U.S. companies have struck more than $80 billion worth of deals in a span of 24 hours, in the latest sign that mergers and acquisitions (M&A) are picking up after the tariff-induced cool-off earlier this year.
Mega Mergers Sweep Wall Street
The recent flurry of all-stock deals includes the merger of American Water Works Company (NYSE:AWK) and Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) to form a utilities giant with an enterprise value of $63 billion. Additionally, Huntington Bancshares (NASDAQ:HBAN) has agreed to a $7.4 billion takeover of midsize Southern lender Cadence Bank (NYSE:CADE).
On Sunday, Swiss drugmaker Novartis (NYSE:NVS) announced an agreement to acquire Avidity Bioscience (NASDAQ:RNA), valuing the rare disease-focused biotech at an enterprise value of $12 billion. The combined enterprise value of these three deals totals $82.4 billion.
Coupled with falling interest rates, the Trump administration's favorable stance towards large deals and growing clarity on tariffs have boosted optimism among dealmakers for a strong fourth quarter.
Bill Anderson, senior managing director at Evercore, told The Financial Times that “Strategic consolidation, a favorable antitrust environment and positive market reactions” have been the driving forces for these transactions.
Despite the recent surge, it’s important to note that the total number of transactions this year remains lower than last year.
Optimism Rises For Q4 Deals
“Merger Monday” signaled that the uptick in M&A activity is making a comeback. In an interview with Benzinga, Jay Woods, Chief Market Strategist at Freedom Capital Markets, highlighted regional banks as a sector that could soon see a surge in M&A activity in the fourth quarter.
Furthermore, a report by Goldman Sachs in September identified six stocks across sectors with a high probability of being acquisition targets in the next year. The bank projected a 15% increase in new deals in 2026, further supporting the current surge in M&A activity.
Analysts also feel that the surge in M&A activity is expected to benefit companies like Moody’s Corp (NYSE:MCO), which reported solid third-quarter results.
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Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.