Midday Fly By: PepsiCo reports mixed Q1, TSMC reports Q1 beat

The major averages were higher near noon, supported by optimism around a potential U.S.–Iran peace deal. Comments from President Donald Trump suggesting the conflict may be nearing an end have further boosted investor sentiment. Of note, the Lebanese presidency said the country’s president Joseph Aoun spoke with Trump, who then stated in a social media post that Lebanon and Israel have agreed to begin a 10-day ceasefire.

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Meanwhile, investors also have their eyes on a new spate of earnings reports, including new prints from PepsiCo, TSMC, and Travelers along with a report due from Netflix later today.

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

1. STOCK NEWS:

• PepsiCo (PEP) reported mixed Q1 results and affirmed its FY26 financial outlook
• TSMC (TSM) reported better-than-expected Q1 earnings and revenue
• Travelers (TRV) reported upbeat Q1 results and raised its quarterly dividend
• Hims & Hers (HIMS) shares were rising after Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said the FDA is seeking to remove 12 peptides from Category 2 restrictions
• Oklo (OKLO) and NuScale Power (SMR) were also higher after the White House released rules for establishing a National Initiative for American Space Nuclear Power

2. WALL STREET CALLS:

• Okta (OKTA) upgraded to Outperform at Raymond James
• Qualcomm (QCOM) downgraded to Neutral at JPMorgan
• Flywire (FLYW) upgraded to Buy at BTIG
• Flutter Entertainment (FLUT) double downgraded to Sell from Buy at Citi
• JetBlue (JBLU) upgraded to Buy at Seaport Research

3. AROUND THE WEB:

• Google (GOOGL) is negotiating a deal with the U.S. Department of Defense that would let the Pentagon deploy Gemini AI models in classified settings, reversing its previous stance, The Information says
• More banks are being invited to join Softbank’s (SFTBY) $40B loan backing its investment in OpenAI, Bloomberg reports
• Boeing (BA) is hiring 100 to 140 factory workers a week as the company looks to replace retirees and increase staffing to support higher production rates, Reuters says
• Caterpillar (CAT) has acquired the assets of Monarch Tractor, TechCrunch says
• Repsol (REPYY) has signed an agreement with Venezuela and state-owned Petroleos de Venezuela to regain operational control of the Petroquiriquire asset, aiming to boost production significantly, WSJ reports

4. MOVERS:

• Aehr Test Systems (AEHR) higher after reporting $41M production order from a hyperscale AI customer
• NextNav (NN) gains after Oppenheimer upgraded the stock to Outperform
• Harmony Gold (HMY) increases in New York after Morgan Stanley upgraded the stock to Overweight
• QuidelOrtho (QDEL) lower after providing Q1 guidance
• JinkoSolar (JKS) declines in New York after reporting Q4 results

5. EARNINGS/GUIDANCE:

• Abbott (ABT) reported Q1 results and cut its guidance for FY26
• Charles Schwab (SCHW) reported Q1 results, with CEO Rick Wurster commenting, “Schwab’s strong business momentum continued into 2026”
• ManpowerGroup (MAN) reported Q1 results, with EPS and revenue beating consensus
• Onto Innovation (ONTO) raised its guidance for Q1 and provided guidance for Q2
• Wipro (WIT) reported Q4 results, with EPS in-line with consensus

INDEXES:

Near midday, the Dow was up 0.16%, or 79.44, to 48,543.16, the Nasdaq was up 0.34%, or 82.79, to 24,098.81, and the S&P 500 was up 0.26%, or 18.50, to 7,041.45.