MoneyGram and Western Union Merge

Shares of MoneyGram International Inc. MGI, 27.03% soared in after-hours trading Monday after a report that Western Union Co. WU, 11.18% was looking to acquire it. Bloomberg News reported the potential takeover, which was said to be still under discussion. No purchase price was reported. A deal would combine two of the biggest money-transfer services in the U.S. MoneyGram shares ended the extended session up 32%, at $3.41 a share, after peaking as high as 74%. The company has a market cap of $176.5 million as of the end of trading Monday. MoneyGram stock has risen 23% year to date, and 86% over the past 12 months. Western Union shares rose more than 6% after hours, but are down 23% in 2020.
_______________________________________________

Microsoft Could Be a $2 Trillion Company. Analyst Sees Gains From Cloud Business.

Microsoft stock has climbed more than 15% in 2020 as the company has avoided much impact from Covid-19. Yet Wells Fargo argues that the shares have more room to run—and that the tech giant’s market capitalization could grow to more than $2 trillion on the strength of its Azure cloud-computing business.

Analyst Philip Winslow reiterated an Outperform rating on Microsoft Tuesday, while boosting his target for the stock price to $250 from $205, based on the strength of the company’s cloud offerings.

Apple Is the World’s Most Highly Valued Company. Why It Could Soar Much Higher.

Apple is the world’s most highly valued company, with a market capitalization of $1.389 trillion. With the stock nearing the record closing level of $327.20 it hit in February, it is reasonable to wonder how much further it can go.

Evercore ISI analyst Amit Daryanani thinks the stock can go higher, and maybe a lot higher.