In today’s briefing:
- Analogues Over Anecdotes: Calibrating Wealthfront’s Trading Path
- From Algorithms to Exchanges: Wealthfront Makes Its Move to Nasdaq
- Oil futures: Crude off lows as Venezuelan tanker seized by US
- Palantir Just Landed A $448M Navy Deal—What It Means for U.S. Shipbuilding!
- CLEAR: From Airports to Enterprises—A Game-Changing Growth Story in Secure Identity & Seamless Travel!
- Clearwater Analytics Surges as Activist Starboard Demands Sale – Is a Takeover Imminent?
- AutoNation Acquires Iconic Toyota Dealer—Is This the Start of a Regional Takeover?
- Oil futures: Crude slides as surplus concerns offset geopolitics
- Celanese Corporation: The High-Conviction Growth Blueprint Combining Cost Discipline
- CoreWeave’s Risk-Proof Growth Blueprint: The Powerful Combo of Diversification
Analogues Over Anecdotes: Calibrating Wealthfront’s Trading Path
- Wealthfront is expected to begin trading on Friday, December 12, 2025, under the ticker WLTH on the Nasdaq Global Select Market.
- The IPO comprises 34.6 million shares—approximately 21.5 million new shares issued by Wealthfront and 13.1 million shares offered by existing shareholders—at a price range of $12.00 to $14.00 per share.
- As is our practice, we start by establishing context using analogues—past offerings that share structural, economic, or behavioral similarities with the new issue.
From Algorithms to Exchanges: Wealthfront Makes Its Move to Nasdaq
- Wealthfront Corporation, the Palo Alto automated investing and digital banking platform, has filed to go public on Nasdaq under the ticker “WLTH.”
- The company plans to offer 34.6 million shares of common stock at an estimated range of $12.00–$14.00, with cornerstone commitments from BlackRock and Wellington, who may purchase up to $150 million of shares at the IPO price.
- Based on the fully diluted share count disclosed in the S-1, Wealthfront’s initial public offering implies a fully diluted company market value of approximately $2.4 billion at the midpoint.
Oil futures: Crude off lows as Venezuelan tanker seized by US
- Crude oil futures recovered from monthly lows Wednesday after reports that the US had seized a Venezuelan tanker, although fears over a massive surplus kept benchmarks at the low end of the December trading range.
- Front-month Feb26 ICE Brent futures were trading at $62.67/b (2042 GMT) versus Tuesday’s settle of $61.94/b, while Jan26 NYMEX WTI was at $59.02/b against a previous close of $58.25/b.
- Brent recovered from an intraday low $61.35/b after officials confirmed that the US Coast Guard had led an operation to seize the vessel carrying Venezuelan oil.
Palantir Just Landed A $448M Navy Deal—What It Means for U.S. Shipbuilding!
- The U.S. Navy just signed a $448 million contract with Palantir Technologies to overhaul how it maintains and repairs nuclear submarines.
- This partnership centers on “Ship OS,” a new AI-driven logistics platform built by Palantir.
- It aims to digitize and streamline the Navy’s sprawling and often outdated maintenance and supply chain processes.
CLEAR: From Airports to Enterprises—A Game-Changing Growth Story in Secure Identity & Seamless Travel!
- CLEAR, a pioneer in secure identity solutions, showcased a mix of advantageous and challenging aspects in its latest quarterly results.
- The company reported a year-over-year revenue increase of 15.5%, reaching $229.2 million, and a 14.3% rise in total bookings to $260.1 million.
- The growth figures surpassed previous guidance, indicating strong financial performance.
Clearwater Analytics Surges as Activist Starboard Demands Sale – Is a Takeover Imminent?
- Clearwater Analytics surged in premarket trading after reports that activist hedge fund Starboard Value has taken a nearly 5% stake in the company.
- The move, first reported by Reuters, signals growing investor pressure on the cloud-based investment accounting and analytics provider.
- Starboard is reportedly urging Clearwater to enhance its share price and consider a full sale process, especially in light of recent interest from private equity suitors such as Thoma Bravo, Warburg Pincus, and Permira.
AutoNation Acquires Iconic Toyota Dealer—Is This the Start of a Regional Takeover?
- AutoNation just made a strategic pit stop in the Baltimore area with its acquisition of Jerry’s Toyota, a more than 40-year-old dealership that’s been a fixture in the Mid-Atlantic automotive scene.
- The move, announced December 9, marks AutoNation’s first Toyota acquisition in over a decade and expands its footprint deeper into a region where it’s been steadily building scale.
- What makes this deal unique isn’t just the brand—Toyota is among the most durable and profitable franchises in retail auto—but the dealership’s heritage and the deliberate succession planning involved.
Oil futures: Crude slides as surplus concerns offset geopolitics
- Crude oil futures on Thursday were trading at multi-week lows as geopolitical events vied with growing surplus concerns to set the direction of travel for the remainder of 2025.
- Front-month Feb26 ICE Brent futures were trading at $61.47/b (2021 GMT) versus Wednesday’s settle of $62.21/b, while Jan26 NYMEX WTI was at $57.78/b against a previous close of $58.46/b.
- But the glut scenario was clearly winning over this week, said analysts, with continued expansion on the supply side met with only modest demand growth.
Celanese Corporation: The High-Conviction Growth Blueprint Combining Cost Discipline
- Celanese Corporation’s third-quarter 2025 earnings call outlined a mix of strategic initiatives and ongoing challenges facing the company.
- The company’s leadership, including CEO Scott Richardson and CFO Chuck Kyrish, focused on financial results, operational strategies, and future plans.
- Performance in the third quarter showcased some positive aspects.
CoreWeave’s Risk-Proof Growth Blueprint: The Powerful Combo of Diversification
- CoreWeave’s third quarter of 2025 results highlight significant growth and the challenges the company faces in meeting high demand within the AI cloud services sector.
- The company reported a notable revenue increase of 134% year-over-year to $1.4 billion, demonstrating robust demand for its AI cloud platform.
- The revenue backlog has surged to $55 billion, which is indicative of strong future demand and customer confidence in CoreWeave as a critical player in AI infrastructure.
💡 Before it’s here, it’s on Smartkarma
Sign Up for Free
The Smartkarma Preview Pass is your entry to the Independent Investment Research Network
- ✓ Unlimited Research Summaries
- ✓ Personalised Alerts
- ✓ Custom Watchlists
- ✓ Company Data and News
- ✓ Events & Webinars
