is in early, exploratory talks about going public.

An offering of shares would likely be of interest to some extremely online retail traders and gamers, many of whom are users. It would also be a welcome jolt for the IPO market, which has seen relatively few banner-name companies go public in the past few years.

In terms of potential comps for the company — which was last valued at $15 billion in 2021, per the Times — Reddit springs to mind, due to the close linkage of the two services. Many subreddits have associated Discord groups.

Reddit’s ride as a public company has been pretty strong, as the company has shown its ability to post profits.

Even more to the point in terms of potential IPOs, Reddit’s stock market performance since its IPO almost a year ago has been outstanding.

The company’s run-up over the past year has pretty much mirrored retail trading favorite Palantir, which was the best-performing stock in the S&P last year.

Both stocks have trounced the market since last November’s election, even after accounting for a brutal sell-off over the last couple weeks.

Discord in Early Talks With Bankers for Potential I.P.O.

Discord in Early Talks With Bankers for Potential I.P.O.

In terms of potential comps for the company — which was last valued at $15 billion in 2021, per the Times — Reddit springs to mind, due to the close linkage of the two services. Many subreddits have associated Discord groups.

Reddit’s ride as a public company has been pretty strong, as the company has shown its ability to post profits.

Even more to the point in terms of potential IPOs, Reddit’s stock market performance since its IPO almost a year ago has been outstanding.

The company’s run-up over the past year has pretty much mirrored retail trading favorite Palantir, which was the best-performing stock in the S&P last year.

Both stocks have trounced the market since last November’s election, even after accounting for a brutal sell-off over the last couple weeks.

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Nvidia Intel deal implications, according to Wall Street analysts

Wall Street analysts think through the Nvidia-Intel deal

TL;DR: Huge for Intel, helpful for Nvidia, and potentially bad for AMD.

Matt Phillips7m

markets

1h

Abercrombie & Fitch gets a lift after BTIG kicks off coverage with a “buy” rating

Abercrombie & Fitch popped over 3% Thursday afternoon after BTIG initiated coverage on the stock with a “buy” rating and set a $120 price target. That’s more than 35% above current trading levels.

“While we acknowledge headwinds from a selective consumer and tough comparisons, we have confidence in A&F’s ability to return to growth as AUR [average unit retail] headwinds abate at Abercrombie, a factor well within the company’s control, while traffic and brand health remain strong,” the firm wrote in the note.

BTIG also highlighted the retailer’s California-based Hollister brand, where growth is continuing to ramp up, and that cleaner inventory management is helping the retailer avoid big markdowns. Analysts also noted that Abercrombie still trades at a discount to its peers, making the upside more compelling.

The call comes on the heels of Abercrombie’s stronger-than-expected Q2 results last month, which featured record quarterly sales and marked its 11th straight quarter of growth.

A&F shares are down 41% year to date.

markets

3h

Analyst spotlights oil refiners’ outperformance

Major US oil refiners like Valero, Marathon Petroleum, and Phillips 66 are outperforming more than 90% of the S&P 500 this year, as a surge in global supply from OPEC+ — essentially a price-setting alliance between OPEC and Russia — has put refiners in the catbird seat when it comes to price negotiations with producers.

“We continue to assess that refiners will set the price of crude and refiners will win in a wide range of scenarios for crude, making refiners the best vehicle for long petroleum exposure,” wrote Colin Fenton, head of commodities research at 22V Research.

Crack spreads, a measure of profit margins at refiners, have risen nearly 50% so far this year.

Olive Garden parent company Darden dips after serving up a Q1 earnings miss

The restaurant giant saw strong comps, but is facing higher costs and more price-conscious consumers.

Olive Garden Italian Kitchen. Olive Garden is a division of Darden Restaurants.

markets

4h

CrowdStrike pops as Wall Street boosts price targets following analyst event to talk AI strategy, revenue outlook

Cybersecurity giant CrowdStrike is climbing on Thursday after the company gave a beefy revenue outlook. Its shares are up more than 9% in early morning trading on Thursday.

CFO Burt Podbere said the company expects its fiscal year 2027 net new annual recurring revenues to grow more than 20%, an increase that would put the figure well past analyst estimates.

Assuming Wall Street’s consensus for the company’s net new ARR in fiscal 2026 ($940.3 million) is met, the company is essentially guiding for $1.13 billion in net new ARR for fiscal ’27. Wall Street was expecting $1.05 billion.

In its most recent earnings report, CrowdStrike’s total annual recurring revenue surged 20% to $4.66 billion.

Wall Street moved quickly to adjust for the bullish forecast. Deutsche Bank, Jefferies, Morgan Stanley, Capital One, and Truist, among others, all boosted their price target for the company.

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