AUPH News & Events

The major averages closed mixed, with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq ending lower despite earlier gains, as oil prices keep rising amid continued conflict in the Middle East. Of note, President Trump said the U.S. is in "serious discussions" with Iran to end its military operations. However, he added that if a peace deal is not reached "shortly" and the Strait of Hormuz is not reopened, the U.S. will "conclude our lovely 'stay' in Iran by blowing up and completely obliterating all of their Electric Generating Plants, Oil Wells and Kharg Island (and possibly all desalinization plants!), which we have purposefully not yet 'touched.'" The comments came after the president stated that Tehran had accepted most of the U.S.'s 15-point plan to end the war.Additionally, Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell said during a discussion at Harvard University that even with rising energy prices, he views inflation expectations as "well anchored beyond the short term." Powell added that he is "optimistic" about the medium- and long-run outlook for the U.S. economy and that the Fed is watching private credit "super carefully."Get caught up quickly on the top news and calls moving stocks with these five Top Five lists.1. STOCK NEWS:SyscoJetro Restaurant Depot for a total enterprise value of $29.1BUberglobal chauffeur service leader BlacklaneAuriniaKezar Life Sciencesfor $6.955 per share in cash plus a non-transferable contingent value rightTJX'sboard raised itsand said it plans $2.5B-$2.75B of share repurchases for FY27Apollois near a deal to acquire Atlantic Aviation from KKR,2. WALL STREET CALLS:CrowdStriketo Outperform from Peer Perform at Wolfe ResearchExpediato Buy from Hold at JefferiesInstacartto Buy from Hold at JefferiesDole, Nomad Foodsto Hold at Deutsche BankStarbuckswith an Underperform at BNP Paribas3. AROUND THE WEB:JetBluetold CNBC it is increasing bag fees amid soaring fuel pricesGeneral Motorsis moving to a six days per week production schedule at its Flint plant, Reuters saysBanks led by JPMorganare dealing with pushback related to the terms of a $7.2B debt deal to fund Clayton, Dubilier & Rice's takeover of Sealed Air, Bloomberg reportsYouTubeemployees have admitted their goal was "viewer addiction" and shut down proposed safety tools for kids since they did not provide a sufficient return on investment, NY Post saysAn analysis of billions of anonymized credit card transactions by consumer transaction analysis company Indagari indicates that Claude is seeing record growth in paid subscribers, with subscriptions more than doubling this year according to Anthropic, TechCrunch says4. MOVERS:Compass Diversifiedadvanced after announcing it willto Archer for $292.5MiQiyigained in New York afteron HKEXViridiandeclined after announcing results from itsFermiclosed lower afterBoston Scientificfell after Raymond Jamesits rating on the stock5. EARNINGS/GUIDANCE:Alaska AirprovidedUSA Rare Earth, with CEO Barbara Humpton commenting, "2025 was the year that USA Rare Earth set the foundation to execute our integrated rare earth growth strategy"Spirecut itsNeumora Therapeutics, with EPS missing consensusCBAK Energy Technology, with revenue higher year-over-yearINDEXES:The Dow rose 49.50, or 0.11%, to 45,216.14, the Nasdaq lost 153.72, or 0.73%, to 20,794.64, and the S&P 500 declined 25.13, or 0.39%, to 6,343.72.

After Aurinia Pharmaceuticals (AUPH) announced an agreement to acquire Kezar Life Sciences (KZR) for $6.955 in cash per share plus one non-transferable contingent value right, Jefferies said the deal valuation "makes sense" given the stage of development and trials needed to bring zetomipzomib to market. The firm maintains a Hold rating and $7 price target on Kezar shares.

The major averages were broadly higher near noon to start the week following last week's declines. Amid continued conflict in the Middle East and rising energy prices, President Trump said the U.S. is in "serious discussions" with Iran to end its military operations. However, he added that if a peace deal is not reached "shortly" and the Strait of Hormuz is not reopened, the U.S. will "conclude our lovely 'stay' in Iran by blowing up and completely obliterating all of their Electric Generating Plants, Oil Wells and Kharg Island (and possibly all desalinization plants!), which we have purposefully not yet 'touched.'" Following the comments, oil prices are rising once again past the $100 per barrel mark.Get caught up quickly on the top news and calls moving stocks with these five Top Five lists.1. STOCK NEWS:SyscoJetro Restaurant Depot for a total enterprise value of $29.1BUberglobal chauffeur service leader BlacklaneAuriniaKezar Life Sciencesfor $6.955 per share in cash plus a non-transferable contingent value rightSpirewill sell itsto Boardwalk Pipelines for $215M in cashTJX'sboard raised itsand said it plans $2.5B-$2.75B of share repurchases for FY272. WALL STREET CALLS:CrowdStriketo Outperform from Peer Perform at Wolfe ResearchExpediato Buy from Hold at JefferiesInstacartto Buy from Hold at JefferiesDole, Nomad Foodsto Hold at Deutsche BankStarbuckswith an Underperform at BNP Paribas3. AROUND THE WEB:In a recently published report, Morpheus Research says that MakeMyTrip, a $3.5B online travel agency that is sometimes referred to as the "Booking.com of India" with 50% of the Indian OTA market, "openly defies regulators, scams customers, and pads profits through accounting tricksBanks led by JPMorganare dealing with pushback related to the terms of a $7.2B debt deal to fund Clayton, Dubilier & Rice's takeover of Sealed Air, Bloomberg reportsYouTubeemployees have admitted their goal was "viewer addiction" and shut down proposed safety tools for kids since they did not provide a sufficient return on investment, NY Post saysIQM Quantum Computers has secured $57.64M in venture financing from funds managed by BlackRockto accelerate growth, Reuters saysAn analysis of billions of anonymized credit card transactions by consumer transaction analysis company Indagari indicates that Claude is seeing record growth in paid subscribers, with subscriptions more than doubling this year according to Anthropic, TechCrunch says4. MOVERS:Compass Diversifiedincreases after announcing it willbusiness to Archer for $292.5MiQiyigains in New York afteron HKEXViridiandeclines after announcing results from its REVEAL-1 phase 3Fermilower afterBoston Scientificfalls after Raymond Jamesits rating on the stock to Outperform from Strong Buy5. EARNINGS/GUIDANCE:Alaska AirUSA Rare Earth, with CEO Barbara Humpton commenting, "2025 was the year that USA Rare Earth set the foundation to execute our integrated rare earth growth strategy"Spirefor FY27Neumora Therapeutics, with EPS missing consensusCBAK Energy Technology, with revenue higher year-over-yearINDEXES:Near midday, the Dow was up 0.88%, or 395.42, to 45,562.06, the Nasdaq was up 0.29%, or 60.40, to 21,008.76, and the S&P 500 was up 0.48%, or 30.52, to 6,399.37.

Aurinia Pharmaceuticals (AUPH) has entered into a definitive merger agreement to acquire Kezar Life Sciences (KZR) for $6.955 in cash per share of Kezar common stock, plus one non-transferable contingent value right, which represents the right to receive: potential payments relating to the ongoing clinical development or disposition of zetomipzomib; certain proceeds relating to Kezar's collaboration with Everest Medicines and Kezar's sale of its Sec61-based discovery and development program to Enodia Therapeutics; and 100% of Kezar's closing net cash in excess of $50M, net of certain post-closing CVR-related expenses. Following a strategic review process conducted by the Kezar board of directors with the assistance of Kezar's management and external legal and financial advisors, the Kezar board of directors has unanimously: determined that the acquisition by Aurinia is in the best interests of Kezar and its stockholders; and approved the execution and delivery of the Merger Agreement and the consummation of the transactions contemplated thereby. Zetomipzomib, Kezar's lead product candidate, is a first-in-class immunoproteasome inhibitor in development for patients with autoimmune hepatitis, lupus nephritis and systemic lupus erythematosus. Zetomipzomib demonstrated clinically meaningful and durable steroid-sparing remissions in the PORTOLA Phase 2 AIH study. Kezar had positive interactions with the US Food and Drug Administration in a recent Type C meeting aimed to accelerate the development of zetomipzomib in AIH. Pursuant to the terms of the Merger Agreement, Aurinia will, through its wholly owned subsidiary, Aurinia Pharma U.S., and its merger subsidiary, Aurinia Merger Sub, commence a tender offer by April 13, to acquire all outstanding shares of Kezar common stock. The closing of the Offer is subject to certain conditions, including the tender of shares of Kezar common stock representing at least a majority of the total number of outstanding shares, Kezar having closing net cash in excess of $50M, net of certain post-closing CVR-related expenses and other customary closing conditions. Immediately following the closing of the Offer, Kezar will be acquired by Aurinia, and all remaining shares not tendered in the Offer, other than shares owned directly or indirectly by Aurinia or Kezar or a subsidiary thereof or validly subject to appraisal, will be converted into the right to receive the same cash and CVR consideration per share as is provided in the Offer. Tang Capital Partners, which holds approximately 9.0% of Kezar's outstanding common stock, has signed a tender and support agreement under which it has agreed to tender its shares in the Offer and support the transaction. The transaction is expected to close in the second quarter of 2026.