Home Depot's New Bidding War 🔨

Plus, Fox buys sports platform.

June 20, 2025

Today is Friday, June 20, 2025.

The Early Bird Index today is 81.64

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Home Depot's New Bidding War 🔨

Home Depot $HD ( ▲ 1.41% ) is no stranger to making acquisitions, but now the home improvement retail giant appears to be in a bidding war for a potential acquisition target.

Details: On Thursday, the Wall Street Journal reported that Home Depot made an offer for the building-products distribution company GMS $GMS ( ▲ 0.08% ) . The report did not include the amount of the offer.

Background: The report comes after the building-products company QXO $QXO ( ▲ 0.36% ) made an unsolicited offer of $5 billion to buy GMS on Wednesday. GMS confirmed the QXO offer on Thursday and has not yet commented on the potential offer from Home Depot.

Stock Price: Home Depot’s stock is down 10.67% this year.

Early Bird’s Nest Egg Gains: Home Depot's interest in acquiring GMS, the largest independent drywall distributor in North America with over 300 branches, is rooted in a broader strategic push to dominate the professional construction supply market.

  • By acquiring GMS, Home Depot could improve its supply chain efficiency by giving it more control over the delivery of specialty building materials.

  • This acquisition would significantly increase Home Depot's presence in the construction supply industry, especially among professional customers.

  • The acquisition could also potentially squeeze out smaller competitors and challenging rivals like QXO.

Final Thoughts: The most recent acquisition by Home Depot is SRS Distribution, a residential specialty trade distribution company that also services the professional market.

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Notables

Notable Earnings Today: Darden Restaurants (NYSE: DRI), Kroger (NYSE: KR), Accenture (NYSE: ACN), CarMax (NYSE: KMX).

Notable IPOs Today: ChampionsGate Acquisition Corporation Class A Ordinary Share (Nasdaq: CHPG), COtwo Advisors Physical European Carbon Allowance Trust (Nasdaq: CTWO).

Notable Equity Crowdfunding Campaigns Ending Today: Virtuix (StartEngine).

Notable Economic Events Today: Philadelphia Fed Manufacturing Index (8:30 a.m. ET), Philly Fed Employment (8:30 a.m. ET), U.S. Leading Economic Indicators (10:00 a.m. ET).

Fox Buys Sports Platform

Media company Fox $FOXA ( ▲ 1.69% ) acquired Caliente TV, a Mexico-based sports broadcasting platform, on Thursday.

Details: The acquisition includes the broadcast rights to several sports leagues in Mexico.

Quote: “FOX’s investment to acquire Caliente TV reflects our commitment to building a leading sports streaming business in Mexico with massive audience reach, a robust sports rights portfolio and an impressive roster of exclusive sports leagues and talent.” - FOX EVP Carlos Martinez.

Final Thoughts: Fox, up 11.68% this year, is trying to expand at a time when other media companies are considering breaking up.

FICO’s New $1 Billion Stock Buyback

The credit score data analytics company FICO $FICO ( ▼ 0.82% ) announced a new $1 billion stock buyback on Thursday to boost its stock price.

Final Thoughts: FICO’s stock is down 11.64% this year.

More Problems: Tesla's robotaxi rollout runs into trouble (The Street)

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The contents of Early Bird are intended for informational and entertainment purposes only. They do not constitute trade or investment recommendations and they are not financial or legal advice. Readers are encouraged to consult licensed professionals for personalized guidance regarding their financial or legal situations.