Stock markets offered investors a deal on three companies last Friday.
Intel (INTC) ran up from $35 last month to around $54, ahead of its quarterly report. The bullish bet proved wrong: Intel posted weak results, with a GAAP EPS loss of $0.21. Additionally, it issued disappointing guidance. The company is expecting weak revenue this quarter. It blamed a shortage in CPUs for servers.
Capital One Financial (COF) peaked at around $260 a few weeks ago to close at $217.30. On January 22, the firm said it would acquire Brex, paying $5.15 billion in cash. Brex has technology that the bank needs to advance its banking and payments offerings.
In 2025, integration efforts of Discovery Financial, which it acquired, continued. Shareholders need to wait for the synergies from this and Brex to pay off.
Investments in achieving an accelerated efficiency in operations will pressure COF’s efficiency ratio in the short term.
Vaccine maker Moderna (MRNA) risks unwinding from its unsustainable run-up. Short-sellers held too big a bet against it. The short interest of 19.12% likely created a short squeeze. Still, if MRNA stock falls from $48.71 to around $30, it would reward the bearish investors.
Novavax (NVAX) stock also jumped. Short interest in the stock is at 35.34%.
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