Happy Friday and welcome to the IC’s daily blog, rounding up the biggest business stories.
It emerged yesterday that activist hedge fund Elliott Management has built a multibillion pound stake in GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), despite the fact that the pharma giant fell behind in Covid-19 vaccine development. According to the Financial Times report, top shareholders are discontented with chief executive Dame Emma Walmsley, who has set out a plan to restructure the company in 2022 by splitting the consumer health division from pharma and vaccines. Investors greeted news of Elliott’s stake positively, sending the shares up 4.6 per cent by the end of the day.
Is a source of shareholder discontent GSK’s seemingly slow start in the Covid-19 vaccine race?
Read also why Mr Bearbull thinks Glaxo is a classic takeover situation waiting to happen.
Meanwhile, in the US stocks rallied to new highs on strong company earnings and positive economic data, with the Dow Industrials closing above 34,000 for the first time. Investment banks have largely beaten expectations, but lenders such as Bank of America have revealed a drop in loans, as some households squirrel away the cash saved during the pandemic. Morgan Stanley is due to report its quarterly earnings before the market open in the US today.
Investors will also be watching which direction Coinbase (US:COIN) shares head today. The crypto trading platform’s first day of trading got off to a rocky start, closing 14 per cent lower at $328.28.
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