Midday Fly By: Netflix and Warner amend deal, GSK to acquire Rapt

The major averages were broadly lower near noon following the long weekend. Markets are seeing sharp weakness and heightened volatility as investors react to President Trump’s renewed tariff threats against several European nations, tied to his push for U.S. influence over Greenland, which have raised the threat of a broader trade conflict and prompted expectations of retaliatory measures from the European Union.

Looking to commodities, gold was sharply higher, as the “safe haven” asset surged past the $4,700 threshold to record highs. Meanwhile, oil was also up over 1% as traders await more news out of Venezuela.

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

1. STOCK NEWS:

• Netflix (NFLX) and Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) amended their agreement for Netflix’s pending takeover of Warner Bros. to an all-cash transaction
• GSK (GSK) agreed to acquire Rapt Therapeutics (RAPT) for $58 per share
• 3M (MMM) reported upbeat Q4 results and provided FY26 earnings and revenue growth guidance
• Micron (MU) signed a Letter of Intent to purchase Powerchip Semiconductor Manufacturing Corporation’s P5 fabrication site in Tongluo for $1.8B
• HII (HII) was selected to compete on a 10-year, $25.4B Advanced Technology Support Program V multiple award

2. WALL STREET CALLS:

• Intel (INTC) upgraded to Buy at Seaport Research and raised to Hold at HSBC
• Brinker (EAT) upgraded to Overweight at Morgan Stanley and initiated with a Buy at TD Cowen
• Philip Morris (PM) downgraded to Hold from Buy at Jefferies
• Ciena (CIEN) downgraded to Neutral at BofA after 200% advance in last year
• Domino’s Pizza (DPZ) downgraded to Equal Weight at Morgan Stanley

3. AROUND THE WEB:

• China has broadened a probe into PDD Holdings (PDD) after its employees exchanged blows with regulators, dispatching investigators from various agencies to the company’s Shanghai headquarters, Bloomberg reports
• Nvidia (NVDA) is growing its data center business while advancing personal and edge AI offerings, with a roadmap that extends from the current N1 and N1X platforms to the next-generation N2 and N2X systems, DigiTimes says
• Microsoft (MSFT) is preparing to launch a session-based ad-supported Xbox Cloud Gaming tier in 2026, Windows Central writes
• Baidu’s (BIDU) Ernie AI assistant has surpassed 200 million monthly active users, reflecting rising competition among Chinese tech giants in AI, WSJ says
• Lululemon (LULU) founder and activist investor Chip Wilson is seeking to remove private equity firm Advent’s influence from the company’s board in an ongoing proxy contest, Semafor reports

4. MOVERS:

• Corvus (CRVS) higher after announcing results from its cohort 4 on its Phase 1 trial of soquelitinib
• ImmunityBio (IBRX) increases after providing an update on its Type B meeting with FDA on its Anktiva pathway
• New Era Energy (NUAI) gains after completing its acquisition of Sharon AI’s 50% ownership interest in TCDC
• Bakkt (BKKT) lower after establishing an ATM equity program
• Bitmine Immersion (BMNR) falls after reporting ETH holdings of over 4.2M tokens

5. EARNINGS/GUIDANCE

• Orion Energy (OESX) raised its guidance for FY26
• Forestar (FOR) reported Q1 results, with revenue beating consensus
• 908 Devices (MASS) reported preliminary Q4 results and narrowed its guidance for FY25
• D.R. Horton (DHI) reported Q1 results, with Executive Chairman David Auld commenting, “The D.R. Horton team delivered a solid first quarter”
• KeyCorp (KEY) reported Q4 results and provided guidance for FY26

INDEXES:

Near midday, the Dow was down 1.05%, or 517.22, to 48,842.11, the Nasdaq was down 1.36%, or 319.88, to 23,195.51, and the S&P 500 was down 1.16%, or 80.53, to 6,859.48.