Morning Commentary: Booking 2021 convertible active; Aerie Pharmaceuticals shares surge

By Rebecca Melvin

New York, Oct. 11 – Booking Holdings Inc.’s longer-dated issue, the 0.9% bonds due 2021, was the most actively traded issue in the convertibles market early on Friday, with the bond’s sister issue, the 0.35% convertibles due 2020, not seen in trade at all, according to Trace data.

The Booking 0.9% notes were up 0.75 point last at 116.417, with shares of the company, formerly the Priceline Group Inc., up $39.00, or 2%, at $2,002.02.

There were $24.35 million of Booking bonds that changed hands as of 11:20 a.m. ET, according to Trace.

The second most traded issue was the IAC/InterActive Corp. 0.875% convertibles due 2022, of which $17.4 million of bonds traded, with the last print being 160.6, against shares at $229.80, which were up $4.73, or 2%.

There was nothing seen in Aerie Pharmaceuticals Inc.’s 1.5% convertible senior notes due 2024 despite a 20% spike in the underlying shares to $21.33. The Durham, N.C. developer of treatments for glaucoma and other eye diseases had not released any news.

The convertibles market overall was trading higher on an outright basis with a bump up in U.S. equities. The moves were mostly fractional gains, although Etsy Inc.’s 0.125% convertibles due 2026 jumped 2 points to 102.8 in early action in tandem with a 3% move up in the paper’s underlying shares to $59.49.

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