Why Traders Are Buzzing About MGM, Apple, and Three Other Companies Today

City of Beijing Rules Against Apple

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)‘s China problems may not be over. Shares of the company are off by 1.7% in morning trading on the news that Beijing officials have ordered the halt of sales of the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus in the city. The officials have ordered a halt because a court has ruled the two phone’s designs infringe on a patent by a Chinese company. Apple has appealed and, according to reports, all Apple products are still for sale across the country. China is a key market for Apple and the company needs to have good relations with the government. David Einhorn’s Greenlight Capital was one of the top shareholders of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) at the end of March.

M&A Activity in Beauty Sector 

Revlon Inc (NYSE:REV) is buying Elizabeth Arden, Inc. (NASDAQ:RDEN) for $14 in cash per share, representing an enterprise value for Elizabeth Arden of around $870 million. Revlon shares are up by 9% and Elizabeth Arden shares have surged by 47% on the back of the news. Revlon’s management estimates that the acquisition of Elizabeth Arden will deliver $140 million in annual cost synergies and will create a combined company with greater scale, a more diversified product line, and an expanded global footprint. Revlon expects pro-forma leverage to be 4.2x Net Debt/Adjusted EBITDA by the end of this year. Nine funds from our database were bullish on Revlon Inc (NYSE:REV) and the same number of funds was long Elizabeth Arden, Inc. (NASDAQ:RDEN) at the end of the first quarter.

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