Alibaba Group Holding, Delta Air Lines, Anheuser Busch Inbev, and CRISPR Therapeutics were in the spotlight this week. Below is a review of how their shares reacted to recent developments.

Anheuser Busch Inbev shares are falling due to criticism

Anheuser Busch Inbev shares are falling due to criticism

The stock price of a beer producer and distributor Anheuser Busch Inbev NV (NYSE: BUD) starting Monday 10 April through Wednesday 12 April dropped 2.43% to $63.38 per unit. The company owns such popular brands as Budweiser, Corona, Stella Artois, Beck's, Hoegaarden, and Leffe.

This decline might be provoked by a wave of criticism of the new advertising partnership of one of the company’s brands with a popular US transgender blogger Dylan Mulvaney. According to Fox Business, the marketing campaign of Bud Light and the Tik Tok star received negative feedback on social media and resulted in a decline in the sales volume of this beer in certain states where conservative politicians are in force.

Starting Monday, Ball Corporation (NYSE: BALL) shares also began falling. The company produces plastic and metal packaging. In 2022, the sales of aluminum beer cans to Anheuser Busch Inbev NV amounted to just 13% of the total sales volume of Ball Corporation. Mind that by the end of the week, the quotes have almost returned to the starting position, reaching $51.77.

Delta Air Lines report: loss dropped 61%

Delta Air Lines report: loss dropped 61%

Delta Air Lines Inc., an American airline, presented its first-quarter 2023 report on Thursday 13 April. Over the January to March period, the net loss dropped 61.38% to $363 million or $0.57 per share from the same period of last year.

Total revenues of Delta Air Lines Inc. increased 36.49% to $12.76 billion, while Wall Street analysts had forecast $11.98 billion. The revenues from passenger transportation rose 50.73% to $10.41 billion, while those from cargo transportation lost 27.68%, reaching $209 million. The flight congestion level grew from 75% to 81% against the expert forecast of 83.2%.

Delta Air Lines Inc. management expects that this year the revenue will rise by 15-20%, the profit will amount to $5-6 per share, and the free cash flow will exceed $2 billion. On the same day that the report and forecast were presented, Delta Air Lines Inc. (NYSE: DAL) shares reacted with a minor decline of 1.1% to $33.37 per unit.

SoftBank sold almost the whole block of Alibaba shares

SoftBank sold almost the whole block of Alibaba shares

On Thursday, the Financial Times made it known that in 2023 the Japanese holding company working in telecom, marketing, and financial services SoftBank Group Corp. sold the stock of the Chinese tech giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. for $2.7 billion by prepaid forward contracts. In 2022, the sales volume of the shares reached $29 billion.

As a result, the share of SoftBank Group Corp. in Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. dropped to 3.8%. The Japanese investor earlier used to hold about 34% of the Chinese company’s stock. The contracts imply the possibility of stock buyback but it has never been used in the completed trades.

See also  Will Delta Air Lines Forecast for This Year Be Come True?

As the Financial Times quotes the documents provided by the Washington Service research company since the beginning of 2022 SoftBank Group Corp. has sold 389 million Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. shares for $92 per unit. As you might recall, the all-time high was $317.

The news provoked a decline in Alibaba Group Holdings Ltd. (NYSE: BABA) shares: over the first three trading sessions since the beginning of the week they lost 8.66%, reaching $93.84 per unit, but on Thursday they recovered to $96.17.

CRISPR Therapeutics shares grew 16%

CRISPR Therapeutics shares grew 16%

CRISPR Therapeutics AG (NASDAQ: CRSP) shares on Thursday grew 16.31% to $50.56 per unit. The Swiss-American biotechnology company together with Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: VRTX) is developing the exa-cel therapy for editing genes to treat sickle cell anemia.

A day before, the Institute for Clinical and Economic Review (ICER) had published a report that said that exa-cel could be economically efficient if its price were below $1.9 million.

CRISPR Therapeutics AG and Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. hope that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) this year already will approve the exa-cel therapy for treating sickle cell anemia and transfusion-dependent beta-thalassemia, two rare genetic blood diseases.

Mind that this week ARK Innovation ETF (NYSE: ARKK) and ARK Genomic Revolution ETF (NYSE: ARKG) managed by Cathie Wood bought 61,733 shares of CRISPR Therapeutics AG. ARK Investment Management LLC now holds 7.05 million securities of the biotechnology company and its share amounts to 8.98%.

Moreover, a Cantor Fitzgerald analyst Olivia Brayer changed its recommendation for CRISPR Therapeutics AG shares to Buy and lifted the target price of the company’s stock to $72.

The stock of other biotechnology companies that work with gene editing also went up: Editas Medicine Inc. (NASDAQ: EDIT) shares grew 20.28% to $7.65, and Intellia Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ: NTLA) shares increased 13.1%, reaching $39.11.

Summary

Anheuser Busch Inbev NV this week grew and fell in turns on the back of the raging negative reactions of certain social media users to the new marketing campaign of Bud Light featuring Dylan Mulvaney.

Delta Air Lines Inc. reported its performance in the first quarter of 2023, including the growth of revenue and a decrease in the net loss, but the shares of the company reacted with a minor drop.

SoftBank Group Corp. has sold almost the whole of its share in Alibaba Group Holding Ltd., and the stock price of the Chinese technology giant lost 9%.

CRISPR Therapeutics AG securities rose 16% after a positive ICER report. The shares of other representatives of this segment also climbed up.


Material is prepared by

Server A.

Server is the guru of searching for market insights. Since 2019 he writes about everything that might be useful to the investor, focusing on the stock market and its assets.