CE 100 Gains 2.1% as Dayforce Goes Private

The CE 100 Index gained 2.1%, as all pillars were in the green, an event not seen in several weeks.

Dayforce Leaps on Thoma Bravo Deal

Dayforce proved to be the highest profile gainer through the week, leaping more than 30.8% and moving the Work pillar ahead by 2.2%.

Dayforce struck a deal to be acquired by Thoma Bravo for about $12.3 billion, as reported by several sites, including The Wall Street Journal, in a move that represented a 32% premium to the company’s stock price on Friday. The firms had acknowledged they were in talks for a possible acquisition.  The transaction will close early next year.

Cogent shares grew 12.1%, helping boost the Enablers pillar by 0.7%. Financial sites, including Investing.com, noted that Wells Fargo upgraded Cogent from Underweight to Overweight at the beginning of the week. Analysts wrote that the valuation is favorable and that asset sales may be a catalyst for upside.

Pay and Be Paid Names Get a Boost

The Pay and Be Paid sector got a 2.7% boost, as Block tacked on 4.4%, followed by Mastercard with a 2.9% rally. Mastercard has launched a money movement partnership with Worldpay in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The collaboration is designed to streamline money movement for consumers and businesses in the UAE through Mastercard Move. The solution lets Worldpay’s merchants leverage their acquiring flows to finance payouts, simplifying operations and lessening their dependence on multiple providers.

Elsewhere, Visa shut its open banking business in the U.S., according to Friday reports. In a statement provided to Bloomberg and Reuters, a Visa spokesperson said, per the reports: “We are focusing our open banking strategy in high-potential markets like Europe and Latin America.” The payment network’s stock was 1.6% higher through the week.

Within the Shopping segment, which added 1.2% overall, PYMNTS reported that Walmart’s eCommerce sales were 26% higher than a year ago and digital sales for grocery were up double digits. Store-fulfilled delivery of grocery items was up 50%.  Net sales are projected to grow in a range of 3.75% to 4.75% for the fiscal year. That’s higher than the 3% to 4% range that had previously been in place. But tariff-related costs helped pressure the shares by 3.2% through the week.

With a nod to those tariffs, CEO Doug McMillon said: “We’re doing what we said we would do. We’re keeping our prices as low as we can for as long as we can. Our merchants have been creative and acted with urgency to avoid what would have been additional pressure for our customers and members. They’ve done a terrific job managing pricing and mix across merchandise categories. They managed to generate rollbacks.”

Those losses were offset by 6.9% gains from Pinduoduo shares.

Peloton Loses the Most Ground

Peloton shares lost the most ground among our CE 100 components, sliding more than 7%.

As reported earlier in the month, Peloton plans to launch its integrated artificial intelligence platform and other new products as early as October. The company is set to roll out the platform, an updated bike, a refreshed treadmill and new branded peripherals.