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The United States achieved its first moon landing since the Apollo era with Intuitive Machines' Odysseus (LUNR). (00:27) McDonald's (MCD) presents his 2024 expansion forecast. (01:31) Capital One (COF) and Discover (DFS) deal will cost him $1.38 billion in termination fees. (02:57)
This is a summary transcript of the podcast.
The United States achieved its first lunar landing in more than half a century after Intuitive Machines' (NASDAQ: LUNR) unmanned spacecraft touched down near the moon's south pole on Thursday.
Intuitive Machines (LUNR) became the first U.S. commercial company to successfully land on the moon, sending its stock price soaring on Thursday.
The Odysseus lander carries five NASA payloads and commercial cargo as part of the company's IM-1 mission. touchdown Moon's surface at 6:23 p.m. ET.
“NASA's instruments aboard IM-1 will conduct scientific research and demonstrate technologies that will help us better understand the lunar environment,” NASA said.
Odysseus will be the first American spacecraft to reach the moon's surface since Apollo 17's lunar module Challenger in 1972.
“On the eighth day of its 250,000-mile voyage, Intuitive Machine (LUNR) achieved the landing of a lifetime,” said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson. “What a victory for mankind. Odysseus captured the moon.”
Intuitive Machines' (LUNR) IM-1 mission launched last week aboard a SpaceX (SPACE) Falcon 9 rocket after being delayed due to methane temperature issues.
Intuitive Machines (LUNR) is up 44% in the pre-market.
McDonald's (NYSE:MCD) outlined its expectations for 2024 and the impact of the Middle East conflict on its financial outlook in its annual report released Thursday.
Since the fourth quarter of 2023, the fast food chain's system-wide sales have been affected by the Middle East war, mainly in the international development license market and the corporate segment. Restaurants that fall into this segment are based on affiliate agreements, in which the company typically does not invest capital and only receives royalties based on a percentage of sales.
Therefore, disputes in this region will continue to negatively impact system-wide sales.
McDonald's (MCD) expects net restaurant growth to contribute nearly 2% to systemwide sales in 2024, with operating margins in the mid-to-high 40%.
Capital expenditures are likely to be between $2.5 billion and $2.7 billion, with more than half going to fund the restaurant's expansion domestically and internationally. The free cash flow conversion ratio is expected to be in the 90% range by the end of 2024.
Long term, McDonald's (MCD) aims to have 50,000 restaurants worldwide by 2027, with a total of approximately 1,000 restaurants in the U.S. and international operating markets by 2027. I am.
Capital One's (NYSE:COF) planned $35 billion acquisition of Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) includes a termination fee of $1.38 billion.
The merger agreement provides termination rights for both Capital One (COF) and Discover (DFS) and a termination fee of $1.38 billion in the event of an alternative acquisition proposal or change in recommendations, according to Thursday's 8-K filing. The amount is set at $1,000,000. opponent's board.
Capital One (COF) and Discover (DFS) won't have to pay breakup fees even if regulators block the deal.
The contract ends on February 19, 2025, and can be extended until May 19.
Analysts expect regulators to monitor the deal closely because it is the first such large-scale bank merger in several years, except for forced takeovers of failed banks. As of Dec. 31, the two companies had a total of $257 billion in outstanding credit card loans, more than JPMorgan Chase & Co.'s (JPM)'s $211 billion.
Other notable articles on Seeking Alpha:
Obesity drugs could increase US GDP by 1% over next few years: Goldman Sachs
Berkshire Hathaway Q4 Preview: Cash, Stock Holdings, and Insurance Progress
Mercedes-Benz rebounds after withdrawing 50% EV target, reveals new share buybacks
In Catalyst Watch of the day,
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A 3-1 split in Walmart (WMT) goes into effect after the final bell.
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ETH Denver Conference begins. This event is one of the biggest events of the year for the Ethereum (ETH-USD) developer community.
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Circana releases January US video game results.
U.S. stocks closed at a new all-time high on Thursday after Nvidia's (NVDA) quarterly results and guidance shattered even the highest expectations, sending technology stocks soaring.
Nasdaq (COMP.IND) posted its best intraday performance since February 2, 2023, rising 2.96%. The S&P 500 (SP500) rose 2.11%, its highest daily percentage increase since January 6, 2023. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) rose 1.18%.
With the exception of utilities, all 11 S&P sectors ended in the black. Tech stocks rose more than 4%.
Now let's take a look at the market price as of 6am. Dow, S&P, and Nasdaq futures are mixed ahead of today's opening bell. The Dow rose 0.03%, the S&P 500 fell 0.04% and the Nasdaq fell 0.16%. Crude oil fell 1.2% to more than $77 per barrel. Bitcoin fell 0.85% to over $51,000.
In global markets, the FTSE 100 rose modestly and the DAX rose 0.02%.
Biggest pre-market move of the day: Carvana (NYSE:CVNA) reports first-ever profit for used car retailer, with first-quarter adjusted EBITDA “significantly” exceeding $100 million and retail volume increasing. rose 31% as we expected a slight increase year-over-year. .
Today's economic calendar:
