CE 100 Index Adds 2.8% as iRobot Gets Waiver Extension From Lenders

The CE 100 Index logged strong gains this past week, adding 2.8% and outperforming benchmarks like the NASDAQ and the Standards and Poor’s 500 Stock Index.

Only one pillar of the CE 100 Index, the Communications segment, lost ground, slipping a slight 0.2%.

iRobot shares showed the most notable increase out of the names tracked, soaring 29% through the week.  The shares advanced on the heels of news that iRobot has been granted an extension on its credit covenant waivers, which in turn means that it has staved off default with lenders.

The waivers, which are in place till August, will help keep creditors from seizing company assets.  Under the terms of the new agreement, and as detailed in this filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the firm is making a $4 million prepayment to its lenders.  The covenants mandate that iRobot provide a report from auditors concerning financial statements.

iRobot’s surge was a key driving force in moving the Live segment of the CE 100 Index 7% higher through the week.

Payment Names Get a Boost

The Pay and be Paid of the CE 100 vertical gathered 5.8% on the heels of several new announcements.

As PYMNTS reported this week, Deutsche Bank and Mastercard partnered to enable merchants across Europe to offer pay-by-bank functionality to their customers.

The partnership will enable merchants to offer this functionality through Deutsche Bank’s Merchant Solutions, with the account-to-account payments based on Mastercard’s open banking network, the companies said.  The integration of Mastercard’s open banking technology into Deutsche Bank’s platform will support faster settlement, enhanced reconciliation and greater payment transparency.

In other payments related news, Mastercard and PayPal have partnered to co-develop features using Mastercard’s One Credential, a solution that enables consumers to use a single credential when shopping online or in-store. The companies aim to use this solution to give consumers more choice and control over how they pay at checkout, allowing them to access multiple payment options, as detailed in the announcement.

Mastercard shares gained 0.8% this past week, while PayPal’s stock jumped 4.5%.

In Visa-related news, and tied to A2A functionality, the network is connecting card-style buyer protections to pay-by-bank transfers, promising U.K. consumers and merchants a safety net that the market’s open-banking rails have largely lacked.  According to Visa, its A2A platform is “market-ready” for bill and subscription payments, with eCommerce to follow. The new service is connected to Pay.UK’s Faster Payment System. Visa’s stock added 1.4%.

In the banking segment, which tacked on 2.4%, J.P. Morgan shares increased by 0.7%. J.P. Morgan Chase plans to offer financing to clients using spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) such as BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) as collateral. Clients’ holdings in crypto ETFs will now count toward net worth and liquidity calculations, placing them alongside stocks and real estate in eligibility assessments.

In the Big Tech sector of the CE 100 Index, shares of Apple and Alphabet were up a respective 1.5% and 1.2%.

PYMNTS reported this past week that a recently-introduced U.S. House bill takes aim at Apple and Google’s mobile app businesses.  The App Store Freedom Act is a bill that would bar dominant app store operators from engaging in a range of business practices critics say are anticompetitive.  The bill applies to companies controlling both an app store and its underlying operating system with more than 100 million U.S. users. The bill would require Apple and Google to allow users to set third-party apps or app stores as default, sideload apps without using the official store, and remove or hide preinstalled apps.

DocuSign shares gave up 15% after posting earnings that indicated that first-quarter revenues were 8% higher year over year to $764 million, boosted by subscription revenue, which was up a commensurate 8% to $746.2 million.  However, the company’s billings outlook disappointed investors as the firm cited “foundational go-to market challenges” as it has been moving to a new AI platform, and management took note of an uncertain macro environment.