MetroCity Bankshares Stock (NASDAQ: MCBS)

MetroCity Bankshares Stock (NASDAQ:MCBS), Trade Ideas

MetroCity Bankshares

MetroCity Bankshares Inc is a holding company of its subsidiary Metro City Bank. It provides commercial banking services such as consumer and commercial checking accounts, savings accounts, certificates of deposits, commercial and consumer loans, money transfers and a variety of other banking services. The banks generate revenue from interest income. Its customers include small business owners, professionals, consumers, and real estate developers.

MetroCity Bankshares, Inc. - Common Stock

MetroCity Bankshares Inc

WIIM

Watsco shares are trading higher after the company reported Q1 financial results.

Fortive Corporation&nbsp;(NYSE:<a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/FTV#NYSE">FTV</a>) shares are trading lower after the company reported&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.benzinga.com/pressreleases/24/04/b38400525/fortive-reports-strong-first-quarter-2024-results-raises-full-year-2024-outlook" rel="noreferrer noopener">first-quarter FY24 results</a>.
Revenue grew 4% Y/Y to $1.525 billion,&nbsp;marginally missing the consensus of $1.527 billion.
Sales by&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://s2.q4cdn.com/680534137/files/doc_financials/2024/q1/FTV-1Q-2024-Earnings-Presentation.pdf" rel="noreferrer noopener">segments</a>:&nbsp;Intelligent Operating Solutions $666 million (+5% Y/Y), Precision Technologies $559 million (+3% Y/Y), and Advanced Healthcare Solutions $300 million (+4% Y/Y).
The company&#8217;s adjusted operating margin is up 110 basis points Y/Y to 25.1%, driven by substantial gross margin expansion.
Adjusted EPS improved 11% Y/Y to 83 cents,&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.benzinga.com/calendars/earnings" rel="noreferrer noopener">beating the consensus of 79 cents</a>.
The company reported&nbsp;an operating&nbsp;cash flow of $257 million and&nbsp;a free&nbsp;cash flow of $230 million (up 54%) in the quarter.
&#8220;Our results in the first quarter once again reflect the resiliency and strength of our differentiated portfolio of businesses. All three segments performed ahead of expectations on core growth, margins, earnings growth, and free cash flow, all enabled by the strength and rigorous application of the Fortive Business System (FBS),&#8221; said James A. Lico, President and CEO.
Dividend: Fortiv declared a quarterly cash dividend per share of $0.08, payable on June 28, 2024, to stockholders of&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.benzinga.com/pressreleases/24/04/b38100321/fortive-declares-regular-quarterly-dividend-on-its-common-stock" rel="noreferrer noopener">record on May 31, 2024</a>.
Outlook:&nbsp;For FY24,&nbsp;Fortive lowered its revenue forecast from $6.4&nbsp;billion-$6.5&nbsp;billion to $6.35 billion-$6.43 billion (versus a consensus of $6.48 billion).
Adjusted EPS raised from $3.73-$3.85 to $3.77-$3.86&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.benzinga.com/calendars/guidance" rel="noreferrer noopener">versus the consensus of $3.80</a>.
For the second quarter of FY24, Fortive anticipates revenue of approximately $1.6 billion (consensus: $1.62 billion) and adjusted EPS of $0.90-$0.93 (consensus $0.94).
Investors can gain exposure to the stock via&nbsp;Brookstone Intermediate Bond ETF&nbsp;Brookstone&nbsp;Growth Stock ETF&nbsp;(BATS:<a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/BAMG#BATS">BAMG</a>)&nbsp;and&nbsp;Pacer US Cash Cows Growth ETF&nbsp;(NYSE:<a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/BUL#NYSE">BUL</a>).
Price Action:&nbsp;FTV shares are trading lower by 7.24% at $74.86 at&nbsp;the last check Wednesday.

Earnings

Equities

Large Cap

News

Guidance

Dividends

Movers

BAMG

Why Industrial Conglomerate Fortive's Shares Are Sliding Today

Trump Media &amp; Technology Group Corp. (NASDAQ:<a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/DJT#NASDAQ">DJT</a>) shares are <a href="https://www.benzinga.com/movers" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">trading higher</a> on Wednesday, although in a volatile trading session. 
The company sent the U.S. House of Representatives&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.benzinga.com/analyst-ratings/analyst-color/24/04/38396219/no-lose-deal-for-donald-trump-says-expert-on-ex-presidents-1-1b-stock-bonus-deal-wi" rel="noreferrer noopener">a letter regarding potential stock manipulation and anomalous trading.</a>
DJT&#8217;s CEO,&nbsp;Devin Nunes, wrote the letter addressing each of the Chairmen of the U.S. House of&nbsp;Representatives&nbsp;Committee on the Judiciary, Committee on Financial Services, Committee on Ways and Means&nbsp;and&nbsp;Committee on Oversight and Reform.&nbsp;
The letter has&nbsp;been published&nbsp;in an&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://s3.amazonaws.com/sec.irpass.cc/2660/0001140361-24-021595.pdf" rel="noreferrer noopener">exchange filing</a>.
&#8220;Since April 2, 2024, DJT has appeared every day on Nasdaq&#8217;s &#8220;Reg SHO threshold list,&#8221;&nbsp;which is indicative of unlawful trading activity. This is particularly troubling given that &#8220;naked&#8221;&nbsp;short selling often entails sophisticated market participants profiting at the expense of retail investors,&#8221;&nbsp;Nunes said in the letter.&nbsp;
&#8220;Reports indicate that, as of April 3, 2024, DJT was the&nbsp;single&nbsp;most expensive stock to short in U.S. markets by a significant margin, meaning that brokers have a&nbsp;significant&nbsp;financial incentive to lend non-existent shares,&#8221; the company said in the exchange filing.
Nunes, himself a former House GOP chair, wanted to understand whether any laws, including RICO statutes and tax evasion laws, were violated so that the perpetrators of any illegal activity could be held to account.
On Tuesday, the company clarified to its shareholders that brokerage firms may facilitate short selling in DJT shares by&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.benzinga.com/markets/equities/24/04/38384714/whats-going-on-with-trump-media-technology-stock-on-tuesday" rel="noreferrer noopener">lending shareholders&#8217; shares held in margin accounts.</a>
Former President&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.benzinga.com/topic/donald-trump" rel="noreferrer noopener">Donald Trump&#8217;s</a>&nbsp;Trump Media &amp; Technology Group, behind the Truth Social platform,&nbsp;specifically&nbsp;asked shareholders to hold their DJT shares in a cash account at their brokerage firm instead of a margin account.
The company has also asked shareholders to opt out of&nbsp;any&nbsp;securities lending programs, which should stop their broker from lending their shares.
In addition, Trump Media &amp; Technology&nbsp;said it&nbsp;prefers its&nbsp;shareholders&nbsp;to move their shares to a Direct Registration account at the company&#8217;s transfer agent,&nbsp;Odyssey Transfer &amp; Trust Company.
Price Action: DJT shares are trading higher by 1.54% to $33.07 at the last check Wednesday.
Photo via Shutterstock

Markets

General

Stock Manipulation In Trump Media & Technology Group Stock? CEO Devin Nunes Urges House GOP Leaders To Investigate

UBS analyst Gavin Parsons maintains Lockheed Martin (NYSE:<a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/LMT#NYSE">LMT</a>) with a Neutral and raises the price target from $482 to $499.

Price Target

Analyst Ratings

UBS Maintains Neutral on Lockheed Martin, Raises Price Target to $499

mso-ansi-language:EN-US">Airbnb Inc (NASDAQ:<a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/ABNB#NASDAQ">ABNB</a>) has been trying to <a href="https://www.benzinga.com/news/24/04/38206147/airbnb-faces-growth-hurdles-despite-strong-consumer-preference-analysts-warn">leverage artificial intelligence (AI) to disrupt the global online travel agency (OTA) industry</a>.
Sponsored listings offer "meaningful" upside to the company's EBITDA in the long term, according to Mizuho Securities
107%;mso-ansi-language:EN-US">.

mso-ansi-language:EN-US">The Airbnb Analyst: James Lee upgraded the rating for 
mso-ansi-language:EN-US">Airbnb from Neutral to Buy, while raising the price target from $150 to $200.
mso-ansi-language:EN-US"> 

mso-ansi-language:EN-US">The Airbnb Thesis: The company could generate nearly 15% EBITDA upside in the long term from sponsored listings, which are "a natural extension" of its business, Lee said in the upgrade note.
Check out <a href="https://www.benzinga.com/analyst-stock-ratings">other analyst stock ratings</a>.
"The upside is substantial as the Street models basically flat take-rate over the next few years," while a take-rate of just 1% from advertising could lead to nearly 15% upside, he added. 
mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-latin;mso-ansi-language:EN-US">
Following the first-quarter guidance, Street expectations for room night growth in 2024 have been cut from 13% to 11%, which limits downside risks, the analyst stated.
"We see opportunities to beat room night growth with incremental demand from Summer Olympics and share gains from elevated hotel pricing," he further wrote.

mso-ansi-language:EN-US">ABNB Price Action: Shares of Airbnb had risen by 0.34% to $161.49 
mso-ansi-language:EN-US">at the time of publication on Wednesday.
Read Next: <a href="https://www.benzinga.com/news/earnings/24/04/38404308/boeings-737-saga-dents-q1-bottomline-ceo-emphasizes-improving-quality-safety">Boeing&#8217;s 737 Saga Dents Q1 Bottomline, CEO Emphasizes Improving Quality &amp; Safety</a>
Photo: Shutterstock

Analyst Color

Long Ideas

Upgrades

Travel

Trading Ideas

ABNB

Airbnb Has Catalysts On The Horizon, Says Bullish Analyst

General Dynamics Says We Expect To Deliver About 50 G700 Aircraft This Year

UBS analyst Peter Grom maintains Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:<a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/KMB#NYSE">KMB</a>) with a Neutral and raises the price target from $135 to $138.

UBS Maintains Neutral on Kimberly-Clark, Raises Price Target to $138

Ares Management's (NYSE:<a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/ARES#NYSE">ARES</a>) short percent of float has risen 3.95% since its last report. The company recently reported that it has 2.77 million shares sold short, which is 1.84% of all regular shares that are available for trading. Based on its trading volume, it would take traders 3.12 days to cover their short positions on average.
<h3>Why Short Interest Matters</h3>
Short interest is the number of shares that have been sold short but have not yet been covered or closed out. <a href="https://www.benzinga.com/money/how-to-short-a-stock/">Short selling</a> is when a trader sells shares of a company they do not own, with the hope that the price will fall. Traders make money from short selling if the price of the stock falls and they lose if it rises.
Short interest is important to track because it can act as an indicator of market sentiment towards a particular stock. An increase in short interest can signal that investors have become more bearish, while a decrease in short interest can signal they have become more bullish.
See Also: <a href="https://www.benzinga.com/short-interest">List of the most shorted stocks</a>
<h3>Ares Management Short Interest Graph (3 Months)</h3>
<img src="https://www.benzinga.com/files/images/story/2024/1713975321_0.png" alt="short_fig" />
As you can see from the chart above the percentage of shares that are sold short for Ares Management has grown since its last report. This does not mean that the stock is going to fall in the near-term but traders should be aware that more shares are being shorted.
<h3>Comparing Ares Management's Short Interest Against Its Peers</h3>
Peer comparison is a popular technique amongst analysts and investors for gauging how well a company is performing. A company's peer is another company that has similar characteristics to it, such as industry, size, age, and financial structure. You can find a company's peer group by reading its 10-K, proxy filing, or by doing your own similarity analysis.
According to <a href="https://pro.benzinga.com/">Benzinga Pro</a>, Ares Management's peer group average for short interest as a percentage of float is 2.73%, which means the company has less short interest than most of its peers.
Did you know that increasing short interest can actually be bullish for a stock? <a href="https://www.benzinga.com/money/how-to-make-money-on-a-short-squeeze/">This post by Benzinga Money explains how you can profit from it.</a>
This article was generated by Benzinga's automated content engine and was reviewed by an editor.

Short Sellers

Short Ideas

ARES

Peering Into Ares Management's Recent Short Interest

Teladoc Health's (NYSE:<a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/TDOC#NYSE">TDOC</a>) short percent of float has risen 16.61% since its last report. The company recently reported that it has 20.88 million shares sold short, which is 16.08% of all regular shares that are available for trading. Based on its trading volume, it would take traders 6.66 days to cover their short positions on average.
<h3>Why Short Interest Matters</h3>
Short interest is the number of shares that have been sold short but have not yet been covered or closed out. <a href="https://www.benzinga.com/money/how-to-short-a-stock/">Short selling</a> is when a trader sells shares of a company they do not own, with the hope that the price will fall. Traders make money from short selling if the price of the stock falls and they lose if it rises.
Short interest is important to track because it can act as an indicator of market sentiment towards a particular stock. An increase in short interest can signal that investors have become more bearish, while a decrease in short interest can signal they have become more bullish.
See Also: <a href="https://www.benzinga.com/short-interest">List of the most shorted stocks</a>
<h3>Teladoc Health Short Interest Graph (3 Months)</h3>
<img src="https://www.benzinga.com/files/images/story/2024/1713975317_0.png" alt="short_fig" />
As you can see from the chart above the percentage of shares that are sold short for Teladoc Health has grown since its last report. This does not mean that the stock is going to fall in the near-term but traders should be aware that more shares are being shorted.
<h3>Comparing Teladoc Health's Short Interest Against Its Peers</h3>
Peer comparison is a popular technique amongst analysts and investors for gauging how well a company is performing. A company's peer is another company that has similar characteristics to it, such as industry, size, age, and financial structure. You can find a company's peer group by reading its 10-K, proxy filing, or by doing your own similarity analysis.
According to <a href="https://pro.benzinga.com/">Benzinga Pro</a>, Teladoc Health's peer group average for short interest as a percentage of float is 5.44%, which means the company has more short interest than most of its peers.
Did you know that increasing short interest can actually be bullish for a stock? <a href="https://www.benzinga.com/money/how-to-make-money-on-a-short-squeeze/">This post by Benzinga Money explains how you can profit from it.</a>
This article was generated by Benzinga's automated content engine and was reviewed by an editor.

TDOC

Looking Into Teladoc Health's Recent Short Interest

VICI Props's (NYSE:<a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/VICI#NYSE">VICI</a>) short percent of float has fallen 5.08% since its last report. The company recently reported that it has 20.02 million shares sold short, which is 2.24% of all regular shares that are available for trading. Based on its trading volume, it would take traders 3.85 days to cover their short positions on average.
<h3>Why Short Interest Matters</h3>
Short interest is the number of shares that have been sold short but have not yet been covered or closed out. <a href="https://www.benzinga.com/money/how-to-short-a-stock/">Short selling</a> is when a trader sells shares of a company they do not own, with the hope that the price will fall. Traders make money from short selling if the price of the stock falls and they lose if it rises.
Short interest is important to track because it can act as an indicator of market sentiment towards a particular stock. An increase in short interest can signal that investors have become more bearish, while a decrease in short interest can signal they have become more bullish.
See Also: <a href="https://www.benzinga.com/short-interest">List of the most shorted stocks</a>
<h3>VICI Props Short Interest Graph (3 Months)</h3>
<img src="https://www.benzinga.com/files/images/story/2024/1713975311_0.png" alt="short_fig" />
As you can see from the chart above the percentage of shares that are sold short for VICI Props has declined since its last report. This does not mean that the stock is going to rise in the near-term but traders should be aware that less shares are being shorted.
<h3>Comparing VICI Props's Short Interest Against Its Peers</h3>
Peer comparison is a popular technique amongst analysts and investors for gauging how well a company is performing. A company's peer is another company that has similar characteristics to it, such as industry, size, age, and financial structure. You can find a company's peer group by reading its 10-K, proxy filing, or by doing your own similarity analysis.
According to <a href="https://pro.benzinga.com/">Benzinga Pro</a>, VICI Props's peer group average for short interest as a percentage of float is 5.23%, which means the company has less short interest than most of its peers.
Did you know that increasing short interest can actually be bullish for a stock? <a href="https://www.benzinga.com/money/how-to-make-money-on-a-short-squeeze/">This post by Benzinga Money explains how you can profit from it.</a>
This article was generated by Benzinga's automated content engine and was reviewed by an editor.

VICI

Looking Into VICI Props's Recent Short Interest

Bakkt Holdings Inc (NYSE:<a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/BKKT#NYSE">BKKT</a>) shares are trading lower by 16.3% to $0.33 Wednesday afternoon. The company announced a 1-for-25 <a href="https://www.benzinga.com/pressreleases/24/04/b38389909/bakkt-announces-reverse-stock-split">reverse stock split.</a>
This means that for every 25 shares held, shareholders will receive one share after the split. The reverse stock split will be effective as of the close of trading on the New York Stock Exchange on April 26. Trading of the adjusted Class A Common Stock is expected to begin on April 29. 
Following the split, Bakkt says the company will continue to comply with reporting requirements and its Class A Common Stock and Public Warrants will remain listed on the NYSE under the symbols &#8220;BKKT&#8221; and &#8220;BKKT WS,&#8221; respectively.
See Also: <a href="https://www.benzinga.com/news/earnings/24/04/38406798/jim-cramer-takes-potshots-at-tesla-boeing-shrugs-off-post-earnings-rally-as-smacks-of-fiction-horre">Jim Cramer Takes Potshots At Tesla, Boeing, Says Post-Earnings &#8216;Smacks Of Fiction&#8217;: &#8216; Horrendous Cash Flow&#8217;</a>
<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Should I Sell My BKKT Stock?</h2>
When deciding to hold on to or sell a stock, investors should consider their time horizon, unrealized gains and total return.
Shares of Bakkt have decreased by 74.87% in the past year. An investor who bought shares of Bakkt at the beginning of the year would take a loss of $1.78 per share if they sold it today. The stock has fallen 24.71% over the past month, meaning an investor who bought shares on Mar. 1 would see a capital loss of $0.28.
Bakkt shares have an all-time high of $42.52, representing 12435.38% upside from current levels.
Investors may also consider market dynamics. The Relative Strength Index can be used to indicate whether a stock is overbought or oversold. Bakkt stock currently has an RSI of 20.82, indicating oversold conditions.
For access to advanced charting and analysis tools and stock data, check out <a href="https://pro.benzinga.com/">Benzinga PRO. Try it for free.</a>
BKKT has a 52-week high of $2.75 and a 52-week low of $0.33.

Bakkt Holdings, Inc. Class A Common Stock

BKKT

Why Bakkt (BKKT) Shares Hit A New All-Time Low

On Wednesday,&nbsp;Biogen Inc&nbsp;(NASDAQ:<a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/BIIB#NASDAQ">BIIB</a>)&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://investors.biogen.com/static-files/96fc50af-d220-4980-a7df-5eca64128c29" rel="noreferrer noopener">reported</a>&nbsp;first-quarter adjusted EPS of $3.67, up 8%, beating the consensus of $3.44.
The company reported sales of&nbsp;$2.29 billion, down 7% year over year and missing the consensus of $2.31 billion.
Multiple sclerosis revenue of $1.1 billion decreased by 4% (down 4% on constant currency). Multiple sclerosis drug Tysabri sales were down to $431.3 million from $472.8 million.
Also Read:&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.benzinga.com/analyst-ratings/analyst-color/24/02/37137498/biogen-could-engage-in-1b-2b-deals-to-fill-revenue-shortfall-gaps-analyst-says" rel="noreferrer noopener">Biogen Could Engage In $1B-$2B Deals To Fill Revenue Shortfall Gaps, Analyst Says</a>.
Rare disease revenue&nbsp;decreased&nbsp;4% year over year (down 4% CC) to $423.9 million. Spinraza&#8217;s revenue fell to $341.3 million from $443.3 million a year ago.
Revenues from Skyclarys, acquired via Reata acquisition, reached $78 million during the quarter, with patient identification and access progressing in the U.S. and the E.U. launch underway.
The company said Leqembi (Alzheimer&#8217;s drug) launch uptake accelerated with first-quarter global in-market sales of approximately&nbsp;$19 million, nearly triple the fourth quarter of 2023, and patients on therapy increasing&nbsp;nearly&nbsp;2.5 times since the end of 2023.&nbsp;
A significant increase in new patient starts was observed in March, contributing to over 20% of cumulative patients on Leqembi.&nbsp;
Postpartum depression drug Zurzuvae&#8217;s launch shows encouraging early trends.
Guidance:&nbsp;For the fiscal year 2024, Biogen reaffirms adjusted EPS Of $15.00-$16.00 versus consensus of $15.48, up around 5% versus 2023 at the mid-point.
The company expects 2024 total revenue to decline by a low-&nbsp;to&nbsp;mid-single-digit percentage, with operating income expected to grow at a&nbsp;low-double-digit&nbsp;percentage.
Biogen expects core pharmaceutical revenue (product revenue + Leqembi) to be flat vs. 2023.
William Blair&nbsp;writes that the Leqembi launch continues to face logistical and clinical perception headwinds and has been slower than initially anticipated.
The analyst notes that the bottom-line beat&nbsp;is&nbsp;largely driven&nbsp;by Biogen&#8217;s push to reset its cost basis through the &#8220;Fit for Growth&#8221; savings initiative.
Read Next:&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.benzinga.com/general/biotech/24/03/37558545/eli-lillys-donanemab-for-alzheimers-hits-fda-speed-breaker-biogen-stock-gains-on-delayed-decision" rel="noreferrer noopener">Eli Lilly&#8217;s Donanemab For Alzheimer&#8217;s Hits FDA Speed Breaker, Biogen Stock Gains On Delayed Decision</a>.
Price Action:&nbsp;BIIB shares are up 4.47% at $201.81&nbsp;at the last check Wednesday.

Biotech

Health Care

BIIB

Biogen's Leqembi Commercial Ramp-Up Modest But Up Ticking, Reports Mixed Bag Q1 Earnings

UBS analyst Patrick Hummel maintains General Motors (NYSE:<a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/GM#NYSE">GM</a>) with a Buy and raises the price target from $56 to $58.

UBS Maintains Buy on General Motors, Raises Price Target to $58

<a href="https://endpts.com/optum-is-shutting-down-its-virtual-care-business/#:~:text=UnitedHealth%20Group's%20Optum%20is%20shutting,business%2C%20Endpoints%20News%20has%20learned.">https://endpts.com/optum-is-shutting-down-its-virtual-care-business/#:~:text=UnitedHealth%20Group's%20Optum%20is%20shutting,business%2C%20Endpoints%20News%20has%20learned.</a>
&nbsp;
UnitedHealth Group's Optum is shutting down its virtual care business, Endpoints News has learned.
Known as Optum Virtual Care, the business provides online urgent and primary care visits and prescription refills and was a major part of Optum's push into telehealth services in 2021, as Covid-19 accelerated the industry's adoption of virtual services. The shutdown raises questions about how United is thinking about its virtual strategy.
&nbsp;

"Optum Is Shutting Down Its Virtual Care Business" - Endpoint News

Stephens &amp; Co. analyst Justin Long reiterates Rush Enterprises (NASDAQ:<a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/RUSHA#NASDAQ">RUSHA</a>) with a Overweight and maintains $60 price target.

Reiteration

RUSHA

Stephens & Co. Reiterates Overweight on Rush Enterprises, Maintains $60 Price Target

BMO Capital analyst Katja Jancic maintains Nucor (NYSE:<a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/NUE#NYSE">NUE</a>) with a Market Perform and lowers the price target from $210 to $200.

BMO Capital Maintains Market Perform on Nucor, Lowers Price Target to $200

During the NFL Draft excitement on Thursday (April 25), Detroit&#8217;s very own Calvin Johnson Jr., affectionately known as &#8220;Megatron,&#8221; will captivate attendees at <a href="https://www.benzinga.com/nfldraft/">Benzinga Sports Business Titans event.</a> 
Set against the backdrop of downtown Detroit&#8217;s Campus Martius, Johnson will unveil how he parlayed his NFL career into a flourishing entrepreneurial venture. 
<h1 class="wp-block-heading">Johnson&#8217;s Impactful Career</h1>
Johnson, an exceptional talent on the field, played nine seasons with the Detroit Lions, where he set multiple records, including single-season receiving yards in 2012. His prowess led to his induction into the College and Pro Football Halls of Fame in 2018 and 2021, respectively. 
Johnson&#8217;s career was distinguished by his formidable combination of size, speed and catching ability, making him one of the most formidable receivers in the league.
<h1 class="wp-block-heading">Transition To Business And Philanthropy&nbsp;</h1>
Since retiring in 2015, Johnson entered the business world and engaged in various charitable efforts. His work with Primitiv Group highlights his transition from sports icon to business leader, focusing on innovative applications of cannabis for therapeutic purposes. Johnson&#8217;s dedication to community welfare is evident in his support for educational and health-related initiatives.
<h1 class="wp-block-heading">Why Attend The Event</h1>
Benzinga is a leader in the events space. It has the experience to connect its audience with speakers, panelists, and other attendees. The financial media company has organized 32 &#8220;Business Titans&#8221; events and is known globally for its popular, high-profile gatherings.
The Benzinga Sports Business Titans event features a strong lineup of speakers from the sports and business worlds. Each guest will share their journeys of entrepreneurship and investments. Athletes, social media stars, and business leaders will share advice and provide a behind-the-scenes look at how sports and business often intersect.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.benzinga.com/nfldraft/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Get tickets here</a>.
Photo: <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Calvin_Johnson_at_the_Detroit_Lions_training_camp_2012_3.jpg">Kevind810</a>&nbsp;via Wikimedia Commons&nbsp;

Sports

Events

Calvin Johnson Joins Benzinga Sports Business Titans Conference: How To Convert Sports Excellence Into Corporate Triumph

<h4>Key Takeaways:</h4>
<ul>
<li>EHang said it plans to sell up to $100 million worth of new shares in New York, more than double the amount it raised in its 2019 IPO</li>
<li>The company is getting close to commercializing its self-flying aircraft, including its recent receipt of a regulatory certificate allowing it to mass-produce its flagship product</li>
</ul>
By Warren Yang
EHang Holdings Ltd.&nbsp;(NASDAQ: <a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/eh#NASDAQ">EH</a>) is getting set to refuel as it makes what appears to be a final taxiing move before taking flight.
In&nbsp;<a href="https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1759783/000119312524102861/d759076df3asr.htm">a stock exchange filing</a>&nbsp;last Friday, the maker of autonomous aerial vehicles unveiled a plan to raise up to $100 million from a public offering of its American depository shares (ADS). That&rsquo;s a substantial amount for the company, more than three times its cash holdings as of the end of last year. It&rsquo;s also more than double the amount of funds it raised in its IPO in 2019, and nearly a tenth of its current market cap.
EHang has been busy clearing regulatory hurdles to sell its unmanned flying vehicles for commercial operations, which means that it remains reliant on external capital to fund its money-losing operations. But it&rsquo;s inching closer to bringing its products to market after receiving a critical &ldquo;type certificate&rdquo; for its main product from China&rsquo;s aviation regulator last October. As it taxis towards the finish line, the company appears to think it&rsquo;s a good time to tap investors to raise funds that it will need to mass produce its products in the not-too-distant future.
After all, despite its recent advances, it may still be a while before EHang becomes profitable enough to self-fund its own operations. So, the company appears to be striking while the iron is hot, taking advantage of positive investor sentiment to raise new funds.
EHang is no stranger to capital raising, which it has used to fund its money-losing operations since its founding in 2014. The new public equity offering comes less than a year after the company sold $23 million of shares in a private placement to a group led by South Korean music producer Lee Soo Man, who founded big-time K-pop label SM Entertainment (041510.KS).
While these fund-raising efforts are underway, EHang continues to tick more boxes required to commercialize its flying vehicles. Earlier this month, the company&nbsp;<a href="https://thebambooworks.com/fast-news-ehangs-aerial-vehicle-approved-for-production/">received a &ldquo;production certificate&rdquo;</a>for its EH216-S passenger aircraft from the Civil Aviation Administration of China, building on the type certificate it obtained about six months earlier. The production certificate allows EHang to mass-produce EH216-S. That moves it one step closer to start delivering aircraft to the companies that have placed orders &ndash; many that were contingent on the company getting necessary regulatory approvals.
EHang&rsquo;s revenue jumped 165% to 117 million yuan ($16.5 million) last year from 2022 as it delivered more units in the EH216 series. In 2023, it shipped 52 vehicles, bringing the total tally to 237 as of the end of the year, the bulk of which are the EH216-S.
The aircraft EHang has delivered so far are mostly used for trial operations in tourist sites across China. But the company is slowly building up its overseas order book as well. After winning its first overseas contracts in South Korea and Indonesia in 2021, it expanded its international customer base to 10 countries by the end of last year, including Japan, Brazil, Columbia, Saudi Arab and Qatar. Still, the total number of units sold outside China remains tiny.
<h4>Narrowing losses</h4>
Despite the surge in EHang&rsquo;s revenue, its net loss narrowed by only a modest 8% last year, as its operating expenses continued to vastly exceed its small revenue base. But its actual loss of cash from operations nearly halved to about $12 million because a large chunk of its net loss last year stemmed from non-cash expenses, such as share-based compensation.
The company&rsquo;s finances are likely to improve further once the commercialization of its aircraft gets underway and revenue growth starts to accelerate. EHang&rsquo;s revenue is projected to more than triple this year and more than double from that next year, according to a consensus of analysts put together by Seeking Alpha. Most significantly, analysts expect the company to start turning a profit in 2025.
Not everyone is so bullish on EHang, however. Last November, the company became ensnared in a short-selling attack by Hindenburg Research. The U.S. firm, which specializes in forensic research on companies it suspects of misleading investors, is perhaps best known for its 2020 campaign against Nikola Corp., an American electric truck maker. At that time, Hindenburg accused Nikola of being deceptive about its technological capabilities, eventually leading to regulatory investigations and the resignation of the company&rsquo;s founder.
As for EHang, Hindenburg claimed that the company&rsquo;s much-touted type certificate for the EH216-S included numerous flight restrictions that it didn&rsquo;t fully disclose to investors. It argued that those limitations invalidate many of the vehicle&rsquo;s potential commercial use cases, including flying in densely populated areas and shared airspace, which would require a billion-dollar redesign and a completely different type of certificate to address. Hindenburg went so far to say that more than 90% of EHang&rsquo;s pre-orders were based on &ldquo;dead&rdquo; or abandoned deals, or with failed partnerships and newly formed entities with no discernible operations.
EHang issued a relatively short statement saying the report included &ldquo;untrue statements and misinterpretation of information&rdquo; and showed Hindenburg&rsquo;s &ldquo;cursory and incomplete understanding&rdquo; of its operations. Investors seemed to take the report in stride, with Ehang shares falling for a couple days before rebounding.
EHang shares are currently up more than a third from their IPO price, no easy feat for a U.S.-listed Chinese company in the current climate where most stocks have tanked over the last two years. The company currently commands a sky-high price-to-sale (P/S) ratio of 63 due to its limited revenue base, though that figure would come down sharply if it achieves the kind of revenue growth that analysts are forecasting over the next two years.
Given that EHang is seemingly quite close to commercialization, it probably will secure the new funding it needs now without much difficulty. That may give the company enough fuel to sustain its operations until its self-flying aircraft hit the skies en masse.
This article is from an unpaid external contributor. It does not represent Benzinga's reporting and has not been edited for content or accuracy.

Small Cap

EHang Seeks Capital Refueling As Its Self-Flying Vehicles Inch Toward Grand Takeoff

<a href="https://www.wired.com/story/arcanedoor-cyberspies-hacked-cisco-firewalls-to-access-government-networks/">https://www.wired.com/story/arcanedoor-cyberspies-hacked-cisco-firewalls-to-access-government-networks/</a>
Network security appliances like firewalls are meant to keep hackers out. Instead, digital intruders are increasingly targeting them as the weak link that lets them pillage the very systems those devices are meant to protect. In the case of one hacking campaign over recent months, Cisco is now revealing that its firewalls served as beachheads for sophisticated hackers penetrating multiple government networks around the world.
On Wednesday, Cisco <a href="https://blog.talosintelligence.com/arcanedoor-new-espionage-focused-campaign-found-targeting-perimeter-network-devices/">warned</a> that its so-called Adaptive Security Appliances—devices that integrate a firewall and VPN with other security features—had been targeted by state-sponsored spies who exploited two <a href="https://www.wired.com/2014/11/what-is-a-zero-day/">zero-day vulnerabilities</a> in the networking giant's gear to compromise government targets globally in a hacking campaign it's calling ArcaneDoor.
The hackers behind the intrusions, which Cisco's security division Talos is calling UAT4356 and which Microsoft researchers who contributed to the investigation have named STORM-1849, couldn't be clearly tied to any previous intrusion incidents the companies had tracked. Based on the group's espionage focus and sophistication, however, Cisco says the hacking appeared to be state-sponsored.
"This actor utilized bespoke tooling that demonstrated a clear focus on espionage and an in-depth knowledge of the devices that they targeted, hallmarks of a sophisticated state-sponsored actor," a blog post from Cisco's Talos researchers reads.
Cisco declined to say which country it believed to be responsible for the intrusions, but sources familiar with the investigation tell WIRED the campaign appears to be aligned with China's state interests.
&nbsp;
Cisco says the hacking campaign began as early as November 2023, with the majority of intrusions taking place between December and early January of this year, when it learned of the first victim. "The investigation that followed identified additional victims, all of which involved government networks globally," the company's report reads.
In those intrusions, the hackers exploited two newly discovered vulnerabilities in Cisco's ASA products. One, which it's calling Line Dancer, let the hackers run their own malicious code in the memory of the network appliances, allowing them to issue commands to the devices, including the ability to spy on network traffic and steal data. A second vulnerability, which Cisco is calling Line Runner, would allow the hackers' malware to maintain its access to the target devices even when they were rebooted or updated.
Cisco has released software updates to patch both vulnerabilities, and <a href="https://sec.cloudapps.cisco.com/security/center/resources/asa_ftd_attacks_event_response">advises</a> that customers implement them immediately, along with other recommendations for detecting whether they've been targeted.
The ArcaneDoor hacking campaign represents just the latest series of intrusions to target network perimeter applications sometimes referred to as "edge" devices like email servers, firewalls, and VPNs—often devices intended to provide security—whose vulnerabilities allowed hackers to obtain a staging point inside a victim's network. Cisco's Talos researchers warn of that broader trend in their report, referring to highly sensitive networks that they've seen targeted via edge devices in recent years. "Gaining a foothold on these devices allows an actor to directly pivot into an organization, reroute or modify traffic and monitor network communications," they write. "In the past two years, we have seen a dramatic and sustained increase in the targeting of these devices in areas such as telecommunications providers and energy sector organizations—critical infrastructure entities that are likely strategic targets of interest for many foreign governments."
&nbsp;
State-sponsored hackers' shift to compromising edge devices has become prevalent enough over the past year that Google-owned security firm Mandiant also <a href="https://therecord.media/chinese-russian-hackers-edge-devices">highlighted it in its annual M-Trends report</a> earlier this week, based on the company's threat intelligence and incident response findings. The report points to widely exploited vulnerabilities in network edge devices sold by Barracuda and Ivanti and notes that hackers—and specifically espionage-focused Chinese groups—are building custom malware for edge devices, in part because many networks have little or no way to monitor for compromise of the devices.
"They're systemically targeting security appliances that sit on the edge for access to the rest of the network," says John Hultquist, Mandiant's head of threat intelligence. "This is no longer an emerging trend. It's established."
Mandiant notes that it has observed Russian state-sponsored hackers targeting edge devices too: It's observed the unit of Russia's GRU military intelligence agency, known as Sandworm, <a href="https://www.wired.com/story/russia-ukraine-cyberattacks-mandiant/">repeatedly hack edge devices</a> used by Ukrainian organizations to gain and maintain access to those victim networks, often for data-destroying cyberattacks. In some cases, the lack of visibility and monitoring in those edge devices has meant that Sandworm was able to wipe a victim network while holding on to its control of an edge device—then hit the same network again.
Hultquist notes, however, that China is unmatched in its discovery and use of network appliance zero days, like the ones it has used to run rampant through Cisco firewalls over the past several months. He expects more to come, as China's cyberspies continue to turn devices meant to protect target networks against their owners. "It's unlikely these zero days are being produced haphazardly. We suspect a well-resourced, coordinated effort is underway to find and exploit these vulnerabilities," Hultquist says. "Unfortunately, we'll almost certainly see several more zero-days in security&nbsp;appliances this year."

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CSCO

"'ArcaneDoor' Cyberspies Hacked Cisco Firewalls To Access Government Networks; Sources Suspect China Is Behind The Targeted Exploitation Of Two Zero-Day Vulnerabilities In Cisco's Security Appliances" - Wired

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MetroCity Bankshares GAAP EPS of $0.57, revenue of $32.65M

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