Deals Lift U.S. Indexes to New Highs, RF Micro Offers $1.6 B for TriQuint

Nichole Harper
24 Feb, 2014
New York City

Stocks on Wall Street gained and the S&P 500 index traded at a new intra-day high. Netflix agreed to pay for faster video streaming to Comcast paving the way for other carriers to charge. RF Micro Devices agreed to acquire TriQuint Semi for $1.6 billion.

[R]12:25 PM New York – Stocks on Wall Street gained and the S&P 500 index traded at a new intra-day high. Netflix agreed to pay for faster video streaming to Comcast paving the way for other carriers to charge. RF Micro Devices agreed to acquire TriQuint Semi for $1.6 billion.[/R]

Stocks on Wall Street advanced and the S&P 500 index, the widely followed index, reached a new intra-day high.

International market indexes traded mixed. Markets in Asia generally closed down but in Europe closed higher following the strength in New York.

S&P 500 index increased 1.1% or 21.68 to 1,857.99 and the Nasdaq Composite Index added 1.08% or 46.08 to 4,309.46.

Markets in Asia weakened after domestic newspapers in China reported large banks tightened lending curb construction lending and expansion in steel and cement industries.

European Markets

In London trading, FTSE 100 index added 0.4% or 27.8 to 6,866.90 and in Frankfurt the DAX index gained 0.5% or 52.01 to 9,709.01.

In Paris, CAC 40 index rose 0.9% or 38.1 to 4,419.09.

U.S. Stocks in Review

RF Micro Devices, Inc ((RFMD)) surged 13.6% or 80 cents to $6.61 after the radio frequency solution provider agreed to acquire TriQuint Semiconductor, Inc for $1.59 billion. Shareholders of RF Micro and TriQuint will each own approximately 50% of the new company after the merger.

The transaction is expected to close in the second-half of this year.

The Men''s Wearhouse, Inc ((MW)) jumped 7.2% or $3.29 to $48.43 after the specialty retailer raised its cash offer for Jos. A. Bank Clothiers Inc to $65 per share from $57.50 per share and expiration date of amended offer extended to 5:00 p.m. of March 12.

Amended offer is conditioned on the termination of Jos. A. Bank agreement to acquire Eddie Bauer.

Shares of Jos. A. Bank soared 8.1% to $59.50.

Chesapeake Energy Corp ((CHK)) increased 3% to $27.38 after the second-largest natural gas explorer said it plans to divest or sell its oilfield services unit. The company said about 35% of its drilling rigs are used by other companies.

Netflix, Inc ((NFLX)) gained 2.2% or $1.54 to $71.97 after the video streaming service provider agreed to pay for direct and faster access the broadband network of Comcast Corp. for its video-streaming customers.

The two companies did not reveal terms of their pact. The agreement is likely to pave the way for similar deals between Netflix and other Internet services providers including AT&T and Verizon.

Ebay Inc ((EBAY)) increased 3.4% to $56.44 after the activist investor Carl Icahn reiterated his demands in a letter to shareholders for the separation of its PayPal unit from the company.

Icahn also singled out two board members for the conflict of interests, naming Intuit co-founder Scott Cook and Marc Andreesssen.

Humana Inc ((HUM)) soared 9.4% to $112.49 after the private health insurance company said federal government payment for private Medicare program are likely to be cut 3.55%, less than the previous estimate of between 6% and 7%.

United Health Group Inc increased 3% and Aetna increased 2%.