Midday Fly By: Neurocrine to acquire Soleno, Oracle hires new CFO

The major averages were broadly higher near noon as investors weigh the odds that the U.S.-Iran war could potentially be over soon. Over the weekend and into today, headlines have pulled in opposite directions. On one hand, there are reported to be discussions around a potential 45-day ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran, which has helped stabilize sentiment and even push oil lower at moments. On the other hand, renewed threats around striking Iranian infrastructure are keeping crude elevated around the $110 range and preventing a full risk-on move.

Meet Samuel – Your Personal Investing Prophet

Meanwhile, Monday is the first trading day since the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics announced its jobs report for March. The U.S. added 178,000 jobs last month, the biggest gain since December 2024, with the unemployment rate falling to 4.3%.

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

1. STOCK NEWS:

• Neurocrine (NBIX)(SLNO) for $53 per share in cash
• An Italian court ruled that Netflix (NFLX) unlawfully increased prices, Reuters reports
• WW (WW) announced the establishment of the Office of the CEO
• Oracle (ORCL) announced the appointment of Hilary Maxson as CFO, which Barclays views as a “small positive”
• March U.S. nonfarm payrolls rose 178,000, with the unemployment rate falling to 4.3%

2. WALL STREET CALLS:

• Netflix (NFLX) upgraded to Buy at Goldman Sachs
• Carvana (CVNA) downgraded to Neutral at BofA
• Kratos Defense (KTOS) upgraded to Buy at Jefferies on missile demand
• Twilio (TWLO) upgraded to Buy at Jefferies
• BofA (DOW) and LyondellBasell (LYB) to Underperform

3. AROUND THE WEB:

• Mazda (MZDAY) is halting production of vehicles made for the Middle East until May following the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz, Nikkei Asia says
• A Meta-backed (META) data center campus is seeking $3B in construction loans for an off-grid project, FT reports
• Liberty Global (LBTYA) has tabled an offer to buy a London-based franchise that would participate in a new European basketball league being set up by the National Basketball Association, Sky News says
• Paramount (PSKY) has received signed equity commitments of close to $24B from three sovereign-wealth funds led by Saudi Arabia to help back its takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD), WSJ reports
• Universal Pictures’ and Nintendo’s (NTDOY) “The Super Mario Galaxy Movie” has earned an estimated $372.5M in worldwide box-office sales, the biggest opening of 2026 so far, WSJ says

4. MOVERS:

• FuboTV (FUBO) gains after providing guidance for FY26 and FY28
• AMC Entertainment (AMC) increases after delivering a “record-setting” performance over the 5-day Easter weekend
• Seagate (STX) higher after Morgan Stanley named the company as a Top Pick
• Viridian (VRDN) falls after Amgen’s (AMGN) Phase 3 trial of Tepezza met its primary and secondary endpoints
• Atlas Energy (AESI) lower after announcing a $300M notes offering

5. EARNINGS/GUIDANCE:

• Sunshine Biopharma (SBFM) reported FY25 results, with EPS and revenue higher year-over-year
• Scinai Immunotherapeutics (SCNI) targeted $5M in CDMO revenue in 2026
• DeFi Technologies (DEFT) reported Q4 results, with the company stating, “These results reflect the strength of the business model we have built”
• Delta Air Lines (DAL) is expected to report Q1 results on April 8, 2026
• Constellation Brands (STZ) is expected to report Q4 results on April 8, 2026

INDEXES:

Near midday, the Dow was up 0.20%, or 93.54, to 46,598.21, the Nasdaq was up 0.42%, or 91.62, to 21,970.80, and the S&P 500 was up 0.28%, or 18.18, to 6,600.87.