Honeywell Rises After Activist Elliott Discloses Stake

14 minutes ago

Honeywell International (HON) shares rose to an all-time high Tuesday after Elliott Investment Management said it has built a $5 billion-plus position in the industrials conglomerate and is seeking a breakup of the company.

Elliott said in a statement that it had sent a letter to Honeywell's board of directors seeking separations of the aerospace and automation businesses as standalone companies. The hedge fund said it believed such a split out of the two companies would result in share-price increases of between 51% and 75% over the next two years as they benefit from more focused management and a simplified structure.

"The conglomerate structure that once suited Honeywell no longer does, and the time has come to embrace simplification," Elliott said, noting that "uneven execution, inconsistent financial results and an underperforming share price have diminished the Company's strong record of value creation over the last five years."

Honeywell is one of the few industrial conglomerates that has yet to break up, although it announced plans last month to streamline its business and spin off its advanced materials division.

Charlotte, N.C.-based Honeywell last month posted lower-than-estimated quarterly sales and lowered its revenue guidance as demand for its industrial automation products slumped. 

The stock was up 2% at around $230 in recent trading, after hitting a high of just under $243 earlier in the session.

–Nisha Gopalan

Live Nation Shares Hit Record High on Q3 Earnings Beat

1 hr 59 min ago

Shares of Live Nation (LYV) rose Tuesday morning after the Ticketmaster parent company’s third-quarter earnings came in better than expected.

Late Monday, the entertainment company reported $7.7 billion in revenue, just below what analysts had estimated, but profit of $1.66 per share for the quarter was above the consensus estimates of $1.57. Revenue and EPS were both down from the same time last year.

CEO Michael Rapino said Live Nation is coming off of the company’s “most active summer concert season ever,” and said an “even bigger” lineup in 2025 should continue to fuel its results.

After results earlier this year were boosted by Taylor Swift’s blockbuster “Eras Tour,” which will end with several shows in Canada over the next month, the company said it is looking ahead to stadium tours from acts like Shakira and Coldplay to drive sales next year. Live Nation said it has already sold 20 million tickets for 2025 shows, and said the arena tour ticket sales are “delivering double-digit average growth in show grosses relative to past tours.”

The ticket seller and venue owner is still facing an attempt from the Department of Justice to break up Live Nation and Ticketmaster after their 2010 merger. The DOJ accused Live Nation of acting as a monopoly earlier this year in a lawsuit, including allegations of intimidation and retaliation to get venues to use Ticketmaster for their ticket sales.

Live Nation shares hit an all-time high this morning and were recently up 4.5%.

–Aaron McDade

Coinbase Price Levels to Watch Amid Post-Election Surge

2 hr 48 min ago

Coinbase (COIN) shares surged to a three-year high Monday as investors bet that higher trading volumes and a more favorable regulatory environment under the incoming Trump Administration could benefit the crypto exchange.

The move came as Bitcoin (BTCUSD) set another record high on Monday above $88,000, and Ether (ETHUSD), the native token of the Ethereum blockchain, rose to a multi-year peak. Rising cryptocurrency prices boost Coinbase by generating more trading activity, which in turn boosts the company’s revenues through increased fees.

Coinbase shares were down slightly at around $322 in early trading Tuesday, as bitcoin came off its record highs.

The stock broke out above the top trendline of a seven-month descending channel last week on above-average volume, with follow-through buying continuing into this week.

Investors should watch key overhead levels on the Coinbase chart around $369, $430, and $695, while monitoring an important support area near $220.

Read the full technical analysis piece here.

–Timothy Smith

Major Index Stock Futures Slightly Lower

4 hr 3 min ago

Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average were down 0.1%.

S&P 500 futures were down 0.1%.

Nasdaq 100 futures were also off 0.1%.

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