Data analytics software firm Palantir closed Friday's session up nearly 4%, with the company set to join the Nasdaq 100 (^NDX) next week, according to Barron's.
This is part of an an annual reconstitution of the Nasdaq 100, with changes due to take effect before market open on 23 December. It comes after Palantir transferred its listing from the New York Stock Exchange to the Nasdaq Global Select Market (^NQGS) in late November.
Speaking to Yahoo Finance last week, Wedbush Securities senior equity research analyst Dan Ives said he believes that Palantir could "could be the next Oracle (ORCL); the next Salesforce (CRM)".
"That's where I see this going over the next five, 10 years," he said, basing this on the belief that the stock is undervalued.
Palantir shares are up 343% year-to-date, with the stock rallying after the company's latest quarterly results last month came in ahead of expectations.
Cybersecurity company Palo Alto has implemented a two-for-one stock split, which it announced in its most recent quarterly results, with shares beginning to trade on its this split-adjusted basis on Monday.
A stock split is a decision by a company's board of directors to increase the number of shares outstanding by issuing more shares to current shareholders (without diluting the value of their stakes).
The number of outstanding shares rises and the price per share decreases proportionally, while the market capitalisation and value of the company stays the same.
Shares in Palo Alto hit an all-time high recently, despite the stock having fallen on the back of its fiscal first quarter results in late November.
RBC Capital Markets managing director and head of global TIMT research Matt Hedberg told Yahoo Finance that he thought that the company's numbers still looked "solid".
"As we get into more of an AI-centric world, we think Palo Alto's in a really strong position to help organisations deal with increasing cyberthreat that is often times AI-infused," he said.
Canal+, which makes the Paddington films, has been spun out of the Vivendi media holding company. Advertising company Havas (HAVAS.AS) and publisher Louis Hachette (ALHG.PA), which had also been spun out of Vivendi (VIV.PA), rose in their market debuts in Amsterdam and Paris respectively.
Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell (AJB.L), said: "Canal+’s listing needs to be successful for both Vivendi and the reputation of the UK stock market. Vivendi needs to prove to investors that it was right to break up the business, based on the principle that its component parts could, in time, be worth more individually than together.
“Choosing London for Canal+ is important as it is the biggest company to join the UK stock market since changes to the listing rules in the summer and under the newly installed Labour government.
"If Canal+ does well, it could act as a shop window for other big names to float in London and help replenish the pot that has been shrunk by takeovers and delistings."
The £3.6bn ($4.6bn) takeover of Royal Mail-owner International Distribution Services (IDS) by Czech billionaire Daniel Křetínský's EP Group has been given the green light by the UK government.
The UK government said in a statement on Monday morning that it had reached a "legally binding agreement with EP Group that protects Royal Mail's workers and key services whilst keeping it headquartered in the UK."
Keith Williams, non-executive chair of IDS, said that the announcement marked an "important milestone" in the approval process. IDS shares were flat on Monday morning.
“We welcome the government’s commitment today to secure a stable future for Royal Mail," he said. "This will not come from a change in ownership alone but must also be backed by urgent reform of the Universal Service and the continued transformation of this great British business."
This update came after regualtor Ofcom announced on Friday that it had fined Royal Mail £10.5m for "poor delivery performance".
Betting company Entain is being sued by Australia's financial crime watchdog over claims that the owner of Ladbrokes and Coral breached anti-money laundering rules.
The Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (Austrac) said its proceedings alleged "serious and systemic non-compliance with Australia’s anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing laws."
In a statement released in response to the announcement, Gavin Isaacs, CEO of Entain, said: "We note the allegations made, which we take extremely seriously.
"We have co-operated fully with AUSTRAC throughout its investigation and we are implementing further enhancements to Entain Australia's AML and CTF compliance arrangements."
Shares in Entain slumped nearly 7% on Monday morning.
AJ Bell's Mould said: “An Australian crackdown has seen other operators pay out material sums in fines and Entain faces a nervous wait to find what, if any, damage will be done to the balance sheet and its reputation by any eventual judgement.
“This issue could hang over the business for some time to come as proceedings at Australia’s federal court could take a good while to reach a conclusion.
"This could weigh on recently appointed CEO Gavin Isaacs’ attempts to turn around the business."
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Other companies in the news on Monday 16 December:
