Midday Fly By: Nvidia bullish on AI revenue, MasterCard to acquire BVNK

The major averages were broadly higher near noon, extending Monday’s rebound, despite growing concern that the latest leg higher in crude could reintroduce inflation pressure and derail the recent stabilization in equities. 

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Oil was trading higher once again following comments from President Trump on Monday, in which he suggested that a coalition to protect shipping along the Strait of Hormuz remains in the works, though he told reporters that some countries are “less than enthusiastic” about such plans. Meanwhile, investors continue to monitor further developments in Iran, particularly after Iran’s security chief Ali Larijani was killed in airstrikes overnight, according to Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz.

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

1. STOCK NEWS:

• Nvidia (NVDA) CEO Jensen Huang said he sees demand for Blackwell and Ruben revenue of at least $1T through 2027
• Delta Air Lines (DAL) said it expects Q1 revenue growth in high-single digits
• MasterCard (MA) agreed to acquire BVNK for up to $1.8B
• Qualcomm (QCOM) increased its quarterly dividend and approved a new $20B stock repurchase authorization
• Boeing (BA) expects its 737 delivery rate to change to 47 per month around mid-year

2. WALL STREET CALLS:

• Eli Lilly (LLY) downgraded to Reduce from Hold at HSBC
• Morgan Stanley (LMND) to Overweight
• Argus (DKNG) on prediction market competition
• Align Technology (ALGN) upgraded to Overweight at Barclays
• Li Auto (LI) downgraded to Neutral at Goldman Sachs

3. AROUND THE WEB:

• Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) David Zaslav could receive more than $667.2M if his company is sold to Paramount Skydance (PSKY), Bloomberg says
• Alibaba (BABA) is planning to release an agentic AI service for companies, with an announcement for the product to be made as soon as this week, Bloomberg reports
• Activist investor Jana Partners is calling for change at theme park operator Six Flags Entertainment (FUN), urging the company to explore a sale and immediately appoint a new head of its board of directors, according to a letter reviewed by Reuters
• Blue Owl Capital (OWL) triggered the recent collapse of Century Capital Partners after discovering irregularities in its financial reporting and demanding repayment, FT reports
• OpenAI on Friday signed a new contract with Amazon (AMZN) Web Services to sell its AI to U.S. government employees for both classified and unclassified work, The Information says

4. MOVERS:

• Adecoagro (AGRO) gains in New York after Morgan Stanley upgraded the stock to Equal Weight
• Ocugen (OCGN) increases after Canaccord initiated coverage of the stock with a Buy rating
• Babcock & Wilcox (BW) higher after reporting Q4 results
• Microvast (MVST) lower in New York after reporting Q4 results
• CytomX Therapeutics (CTMX) falls after announcing a $250M stock offering

5. EARNINGS/GUIDANCE:

• Tencent Music (TME) reported Q4 results, with EPS and revenue higher year-over-year
• GDS Holdings (GDS) reported Q4 results and provided guidance for FY26
• Academy Sports (ASO) reported Q4 results and provided guidance for FY26, with CEO Steve Lawrence commenting on “an inflection point for Academy as we continued to gain market share and moved back to topline growth”
• Corporacion America Airport (CAAP) reported Q4 results, with EPS and revenue beating consensus
• Cencora (COR) reaffirmed guidance for FY26

INDEXES:

Near midday, the Dow was up 0.26%, or 120.57, to 47,066.98, the Nasdaq was up 0.32%, or 70.81, to 22,444.98, and the S&P 500 was up 0.34%, or 22.53, to 6,721.91.