Among the companies making M&A headlines are QUALCOMM, Inc. (QCOM), International Business Machines Corp. (IBM), and Expedia Inc (EXPE)
It's been a
busy couple days for M&A activity. Yesterday, for example, reports broke that
EMC Corporation (NYSE:EMC) is
considering being bought out by subsidiary
VMware, Inc. (NYSE:VMW). Today, it's more of the same, with a number of notable companies in the M&A spotlight, including
QUALCOMM, Inc. (NASDAQ:QCOM),
International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE:IBM), and
Expedia Inc (NASDAQ:EXPE). Here's a quick rundown on the action, and its impact on the charts.
QCOM has
agreed to buy Ikanos Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ:IKAN), which specializes in creating hybrid fiber-copper networks that can transmit data at speeds exceeding 1G bits per second. The news has sent IKAN shares through the roof, up nearly 54% at $2.69 -- or just below the purchase price of $2.75 per share -- unimpeded by the company's second-quarter earnings miss. QUALCOMM, Inc., meanwhile, is down 1.8% at $62.76.
IBM will
purchase Merge Healthcare Inc. (NASDAQ:MRGE) for roughly $1 billion, or $7.13 per share, with the intention of combining the medical imaging firm with its Watson Health platform. As a result, MRGE shot to a three-year high of $7.12 earlier, and was last seen up 31.2% at $7.10. On the flip side, International Business Machines Corp. has barely budged, inching 0.1% higher at $156.74.
Finally, a hotel lobbying group is
urging the government to stop EXPE's planned merger with Orbitz Worldwide, Inc. (NYSE:OWW), claiming it would "severely reduce customer choices." The backlash is weighing on shares of Expedia Inc, down 4.6% at $121.03. By contrast, OWW is up 1.2% at $11.46, despite the company's
disappointing turn in the earnings confessional.