Midday Fly By: Big banks report beats, GM takes $1.6B EV charge

The major averages were mixed at midday as the U.S. government shutdown approaches its third week, with traders wary that the momentum seen in the prior session could falter in the face of fresh geopolitical headwinds. The wider selloff was led by AI shares that have driven the bull market, but were also top losers during Friday’s declines. China moved to tighten its grip on global shipping after curtailing rare earth exports to the U.S. but U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said during an interview on CNBC that he thinks China realized “they overstepped” and thinks the sides will be able to “work through it.” The 100% China tariff that President Trump has pledged will depend on what the Chinese do, according to Greer, who says the U.S. is “trying to have a good relationship with the Chinese.”

Looking to commodities, gold prices continue to trade near record highs, with the “safe haven” asset hovering around the $4,200 threshold. Meanwhile, oil prices are plunging to below $60 per barrel.

Get caught up quickly on the top news and calls moving stocks with these five Top Five lists.

1. STOCK NEWS:

• Several big banks are already reporting earnings, with JPMorgan (JPM) posting upbeat Q3 results, Wells Fargo (WFC) reporting Q3 earnings and revenue beats and naming Charlie Scharf chairman, Citi (C) posting a quarterly beat, and Goldman Sachs (GS) reporting better-than-expected Q3 results
• General Motors (GM) said it is taking charges of $1.6B on the strategic realignment of its electric vehicle capacity following “recent U.S. Government policy changes”
• Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) reported upbeat Q3 earnings and revenue and announced plans to separate its Orthopaedics business
• Rayonier (RYN) and PotlatchDeltic (PCH) agreed to combine in an all-stock merger of equals
• Polaris (PII) will separate Indian Motorcycle into a standalone company

2. WALL STREET CALLS:

• AMD (AMD) upgraded to Outperform at Wolfe Research
• New Street downgraded Micron (MU) on risk of multiple compression
• TaskUs (TASK) upgraded at Baird, here’s why
• Northland downgraded Salesforce (CRM) as AgentForce fails to accelerate growth
• Huntsman (HUN) downgraded to Underperform at BofA

3. AROUND THE WEB:

• Shah Capital has urged Novavax’s (NVAX) board to pursue a sale of the biotech, citing a third consecutive year of a poor roll-out of its COVID-19 shot, Reuters reports
• Humana (HUM) loses another suit to reverse Medicare bonus cuts, Bloomberg says
• Amazon (AMZN) intends to hire 250,000 workers during the holiday season, with positions including full-time, part-time, and seasonal roles, Bloomberg reports
• Apple TV+ (AAPL) has subtly rebranded its streaming service to Apple TV, NY Times says
• Ford (F) is temporarily reducing production of at least five models, including popular SUVs, due to a potential aluminum shortage, WSJ reports

4. MOVERS:

• Astria Therapeutics (ATXS) gains after announcing it will be acquired by BioCryst (BCRX) for $13 per share
• Sealsq (LAES) increases in New York after entering a collaboration with Wecan to develop a post-quantum KYC solution
• Ericsson (ERIC) higher in New York after announcing a five-year strategic partnership with Vodafone (VOD)
• Astera Labs (ALAB) falls after Arista (ANET) introduced a new Ethernet ecosystem
• Standard Lithium (SLI) lower after Smackover Lithium filed a feasibility study for its SWA project

5. EARNINGS/GUIDANCE:

• Domino’s Pizza (DPZ) reported Q3 results, with EPS and revenue beating consensus
• Albertsons (ACI) reported Q2 results and raised its guidance for FY25
• Telix Pharmaceuticals (TLX) reported Q3 revenue and raised its guidance for FY25
• Orion S.A. (OEC) cut its guidance for FY25
• BetMGM (MGM) reported Q3 results and raised its guidance for FY25

INDEXES:

Near midday, the Dow was up 0.41%, or 189.08, to 46,256.66, the Nasdaq was down 0.53%, or 119.16, to 22,575.44, and the S&P 500 was down 0.07%, or 4.77, to 6,649.95.