Friday didn't bring a happy end to the week for the stock market, as news that China was looking to impose new retaliatory tariffs on the U.S. once again reawakened fears about prolonged trade tensions between the world's two largest economic powers. Major benchmarks posted steep declines in excess of 2%. However, some stocks benefited from favorable events that sent their share prices higher. Pivotal Software (NYSE: PVTL), Carbon Black (NASDAQ: CBLK), and Red Robin Gourmet Burgers (NASDAQ: RRGB) were among the top performers. Here's why they did so well.
Pivotal Software and Carbon Black saw their shares climb 9.5% and 6%, respectively, following news that a common buyer will acquire both of the companies. VMware said late yesterday that it would pay public shareholders of Pivotal $15 per share in cash for their stock, putting an enterprise value of $2.7 billion on the cloud-native platform provider. Meanwhile, VMware also proposed a $26-per-share buyout of cloud-native endpoint protection specialist Carbon Black, valuing the company at $2.1 billion.
Image source: Pivotal Software.