Nike, Wonder Group-Blue Apron deal, Anheuser-Busch: Trending Tickers

Nike (NKE) shares close the week higher after reporting a first-quarter earnings beat. Wonder Group has reached a deal with Blue Apron (APRN) to acquire the meal kit company for $103 million. Lastly, Bank of America analysts upgrade Anheuser-Busch's (BUD) stock to a "Buy" rating.

Yahoo Finance's Julie Hyman and Josh Lipton highlight several of the day's trending stocks after Friday's closing bell.

For more expert insight and the latest market action, click here to watch this full episode of Yahoo Finance Live.

Video transcript

JOSH LIPTON: Now, let's check in on a few of today's top trending tickers. Nike shares closing the week on a strong note on the back of its first quarter earnings report. The retail giant Nike signaled easing concerns regarding a slowdown in China and saw inventories dip 10% compared to a year ago in its first quarter.

So we talked about this when, Julie, it was beaten down heading into this print. Investors--

JULIE HYMAN: It was.

JOSH LIPTON: --were sellers. There were even some analysts on the Street heading into the print, they downgraded their rating, right? Because they were worried about the consumer. They were worried about the China. Now, maybe in parts a sigh of relief here today.

JULIE HYMAN: Yeah, most definitely. But a couple of things that are fascinating to me about this. One is the ripple effect that we are--

JOSH LIPTON: Yup.

JULIE HYMAN: --seeing not just in other shoe makers today, right? Everything from Puma to Adidas to On Holdings, we were seeing a boost there, but also many of the retailers who sell through Nike shoes from a Foot Locker. Even I think Kohl's was getting a bump today. Under Armor also got a bit of a halo effect.

And the reason for that seems to be specifically what Nike said about inventories, where it saw some improvement in its inventory levels. Nike had embarked on a bit of a strategy to cut prices in order to clear out its inventory glut. And that seems to have worked. So then the thinking is, well, if it can do it, then others can. And maybe then they'll see some stability in prices and not as much cutting in the prices perhaps. So that seems to be some of the chatter that I'm seeing around this broader ecosystem, if you will--

JOSH LIPTON: You know, to your point--

JULIE HYMAN: --and one of the reasons--

JOSH LIPTON: --I mean, you look at the athletic gear sector today-- Foot Locker, Under Armor, Skechers.

JULIE HYMAN: I forgot Dick's. That was the one I forgot.

JOSH LIPTON: Yeah, absolutely all in the green.

JULIE HYMAN: Yeah, so big increases there. Here's a fun one that we've been watching today. Blue Apron shares-- haven't talked about that in a while-- higher after it was announced that Wonder Group would be buying the online meal kit company. Blue Apron stockholders will be entitled to receive $13 in cash per share of class A common stock through a tender offer.

So the shares up 134%. Overall, it's about a $100 million deal. Now, Wonder is an interesting company. This is Marc Lore's food truck company that then pivoted into sort of a ghost kitchen company, right?

JOSH LIPTON: Yup.

JULIE HYMAN: But Blue Apron has been beat down for years. It's a very crowded field now. And then--

JOSH LIPTON: Went public at $2 billion, yep.

JULIE HYMAN: Yeah.

JOSH LIPTON: And then competition Amazon, Kroger--

JULIE HYMAN: Exactly.

JOSH LIPTON: Yeah.

JULIE HYMAN: But lots of different meal kit. I mean, like, every time you listen to a podcast, you can't get past a-- past it without hearing some meal kit promo and ads. And so it's a very crowded field. But I mean, like, look at the highs of where we saw this stock.

JOSH LIPTON: Yeah, but-- and now, Marc Lore weighing in here. He's saying, this is going to bring him one step closer to achieving his goal, Julie, of creating a super app for mealtime.

JULIE HYMAN: Super app for--

JOSH LIPTON: Yeah.

JULIE HYMAN: --meal time. We'll see if that works. I actually used Wonder when it was still the food truck company. So basically, what it would do is they would drive the truck to your house and cook the food--

JOSH LIPTON: Yeah.

JULIE HYMAN: --like sitting outside of your house and bring it to you.

JOSH LIPTON: And listen--

JULIE HYMAN: It was all right.

JOSH LIPTON: --when Marc speaks, a lot of people listen. Incredible track--

JULIE HYMAN: It's true.

JOSH LIPTON: --record. He's the one, of course, sold jet.com to Walmart for around $3 billion. So when he speaks, people tend to perk up.

JULIE HYMAN: It's true.

JOSH LIPTON: Yeah. Shares of Anheuser-Busch rising today after Bank of America upgraded its recommendation for the stock from a hold to a buy, citing margins appearing to have reached inflection point as cost of goods, sold pressures have started to ease. Of course, this one, Julie, we know got caught up in a culture war issue that--

JULIE HYMAN: Yes.

JOSH LIPTON: --did affect the brand and the business. But this analyst sees better times. And they're talking about margins but also talking about how they think this is a brand that's better positioned, especially in markets like Latin America.

JULIE HYMAN: I mean, basically, at what point does the negative get priced into the stock?

JOSH LIPTON: Right.

JULIE HYMAN: And so this analyst is effectively saying it's been priced in.

JOSH LIPTON: Yup.

JULIE HYMAN: And so after the beating that the stock has seen this year on the heels of that Bud Light promotion that went wrong for the company on a number of different levels, now, you know, it's time for people to take another look is what this--

JOSH LIPTON: Yeah.

JULIE HYMAN: --analyst is saying.

JOSH LIPTON: And even with the pop here, though, still down nearly 10% on the year.