Thursday was a lethargic day for stocks as oil prices following some disappointing factory data, giving traders pause ahead of the August jobs report due out Friday prior to the open of U.S. markets.
The S&P 500 slipped a mere 0.01% while the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.1%. The Nasdaq Composite added 0.27%.
Stocks continued stumbling into the holiday weekend, but Cynapsus Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:CYNA), Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co (NYSE:HPE) and Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS) were easily three of Thursday’s best.
Cynapsus Therapeutics Inc (CYNA)
Shares of Cynapsus Therapeutics Inc more than doubled on nearly 100 times the usual volume on a buyout announcement. Privately held Sunovion Pharmaceuticals Inc. said late Wednesday it will acquire in CYNA in an all-cash deal valuing the Canadian company at $624 million, or $40.50 for each CYNA share. That is a 120% premium to where shares of CYNA closed Wednesday.
Cynapsus is working on a treatment for Parkinson’s disease, with clinical trials currently ongoing.
The boards of both companies have approved the deal.
Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co (HPE)
Shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co climbed 3.1% on heavy volume after reports emerged Thursday that the company could sell its software services unit.
HPE is reportedly in talks with private equity firm Thoma Bravo LLC and is looking for a price of $8 billion to $10 billion for the software unit.
Private equity firms are looking to make more tech acquisitions, something Thoma Bravo has already done. In June, the private equity firm acquired Qlik for $3 billion, among its other tech-related acquisitions.
HPE is looking to shed its software business so it can focus on hardware and related services.
Las Vegas Sands Corp. (LVS)
Shares of Las Vegas Sands, the owner of the Venetian hotel and casino in Las Vegas, soared 7.1% on more than double the average daily volume following some bullish gaming numbers out of Macau. Macau is the only Chinese territory where gambling is legal and is the world’s largest gambling hub.
August “gambling revenue was 18.8 billion patacas ($2.4 billion), government data showed on Thursday, at the top end of analysts’ expectations that varied from a drop of 3 percent to a 1 percent growth,” reports Reuters.
The good news for LVS and rivals operating there is that the August numbers out of Macau were the first year-over-year increases in over two years.
Sands China, a unit of LVS, is set to open a $3 billion resort in Macau later this month.
As of this writing, Todd Shriber did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities.
