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This episode is brought to you by KeyBank. Key

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is a bank with years of expertise in healthcare.

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Learn more at key.com slash healthcare

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trends.

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You are listening to Numbers by Barron's. It's

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Thursday, April 27th. I'm

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Katie Ferguson here with the numbers you need to

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navigate the markets this morning. Our

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first number is $69 billion. That

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was what Microsoft agreed to pay to acquire Activision

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Blizzard back in January 2022.

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Since then, the deal has been the subject of concern

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for regulators around the world who worry

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that the merger would limit competition in cloud

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gaming. And now one of those

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regulators has blocked it. Yesterday, the Competition

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and Markets Authority, a regulator in the UK,

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said it would prevent the merger, citing fears of

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reduced innovation and less choice for UK

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gamers over the years to come. Microsoft

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said it would appeal the decision. In a statement

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to Barron's, the company said the CMA's decision

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rejects a pragmatic path to address competition

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concerns and discourages technology innovation

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and investment in the United Kingdom. For

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its part, Activision said it would work with Microsoft

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to reverse the decision and that it would reassess

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its growth plans in the UK. The company

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also released its quarterly earnings a day early.

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Those were better than expected and indicate that the company

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has momentum, regardless of whether the sale

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to Microsoft ultimately goes through. The

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next number up is $387 million. That's

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the charge Norfolk Southern took to account for its

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February train derailment in Ohio. The

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charge for the derailment, which released hazardous vinyl

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chloride gas into the atmosphere, was

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reported as part of the company's first quarter earnings

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report yesterday. Not counting the charge,

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earnings per share for the company came in at $3.32, beating both

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the same figure from a year ago, as well as Wall

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Street forecasts. Those didn't seem to

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account for the charge, but estimates have been down roughly 7

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cents a share since the incident.

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Based on the company's filings, the accident-related

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costs not covered by insurance could total $350 million,

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about $1.50 a share before tax. Investors

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seem to have already taken the derailment into account.

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Shares have been down about 18%. percent since the accident.

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That's taken about $10 billion off

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the company's market cap. By contrast, the

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S&P 500 has been down just 1% during

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the same period. Our last number

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is 14. That's the number

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of quarters out of the last 17 that Boeing

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has missed bottom line estimates. Yesterday

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morning, the company reported a first quarter loss of $1.27

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a share from $17.9 billion in sales. Despite

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the miss, the stock didn't take a nosedive. After

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the announcement, shares were up. The reason?

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For starters, the loss isn't as large as it could

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be, given the challenges the company is facing. Boeing

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is still coming back from both the grounding of its 737

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MAX jet and reduced demand for travel

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during the pandemic. Its 787

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Dreamliner jets have also faced delivery and quality

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issues. The earnings report did have

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a few bright spots. For the quarter, Boeing delivered 130

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planes overall, beating Wall

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Street estimates and its deliveries for the same

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period a year ago. Commercial aviation

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sales hit $6.7 billion, up

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from $4.2 billion a year ago, though

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that business segment hasn't generated a profit yet.

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And Boeing still forecasts deliveries between 400 and 450 MAX jets

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this year.

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The company's stock is up about 15% over the past year, compared

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to the S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial

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Average, which are down 5% and 1%, respectively. That

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looks like sunny skies.

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And that's numbers by Barron's for Thursday, April 27th.

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I'm Katie Ferguson, and we'll be back with more numbers

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you need to know tomorrow. Have a great day.

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Good night. Key

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is a bank with dedicated healthcare experts,

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with teams of bankers

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who are industry experts, a wide range of experience across specialties

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and product solutions for payment management. Key

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Bank is invested in the success of their clients'

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businesses. Read the insights at key.com

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slash healthcare trends.