Shad Khan’s sports assets grew in value last year but he slipped a spot in Forbes magazine’s annual ranking of sports empires.
In a story posted Jan. 24, Forbes said Khan has the world’s 13th-largest sports empire, valued at $5.95 billion.
That’s up from $4.8 billion a year ago when Khan was ranked 12th.
Khan’s sports holdings consist of the Jacksonville Jaguars, English soccer team Fulham FC and professional wrestling organization All Elite Wrestling.
His sports interests account for just a little more than half of Khan’s business empire, according to Forbes. He ranked 55th in the magazine’s list of richest Americans in September with an estimated net worth of $11.2 billion.
His biggest business is auto parts company Flex-N-Gate Corp.
The sports list consists of people or companies owning a majority stake in at least one sports team and additional sports-related properties with a total value of at least $100 million.
Forbes said the 25 biggest sports empires are worth a total of $173 billion, up 23% from 2022.
The largest empire continues to be Liberty Media at $20.8 billion, with holdings including the Atlanta Braves and the Formula One auto-racing circuit.
Despite beating analysts’ forecasts and an overall positive day for the market, CSX Corp.’s stock dropped Jan. 26 after its year-end earnings report.
The Jacksonville-based railroad company’s fourth-quarter earnings of 49 cents a share were 2 cents higher than the average analyst’s forecast, according to Zacks Equity Research, but the stock fell as much as $1.66 to $29.39.
Investors were not impressed by the company’s projection that its freight volume would grow more this year than the U.S. gross domestic product.
“CSX delivered a slightly up volume outlook for 2023, which was more constructive than we’d expected and led by margin-friendly merchandise, and we raise our volume forecasts on management’s market enthusiasm,” Susquehanna Financial Group analyst Bascome Majors said in a research note.
“Despite positive volume commentary, CSX steered clear of margin or op income guidance (as we expected they would), though didn’t push back on suggestions that both would be pressured in 2023, which should disappoint bullish investors,” Majors said.
He maintained a “neutral” rating on the stock, “seeking entry points on signs of demand stabilization.”
BMO Capital Markets analyst Fadi Chamoun was more positive, maintaining an “outperform” rating despite seeing “limited growth opportunities” this year.
“On the other hand, improving service levels and several other growth levers, including a sizable backlog of new business, offer an opportunity for re-acceleration of growth and margin expansion in 2024/2025,” Chamoun said in his note.
NextEra Energy Inc.’s stock was the worst performer in the Standard & Poor’s 500 index the week ended Jan. 27 after reporting lower-than-expected fourth-quarter revenue.
However, the biggest issue affecting the company’s stock may have been the retirement of Eric Silagy, chief executive of NextEra’s Florida Power & Light Co. subsidiary.
FPL has been under investigation for possible political campaign finance law violations and while the company said Silagy’s retirement is unrelated, the announcement made waves on Wall Street.
“As a reminder, we reported last quarter that we were reviewing allegations of Florida state and federal campaign finance law violations raised in media articles and a related complaint filed in October 2022 with the Federal Election Commission,” NextEra CEO John Ketchum said in a conference call with analysts, according to a company transcript.
“Based on information in our possession, we believe that FPL would not be found liable for any of the Florida campaign finance law violations as alleged in the media articles,” he said.
NextEra’s stock fell $7.31 to $76.59 on Jan. 25 after the quarterly report and ended the week down 8%, making it the S&P 500’s biggest loser, according to investing website Seeking Alpha.
“The end of the investigation and conclusion that they don’t see violations would have been a positive update, but coinciding with Silagy’s retirement yesterday raised additional questions for investors around whether there is still outstanding risk,” Morgan Stanley analyst David Arcaro said in a June 26 research note.
Silagy said in a news release his retirement after 11 years had been planned after Ketchum joined the company a year ago.
“When John became CEO of NextEra Energy last year, I committed to him that I would stay in my role for at least one more year and I’ve now satisfied that commitment,” he said.
Juno Beach-based NextEra reported fourth-quarter earnings of 51 cents a share, slightly higher than analysts’ forecasts, and revenue of $6.16 billion, slightly below forecasts.
FPL, NextEra’s biggest business, provides electricity to most of Florida’s East Coast outside of Jacksonville.
Duos Technologies Group Inc. picked up its second analyst rating when Ascendiant Capital Markets analyst Edward Woo initiated coverage with a “buy” recommendation.
The Jacksonville-based company provides technology focusing on the railroad industry, and Woo sees potential in its Railcar Inspection Portal, which can inspect trains while they are in transit.
“There are an estimated 1.6 million railcars, 140,000 track miles, and over 500 rail yards in North America. There is a big push by federal regulators and railroad companies to move towards advanced technology and automation to reduce costs, increase efficiency, and improve safety,” Woo said in his Jan. 18 initiation report.
“Duo’s main RIP product still has long commercialization challenges ahead, but we believe the approximately billion dollar market potential presents high rewards for the risks,” he said.
Woo has a $5 price target for the stock, which was trading at $2.67 at the time of his report.
The other analyst following Duos, Michael Latimore of Northland Capital Markets, has an “outperform” rating and a $10 target.
Ameris Bancorp reported flat fourth-quarter earnings that were below analysts’ forecasts.
Adjusted earnings of $1.17 a share were equal to its fourth-quarter 2021 earnings, but lower than the average analyst’s forecast of $1.34, according to Zacks.
“Despite forecasted challenging economic conditions and potential market volatility, we are well positioned for 2023 as we focus on core fundamentals in our strong Southeastern markets,” CEO Palmer Proctor said in a Jan. 26 news release.
Ameris moved its executive offices from Jacksonville to Atlanta in 2019.
ReviveHealth said Jan. 24 it acquired SwiftMD, a Pennsylvania-based company that provides virtual health care services.
Ponte Vedra Beach-based ReviveHealth offers subscription health plans. It said the acquisition of SwiftMD expands its membership to more than 1 million subscribers nationwide.
ReviveHealth also said Eir Partners, a Miami-based private equity firm, took a majority interest in the company as part of its acquisition of SwiftMD.
Terms of the deal were not announced.
Dragon Seats announced Jan. 23 it acquired Athletic Recovery Zone LLC, a Jacksonville-based company that provides air conditioning and heating sports bench technology.
Cleveland-based Dragon Seats, which also makes heating and cooling sports benches, said the acquisition expands its customer base to a majority of the 32 NFL teams and a number of collegiate athletic programs.
Terms of the deal were not announced.