Midday Fly By: GE Aerospace reports Q4 beat, P&G reports mixed Q2

The major averages were broadly higher near noon once again amid easing geopolitical fears. The optimism follows comments from President Donald Trump signaling a retreat from his prior tariff threats and outlining a framework agreement involving Greenland with NATO partners. A new spate of corporate earnings reports is influencing the major indexes, with major industrial and consumer product companies sharing their quarterly results.

Looking to commodities, gold prices were trading higher and inching towards the $4,900 mark, while oil prices plunged following gas and crude data from API and EIA.

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

1. STOCK NEWS:

• GE Aerospace (GE) reported better-than-expected Q4 earnings and revenue and provided its outlook for FY26
• Procter & Gamble (PG) reported mixed Q2 results and reiterated its FY26 guidance
• Abbott (ABT) reported mixed Q2 results and provided its outlook for Q1 and FY26
• Freeport-McMoRan (FCX) reported upbeat Q2 earnings and revenue
• McCormick (MKC) reported downbeat Q4 results and provided a conservative outlook for FY26

2. WALL STREET CALLS:

• Alphabet (GOOGL) upgraded to Strong Buy from Outperform at Raymond James
• Stifel upgraded Datadog (DDOG) to Buy with checks pointing to large Q4 beat
• Rigetti Computing (RGTI) upgraded to Buy from Neutral at B. Riley
• Crocs (CROX) downgraded to Sector Weight from Overweight at KeyBanc
• Palantir (PLTR) initiated with a Buy at Phillip Securities

3. AROUND THE WEB:

• Alibaba (BABA) is laying the groundwork for a potential listing of its chipmaking division, seeking to capitalize on strong investor interest in the limited group of companies aiming to challenge Nvidia (NVDA) in the market for AI accelerators, Bloomberg says
• Under Armour (UAA) is investigating a data breach after millions of customer records were posted to a hacker forum, allegedly linked to a November attack claimed by the Everest ransomware gang, TechCrunch reports
• JPMorgan (JPM) has agreed to acquire British wealth management software business WealthOS, Sky says
• AppLovin (APP) pushed back against a short-seller report that alleged the company has ties to a multibillion-dollar money-laundering network, Investing.com reports
• AI startup SambaNova Systems is now seeking to raise $300M to $500M from other tech companies and semiconductor makers after talks to sell to Intel (INTC) stalled, Bloomberg says

4. MOVERS:

• USA Rare Earth (USAR) higher after selecting Fluor and WSP Global as its Engineering, Procurement and Construction Management
• Terrestrial Energy (IMSR) increases after executing a DOE agreement for Project TEFLA
• Corcept Therapeutics (CORT) gains after reporting its ROSELLA trial met its primary endpoint
• Old Republic (ORI) falls after reporting quarterly results
• Poet Technologies (POET) lower in New York after announcing a $150M share offering

5. EARNINGS/GUIDANCE

• Texas Capital (TCBI) reported Q4 results, with EPS and revenue beating consensus
• ACM Research (ACMR) narrowed its guidance for FY25 and provided its outlook for FY26
• Life Time Group (LTH) raised its guidance for FY25 and provided its outlook for FY26
• Mobileye (MBLY) reported Q4 results, with EPS in-line with consensus
• Norwood Financial (NWFL) announced Q4 results, with CEO Jim Donnelly commenting, “”We finished the year on a positive note in the fourth quarter, as we continued to maintain solid growth”

INDEXES:

Near midday, the Dow was up 0.82%, or 401.10, to 49,478.33, the Nasdaq was up 0.98%, or 226.57, to 23,451.40, and the S&P 500 was up 0.66%, or 45.45, to 6,921.07.