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The Trump Administration says it will begin trade talks with China this weekend at meetings to be held in Switzerland.
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Earnings reports are lifting spirits this morning, with the biggest news being possibly Disney’s strong earnings beat and even stronger guidance.
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12:54 pm
Government efforts to reverse Microsoft‘s (Nasdaq: MSFT) 2023 acquisition of Activision fell apart today when the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit affirmed a lower court ruling that denied a Federal Trade Commission request for a preliminary injunctive against Microsoft.
The Voo is still in the green, and now rising, up 0.4%.
11:53 am
JPMorgan raised its price target on Electronic Arts (Nasdaq: EA) to $160 from $135 this morning, but remains neutral on the shares. EA beat on its Q4 earnings report and said fiscal 2026 earnings will be better than analysts expect. JP is reserving judgement before calling the stock a “buy,” however, given the “otherwise uncertain macro environment.”
11:23 am
Bad news: The S&P 500 just dipped into the red, with losses of just under 0.1%.
Good news: The S&P 500 ETF is still in positive territory, albeit just barely — also less than 0.1%.
In automotive news, Ford (NYSE: F) just announced that, because of tariffs, it’s raising the MSRP on the Mexico-produced Mustang Mach-E electric SUV, Maverick small pickup, and Bronco Sport SUV by as much as $2,000 each.
10:14 am
Ride-hailing first-mover Uber Technologies (NYSE: UBER) reported mixed earnings this morning. Earnings crushed expectations at $0.83 per share versus $0.51 expected. Sales, however, grew a bit less than anticipated, rising only to $11.5 billion. Management did say it expects bookings growth of 16% to 20% in Q2, however, which was stronger than anticipated. Nevertheless, Uber stock is falling, down 1.6%.
The Vanguard S&P 500 ETF is shrugging off this bad news, however, and is now up 0.5%.
This article will be updated throughout the day, so check back often for more daily updates.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and top trade official Jamieson Greer will begin trade talks with Chinese negotiators in Switzerland this weekend, and the news has sparked an immediate rally in the stock market. The S&P 500 index turned green at the open this morning, up a modest 0.4%, and the Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (NYSEMKT: VOO) opened 0.3% higher.
The Fed is also meeting this week to discuss a potential interest rate cut (or hike, or nothing). Odds favor nothing this month, however, so Fed action is unlikely to affect stock market performance much. Albeit, Fed commentary on what its future actions might be, might affect the market.
In fact, for a change, actual earnings news might have greater effect on stock performance today.
Earnings
Take The Walt Disney Company (NYSE: DIS) for example. Disney just crushed earnings forecasts this morning, reporting $1.45 per share in adjusted earnings where analysts were looking for only $1.20. The company also raised its forecast for the year, predicting it will close 2025 with $5.75 per share earned.
Novo Nordisk (NYSE: NVO) reported 19% sales growth in Q1, but cut its full-year forecast to a range of from 13% to 21% sales growth. More importantly, the maker of GLP-1 diet drugs said it expects to see Wegovy sales grow nicely in the second half of the year.
And in a report that could have implications for the restaurants sector, commercial oven-maker Middleby (Nasdaq: MIDD) beat earnings by $0.10 per share today, reporting $2.08 per share in profit. On the downside, Middleby’s sales came in below expectations.
Also beating expectations this morning is auto parts maker BorgWarner (NYSE: BWA). Despite tariffs worries, Borg also gave positive guidance for both sales and earnings later this year.
Analyst Calls
Also helping to give the stock market a lift today are a couple of analyst calls. Bank of America upgraded Advanced Micro Devices (Nasdaq: AMD) to buy for example, citing Q1 sales “10% above our forecast” and saying the semiconductors company has the “potential to deliver 20%+ topline growth in CY25E and CY26E.”
Elsewhere in the market, BofA also upgraded Honeywell (NYSE: HON) to buy, calling the industrials stock “one of the most discounted names in our coverage.”
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