Wall Street Breakfast Podcast: Chipotle Fires Up Investors With 50-For-1 Stock Split

Summary

Chipotle Mexican Grill

marcnorman

Listen below or on the go on Apple Podcasts and Spotify

Chipotle Mexican Grill (CMG) announces 50-for-1 stock split. (00:26) Saudi Arabia plans to pour $40B into AI technology: report. (01:19) Nordstrom (JWN) jumps on report of new takeover offer from founding family. (02:14)

This is an abridged transcript of the podcast.

Chipotle Mexican Grill (NYSE:CMG) said on Tuesday its board had approved a 50-for-one split of its common stock.

CMG said it plans to seek shareholder approval for the amendment at its upcoming annual meeting on June 6, 2024.

If the amendment is approved, shareholders of record as of June 18, 2024, will receive 49 additional shares for each share held, which will be distributed after market close on June 25, 2024.

The company's shares are expected to begin trading on a post-split basis at the market open on Wednesday, June 26, 2024.

Chipotle also announced a special one-time equity grant for all restaurant general managers as well as crew members with more than 20 years of service.

CMG closed Tuesday at $2,797.56 and pre market the stock is up more than 5%.

Saudi Arabia is apparently creating a fund worth about $40B to invest in artificial intelligence.

According to The New York Times, the Middle Eastern nation is serious about throwing its monetary weight into the technology that is reshaping industries, according to three people briefed on the plan.

Over the last month, representatives of Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund have discussed a potential partnership with Andreessen Horowitz, one of Silicon Valley’s largest private venture capital firms, and other financiers.

The fund would possibly make Saudi Arabia the world's largest investor in AI, as it would be much larger than U.S. venture capital firms typically amass. Some Wall Street banks are reportedly helping to assemble the fund.

The report said, oil-rich Saudi Arabia is pursuing the AI investment by drawing from its sovereign wealth fund, which holds assets worth more than $900B.

The founding family of Nordstrom is reportedly trying to take the company private.

No, it’s not 2018 it’s still 2024.

A similar effort was made six years ago but it didn’t work out. That's when the family offered $50 per share but the offer was rejected.

According to Reuters, the family is working with Morgan Stanley and Centerview Partners to gauge interest.

Shares of JWN were up more than 9% on the news Tuesday closing at $18.66.

Other articles to look out for on Seeking Alpha:

JetBlue cuts flights to focus on 'bread and butter' routes - report

U.S. beverage sales cooled off but energy drinks, tequila and prepared cocktails are still hot

Reddit to 'evaluate' Nokia claim of patent infringement ahead of IPO

On our catalyst watch for the day,

U.S. stocks on Tuesday ended higher.

The Nasdaq (COMP:IND) added 0.39%. The S&P 500 (SP500) advanced 0.56%. The Dow (DJI) climbed 0.83%.

Of the 11 S&P sectors, nine ended in the green, led by Energy.

Now let’s take a look at the markets as of 6 am. Ahead of the opening bell today, Dow, S&P and Nasdaq futures are mixed. Crude oil is down 1% at a nickel shy of $82 per barrel. Bitcoin is down 1.5% at more than $63,000.

In the world markets, the FTSE 100 is down 0.2% and the DAX is up 0.06%.

The biggest movers for the day premarket: After a nearly 35% drop in value at Tuesday's close, NuScale Power (NYSE:SMR) continued its decline with a 7% loss in premarket trading today. This came after Wells Fargo downgraded the shares to Underweight from Equal Weight and set a price target of $4.50, down from $7.50, citing misguided investor enthusiasm.

On today’s economic calendar: