News

Oct 25, 2023

The Globe’s stars and dogs for the week

A humorous look at the companies that caught our eye, for better or worse, this

A humorous look at the companies that caught our eye, for better or worse, this week

NYT - NYSE

Remember Donald Trump's line about the "failing New York Times"? Well, unlike everything the former president touches, The Times hasn't failed yet. Quite the opposite: Shares of the newspaper and website publisher jumped after it posted revenue and earnings above expectations, driven by the addition of 240,000 digital subscribers in the fourth quarter, up from a gain of 180,000 in the third quarter. With the company attracting more customers by bundling its digital properties – which include sports news service The Athletic and product-review site Wirecutter – the only things failing are Mr. Trump's attempts to keep his name on the front page.

VLN - TSX

Valves. They’re all around us, controlling the flow of liquids and gases. Without valves, commodities such as oil, water, natural gas and soft-serve ice cream would randomly gush everywhere, wasting valuable resources and leading to massive cleanup costs. That's why valve makers such as Montreal-based Velan – which makes a wide range of industrial valves at plants in North America, Europe and Asia – are so critical to the economy. Thanks to Dallas-based Flowserve's offer to buy Velan for $329-million or $13 a share, the valve controlling the flow of cash into Velan investors’ pockets was wide open this week.

MANU - NYSE

Three things every self-respecting billionaire needs: 1) a yacht; 2) a private jet; 3) a professional sports team. Having failed in his bid to buy Chelsea FC earlier this year, British chemicals baron Jim Ratcliffe is making a play for fellow Premier League club Manchester United FC. Shares of the soccer franchise rose on reports that Mr. Ratcliffe hired Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan to assist with his effort to buy the storied team, which has also attracted interest from private investors linked to Qatar's royal family. Regardless of who wins control of Man U, investors have already scored some nice gains.

GOOG - Nasdaq

Turns out artificial intelligence isn't very intelligent. Google was hoping to wow Wall Street with its new AI-powered chatbot, Bard. Instead, the company sent shares of parent Alphabet reeling when, during a demo this week, Bard gave inaccurate information about which telescope took the first pictures of a planet outside the Earth's solar system. (It was the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope, not the James Webb Space Telescope.) If Bard can't be trusted to answer such a straightforward query, what will happen when we give it a more challenging question, such as, "What number am I thinking of?" (Answer: six)

TMD - TSX

Looks like Titan Medical is having its own medical emergency. Shares of the company, which has been developing a robotic-assisted surgery system, plunged after it announced that no potential buyers emerged among more than 40 parties contacted as part of a strategic review launched in November. In light of its failure to find a buyer, Titan said it laid off 48 employees at its operations in Chapel Hill, N.C., halted spending on its robotic surgery system and will focus on selling assets, including more than 235 patents and patent applications. If you’ve always wanted to bring a medical start-up to market, call now before it's too late.

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