What happened
Shares of Medidata Solutions (MDSO), a cloud-based provider of clinical trial software, rose as much as 16% in early trading on Monday. The stock was up about 10% as of 10:27 a.m. EDT. The double-digit move is a response to a rumor that the company might be an acquisition target.
So what
Traders are bidding up shares in response to an article published by Bloomberg over the weekend. The article stated that the French tech giant Dassault Systemes (DASTY 0.07%) is hungry to make an acquisition and is considering buying Medidata Solutions.
This information, Bloomberg said, is from "people familiar with the matter" who asked not to be identified.
Neither company has commented on the rumor as of the time of this writing.
Image source: Getty Images.
Now what
Investors do not have a lot of information to work with at this time, so it is hard to know whether or not an acquisition offer will emerge. For that reason, potential investors should buy shares today only if they are interested in owning this business for the long term.
Medidata is scheduled to report its first-quarter 2019 earnings on Tuesday, April 30, before the market opens. You can bet that analysts will be probing management for information related to a potential acquisition. Investors will want to tune in.
