adminListen below or on the go on Apple Podcasts and Spotify
NCAA March Madness: Watch DraftKings (DKNG), FanDuel (FLUT), Robinhood (HOOD), and long shot Grand Canyon (LOPE). (00:24) CoreWeave (CRWV) seeks shares ranging from $47 to $55 in IPO: report. (02:02) Sanofi (SNY) strikes autoimmune drug deal for up to $1.9B. (03:25)
This is an abridged transcript.
The first round of March Madness starts today around noon Eastern Time. The NCAA Division I men’s and women’s basketball tournament is a financial powerhouse in the sports world.
This year’s event promises to continue its lucrative tradition, with the NCAA expected to generate significant revenue from media rights, sponsorships, and ticket sales. The current broadcasting deal with CBS (PARA) and Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) is valued at $8.8 billion through 2032, contributing over $900 million annually to the NCAA’s coffer.
In the sports betting industry, DraftKings (NASDAQ:DKNG) and Flutter Entertainment’s (NYSE:FLUT) FanDuel head into the tournament with high hopes that they can keep at least 10% of the +$3 billion that is expected to be legally bet on the three-week tournament. The total amount bet on the tournament is expected to more than double the betting volume on the 2025 Super Bowl.
However, a tricky part of the business for sportsbooks operators such as DraftKings (NASDAQ:DKNG), FanDuel (NYSE:FLUT), BetMGM (NYSE:MGM) (OTCPK:GMVHF), ESPN Bet (PENN), and Caesars Sportsbook (CZR) is that the public is on a hot streak. Last year, sportsbooks were hurt by strong favorites UConn and South Carolina winning the tournament, while the second half of the NFL season saw poor outcomes for most sports betting operators who had unbalanced books.
Consumer-facing companies that have NCAA March Madness promotions running include Dick’s Sporting Goods (DKS), Potbelly (PBPB), Dave & Buster’s (PLAY), Pizza Hut (YUM), Wendy’s (WEN), and Red Robin Gourmet Burgers (RRGB). Major advertising campaigns are being run by Capital One (COF), AT&T (T), Coca-Cola (KO), and Experian (OTCQX:EXPGF) during the tournament.
On a broader look, the NCAA March Madness does typically lead to a slowdown period for some parts of the leisure sector such as theme parks and movie theaters as the basketball tournament dominates some social planning.
CoreWeave (CRWV), a hyperscaler startup backed by Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA), is reportedly asking for $47 to $55 per share as it approaches an initial public offering, according to Reuters.
CoreWeave produced $1.9B in revenue in 2024, which was a 737% year-over-year increase. By the end of the year, it was running 32 data centers with more than 250,000 Nvidia GPUs online. The company also reported a net loss of $863M for the year.
Microsoft accounted for 62% of its revenue in 2024, up from 35% the year prior.
Earlier this month, CoreWeave signed an $11.9B, five-year contract to deliver AI infrastructure with OpenAI.
CoreWeave is expected to begin marketing its IPO this week, according to people familiar with the matter, Reuters said. It is expected to go public later this month or sometime in April. Its ticker will be CRWV.
Sanofi (NASDAQ:SNY) has agreed to acquire an immunology drug from clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company Dren Bio for up to $1.9B.
The French pharmaceutical company will acquire DR-0201, a CD20-directed bispecific antibody currently being evaluated in a Phase 1 trial in B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma patients and is expanding into various autoimmune indications.
The drug candidate has shown a favorable preclinical safety profile in multiple non-human primate studies, with no cytokine release syndrome or neurotoxicity.
Under the terms of the merger agreement, Sanofi will acquire DR-0201 through the acquisition of the Dren Bio affiliate Dren-0201 for an upfront payment of $600M and potential future payments totaling $1.3B upon achievement of certain development and launch milestones.
The companies expect the transaction to close during the second quarter of 2025.
What’s Trending on Seeking Alpha:
Trump calls on Fed to cut rates as tariffs start to ‘ease’ into economy
Musk’s X raises almost $1 billion in new equity funding – report
Gold extends rally after Fed holds the line on interest rates
Catalyst watch:
-
Notable investor events include Monolithic Power Systems’ (MPWR) Analyst Day, Palomar’s (PLMR) Investor Day, Alight’s (ALIT) Investor Day, and Solventum’s (SOLV) Investor Day.
-
Nvidia (NVDA) will hold a Quantum Day to focus on new quantum developments as part of its GTC event.
-
Nike (NKE) will hold its earnings call today at 5pm. The company frequently issues its guidance during the call and provides an in-depth outlook by region and product type. The update from management on trends in China will also be closely watched by other consumer companies with a higher exposure to the nation, including Starbucks (SBUX), Estee Lauder (EL), and Skechers (SKX).
Now let’s take a look at the markets ahead of the opening bell. Dow, S&P and Nasdaq futures are in the red. Crude oil is up 0.2% at $67/barrel. Bitcoin is up 2.9% at $85,000.
In the world markets, the FTSE 100 is down 0.2% and the DAX is down 0.9%.The market in Japan is closed for a holiday.
The biggest movers for the day premarket: Five Below (NASDAQ:FIVE) +12% – Shares surged after strong Q4 results, driven by store expansion.
On today’s economic calendar:
Read the full article here
