Midday Fly By: IBM to buy Confluent, Paramount goes hostile for Warner Bros.

The major averages were lower near noon as markets brace for the Federal Reserve’s rate-decision later this week. The core of sentiment seems driven by widespread expectations that the Fed will deliver a 25 basis-point cut, though there still remains unease under the surface. The challenge facing the Fed given uncertainty over what constitutes a “neutral” interest rate could make this week’s meeting contentious.

Looking to commodities, gold was fractionally lower near noon, while oil dropped to below $60 per barrel.

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

1. STOCK NEWS:

• IBM (IBM) agreed to acquire Confluent (CFLT) for $31 per share, or a total enterprise value of $11B
• Paramount Skydance (PSKY) has commenced a tender offer of $30 per share for all of Warner Bros. (WBD) following Netflix’s (NFLX) deal with the company late last week
• JPMorganChase (JPM) has named Todd Combs, Investment Manager of Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A), to head the Trump said an AI executive order is coming this week
• Microsoft (MSFT) is in talks to design custom chips with Broadcom (AVGO), The Information reports

2. WALL STREET CALLS:

• Morgan Stanley analyst Andrew Percoco downgraded Tesla (TSLA) to Equal Weight and upgraded General Motors (GM) to Overweight as the firm adjusted ratings in the autos and shared mobility group following a change in analysts
• Morgan Stanley’s Percoco also downgraded Rivian (RIVN) and to Lucid Group (LCID) to Underweight
• Benchmark downgraded Marvell (MRVL) to Hold, citing “a high degree of conviction” that the company has lost both Amazon’s (AMZN) Tranium 3 and 4 designs to its Taiwanese competitor
• Pivotal Research and Rosenblatt downgraded Netflix (NFLX) to Neutral-equivalent ratings after the “surprise announcement” of an agreement to acquire Warner Bros.’ (WBD) studios and HBO businesses
• HSBC upgraded Visa (V) and MasterCard (MA) to Buy

3. AROUND THE WEB:

• Meta (META) is delaying the release of its mixed-reality glasses codenamed “Phoenix” from the second half of 2026 to the first half of 2027, BI reports
• South Korea’s industry ministry and Arm Holdings (ARM) have signed an agreement to strengthen the nation’s semiconductor and AI sectors, according to a presidential policy adviser, Reuters reports
• Eli Lilly’s (LLY) Mounjaro will be added to China’s state-run health insurance scheme for patients with type 2 diabetes beginning January 1, Reuters reports
• Anuradha Mittal, the chair of Ben & Jerry’s independent board, said she has no plans to resign despite pressure from Unilever (UL) ahead of Monday’s public spinoff of its Magnum division, Reuters reports
• Apple’s (AAPL) Johny Srouji, who oversees the company’s chip division, told staff that he’s staying at the company, Bloomberg says

4. MOVERS:

• Wave Life Sciences (WVE) increases in New York after announcing data from its INLIGHT trial of WVE-007
• Structure Therapeutics (GPCR) gains after reporting data from the ACCESS program for aleniglipron
• Immutep (IMMP) higher in New York after entering a strategic collaboration with Dr. Reddy’s (RDY) for Eftilagimod Alfa
• Legend Biotech (LEGN) falls after announcing new CARVYKTI data in RRMM
• CoreWeave (CRWV) lower after announcing a $2B notes offering

5. EARNINGS/GUIDANCE:

• Kamada (KMDA) reiterated its guidance for FY25
• Treasure Global (TGL) raised its guidance for FY26
• Byrna Technologies (BYRN) reported preliminary Q4 revenue and provided guidance for FY25
• Virco (VIRC) reported Q3 results, with EPS and revenue lower year-over-year
• Oracle (ORCL) will report Q2 earnings on December 10

INDEXES:

Near midday, the Dow was down 0.44%, or 212.24, to 47,742.75, the Nasdaq was down 0.20%, or 46.99, to 23,531.14, and the S&P 500 was down 0.36%, or 24.77, to 6,845.63.