Midday Fly By: HP Enterprise reports Q1 beat, BioNTech announces new company

The major averages were higher near noon as markets are trading with a more constructive tone. Investors are reacting to a reversal in the energy shock that dominated markets earlier in the week. Oil prices, which had surged above $100 and briefly approached $120 per barrel during the escalation of the Iran conflict, are now pulling back after comments from Donald Trump suggesting the military operation could conclude sooner than previously expected.

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Meanwhile, gold prices continue their surge amid market volatility, as the “safe haven” asset rose nearly 2%. Despite having an up-and-down 2026, the commodity is climbing towards record highs once again.

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

1. STOCK NEWS:

• Nvidia (NVDA) intends to launch an open-source AI agent platform, Wired reports
• BioNTech (BNTX) announced plans for an independent company to be established and led by BioNTech co-founders Prof. Ugur Sahin, M.D., and Prof. Ozlem Tureci, M.D. 
• HP Enterprise (HPE) reported upbeat Q1 results and provided guidance for Q1 and FY26
• Kohl’s (KSS) reported better-than-expected Q4 results but guided for a decrease in Q1 comp sales
• Vail Resorts (MTN) reported downbeat Q4 earnings and revenue and cut its FY26 resort reported EBITDA view

2. WALL STREET CALLS:

• Qualcomm (QCOM) reinstated at Underperform at BofA
• CrowdStrike (CRWD) upgraded to Overweight at Morgan Stanley
• Rivian (RIVN) upgraded to Buy at TD Cowen into R2 launch
• Novo Nordisk (NVO) downgraded to Hold at TD Cowen
• B. Riley (MSTR) with Buy on “unmatched scale”

3. AROUND THE WEB:

• Exxon Mobil (XOM) is planning to move its legal home to Texas from New Jersey in a move meant to protect the company from shareholder “abuse,” WSJ says
• Rio Tinto (RIO) is in talks with Mongolia over financial terms at the massive Oyu Tolgoi copper mine, with the government seeking lower loan interest costs and the removal of Rio’s annual management fee, WSJ reports
• Apple (AAPL) increased its iPhone production in India by 53% last year and now makes a total of 25% of its devices there, Bloomberg says
• Amazon’s (AMZN) ecommerce business has requested a large group of engineers to meet on Tuesday for a “deep dive” into the influx of outages, with the company stating there has been a “trend of incidents” characterized by a “high blast radius” and “Gen-AI assisted changes,” FT reports
• A groundstop for all JetBlue (JBLU) flights was canceled within an hour on Tuesday by the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration, FAA, after JetBlue said it resolved a “system outage,” Reuters reports

4. MOVERS:

• Zevra Therapeutics (ZVRA) gains after reporting Q4 results, with EPS and revenue beating consensus
• Capricor (CAPR) increases after announcing the establishment of a new PDUFA date for dermiocel BLA
• Nio (NIO) higher in New York after reporting Q4 results and providing guidance for Q1
• Centene (CNC) falls after reaffirming its guidance for FY26 and announcing its ACA enrollment is “still in line” with expectations”
• Crispr Therapeutics (CRSP) lower after announcing a senior notes offering

5. EARNINGS/GUIDANCE:

• ABM (ABM) reported Q1 results, with CEO Scott Salmirs commenting, “ABM is off to a solid start to FY26”
• Custom Truck One Source (CTOS) reported Q4 results, with EPS beating consensus
• United Natural Foods (UNFI) reported Q2 results and provided guidance for FY26
• UWM Holdings (UWMC) raised its guidance for Q1
• Priority Technology (PRTH) reported Q4 results and provided guidance for FY26

INDEXES:

Near midday, the Dow was up 0.48%, or 229.12, to 47,969.92, the Nasdaq was up 0.58%, or 131.24, to 22,827.19, and the S&P 500 was up 0.39%, or 26.81, to 6,822.80.