Apollo shares rise on xAI loan report, Q4 profit beat

Apollo Global Management APO.N shares rise 3.3% after a report said it is nearing a deal to provide a roughly $3.4 bln loan to a vehicle leasing Nvidia chips to Elon Musk's xAI

Co also reports a 13% rise in Q4 profit that beat Wall Street estimates, driven by record lending and strong client inflows

The deal, arranged by Valor Equity Partners, would mark Apollo's second major investment in a vehicle leasing chips to xAI, following a similar $3.5 bln loan in November

Stock recently at 14 times expected earnings, in line with its 5-yr avg of 14, suggesting the stock may be close to fairly valued, as per LSEG data

The average rating of 19 analysts covering the stock is 'buy', and their median price target of $165.50 implies about 20% upside from its last close

APO shares have fallen about 5% since the start of the year, underperforming the S&P 500's .SPX near 1% gain