Corporate Funding

More U.S. public companies are going private as deal makers look to use the capital they have built up to buy targets made more attractive amid recent stock-market declines.A handful of deals announced or completed so far in 2022—including for social-media company Twitter Inc. and software firm Citrix Systems Inc. —appear to be setting the stage for another busy year in which public companies are acquired by either private-equity firms or a controlling…

Chinese companies like Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. BABA -5.79% are embracing buybacks and one-off dividends, handing cash to shareholders as they seek to shore up their battered stock prices and signal confidence in the long-term outlook. The dividend payouts and stock repurchases could help support a market that has been rattled by a series of challenges, which range from the economic impact of Beijing’s Covid-19 policies and sweeping regulatory crackdowns to concerns…

Ford F -4.79% Motor Co. has sold off about 8% of its stockholdings in Rivian RIVN -18.60% Automotive Inc., according to people familiar with the matter, pushing shares of the electric-vehicle startup to an all-time low.Rivian stock has come under pressure, following news of the Ford stock sale, first reported by CNBC on Saturday. Rivian’s stock opened at $25 a share Monday, down 13% from Friday’s close and continuing a…

Oil prices are at their highest in years and politicians want companies to pump more. But most large American frackers are standing pat, or even letting production decline, and instead are handing investors cash.Much of the U.S. shale industry recently reported higher profits than in the same quarter a year earlier, but companies aren’t reinvesting more in production—indeed, some have let U.S. output slip as they focus on paying investors. Nine of the largest U.S. oil producers this week said they shelled out a combined…