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Shares in Peloton (PTON) kicked into a high gear Tuesday after news reports that a number of private equity firms may be considering a buyout.

At least one firm has held talks with the company about plans to take it private, reported.

After the pandemic-era boom, Peloton has struggled to remain relevant. And that is weighing on the company's financial health as earnings skid and costs pedal higher.

Peloton shares slumped to an all-time low last week after reporting worse-than-expected third-quarter earnings for is fiscal 2024 and announcing the exit of CEO Barry McCarthy.

McCarthy took over the company in February 2022 from co-founder John Foley after the company struggled to hold onto a COVID-19 sales boom. McCarthy will be replaced by current Chair Karen Boone but will remain as a “strategic advisor” to the company, which has failed to turn a profit in its last three fiscal years. Peloton's fiscal year ends on June 30.

The fitness company has also announced a restructuring plan, including eliminating 15% of its staff, in a bid to cut its operating expenses back by up to $200 million by the end of fiscal year 2025.

Restructuring savings at the firm will be largely driven by layoffs, alongside marketing, research and development, IT, and software cuts. Executives said that the company will be able to generate free cash flow without the need for immediate sales growth. 

Peloton stock was up 14% at $4.03 at around 1:00 p.m. ET, but was down roughly 50% over the last 12 months.

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Ferrari (RACE) shares fell in intraday trading Tuesday after the luxury car maker's shipped vehicles were roughly flat in the first quarter, even as earnings topped expectations.

The Italian car manufacturer benefited from higher prices as shipments at 3,560 units were "substantially flat" versus the first quarter last year, it said in its earnings statement.

Ferrari posted increased revenue and profit that beat estimates, with revenue rising to 1.59 billion euros ($1.71 billion) from last year's EUR1.43 billion, just above the EUR1.57 billion expected by analysts compiled by Visible Alpha.

Ferrari reported an adjusted net profit of EUR352 million, or EUR1.95 per share, above estimates of EUR332 million and EUR1.84 per share, respectively.

Revenue from the sales of Ferrari's cars and parts increased by 11% year-over-year, while sponsorship and commercial revenue rose by 12%. The automaker said an improved product and country mix helped boost its car sales, along with more personalization of orders.

Ferrari said a higher number of new sponsorships offset lower advertising revenue from the company's lower finishing position in Formula One racing standings in 2023 compared with 2022. However, Tuesday's report is the first since Ferrari announced the surprise agreement to sign Lewis Hamilton, regarded as one of the best F1 drivers of all time, to a multi-year contract starting in 2025, which Ferrari noted as a first-quarter highlight.

The company also affirmed its full-year guidance, projecting revenue of at least EUR6.4 billion for fiscal 2024, along with a projected adjusted earnings per share (EPS) of at least EUR7.50.

Ferrari shares fell 5% to $406.49 as of 12:22 p.m. ET Tuesday, but are up 20% this year.

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The Nigerian government through the Corporate Affairs Commission has issued a two-month registration ultimatum to Point of Sales companies to register their agents, merchants, and individuals with the commission in line with legal requirements and the directives of the Central Bank of Nigeria.

This was stated in an agreement that was reached on Monday during a meeting between Fintechs and the Registrar-General CAC, Hussaini Ishaq Magaji, in Abuja. According to the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System, there are over 1.9 million PoS terminals deployed by merchants and individuals nationwide.

Speaking at the meeting, the CAC boss stated that the legislation intends to protect the businesses of Fintech customers while also developing the economy. He further emphasised that the move was supported by Section 863, Subsection 1 of the Companies and Allied Matters Act, CAMA 2020, and the 2013 CBN recommendations on agent banking.

The CAC boss stated that the registration timetable, which will expire on July 7, 2024, was not intended to target any specific organisations or individuals, but rather to provide safety for businesses. A statement by the commission read, “The Corporate Affairs Commission and fintech companies in Nigeria, better known as PoS operators, have agreed to a two-month timeline to register their agents, merchants, and individuals with the CAC in line with legal requirements and the directives of the Central Bank of Nigeria. The agreement was reached today during a meeting between Fintechs and the Registrar-General, CAC, Hussaini Ishaq Magaji, in Abuja.”

This new directive came against the backdrop of frequent fraud incidents involving POS terminals and plans to stop trading in cryptocurrency or any virtual currency by the Central Bank of Nigeria. POS terminals accounted for 26.37 per cent of fraud incidents in 2023, according to a fraud report by the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System Plc.

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UBS Group (UBS) shares soared in intraday trading Tuesday after the Swiss bank returned to a quarterly profit as it continued to integrate former rival Credit Suisse, which it absorbed in a government-backed bailout in March 2023.

UBS posted first-quarter net income of $1.76 billion—three times the consensus estimate by Visible Alpha—or $0.52 per diluted share. The gains came after two consecutive quarters of losses.

Total revenue jumped 45.7% year-over-year to $12.74 billion, also better than expected. The key global wealth unit saw revenue increase 28.3% to $6.14 billion.

The company noted that its Credit Suisse integration plans moved “at pace,” adding that it realized an additional approximately $1 billion in gross cost savings.

Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Sergio Ermotti said that the results were “a testament to the strength of our business and client franchises and our ability to deliver significant progress on our integration plans while actively optimizing our financial resources.”  

UBS said it plans to transition to a single U.S. intermediate holding company in the current quarter, and merge its Swiss entities in the third quarter.

UBS shares traded in the U.S. were up 6.6% to $29.42 around noon ET Tuesday.

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Days after their online f£ud, Nigerians has dug up an old tweet of Davido paying respect to Wizkid

The tweet was made in 2010, where he said “Respect @wizkidayo.

Click to watch

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Binance, a popular cryptocurrency platform, says some unknown persons in Nigeria demanded huge payments in digital currency to make their problems in the country “go away”.

Richard Teng, the firm’s chief executive officer (CEO), made the claim in a blog post on Tuesday. The company first disclosed the amount of the bribes – $150 million- to the New York Times.

It would be recalled that on February 28, the federal government detained top executives of Binance as part of a probe bordering on illegal operations in the country and foreign exchange rate manipulations.

The detained executives included Nadeem Anjarwalla, a 37-year-old British-Kenyan and Binance’s regional manager for Africa; and Tigran Gambaryan, a 39-year-old US citizen and Binance’s head of financial crime compliance.

Nigeria’s government, on March 25, filed a criminal charge against Binance for “tax evasion” — the same period Anjarwalla filed detention. Speaking on Binance’s issues with the Nigerian government, Teng detailed how the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange tried to engage with the authorities, including a meeting on January 8 in Abuja, where it was confronted with criminal allegations. Teng said despite multiple requests, Binance has still not received details of the allegations, “and our employees, therefore, inquired if there was an opportunity to submit our responses in writing and in the absence of a public hearing”.

There were a number of reasons for that, including the sensitivity of the information and getting the opportunity to see the allegations in full and prepare a thorough substantive response.” he said.

“The message from the Nigerian government is clear,” the Binance’s chief executive added. “We must detain an innocent, mid-level employee and a former U.S. federal agent, and place him in a d+ngerous prison in order to control Binance.”

“The meeting ended with the Chair confirming they would consider the matter and revert through Binance’s local counsel. However, as our employees were leaving the venue, they were approached by unknown persons who suggested to them to make a payment in settlement of the allegations.

Later that day, our local counsel – – representing us at that time was summoned by the Committee through someone purporting to be their agent, who relayed the Committee’s terms and instructed our local counsel to advise us.

Counsel reported back that he had been presented with a demand for a significant payment in cryptocurrency to be paid in secret within 48 hours to make these issues go away and that our decision was expected by the morning. Our team grew increasingly concerned about their safety in Nigeria and immediately departed.”

Teng said the payment request was declined “via our counsel, not viewing it to be a legitimate settlement offer”. The CEO said Binance clarified that it would engage in settlement negotiations on the conditions that the relevant petition or the details of all allegations were seen. In addition, he said any settlement “must be official, recorded in writing, and signed by all relevant parties”.

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