Kraft Heinz announces separation, Elliott builds $4B PepsiCo stake: Morning Buzz

The major averages were broadly lower near noon following the long weekend. Investors are weighing the latest developments on U.S. tariffs, as a U.S. appeals court late last week ruled that most of President Trump’s proposed tariffs are illegal, including the so-called “reciprocal” tariffs and a separate slate of levies imposed against China, Canada, and Mexico. In response, the president posted on Truth Social that all of his proposed tariffs “are still in effect,” accusing the court of partisanship. The case is anticipated to be appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, according to Reuters.

Meanwhile, the early September landscape shows a market caught between the pull of safe havens and the drag of policy uncertainty, with tech leadership under scrutiny, political headlines intruding into financial stability, and the jobs data looming as the next catalyst. Looking to commodities, “safe haven” asset gold prices have reached a new record high, approaching the $3,600 threshold. Oil prices, meanwhile, were also surging amid continued market volatility.

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1. STOCK NEWS:

• Kraft Heinz (KHC) will separate into two independent public companies
• Apollo managed funds (APO), Sumitomo (SSUMY), SMBC Aviation, and Brookfield (BAM) agreed to acquire Air Lease (AL) for $65 per share in cash
• Elliott has built a $4B stake in PepsiCo (PEP) and plans to seek changes at the company
• Constellation Brands (STZ) lowered its FY26 comparable earnings per share outlook
• A U.S. appeals court ruled that most Trump tariffs are illegal

2. WALL STREET CALLS:

• Ferrari (RACE) upgraded at Deutsche Bank, here’s why
• Fortinet (FTNT) downgraded to Underweight at Morgan Stanley
• Affiliated Managers (AMG) upgraded to Buy at BofA
• Zscaler (ZS) upgraded to Overweight at Morgan Stanley
• Lam Research (LRCX) assumed at Underweight at Morgan Stanley

3. AROUND THE WEB:

• Klarna (KLAR) is looking to raise up to $1.27B in its U.S. IPO, Reuters reports
• Apollo Global (APO) plans to launch a $5B sports investment vehicle, FT says
• JPMorgan (JPM) has poached approximately 100 managing directors from competitors since early last year, FT reports
• Tesla (TSLA) has received orders for just over 600 cars since launching sales in India in mid-July, a number that has fallen short of the company’s own expectations, Bloomberg says
• Palo Alto Networks (PANW) suffered a data breach that exposed customer data and support cases after attackers abused compromised OAuth tokens from the Salesloft Drift breach to access its Salesforce instance, BleepingComputer reports

4. MOVERS:

• United Therapeutics (UTHR) higher after announcing the TETON-2 study met its primary endpoint
• Cytokinetics (CYTK) increases after announcing primary results from its MAPLE-HCM study
• Telus Digital (TIXT) gains in New York after announcing it will be acquired by Telus (TU) for $4.50 per share
• Canopy Growth (CGC) falls in New York after entering into a $200M at-the-market program
• Critical Metals (CRML) lower in New York after announcing it surpassed the 70% completion milestone for Tanbreez BFS

5. EARNINGS/GUIDANCE:

• Academy Sports (ASO) reported Q2 results and raised its guidance for FY25
• CareCloud (CCLD) raised its guidance for FY25
• Digital Turbine (APPS) cut its guidance for FY25
• General Mills (GIS) reaffirmed its guidance for FY26
• Signet Jewelers (SIG) reported Q2 results and raised its guidance for FY26

INDEXES:

Near midday, the Dow was down 1.13%, or 514.78, to 45,030.10, the Nasdaq was down 1.73%, or 370.94, to 21,084.62, and the S&P 500 was down 1.41%, or 91.25, to 6,369.01.