The Globe’s stars and dogs for the week

Table of Contents

Take-Two Interactive Software (STAR)

TTWO – Nasdaq

The problem with the world today? Not enough violence. Thank goodness for video games like Grand Theft Auto, in which people can indulge their darkest impulses by running down virtual pedestrians, shooting kittens and feeding hitchhikers to a cult of cannibals. It’s all in good fun – especially for shareholders of Take-Two Interactive Software. Shares of the video game developer – whose other titles include NBA 2K and Red Dead Redemption – surged after fiscal fourth-quarter revenue leaped 56 per cent to US$1.45-billion, topping Wall Street’s expectations. With the stock at its highest in more than a year, the company is killin’ it, so to speak.

Bausch Health (STAR)

BHC – TSX

Can we talk about irritable bowel syndrome? The condition affects as much as one-fifth of the population, which explains why pharmaceutical companies are so keen to cash in on the market for IBS drugs. Unfortunately for Norwich Pharmaceuticals, it will have to wait a few more years. Norwich had been trying to win approval for a generic version of Bausch Health’s IBS treatment, Xifaxan. But a U.S. court this week denied Norwich’s motion to modify a judgment that prevents the U.S. Food and Drug Administration from approving its application before 2029. Judging by the jump in Bausch Health’s stock price, its shareholders are anything but irritable.

Kyndryl Holdings (DOG)

KD – NYSE

Business quiz! Kyndryl is a) an antihistamine, similar to Benadryl, that is used primarily to sedate children who refuse to lie down for nap time; b) the world’s largest producer of high-temperature kilns for firing clay into pottery; c) an information technology infrastructure services company, spun out from International Business Machines in 2021, whose shares sank this week after it reported fiscal fourth-quarter revenue and earnings well short of estimates and warned that sales will fall 6 to 8 per cent in the current year. Answer: c.

EVgo (DOG)

EVGO – Nasdaq

Money-saving tip: When your neighbours are out of town, charge your electric vehicle at their house for free. Money-losing tip: Invest in electric vehicle charging company EVgo. The shares tumbled after the company, which has more than 3,000 public charging stations operating or under construction across the United States, said it is selling US$125-million of new shares to finance an expansion of its network. With the shares already down sharply this year amid higher interest rates and weak sentiment toward growth stocks, the prospect of dilution evidently came as a shock to investors.