TD Ameritrade, Charles Schwab Shares Surge on Deal Report

By Colin Kellaher

Shares of TD Ameritrade Holding Corp. (AMTD) and Charles Schwab Corp. (SCHW) surged in premarket trading Thursday after CNBC reported that Schwab was near a deal to buy its smaller rival.

In premarket trading, TD Ameritrade shares jumped 27%, to $52.54, while shares of Schwab rose 11.6%, to $49.92.

Schwab is the largest publicly traded discount broker, sporting a market capitalization of roughly $57 billion based on Wednesday's closing price of $44.75. TD Ameritrade is next at about $22 billion based on Wednesday close of $41.38.

CNBC, citing a source, said the discount brokers were in talks to combine, and that a deal could be announced as early as Thursday.

The industry has been in upheaval since the beginning of October, when Schwab said it would eliminate commissions on online stock trades. Rivals TD Ameritrade, E*Trade Financial Corp. (ETFC) and Interactive Brokers Group Inc. (IBKR) quickly followed suit.

Write to Colin Kellaher at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

November 21, 2019 08:14 ET (13:14 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2019 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.