Social gaming company Zynga Inc. (ZNGA) is due to release its
first earnings report since going public last month.
After a busy initial public offering week, new issuance is
expected to slow though Brightcove Inc. and Ceres Inc. are expected
to go public next week.
The Federal Reserve is expected to vote on Capital One Financial
Corp.'s (COF) $9 billion bid to buy ING Direct USA on Monday
afternoon.
Zynga To Post First Earnings Results Since Going Public
Zynga is due to release its fourth-quarter results Tuesday,
marking its first earnings release since the social game maker went
public in January. Facebook Inc. in its IPO prospectus last week
disclosed 12% of its revenue last year came from Zynga, which has
impressed analysts and investors. Zynga's business model is largely
based on Facebook's success--Zynga received 93% of its revenue last
year from virtual goods it sold on the social network.
Other companies due to report next week include door-to-door
beauty products company Avon Products Inc. (AVP), auto maker
General Motors Co. (GM), cable operator Comcast Corp. (CMCSA,
CMCSK), hotelier Marriott International Inc. (MAR), upscale
retailer Nordstrom Inc. (JWN) and media company CBS Corp.
(CBS).
Brightcove, Ceres Expected To Go Public Next Week
After a busy week in which seven IPOs traded higher in the U.S.,
new issuance will slow for a while as more companies put the
finishing touches on their year-end financial reports.
With most prospectuses for IPOs lacking data more recent than
the third quarter of 2011, firms hoping to launch deals will hit a
deadline next week, after which their documents must show freshly
audited results from the fourth quarter. Without those numbers,
they can't go public, and as a result, issuance will likely be
lighter for the next several weeks.
One firm that managed to complete its year-end results on Monday
is online video software provider Brightcove Inc., and it is
planning to sell $60 million through a listing on the Nasdaq and
begin trading this coming week under the symbol BCOV.
Another launch possibility could be Ceres Inc., with a fiscal
year that ends Aug. 31, which relieves it from the need to refresh
its financials in the same time frame as companies using the
calendar year ending in December. Ceres is a holdover from this
past week, when it originally targeted its launch.
Fed Expected To Vote On Capital One Bid To Buy ING Direct On Monday
Federal Reserve officials are expected to vote on Capital One's
controversial bid to buy ING Direct USA, the biggest bank deal
since the recent financial crisis, next week.
A planned meeting on the proposed acquisition was rescheduled
from this week to Monday afternoon.
Capital One's $9 billion plan to buy ING Groep NV's (ING,
INGA.AE) U.S. online-banking business has met strong criticism from
consumer groups. The National Community Reinvestment Coalition
argues that the acquisition would make Capital One so risky and
complex that it would put the U.S. financial system in danger.
Capital One's proposal is one of the first bank mergers to face
a new Fed review that weighs a merger's impact on the financial
system--a test required by the 2010 Dodd-Frank financial overhaul
designed to help prevent a repeat of the recent financial
crises.
Price Reports, Housing Data Due
Two major price reports will be released next week, with the
producer price index due Thursday and the consumer price index on
Friday.
The producer price index, which measures the change in how much
manufacturers and wholesalers pay for goods and materials, fell
slightly in December from November. The consumer-price index, which
measures the change in how much Americans pay for everything from
groceries to automobiles, was unchanged in December from the prior
month.
Investors will look for signs of recovery from the hard-hit
housing sector with the National Association of Home Builders'
February index due for release Wednesday and reports on January
housing starts to be released Thursday. The closely watched NAHB
confidence index jumped to 25 in January. Meanwhile, U.S. home
building retreated in December amid a drop in apartment
construction, a sign the housing market's recovery will continue to
be rocky.
American International Toy Fair Kicks Off Sunday
The annual American International Toy Fair will be held between
Feb. 12 to Feb. 15 in New York City, an event that draws more than
1,100 manufacturers, distributors, importers and sales agents to
showcase their latest toys and entertainment products. The toy fair
showcases action figures, games and puzzles, infant and preschool
toys and video games, among other products. The event will take
place at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center, as well as some
showroom locations throughout the city.
WaMu Seeks Chapter 11 Plan Confirmation
With more than three years of work and $7 billion on the line,
Washington Mutual Inc. will try for the third time to secure court
approval of its creditor-payment plan.
The company behind the biggest bank collapse in U.S. history on
Thursday will ask the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington, Del., to
sign off on its $7 billion Chapter 11 plan of reorganization. The
court has already rejected two earlier proposals.
The plan, which will turn the company into an insurance
operation, relies on a settlement that has stayed in place even as
the plans themselves have been shot down. Washington Mutual settled
an array of legal disputes with J.P. Morgan & Chase Co. (JPM),
which bought Washington Mutual Bank after its failure, and the
Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., which brokered the deal. The
three-way settlement splits up valuable tax refunds, cash and other
assets.
Xi To Make First Official Trip To The U.S.
Xi Jinping, the man widely expected to become China's top leader
this year, will take his biggest step into the international
spotlight when he meets President Barack Obama on Feb. 14 on his
first official visit to the U.S. as vice president.
The White House said Xi will meet Obama and Vice President Joe
Biden in Washington, and also visit Iowa and California--unusual
additions to the itinerary for a Chinese heir-apparent. The widely
anticipated visit could help him boost his stature at home while
offering U.S. officials a rare chance to learn more about him
before he takes over as Communist Party chief in a once-a-decade
leadership change in the autumn.
It will also help to set the tone for relations between China
and the U.S. over the next decade. Xi will be the most senior
Chinese leader to visit the U.S. since Obama announced in November
a new strategic focus on Asia to counterbalance China's growing
assertiveness in the region.
Conferences
Among the significant conferences next week are Barclays Bank
PLC Big Data Conference on Monday in San Francisco; the
Biotechnology Industry Organization CEO and Investor Conference
Monday and Tuesday in New York; the Goldman Sachs Group Inc.
Technology and Internet Conference Tuesday through Thursday; and
the Sterne Agee Financial Institutions Investor Conference Monday
through Wednesday in Orlando.
Also scheduled are the Stifel Nicolaus Transportation Conference
on Tuesday and Wednesday in Key Biscayne, Fla.; the Bank of America
Merrill Lynch Insurance Conference on Wednesday and Thursday in New
York; and the Leerink Swann Global Healthcare Conference on
Wednesday and Thursday in New York.
-By Nathalie Tadena, Dow Jones Newswires; 212-416-3287;
nathalie.tadena@dowjones.com
--Lynn Cowan, Jacqueline Palank, John Kell, Maya
Jackson-Randall, Jeremy Page and other Dow Jones Newswires staff
contributed to this article.
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