Akasa Air’s occupancy soars at fastest pace among peers in April

Akasa Air’s plane occupancy, or load factor, improved the most among all major carriers in April compared to the last month.

Load factor signifies the percentage of seats that the airline has been able to fill in its planes.

The Vinay Dube-led carrier, which started commercial flights in August last year, saw its load factor jump by more than 11 per cent in April, according to the Ministry of Civil Aviation’s data that has been reviewed by Business Standard.

Ajay Singh-promoted SpiceJet, which has been facing cash crunch, retained its top position in April but its load factor decreased slightly from 92.83 per cent in March to 91.57 per cent in April.

India’s largest carrier IndiGo saw the second best improvement in load factor — from 84.1 per cent in March to 87.46 per cent in April.

All three Tata group-run airlines — Air India, AirAsia India, and Vistara — improved their load factors in April.

Syneos Health To Be Taken Private By Private Equity Consortium In $7.1 Bln Deal

Biopharmaceutical solutions firm Syneos Health, Inc. (SYNH) announced Wednesday that it has entered into a definitive agreement to be acquired by a consortium of private investment firm affiliates composed of Elliott Investment Management, Patient Square Capital, and Veritas Capital for $43.00 per share in cash in a transaction valued at approximately $7.1 billion, including outstanding debt.

The purchase price represents a 24% premium to Syneos Health’s unaffected closing stock price of $34.65 on February 13, 2023, the last trading day prior to media speculation regarding the Company.

The Syneos Health Board of Directors unanimously approved the merger agreement and intends to recommend that Syneos Health shareholders vote in favor of it at a Special Meeting of Stockholders, to be scheduled as soon as practicable.

Completion of the transaction is expected in the second half of 2023, subject to the approval of Syneos Health shareholders and the satisfaction of other customary closing conditions, including regulatory approvals. The transaction is not subject to a financing condition.

Upon completion of the transaction, Syneos Health will become a private company and shares of Syneos Health Class A common stock will no longer trade on the Nasdaq. The Company expects to maintain its headquarters in Morrisville, North Carolina.

Oil Snaps Three-day Rally On Surprise Inventory Build

Oil prices fell sharply on Wednesday to snap a three-day rally after industry data showed a surprise build in U.S. crude and gasoline stockpiles.

Benchmark Brent crude futures fell 1.3 percent to $76.40 a barrel while WTI crude futures were down 1.3 percent at $72.73.

Oil prices reversed a more than 2 percent drop earlier to end higher on Tuesday after the White House said it would start buying crude to replenish the emergency reserves after maintenance work later this year.

Also, a report from the Energy Information Administration (EIA) pointed to higher seasonal demand and lower-than-expected output.

Meanwhile, data from the American Petroleum Institute (API) released late Tuesday showed that U.S. crude oil inventories rose by about 3.6 million barrels in the week ended May 5, compared with analysts’ estimate for a drawdown of about 917,000 barrels.

Gasoline stocks increased by 400,000 barrels, while distillate stocks posted a 3.95-million-barrel draw.

The ongoing impasse over the U.S. debt ceiling and caution ahead of U.S. consumer price inflation data due out later in the day also kept oil prices under pressure.

The New York Times Co., Q1 Profit Increases, beats estimates

The New York Times Co., (NYT) revealed earnings for its first quarter that increased from the same period last year and beat the Street estimates.

The company’s earnings totaled $22.32 million, or $0.13 per share. This compares with $4.73 million, or $0.03 per share, in last year’s first quarter.

Excluding items, The New York Times Co., reported adjusted earnings of $0.19 per share for the period.

Analysts on average had expected the company to earn $0.17 per share, according to figures compiled by Thomson Reuters. Analysts’ estimates typically exclude special items.

The company’s revenue for the quarter rose 4.3% to $560.74 million from $537.43 million last year.

The New York Times Co., earnings at a glance (GAAP) :

-Earnings (Q1): $22.32 Mln. vs. $4.73 Mln. last year.
-EPS (Q1): $0.13 vs. $0.03 last year.
-Analyst Estimate: $0.17
-Revenue (Q1): $560.74 Mln vs. $537.43 Mln last year.

Pre-market Movers: CTIC, UPST, ISIG, SFWL, CUEN…

The following are some of the stocks making big moves in Wednesday’s pre-market trading (as of 07.00 A.M. ET).

In the Green

CTI BioPharma Corp. (CTIC) is up over 85% at $8.93.
Upstart Holdings, Inc. (UPST) is up over 33% at $18.85.
Insignia Systems, Inc. (ISIG) is up over 22% at $9.20.
Protalix BioTherapeutics, Inc. (PLX) is up over 17% at $3.42.
JX Luxventure Limited (JXJT) is up over 15% at $5.39.
Nerdy, Inc. (NRDY) is up over 14% at $3.56.
Syneos Health, Inc. (SYNH) is up over 11% at $43.00.
Celsius Holdings, Inc. (CELH) is up over 10% at $118.00.
RingCentral, Inc. (RNG) is up over 9% at $29.06.
TScan Therapeutics, Inc. (TCRX) is up over 8% at $3.69.
Exact Sciences Corporation (EXAS) is up over 7% at $76.60.
N-able, Inc. (NABL) is up over 7% at $13.58.
Alcon Inc. (ALC) is up over 6% at $78.57.
Li Auto Inc. (LI) is up over 6% at $26.34.

In the Red

Shengfeng Development Limited (SFWL) is down over 20% at $6.98.
Cuentas Inc. (CUEN) is down over 18% at $5.65.
Cutera, Inc. (CUTR) is down over 17% at $16.68.
Amplitude, Inc. (AMPL) is down over 17% at $9.57.
Twilio Inc. (TWLO) is down over 16% at $46.63.
Jackson Financial Inc. (JXN) is down over 14% at $29.50.
Airbnb, Inc. (ABNB) is down over 13% at $109.97.
Coherent Corp. (COHR) is down over 13% at $27.60.
Integral Ad Science Holding Corp. (IAS) is down over 12% at $15.08.
Dutch Bros Inc. (BROS) is down over 9% at $29.30.
Emergent BioSolutions Inc. (EBS) is down over 6% at $9.03.