Midday Fly By: Estee Lauder walks from Puig, Imax reportedly explores sale

The major averages were broadly higher near noon as markets head toward a weekly gain despite continued volatility. Treasury yields have eased, lifting megacaps and chip stocks, though markets continue to be on watch for signs of a breakthrough in negotiations to end the war in Iran.

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

1. STOCK NEWS:

• Estee Lauder (EL) and Puig (PUGBY) announced that the parties have terminated discussions regarding a potential business combination
• Imax (IMAX) is exploring a sale, according to The Wall Street Journal
• Workday (WDAY) reported upbeat Q1 results and reiterated its FY27 revenue guidance
• Zoom Communications (ZM) provided a “beat and raise” report for Q1
• Deckers Outdoor (DECK) reported better-than-expected Q4 results and provided its outlook for FY27

2. WALL STREET CALLS:

• JPMorgan (SG) on ramping brand transformation
• Viking Holdings (VIK) upgraded to Buy at Truist on strong demand trends
• Jefferies (GNRC) on data center contract potential
• Summit Therapeutics (SMMT) downgraded to Neutral at H.C. Wainwright
• Inspire Medical (INSP) downgraded to Underperform at BofA on coding overhang

3. AROUND THE WEB:

• Nintendo’s (NTDOY) “Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream” was the top-selling physical video game in Japan for the week of May 11-17 with 98,092 copies sold during the week, bringing the game’s lifetime sales in Japan to 1.14M, Famitsu reports
• Sony’s (SONY) Bungie plans to lay off a significant number of workers as it concludes active development on “Destiny 2,” Bloomberg says
• Microsoft (MSFT) commercial chief marketing officer Yusuf Mehdi, a 35-year company veteran, is set to depart after the next fiscal year according to an internal memo, Business Insider reports
• Starbucks (SBUX) shut down an AI program for automating inventory counts, nine months after deploying it, after it frequently miscounted and mislabeled items, Reuters says
• Samsung (SSNLF) is set to distribute about $26.6B to its 78,000 chip employees, or a $340,000 bonus to each, in early 2027 as part of a last-minute labor union deal, Bloomberg reports

4. MOVERS:

• Peloton (PTON) gains after being named to replace Enviri (NVRI) in the S&P 600
• Rocket Labs (RKLB) increases after completing its ninth Electron launch for Synspective
• Futu Holdings (FUTU) and UP Fintech (TIGR) fall in New York after Reuters reported China has launched a broad crackdown on unauthorized cross-border investing
• CAE (CAE) lower in New York after reporting Q4 results and setting long-term financial targets for FY30
• ImmunityBio (IBRX) declines after reporting patient survey data on NMIBC and presenting preliminary results from a new health economic analysis on that ANKTIVA plus Bacillus Calmette-Guerin

5. EARNINGS/GUIDANCE:

• BJ’s Wholesale (BJ) reported Q1 results and backed its guidance for FY26 after what CEO Bob Eddy called “a strong first quarter”
• Take-Two (TTWO) reported Q4 results, with EPS missing consensus
• Booz Allen (BAH) reported Q4 results and provided guidance for FY27
• Ross Stores (ROST) reported Q1 results, with EPS and revenue beating consensus
• Global Ship Lease (GSL) reported Q1 results, with EPS lower year-over-year

INDEXES:

Near midday, the Dow was up 0.81%, or 408.71, to 50,694.37, the Nasdaq was up 0.63%, or 164.99, to 26,458.08, and the S&P 500 was up 0.66%, or 49.08, to 7,494.80.