Midday Fly By: Bitcoin slides, Lilly hits $1T market cap

The major averages were higher near noon but on pace for an overall down week as concerns over AI valuations remain despite a positive earnings report and guidance from Nvidia. The recent U.S. jobs data came in stronger than expected, while other reports have been canceled by the BLS, complicating expectations for a rate cut by the Federal Reserve. However, New York Federal Reserve President John Williams suggested the central bank could cut rates again in December. 

Looking to commodities, gold was fractionally higher near noon, while oil prices were lower.

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

1. STOCK NEWS:

• The cryptocurrency market was in focus as the price of Bitcoin slid to around $83,000
• Eli Lilly (LLY) became the first healthcare company with a $1T market cap
• Intuit (INTU) reported better-than-expected Q1 results and reiterated its FY26 guidance
• Gap (GPS) report upbeat Q3 earnings and narrowed its FY25 sales outlook
• Veeva (VEEV) provided a “beat and raise” report for Q3

2. WALL STREET CALLS:

• Oppenheimer downgraded T-Mobile (TMUS) to Perform amid increased competition
• Wynn Resorts (WYNN) assumed with Buy from Neutral at Citi
• HSBC downgraded Palo Alto Networks (PANW) to Reduce on decelerating sales growth
• MGM Resorts (MGM) assumed with Neutral from Buy at Citi
• Bath & Body Works (BBWI) downgraded at Baird, Goldman Sachs, Telsey and Morgan Stanley after the company’s Q3 miss and Q4 outlook cut

3. AROUND THE WEB:

• Paramount (PSKY), Netflix (NFLX), and Comcast (CMCSA) have formally submitted bids for Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD), Deadline reports
• Meta (META) is moving to power trading to support AI ambitions, Bloomberg reports
• Visa (V) and MasterCard (MA) are moving fast into stablecoins, The Information reports
• Intel (INTC) CEO Lip-Bu Tan has dismissed concerns about TSMC (TSM) trade secrets, Bloomberg says
• Google (GOOGL) is offering voluntary buyouts to U.K. employees, Business Insider says

4. MOVERS:

• Sangamo (SGMO) rises after the FDA accepted the company’s BLA rolling submission request for ST-920
• IES Holdings (IESC) higher after reporting quarterly results
• Mesa Air (MESA) lower after reporting quarterly results
• authID (AUID) slips after pricing 2.7M shares at $1.35 in a registered direct offering
• Houston American Energy (HUSA) falls after pricing 2.29M shares at $3.50 in an offering

5. EARNINGS/GUIDANCE:

• BJ’s Wholesale (BJ) provided a “beat and raise” report for Q3
• Elastic (ESTC) reported upbeat Q2 results
• VinFast Auto (VFS) reported a year-over-year decline in Q3 earnings
• Miniso (MNSO) reported upbeat quarterly results
• Azenta (AZTA) reported better-than-expected Q4 results

INDEXES:

Near midday, the Dow was up 1.38%, or 631.64, to 46,383.90, the Nasdaq was up 1.14%, or 251.60, to 22,329.65, and the S&P 500 was up 1.27%, or 82.95, to 6,621.71.