Market Beats | AMC Entertainment Launches Multi-Billion Debt Refinancing; Paramount-Warner Settlement Talks Reportedly Include $30 Million Penalty; Three Major Outlets Sue Trump Administration Over White House Access Revocation; Three Major Outlets Sue Trump Administration Over White House Access Revocation; Novo Nordisk Cut 13,000 Jobs in Past Year; AMD Shares Jump, On Track to Close Above $1 Trillion Market Cap; Technical Glitch at Philadelphia ATC Facility Disrupts Flights Across Major New York Airports; Meta’s New AI Agent “Muse” Tops US App Store and Google Play Charts

—— AMC Entertainment Launches Multi-Billion Debt Refinancing; Paramount-Warner Settlement Talks Reportedly Include $30 Million Penalty; Three Major Outlets Sue Trump Administration Over White House Access Revocation; Three Major Outlets Sue Trump Administration Over White House Access Revocation; Novo Nordisk Cut 13,000 Jobs in Past Year; AMD Shares Jump, On Track to Close Above $1 Trillion Market Cap; Technical Glitch at Philadelphia ATC Facility Disrupts Flights Across Major New York Airports; Meta’s New AI Agent “Muse” Tops US App Store and Google Play Charts

1. OpenAI Unveils Misalignment Incident Tracking Framework

AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc. is offering new debt to overhaul much of its capital structure, announcing Monday a plan to refinance first- and second-lien debt and extend maturities.

The theater operator said it began a $2 billion sale of bonds in a private offering and launched syndication of a $850 million loan. AMC added it entered into a commitment letter with Deutsche Bank AG for a $1.12 billion second-lien loan.

The new financing comes amid growing hope that the movie industry has moved past the strains inflicted by the Covid-19 pandemic and strikes in 2023 that delayed production schedules. US and Canadian movie theaters sold a record $4.77 billion of tickets this past summer, according to market researcher Rentrak. Shares of AMC have surged 73% this year. AMC’s previous financing, a $425 million deal with Deutsche in March, included provisions allowing it to pay off that debt on more-advantageous terms if it was able to execute a broader refinancing. The company had $3.7 billion of corporate borrowings as of June 30, according to its quarterly report.

Investors have watched AMC go to the brink and back in recent years. It was an early victim of Covid-19 closures, but saw its shares soar when it was championed by meme-stock traders.

The firm has since performed multiple debt-and-equity deals to bolster its finances. S&P Global Ratings upgraded AMC to B- in July, citing record second-quarter results.

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2. Paramount-Warner Settlement Talks Reportedly Include $30 Million Penalty

The settlement talks between Paramount Skydance Corp. and California officials over the planned acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery Inc. are said to include a financial penalty if the company fails to make good on a promise to distribute 30 films per year in theaters.

Paramount would have to pay $30 million for each film that falls short of that goal, according to two people familiar with the discussions who asked to not be identified because the negotiations are private. It could also be forced to sell its stake in Miramax, the studio behind movies such as Pulp Fiction, if it fails to meet the target, one of the people said. While Paramount has promised to distribute at least 30 movies in theaters for some time, California Attorney General Rob Bonta, who has led the litigation for the states, has repeatedly said he opposes such remedies because they are difficult to enforce. The company earlier offered the 30-film pledge to major theater chains to help win their support for the merger.

Paramount may be able to reach the agreed-upon number by releasing some films produced by others, rather than movies the company made itself.

Attorneys general from 12 states, all Democrats, and the Writers Guild trade union have sued to block Paramount’s $110 billion acquisition of Warner Bros., arguing that it would give the company an undue share of the movie and cable-TV industries.

Paramount’s shares rose 5.6% in premarket trading on Monday. The stock had closed at $10.21 in New York on Friday and has declined 24% this year. Warner Brothers gained about 7.2% in early trading after previously closing at $27.80. The company’s stock is down 3.5% this year.

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3. Three Major Outlets Sue Trump Administration Over White House Access Revocation

Three media outlets announced Monday they will sue to maintain their ability to enter the White House grounds days after President Donald Trump revoked their access, turning to the courts in their fight over constitutional protections for the press.

“We are filing a lawsuit today to protect our First Amendment rights and defend the principle that the government does not decide what the press reports or publishes,” CNN, MS NOW and Politico said in a joint statement.

Trump’s announcement on Friday that he was banning the outlets has immediate impacts on coverage of the president. CNN was due to be the broadcaster traveling with Trump to New York Monday ahead of the UN General Assembly but has been removed from that roster. It was unclear which news organization, if any, would take its place. The ban marked a significant escalation in the administration’s efforts to curb press access to events and spaces that are in the public interest. Federal courts have previously overturned similar moves against reporters who work at the White House campus. The First Amendment of the US Constitution prohibits the government from making laws that abridge freedom of speech and the press.

“The White House is not instituting an assault on the Free Press, something which I cherish,” Trump said on social media Monday, defending his move. “It is instituting an assault on the FAKE NEWS, something that has grown like Cancer in our beloved United States of America,” he added, claiming the coverage is “a threat to our National Security.”

Trump, for years, has dismissed critical coverage of his administration and policies as “fake news.”

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4. Novo Nordisk Cut 13,000 Jobs in Past Year

Novo said on Monday it had cut its workforce by 13,000 in the past year as the maker of weight-loss drugs continues to slash costs amid intensifying competition.

The disclosure came as chief executive Mike Doustdar set out his plans to revive Novo’s fortunes at an investor day in London, including by launching new blockbuster drugs and expanding into new treatment areas.

The maker of Ozempic and Wegovy has fallen behind rival Eli Lilly in the multibillion-dollar obesity-drug market and has been cutting costs under Doustdar. The group last year cut 9,000 jobs — including 5,000 in its home country of Denmark — out of a workforce of 78,400.

In its presentation to investors, Novo said a further 4,000 people had left the company over the past year. A spokesperson said most of those exits were due to natural attrition and Novo deciding to leave roles unfilled.

Shares in Novo, which ditched the Nordisk from its name for everyday use last week, fell as much as 7 per cent on Monday morning as investors reacted to Doustdar’s turnaround plans. Those included a pledge to launch more than five “multi-blockbuster” drugs by 2030 and to branch out into new medicines.

Novo is under pressure to build out its pipeline to guard against a loss of revenue as its semaglutide-based obesity and diabetes drugs lose exclusivity in a number of markets.

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5. AMD Shares Jump, On Track to Close Above $1 Trillion Market Cap

Advanced Micro Devices Inc. shares jumped Monday, putting the company on track to close above $1 trillion in market value for the first time amid renewed optimism for chipmakers necessary to power artificial intelligence.

The stock gained as much as 10% to hit a record high and is on course to join fellow chipmakers Micron Technology Inc, Broadcom Inc., Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Ltd. and Nvidia Corp, with valuations of $1 trillion or more. There are 15 other publicly traded companies in the world worth at least that much, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Shares of other semiconductor firms also climbed on Monday, as Intel Corp. rose as much as 12% and Arm Holdings Plc gained as much as 14%. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index climbed more than 4%, set for its fifth straight session of gains. At least some of the optimism for chip stocks comes after Meta Platform Inc.’s Muse AI Agent reached the top slot among Apple Inc.’s App Store free applications following its launch earlier this month. That’s stoked a renewed frenzy for shares of companies that produce central-processing units, or CPUs, necessary to power agentic AI. Meta shares soared more than 7% on Monday.

“As AI agents gain broader consumer adoption, demand for server CPUs should benefit from higher inference, orchestration, and infrastructure workloads,” Jefferies analyst Jacky He wrote in a note.

AMD shares have seen renewed enthusiasm from investors in recent weeks after a two-month period of losses. The stock has gained about 30% so far in September, putting it on track for its best monthly gain since May, after shedding nearly 26% from its June peak to its July trough.

Meta is AMD’s second-biggest customer, accounting for about 5.5% of its revenue, data compiled by Bloomberg show.

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6. Technical Glitch at Philadelphia ATC Facility Disrupts Flights Across Major New York Airports

Flights at New York’s major airports, including John F. Kennedy International, LaGuardia and Newark Liberty International, were disrupted after a technical problem at an air traffic control facility in Philadelphia.

A so-called ground stop was in effect at Newark, LaGuardia and JFK, as well as Philadelphia International Airport and New Jersey’s Teterboro Airport, which handles private jets, according to the Federal Aviation Administration’s National Airspace System Status website.

Philadelphia had average departure delays of about an hour while Teterboro also had delays of more than three hours as of 1:04 p.m. local time on Monday. The outage comes as New York hosts the United Nations General Assembly this week that will see leaders from around the world converging on the city. The outage occurred due to the primary circuit failing at the Philadelphia TRACON, a facility that guides flights into and out of Newark airport, FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford said at an event in Washington. The backup fiber optic circuit had a break that will take about 13 hours to repair, Bedford said.

The FAA has prepared a new circuit that it expects to be operational by 1:30 p.m. local time on Monday, Bedford said.

United Airlines Holdings Inc., which has one of its biggest hubs at Newark, advised affected customers that they could rebook their trip for free.

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7. Meta’s New AI Agent “Muse” Tops US App Store and Google Play Charts

Former senior Bank of America Corp. investment banker Jason Satsky was accused by the US Securities and Exchange Commission of providing an insider-trading tip to a friend who allegedly made $18.5 million in illegal profits.

Satsky, who was previously Bank of America’s head of energy and power infrastructure banking, was sued Friday by the SEC along with the friend, Gavin Wolfe. According to the SEC, Satsky tipped Wolfe off on an acquisition offer for South Jersey Industries Inc. during a November 2021 basketball game.

Between November and December 2021, Wolfe bought at least $53 million in stock and the pair continued to converse, the SEC said.

The SEC suit doesn’t name Bank of America as Satsky’s then-employer, but Bloomberg has previously reported that federal prosecutors were probing trades around the deal.

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