markets
Activism works
One day after activist investors successfully deposed its chairman, Amarin’s stock price is up nearly 20% and the new regime is already planning cost cuts.
Amarin is planning to slash its operating expenses by another 20% in 2023, the company said yesterday. That follows a successful activist challenge by Sarissa Capital, which had urged the company to dramatically reduce its expenses and focus on the European market, where its only approved medicine has potential for revenue growth.
Sarissa’s victory follows activist pressure that led Bayer to replace its long-time CEO and comes amid increased activity among the world’s corporate raiders. According to Bloomberg, activist investors have set their sights on companies with more than $400 billion in combined value, pressuring management to embrace austerity in the name of shareholder value.
Charts
Novavax is worth less now than before Covid
Novavax, a company that developed a powerful Covid-19 vaccine and then repeatedly failed to make money from it, is now trading below its value at the outset of the pandemic.
The company’s share price fell about 25% yesterday after Novavax warned that it might not have enough cash to survive the year and missed analysts’ revenue estimates for the fourth quarter. The company’s closing share price of $6.86 is its lowest since February 2020.