In a statement released on Friday, FDIC announced that all the deposits and the assets of Republic First were sold to Lancaster, Pennsylvania-based Fulton Bank. On Saturday and Monday, depending on the working hours, the 32 branches of Republic First in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and New York will re-open as branches of Fulton Bank.

The depositors at Republic First will now become depositors at Fulton Bank, FDIC added. The bank entered 2024 having $4 billion in total deposits and $6 billion in total assets.

“To protect depositors, the FDIC entered into an agreement with Fulton Bank, National Association of Lancaster, Pennsylvania to assume substantially all of the deposits and purchase substantially all of the assets of Republic Bank,” the FDIC said in a statement.

Republic Bank faced problems in early 2023, with higher costs and lack of profitability forcing the bank to shut down its mortgage business and cut workplaces. It later came to a deal with a group of investors in an attempt to continue operating, but the arrangement fell through in February and prompted FDIC to renew efforts to take over the bank.  

The post Troubled Republic First Bancorp Seized by Regulators, Sold to Fulton Bank appeared first on theprimarymarket.com.

Data released by IDC, a market intelligence firm, show that Apple shipped 50.1 million iPhones in the first quarter of 2024 compared to 55.4 million units in the same period last year. Samsung also saw a decline in shipments but still managed to reach 60.1 million units.

“As expected, smartphone recovery continues to move forward with market optimism slowly building among the top brands,” said Ryan Reith, group vice president with IDC’s Worldwide Mobility and Consumer Device Trackers. “While Apple managed to capture the top spot at the end of 2023, Samsung successfully reasserted itself as the leading smartphone provider in the first quarter.”

IDC expects that Apple and Samsung will continue to have supremacy in the smartphone market but note that brands like Huawei and Xiaomi will push them to get creative if they want to hold their positions.

Due to lower sales and challenges in certain markets like China, Apple stock has been all over the place since the start of 2024. The company’s shares opened at $175.43 per share on Monday before closing at $172.69. The stock dipped to $165.87 at one point in aftermarket trading before bouncing back up.

The post iPhone Shipments Drop By 10%, Get Overtaken By Samsung as World’s Largest Phone Seller appeared first on theprimarymarket.com.

Speaking during an event at Atlanta’s Spelman College, Powell said that the Federal Reserve still isn’t assured that the fight with inflation is over or that inflation will get to the Fed’s target mark of 2%.

“It would be premature to conclude with confidence that we have achieved a sufficiently restrictive stance or to speculate on when policy might ease,” Powell said.

According to Powell, the Fed will rely on economic data to determine how to approach interest rate movement.

“Having come so far so quickly, the (Federal Open Market Committee) is moving forward carefully, as the risks of under- and over-tightening are becoming more balanced,” he added.

One thing that seems fairly certain is that the Fed will likely keep the 5.25%-5.50% rate at least until the end of 2024. The rate has been unchanged for the past two meetings, and experts expect it to stay put for the upcoming December meeting as well.

The post Fed Chairman Jerome Powell Says There Will Be No Interest Rate Cuts Soon appeared first on theprimarymarket.com.

Iger initially took over as CEO of Disney in 2005 and remained in the position until his retirement in 2020. He was succeeded by Bob Chapek, who previously served as chairman of Disney Parks, Experiences, and Products.

Chapek lasted less than three years as CEO and was ousted by the company’s board, causing Iger to end his retirement and return to helm Disney again. 

According to Iger, the company wants to avoid making the same mistake again and is already engaged in an “extensive process” of finding his replacement.

“I was disappointed in what I was seeing in the transition period and while I was out,” Iger shared.

Iger’s return was initially only meant to last two years or until the company found him a new successor. However, he ended up prolonging his stay, agreeing to a contract until 2026 this past summer.

In his second stint, Iger focused on trimming Disney’s costs, which resulted in several waves of layoffs, while also tapping into additional revenue streams. The latter included rising prices across Disney’s properties and introducing an ad-supported subscription plan for the Disney+ streaming service.

The post Disney’s CEO Bob Iger Plans to Leave in 2026, Says Company is Looking for His Successor appeared first on theprimarymarket.com.

Under Saylor’s guidance, Microstrategy started accumulating large amounts of Bitcoin in 2021. While the company had some rough times due to this strategy, which led to Saylor giving up his CEO role, it looks like it is finally paying off.

After dropping under 20K early in the year, Bitcoin enjoyed a steady rise in recent months. It surpassed the 30K mark in October and reached $37,885 per coin last month, its highest since April 2022.

As a result, Microstrategy’s stock has been on an upward trajectory and closed at $524.20 per share on Friday. The last time the company’s shares were above $500 was back in December 2021 before reaching a low of $141.57 in late 2022.

Microstrategy is believed to have 158,400 Bitcoins in its portfolio, with its holdings being valued at around $5.6 billion. The business intelligence company purchased its coins for an average price of $29,803, meaning its investment resulted in close to $1 billion in profit at the moment.

The post Microstrategy Stock Reaches Two-Year-High Thanks to Surging Bitcoin Prices appeared first on theprimarymarket.com.

Dollar Tree reported a profit of $0.91 per share in Q2, topping the $0.87 per share mark that was expected by analysts. However, it expects that its profit in the third quarter will be between $0.94-$1.09 per share, which is well below the estimated $1.29. The annual forecast is also soft, coming at $5.78 to $6.08 per share compared to estimates of $6.03 per share.

During a conference call, Dollar Tree CEO Richard Dreiling said that the annual forecast is based on expected rising costs and the fact that customers are buying more low-margin items.

“Regarding the industrywide shift in consumer purchasing behaviors to consumables, we believe this is reflective of the current macroeconomic environment,” Dreiling said.

Dollar Tree shares closed at $123.88 per share on Thursday, almost 13% down compared to Wednesday’s closing price of $142.22 per share. The stock is down 11% year to date and finds itself at the lowest mark since late 2021.

The post Dollar Tree Stock Tumbles 13% on Soft Annual Forecast appeared first on theprimarymarket.com.

Analysts expected Abercrombie & Fitch to have $0.17 earnings per share on $842.4 million revenue. However, the New Albany-headquartered company comfortably cleared these numbers, reporting revenue of $935.3 million with $1.10 earnings per share for the second quarter.

After a successful first part of the year, Abercrombie & Fitch now expects its net sales will go up by 10% compared to the $3.7 billion figure in 2022. The company previously expected its sales to grow between 2% and 4% on the year.

“The story behind the story is years of hard work, lots of transformation in the company,” CEO Fran Horowitz told Yahoo Finance. “We’ve really top-down and bottom-up gone through every single function.”

With a promising second quarter and a raised sales forecast, Abercrombie & Fitch managed to get the attention of investors. The company’s stock jumped 25% at one point, going from Tuesday’s close price of $41.16 per share to $51.44 on Wednesday. Abercrombie & Fitch shares closed at $50.86 by the end of the day, being 115.51% up year-to-date.

The post Abercrombie & Fitch Raises Annual Sales Forecast After Positive Q2 Earnings appeared first on theprimarymarket.com.

VinFast sources its magnets from Star Group Industrial, which is based in South Korea and also supplies Hyundai Motors, among other electric car makers. The South Korean company is reportedly looking to make an $80 million investment in a new factory in Vietnam. The plant is expected to start production next year.

The expectation is that the new plant will have a positive effect on VinFast and allow them to avoid supply chain problems. It could also make their cars more affordable, boosting the demand.

VinFast made its NASDAQ debut last week through a tie-up with Black Spade Acquisition Co. The stock debuted at $15.40 per share but has since had a steady rise. Its biggest jump came on Tuesday when it reached $41.52 compared to Monday’s closing price of $17.58.

The experts are warning that VinFast stock is far from a sure bet and expect periods of volatility. This is because only 1.3 million are available for trading while the rest is being held by founder Pham Nhat Vuong.

The post VinFast Stock Surges 130% Amid Reports of New Plant in Vietnam appeared first on theprimarymarket.com.

Subway announced its intention to find a buyer at the beginning of 2023, with reports saying that the company was asking north of $10 billion. The company hired JPMorgan Chase & Co. as advisors and targeted June for finalizing the process.

More than 10 private-equity firms were rumored to have made a bid for Subway. TDR Capital and Sycamore Partners even considered joining their forces in attempts to acquire the fast food chain, but Roark Capital now beat them to the punch.

Subways recently made efforts to improve slumping sales by reworking their menu, increasing spending on marketing, and revamping their restaurants. These moves seem to be giving some results early on, as the company saw a 9.3% increase in same-store sales in the first two quarters of 2023.

Subway declined to share details about the acquisition process when reached out to by Reuters.

“Subway does not intend to make any further public comment regarding the process until the transaction has been completed,” the company said in a statement.

The post Roark Capital Finalizing Acquisition of Subway in a $9.6 Billion Deal appeared first on theprimarymarket.com.

During a recent appearance on comedian Kevin Hart’s show Hart to Heart, Cuban shared how Uber cofounder Travis Kalanick approached him in 2009 with an offer to get a piece of the transportation app. The two knew each other since Cuban previously invested in Kalanick’s peer-to-peer file-sharing company Red Swoosh and saved it from bankruptcy.

 According to Cuban, he was interested in backing up Kalanick once again but didn’t think his valuation of $10 million was appropriate. Cuban offered an investment at a $5 million valuation but never heard back from Kalanick again.

“He got somebody else,” Cuban shared. “Whoops.”

Hart also had the opportunity to invest in Uber but also decided to pass on it. He was asked to put in $50,000 to $75,000 in the company’s early days, missing out on hundreds of millions of dollars.

On the other hand, Cuban shared that Kalanick asked for $250,000 from him. Considering that Uber is now worth around $90 billion, Cuban missed out on more than $2 billion.

The post Mark Cuban Shares the Story of How He Passed on the Opportunity to Invest in Uber appeared first on theprimarymarket.com.

In a statement released on Friday, FDIC announced that all the deposits and the assets of Republic First were sold to Lancaster, Pennsylvania-based Fulton Bank. On Saturday and Monday, depending on the working hours, the 32 branches of Republic First in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and New York will re-open as branches of Fulton Bank.

The depositors at Republic First will now become depositors at Fulton Bank, FDIC added. The bank entered 2024 having $4 billion in total deposits and $6 billion in total assets.

“To protect depositors, the FDIC entered into an agreement with Fulton Bank, National Association of Lancaster, Pennsylvania to assume substantially all of the deposits and purchase substantially all of the assets of Republic Bank,” the FDIC said in a statement.

Republic Bank faced problems in early 2023, with higher costs and lack of profitability forcing the bank to shut down its mortgage business and cut workplaces. It later came to a deal with a group of investors in an attempt to continue operating, but the arrangement fell through in February and prompted FDIC to renew efforts to take over the bank.  

The post Troubled Republic First Bancorp Seized by Regulators, Sold to Fulton Bank appeared first on theprimarymarket.com.

Data released by IDC, a market intelligence firm, show that Apple shipped 50.1 million iPhones in the first quarter of 2024 compared to 55.4 million units in the same period last year. Samsung also saw a decline in shipments but still managed to reach 60.1 million units.

“As expected, smartphone recovery continues to move forward with market optimism slowly building among the top brands,” said Ryan Reith, group vice president with IDC’s Worldwide Mobility and Consumer Device Trackers. “While Apple managed to capture the top spot at the end of 2023, Samsung successfully reasserted itself as the leading smartphone provider in the first quarter.”

IDC expects that Apple and Samsung will continue to have supremacy in the smartphone market but note that brands like Huawei and Xiaomi will push them to get creative if they want to hold their positions.

Due to lower sales and challenges in certain markets like China, Apple stock has been all over the place since the start of 2024. The company’s shares opened at $175.43 per share on Monday before closing at $172.69. The stock dipped to $165.87 at one point in aftermarket trading before bouncing back up.

The post iPhone Shipments Drop By 10%, Get Overtaken By Samsung as World’s Largest Phone Seller appeared first on theprimarymarket.com.

Speaking during an event at Atlanta’s Spelman College, Powell said that the Federal Reserve still isn’t assured that the fight with inflation is over or that inflation will get to the Fed’s target mark of 2%.

“It would be premature to conclude with confidence that we have achieved a sufficiently restrictive stance or to speculate on when policy might ease,” Powell said.

According to Powell, the Fed will rely on economic data to determine how to approach interest rate movement.

“Having come so far so quickly, the (Federal Open Market Committee) is moving forward carefully, as the risks of under- and over-tightening are becoming more balanced,” he added.

One thing that seems fairly certain is that the Fed will likely keep the 5.25%-5.50% rate at least until the end of 2024. The rate has been unchanged for the past two meetings, and experts expect it to stay put for the upcoming December meeting as well.

The post Fed Chairman Jerome Powell Says There Will Be No Interest Rate Cuts Soon appeared first on theprimarymarket.com.

Iger initially took over as CEO of Disney in 2005 and remained in the position until his retirement in 2020. He was succeeded by Bob Chapek, who previously served as chairman of Disney Parks, Experiences, and Products.

Chapek lasted less than three years as CEO and was ousted by the company’s board, causing Iger to end his retirement and return to helm Disney again. 

According to Iger, the company wants to avoid making the same mistake again and is already engaged in an “extensive process” of finding his replacement.

“I was disappointed in what I was seeing in the transition period and while I was out,” Iger shared.

Iger’s return was initially only meant to last two years or until the company found him a new successor. However, he ended up prolonging his stay, agreeing to a contract until 2026 this past summer.

In his second stint, Iger focused on trimming Disney’s costs, which resulted in several waves of layoffs, while also tapping into additional revenue streams. The latter included rising prices across Disney’s properties and introducing an ad-supported subscription plan for the Disney+ streaming service.

The post Disney’s CEO Bob Iger Plans to Leave in 2026, Says Company is Looking for His Successor appeared first on theprimarymarket.com.

Under Saylor’s guidance, Microstrategy started accumulating large amounts of Bitcoin in 2021. While the company had some rough times due to this strategy, which led to Saylor giving up his CEO role, it looks like it is finally paying off.

After dropping under 20K early in the year, Bitcoin enjoyed a steady rise in recent months. It surpassed the 30K mark in October and reached $37,885 per coin last month, its highest since April 2022.

As a result, Microstrategy’s stock has been on an upward trajectory and closed at $524.20 per share on Friday. The last time the company’s shares were above $500 was back in December 2021 before reaching a low of $141.57 in late 2022.

Microstrategy is believed to have 158,400 Bitcoins in its portfolio, with its holdings being valued at around $5.6 billion. The business intelligence company purchased its coins for an average price of $29,803, meaning its investment resulted in close to $1 billion in profit at the moment.

The post Microstrategy Stock Reaches Two-Year-High Thanks to Surging Bitcoin Prices appeared first on theprimarymarket.com.

Dollar Tree reported a profit of $0.91 per share in Q2, topping the $0.87 per share mark that was expected by analysts. However, it expects that its profit in the third quarter will be between $0.94-$1.09 per share, which is well below the estimated $1.29. The annual forecast is also soft, coming at $5.78 to $6.08 per share compared to estimates of $6.03 per share.

During a conference call, Dollar Tree CEO Richard Dreiling said that the annual forecast is based on expected rising costs and the fact that customers are buying more low-margin items.

“Regarding the industrywide shift in consumer purchasing behaviors to consumables, we believe this is reflective of the current macroeconomic environment,” Dreiling said.

Dollar Tree shares closed at $123.88 per share on Thursday, almost 13% down compared to Wednesday’s closing price of $142.22 per share. The stock is down 11% year to date and finds itself at the lowest mark since late 2021.

The post Dollar Tree Stock Tumbles 13% on Soft Annual Forecast appeared first on theprimarymarket.com.

Analysts expected Abercrombie & Fitch to have $0.17 earnings per share on $842.4 million revenue. However, the New Albany-headquartered company comfortably cleared these numbers, reporting revenue of $935.3 million with $1.10 earnings per share for the second quarter.

After a successful first part of the year, Abercrombie & Fitch now expects its net sales will go up by 10% compared to the $3.7 billion figure in 2022. The company previously expected its sales to grow between 2% and 4% on the year.

“The story behind the story is years of hard work, lots of transformation in the company,” CEO Fran Horowitz told Yahoo Finance. “We’ve really top-down and bottom-up gone through every single function.”

With a promising second quarter and a raised sales forecast, Abercrombie & Fitch managed to get the attention of investors. The company’s stock jumped 25% at one point, going from Tuesday’s close price of $41.16 per share to $51.44 on Wednesday. Abercrombie & Fitch shares closed at $50.86 by the end of the day, being 115.51% up year-to-date.

The post Abercrombie & Fitch Raises Annual Sales Forecast After Positive Q2 Earnings appeared first on theprimarymarket.com.

VinFast sources its magnets from Star Group Industrial, which is based in South Korea and also supplies Hyundai Motors, among other electric car makers. The South Korean company is reportedly looking to make an $80 million investment in a new factory in Vietnam. The plant is expected to start production next year.

The expectation is that the new plant will have a positive effect on VinFast and allow them to avoid supply chain problems. It could also make their cars more affordable, boosting the demand.

VinFast made its NASDAQ debut last week through a tie-up with Black Spade Acquisition Co. The stock debuted at $15.40 per share but has since had a steady rise. Its biggest jump came on Tuesday when it reached $41.52 compared to Monday’s closing price of $17.58.

The experts are warning that VinFast stock is far from a sure bet and expect periods of volatility. This is because only 1.3 million are available for trading while the rest is being held by founder Pham Nhat Vuong.

The post VinFast Stock Surges 130% Amid Reports of New Plant in Vietnam appeared first on theprimarymarket.com.

Subway announced its intention to find a buyer at the beginning of 2023, with reports saying that the company was asking north of $10 billion. The company hired JPMorgan Chase & Co. as advisors and targeted June for finalizing the process.

More than 10 private-equity firms were rumored to have made a bid for Subway. TDR Capital and Sycamore Partners even considered joining their forces in attempts to acquire the fast food chain, but Roark Capital now beat them to the punch.

Subways recently made efforts to improve slumping sales by reworking their menu, increasing spending on marketing, and revamping their restaurants. These moves seem to be giving some results early on, as the company saw a 9.3% increase in same-store sales in the first two quarters of 2023.

Subway declined to share details about the acquisition process when reached out to by Reuters.

“Subway does not intend to make any further public comment regarding the process until the transaction has been completed,” the company said in a statement.

The post Roark Capital Finalizing Acquisition of Subway in a $9.6 Billion Deal appeared first on theprimarymarket.com.

During a recent appearance on comedian Kevin Hart’s show Hart to Heart, Cuban shared how Uber cofounder Travis Kalanick approached him in 2009 with an offer to get a piece of the transportation app. The two knew each other since Cuban previously invested in Kalanick’s peer-to-peer file-sharing company Red Swoosh and saved it from bankruptcy.

 According to Cuban, he was interested in backing up Kalanick once again but didn’t think his valuation of $10 million was appropriate. Cuban offered an investment at a $5 million valuation but never heard back from Kalanick again.

“He got somebody else,” Cuban shared. “Whoops.”

Hart also had the opportunity to invest in Uber but also decided to pass on it. He was asked to put in $50,000 to $75,000 in the company’s early days, missing out on hundreds of millions of dollars.

On the other hand, Cuban shared that Kalanick asked for $250,000 from him. Considering that Uber is now worth around $90 billion, Cuban missed out on more than $2 billion.

The post Mark Cuban Shares the Story of How He Passed on the Opportunity to Invest in Uber appeared first on theprimarymarket.com.