Hasbro Shares Hit 52-Week High

Shares of Hasbro Inc. (HAS) reached a 52-week high of $102.00 Monday morning, and are currently trading at $101.29, up $8.88 or 9.61%, with trading volume soaring over 11.15 million versus an average volume of 663K shares.

The company’s Q2 net loss was $22.9 million or $0.17 per share compared to a loss of $33.9 million or $0.25 per share last year.

Adjusted net income was $145.4 million or $1.05 per share versus $2.7 million or $0.02 per share in the prior year period.

Net revenues surged 54% to $1.32 billion from $860.3 million generated a year ago.

Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected earnings of $0.48 per share on revenue of $1.17 billion for the quarter. Analysts’ estimate typically exclude certain special items.

Brian Goldner, Hasbro’s chairman and chief executive officer, said “Wizards continued to generate outstanding results behind a compelling analog and digital release schedule for MAGIC: THE GATHERING. Consumer products revenue increased as demand remains robust for Hasbro toys and games and entertainment revenue grew as we are producing entertainment with strong deliveries…”

CANADA STOCKS-TSX opens flat as weakness in tech offsets energy gains

July 26 (Reuters) – Canada’s main stock index slightly changed at the open on Monday, as gains in energy stocks were offset by weakness in technology stocks.

* At 9:34 a.m. ET (1334 GMT), the Toronto Stock Exchange’s S&P/TSX composite index was up 7.91 points, or 0.04%, at 20,196.34.

Support.com Uptick Continues

Support.com, Inc. (SPRT) shares are rising more than 15 percent on Monday morning trade, continuing a momentum since July 16. There were no specific announcements from the company today to influence the stock movement. The stock is rising ahead of big tech companies including Microsoft, Apple and Google scheduled to report this week

Currently, shares are at $7.11, up 15.05 percent from the previous close of $6.18 on a volume of 6,081,076. For the 52-week period, the shares have traded in a range of $1.43-$9.45 on average volume of 2,373,595.

U.S. Homebuilder Confidence Unexpectedly Edges Lower In July

Reflecting supply-side challenges related to building materials, regulation and labor, the National Association of Home Builders released a report on Monday showing an unexpected dip in U.S. homebuilder confidence in the month of July.

The report showed the NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index edged down to 80 in July from 81 in June. The modest decrease surprised economists, who had expected the index to inch up to 82.

With the unexpected drop, the housing market index slipped to its lowest level since hitting 78 in August of 2020.

“Builders are contending with shortages of building materials, buildable lots and skilled labor as well as a challenging regulatory environment,” said NAHB Chief Economist Robert Dietz.

He added, “This is putting upward pressure on home prices and sidelining many prospective home buyers even as demand remains strong in a low-inventory environment.”

The unexpected decrease by the housing market index came as the component measuring traffic of prospective buyers tumbled to 65 in July from 71 in June.

The index gauging current sales conditions also edged down to 86 in July from 87 in June, while the gauge charting sales expectations in the next six months rose to 81 from 79.

On Tuesday, the Commerce Department is scheduled to release a separate report on new residential construction in the month of June.

Housing starts are expected to jump by 1.6 percent to an annual rate of 1.597 million, while building permits are expected to climb by 1 percent to an annual rate of 1.700 million.

SPX Flow Jumps 10% As It Seeks Possible Sale Of Company

Shares of SPX Flow Inc. (FLOW) are gaining over 10% on Monday morning after the company said it is exploring alternatives, including a possible sale of company.

FLOW is currently trading at $84.00, up $7.88 or 10.35%, on the Nasdaq.

SPX Flow, a provider of process solutions, announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a review of strategic alternatives, including a possible sale or merger of the company and the continued execution of the company’s standalone strategy.

Previously, SPX Flow had received and rejected an unsolicited proposal from Ingersoll Rand Inc. (IR) to acquire the company for $85.00 per share. This followed a similar unsolicited proposal from Ingersoll Rand for $81.50 per share.

Bally’s Corporation Sees Q2 Revenues Above View

Bally’s Corporation (BALY), a casino-entertainment company on Monday reported preliminary revenue for the second quarter, that comes in above the Street estimates. The company also announced its intention to seek bridge finance to fund the Gamesys acquisition in the context of better-than-expected results.

For the three-month period ended June 30, 2021, the company expects consolidated revenue of $258 to $268 million as compared to $28.9 million in the period ending June 30, 2020.

On average, 5 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters are expecting the company to report revenues of $225.36 million.

Adjusted EBITDA is expected in the range of $80 to $84 million, as compared to Adjusted EBITDA loss of $10.7 million in the year-ago quarter.

The company has arranged bridge financing for the Gamesys acquisition from Deutsche Bank AG, London Branch, Goldman Sachs USA and Barclays Bank PLC. Bally’s intends to seek to refinance the bridge facility and its and Gamesys’ debt through one or more capital market transactions, which are currently expected to include public or private bond offerings and a company-wide bank credit facility. The transaction is expected to be closed in the fourth quarter of 2021.

The shares of Bally’s are currently trading in pre-market at $47.70, up $1.33 or 2.87 percent from previous close.