Fly Intel: Top five weekend stock stories

Catch up on the weekend's top five stories with this list compiled by The Fly: 1. Microsoft (MSFT) is in advanced talks to buy Nuance Communications (NUAN) in a deal with an equity value of about $16B, or about $56 per share, reported Bloomberg's Liana Baker, Kiel Porter, and Dina Bass, citing people familiar with the matter. Microsoft and Nuance have collaborated since 2019, noted the report, which added that an agreement could be announced as soon as this week. 2. DiaSorin SpA (DSRLF) announced that its Board of Directors has unanimously approved and signed a definitive merger agreement for DiaSorin to acquire Luminex (LMNX) for a price of $37 per share in an all-cash transaction. This corresponds to a total equity value of approximately $1.8B on a fully diluted basis and an enterprise value of approximately $1.8B. Following the acquisition, the combined entity will have combined 2020 revenues of approximately EUR 1.25B, adjusted EBITDA of approximately EUR 472M, and positive Net Financial Position of approximately EUR 335M. The transaction is expected to close within the third quarter of 2021 and is subject to Luminex shareholder approval and to other customary closing conditions, including the satisfaction of antitrust and CFIUS regulatory requirements. The transaction will be immediately accretive to DiaSorin's earnings per share following closing of the transaction and will generate an attractive return on invested capital profile. The combination is also anticipated to result in cost synergies of approximately $55M within 3 years after closing. 3. The next few months should be boom times for retailers as stimulus checks pump up the economy, but consumers aren't shopping the way they used to as they are souring on credit, and they are increasingly likely to shop online with a digital wallet rather than pull out cash in a store, Daren Fonda wrote in this week's edition of Barron's. The trends are fueling the "buy now, pay later," and they could lift the shares of Affirm Holdings (AFRM), added the author. 4. Legendary and AT&T (T) subsidiary Warner Bros.' "Godzilla vs. Kong" stayed number 1 in its second outing with an estimated $13.4M from 3,084 locations for a domestic cume of $69.5M and a global total of about $360M. The movie is expected to pass up "Tenet" at $365M worldwide sometime this week to rank as the top-grossing during this pandemic. 5. II-VI (IIVI) and Goldman Sachs (GS) saw positive mentions in this week's edition of Barron's, while Carnival (CCL), Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings (NCLH), Royal Caribbean Group (RCL), and Credit Suisse (CS) were mentioned cautiously.