Midday Fly By: Corebridge to merge with Equitable

The major averages were broadly lower near noon amid a sharp increase in oil prices and bond yields following the latest developments out of the Middle East. Brent crude pushed back above $105 per barrel after Iran rejected ceasefire proposals, with tensions around the Strait of Hormuz intensifying. Markets are firmly back in risk-off mode as the brief relief trade from earlier in the week gives way to renewed escalation in the Middle East and a fresh surge in energy prices.

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In response to Iran’s rejection, President Donald Trump took to social media to say that Iran “better get serious soon,” going so far as to label Iranian negotiators as “very different” and “strange.” Meanwhile, Gulf countries issued a joint statement condemning Iran’s “criminal” strikes from Iraqi territory on their energy infrastructure.

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

1. STOCK NEWS:

• Corebridge (CRBG) and Equitable Holdings (EQH) agreed to combine in an all-stock merger
• Memory stocks, including Micron (MU) and Sandisk (SNDK), were slipping amid concerns about Google’s (GOOGL) compression technique
• Jefferies (JEF) reported first quarter results that were buoyed by investment banking, but marred by losses on loans to collapsed companies First Brands and MFS 
• MillerKnoll (MLKN) reported downbeat Q3 earnings and provided a conservative outlook for Q4
• Worthington Steel (WS) reported lower-than-expected Q4 results

2. WALL STREET CALLS:

• Needham (ARM) to Buy with “high-stake bets” paying off
• Adobe (ADBE) assumed with Market Perform from Outperform at William Blair
• Qualcomm (QCOM) downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform at Bernstein
• Robinhood (HOOD) initiated with a Buy at Jefferies
• Daiwa sees Spotify (SPOT) maintaining high growth, starts at Outperform

3. AROUND THE WEB:

• President Trump has named Meta (META) CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Oracle (ORCL) Executive Chairman Larry Ellison, Nvidia (NVDA) CEO Jensen Huang, and others to the Council of Advisors on Science and Technology, co-chaired by David Sacks, WSJ says
• Nvidia (NVDA) backed startup Reflection is in discussions to raise $2.5B at a valuation of $25B, WSJ says
• Worsening supply constraints of Intel (INTC) and AMD (AMD) CPUs are adding a fresh blow to PC and server makers already hammered by an unprecedented memory chip shortage, Nikkei Asia says
• The release of Meta’s (META) new Ray-Ban smart glasses in the European Union has been hampered by battery and AI regulations as well as supply constraints, Bloomberg reports
• Fannie Mae (FNMA) will soon accept crypto-backed mortgages, a new product from Better Home & Finance (BETR) and Coinbase (COIN) that allows home buyers to pledge crypto when making a down payment, WSJ says

4. MOVERS:

• Olaplex (OLPX) increases after announcing it will be acquired by Henkel for $2.06 per share in cash
• Kodiak Sciences (KOD) gains after announcements its GLOW2 study of Zenkuda met its primary endpoint
• Navan (NAVN) higher after reporting Q4 results and providing guidance for Q1 and FY27
• Wave Life Sciences (WVE) lower after announcing new data from the INLIGHT trial
• Pony AI (PONY) falls after reporting Q4 results, with revenue lower year-over-year

5. EARNINGS/GUIDANCE:

• Lovesac (LOVE) reported Q4 results and provided guidance for Q1 and FY27
• Commercial Metals (CMC) reported Q2 results, with CEO Peter Matt commenting, “The CMC team delivered another strong quarter”
• Designer Brands (DBI) reported Q4 results, with EPS beating consensus
• Shoe Carnival (SCVL) reported Q4 results and provided guidance for FY26, with interim CEO Cliff Sifford commenting, “Q4 results exceeded consensus expectations”
• H.B. Fuller (FUL) reported Q1 results and raised its guidance for FY26

INDEXES:

Near midday, the Dow was down 0.45%, or 206.73, to 46,222.76, the Nasdaq was down 1.04%, or 228.92, to 21,700.91, and the S&P 500 was down 0.79%, or 51.85, to 6,540.05.