In today’s briefing:
- Bullish US LLC (BLSH): Digital Asset Platform Delivers One of the Year’s Biggest First-Day Pops
- Sionna Therapeutics (SION) Six Month Summary: Hot Start, Cold Reality, and a Strong Spring Rebound
- 10x Genomics + Scale Bio: The High-Plex Power Move Wall Street Didn’t See Coming
- Avantor Faces Activist Fire: Why Engine Capital Wants It Sold Now?
- Western Union’s $500 Million Intermex Deal: The High-Stakes Bet On Corridor Dominance!
- Graham Holdings’ Multi-Industry Playbook Is the Market’s Best Kept Secret!
- General Motors (GM) Powers Up EV Strategy Through Hyundai Alliance & China Battery Sourcing
- Americas/EMEA base oils supply outlook: Week of 11 August
- Asia base oils supply outlook: Week of 11 August
- Global base oils margins outlook: Week of 11 August
Bullish US LLC (BLSH): Digital Asset Platform Delivers One of the Year’s Biggest First-Day Pops
- Bullish US (BLSH US) priced its upsized IPO of 30.0 million shares at $37.00, which was $4 above the already upwardly revised $32–$33 range.
- The stock opened at $90.00, marking a +143.2% gain at first trade, and cementing one of the largest opening day premiums for a U.S. IPO this year.
- The debut pop places Bullish among the standout IPOs of 2025, but the question will be whether the stock can maintain momentum in the aftermarket.
Sionna Therapeutics (SION) Six Month Summary: Hot Start, Cold Reality, and a Strong Spring Rebound
- . The company priced an upsized 10.6 million share deal at $18.00—the high end of its $16.00–$18.00 range—and opened at $25.00, a 38.9% premium at first trade.
- The turnaround began in late April, and the rebound was steady. A key catalyst came in June when Sionna reported Phase I data that met market expectations.
- Behind Metsera, Sionna Therapeutics has been the number two biotech IPO performer in 2025.
10x Genomics + Scale Bio: The High-Plex Power Move Wall Street Didn’t See Coming
- 10x Genomics has been in the spotlight recently after signaling strong interest in acquiring Scale Biosciences—an emerging leader in split-pool combinatorial barcoding for ultra-high-plex single-cell assays.
- Just days after posting mixed Q1 results impacted by U.S. academic funding headwinds, CEO Serge Saxonov affirmed a strategy centered on innovation and partnership to sustain momentum in single-cell and spatial genomics.
- Scale’s technology promises instrument-free barcoding kits, sample-pooling workflows, and its first commercial single-cell methylation solution—all of which could integrate seamlessly into 10x’s Chromium and Xenium platforms.
Avantor Faces Activist Fire: Why Engine Capital Wants It Sold Now?
- Avantor, the $7.8 billion life sciences supplier headquartered in Radnor, Pennsylvania, has recently drawn the attention of activist investor Engine Capital, which has taken a roughly 3% stake in the company.
- The move comes after a tumultuous year in which Avantor’s shares fell nearly 50%, pressured by weakened demand—especially in government and education sectors due to research funding cuts—and the April announcement of its longtime CEO’s departure.
- Now, with a new chief executive, Emmanuel Ligner, set to take the helm in mid-August, Engine Capital is urging Avantor to either sell itself outright or embark on a strategic overhaul that could include a board refresh, cost reductions, stock buybacks, and divestitures of noncore assets.
Western Union’s $500 Million Intermex Deal: The High-Stakes Bet On Corridor Dominance!
- Western Union is making strategic headlines with its agreement to acquire International Money Express for $16 per share in cash, valuing the deal at roughly $500 million.
- The acquisition price reflects a 50% premium to Intermex’s 90-day volume-weighted average price and signals Western Union’s intent to strengthen its U.S. retail footprint while expanding into high-potential geographies.
- The move comes amid a challenging macro backdrop for Western Union, which recently reported Q2 2025 revenues of $1.026 billion, down 1% year-over-year (excluding Iraq), with ongoing headwinds in U.S. outbound corridors due to heightened immigration enforcement.
Graham Holdings’ Multi-Industry Playbook Is the Market’s Best Kept Secret!
- Graham Holdings Company has quietly delivered a series of encouraging results highlighting an estimated parts sum‐of‐the‐parts valuation exceeding $1,500 per share versus its market price near $950.
- Fueled by double‐digit growth at Kaplan’s test prep and online university businesses, 36% year‐over‐year revenue gains in its fast‐growing healthcare services segment, and the potential spin‐off of its TV station group, Graham is drawing fresh attention for its diverse asset base and disciplined capital management.
- With an overfunded pension plan, a conservative balance sheet holding more than $1.1 billion in cash and marketable securities against $800 million of debt, and family control via supervoting shares that aligns management with long‐term value creation, the Barron’s report cites narrowing losses at early‐stage businesses like Framebridge and increased focus on high-growth healthcare units as catalysts that could unlock shareholder value.
General Motors (GM) Powers Up EV Strategy Through Hyundai Alliance & China Battery Sourcing
- General Motors has been quietly transforming its electric-vehicle strategy over the past few months, and the latest moves suggest the century-old automaker is more serious about EVs than ever.
- In early August, GM shocked the industry by announcing a temporary import of lithium-iron-phosphate (LFP) batteries from China’s CATL, despite steep Trump-era tariffs, to power its next-generation Chevy Bolt.
- Simultaneously, GM doubled down on joint ventures: teaming with Hyundai to codevelop five new hybrid and electric models slated for launch by 2028, and expanding its Ultium Cells partnerships with LG to bring domestic LFP and advanced lithium-manganese-rich chemistries on-line by 2027.
Americas/EMEA base oils supply outlook: Week of 11 August
- US Group II light-grade export-price premium to vacuum gasoil holds close to lows in Q1 2025.
- Lower base oils margins and drop in outright export prices suggest recent tightness of light-grade supplies is easing.
- Drop in export prices facilitates removal of any such surplus volumes, keeping fundamentals balanced for longer in domestic market.
Asia base oils supply outlook: Week of 11 August
- Asia’s heavy-grade base oils price-premium to Singapore gasoil holds firm in narrow range, even if down from highs in Q2 2025.
- Firm premium sustains incentive for refiners to maintain high output of heavy grades even amid signs of rise in surplus supply.
- FOB Asia Group II heavy-grade price discount to CFR UAE prices rises to highest in more than a year.
Global base oils margins outlook: Week of 11 August
- Global base oils margins stay more mixed but mostly hold at levels that sustain incentive for refiners to maintain firm output of the lubricants feedstock.
- Fob Asia light-grade base oils price-premium to Singapore gasoil extends rise, while heavy-grades stay more rangebound.
- FOB Asia Group II light-grade price-premium to gasoil rises to highest since H1 June 2025.
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