Shell’s €1.9bn biogas grab

Today’s top stories include Shell’s €1.9bn acquisition of Europe’s largest biogas firm, an impressive earnings beat for Pinduoduo and record-breaking Black Friday/Cyber Monday sales estimates. Elsewhere, hedge funds place their bets on the tech stocks they expect to rally amid a market revival, while analysts downgrade companies selling vegan meal alternatives.

Earnings beat boosts Pinduoduo

Pinduoduo’s [PDD] Q3 revenues beat analyst estimates by 14.74%, soaring 65% year-over-year to RMB35.50bn ($4.99bn) in earnings announced Monday. Intermittent lockdowns in China have boosted demand for the ecommerce platform, which saw its share price rise 12% across Monday. However, the firm’s vice president of finance Liu Jun told investors that the need for further investment would weigh on future profits.

Shell in €1.9bn biogas grab

Shell’s [SHEL.L] bid to diversify away from fossil fuels will be boosted by a $1.9bn acquisition of Denmark’s Nature Energy, Europe’s largest biogas producer. The deal follows BP’s [BP] $4.1bn acquisition of Archaea Energy [LFG] last month. Shell’s downstream director Huibert Vigeveno highlighted the “strong growth in demand” for biogas forecast for the near future.

Record-breaking shopping weekend

Data from Adobe [ADBE] indicates this year’s Cyber Monday shopping broke records with an estimated $11.2bn to $11.6bn spent online, especially on toys such as Lego and Pokémon cards. Shopify [SHOP] claimed a record-breaking Black Friday for its customers with $3.36bn in sales between the day’s start in New Zealand and its close in California. Shopify’s stock gained 3.4% on Monday.

Analysts roast alt meats

Barclays analysts cut their ratings for stocks Beyond Meat [BYND] and Tyson [TSN] on Monday, based on what they said was a weak outlook for vegan alternative meat products. The bank said research indicates that tightening consumer budgets would reduce demand for such products based on affordability. Chicken, a relatively cheap protein, was highlighted for investors’ attention, with Pilgrim’s Pride Corporation [PPC] given a strong recommendation as a result. Barclays currently has a $29 price target on the chicken producer, suggesting a potential 10.4% upside on Monday’s closing price.

Big revival for big tech?

Plurimi Wealth’s CIO Patrick Armstrong has tipped big tech for a resurgence, highlighting Apple [AAPL] and Alphabet [GOOGL] as stocks to watch. Both are held by Plurimi, and Armstrong expects both to deliver 10% returns next year. Meanwhile, top hedge fund Liontrust last month placed a contrarian bet on Meta [META], having previously shorted the tech sector through the year. It now holds a long position on the firm, which has seen a share price drop of almost 70% year-to-date.