Midday Fly By: Stocks tumble as oil prices climb again

Stocks are lower at midday as traders keep an eye on rising oil prices. U.S. crude oil prices rose to their highest level since last June after Iran said it hit an oil tanker with a missile, with West Texas Intermediate crude futures trading above $77 per barrel during the session.

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

1. STOCK NEWS:

• Broadcom (AVGO) rallied after the company said it expects artificial intelligence chip sales to top $100B in 2027
• OpenAI topped $25B in annualized revenue run-rate as of end of last month, The Information reports
• Kroger (KR) reported better-than-expected Q4 adjusted EPS, but gave a FY26 EPS outlook range that missed consensus at the midpoint
• American Eagle (AEO) reported what Telsey Advisory said were “solid” Q4 results
• StubHub (STUB) reported Q4 GMS and revenue about 7% below consensus estimates, while the FY26 outlook for GMS and EBITDA came in “well below” estimates

2. WALL STREET CALLS:

• Meta Platforms (META) downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Arete
• Scotiabank (MDB) to Outperform following its post-earnings selloff
• Penn Entertainment (PENN) upgraded to Buy at Benchmark
• Bernstein (CRWV) at Underperform on hyperscaler competition risk
• JPMorgan and Wedbush downgraded StubHub (STUB) to Neutral after its earnings miss and guidance reset

3. AROUND THE WEB:

• UniQure’s (QURE) gene therapy for Huntington’s disease has shown promising early results, but the FDA is requiring a new trial with a sham-surgery placebo group to prove its effectiveness, Bloomberg says
• Alibaba (BABA) said it would set up a new task force to accelerate foundation model development, following the resignation of its Qwen AI division head Lin Junyang, Reuters reports
• Tencent’s (TCEHY) Supercell is cooperating with a U.S. government security probe investigating its parent company’s data practices, Bloomberg says
• Nvidia (NVDA) has stopped production of its second-most advanced artificial intelligence chips, known as H200 chips, intended for the Chinese market, FT reports
• Sony (SONY) no longer plans to release its big single-player PlayStation 5 games on PC, a major strategy shift that sees it returning to console exclusivity, Bloomberg says

4. MOVERS:

• Tango Therapeutics (TNGX) gains after reporting Q4 results and entering a clinical collaboration agreement with Erasca (ERAS)
• Palladyne AI (PDYN) increases after reaffirming its guidance for FY26
• Alto Ingredients (ALTO) and Amprius (AMPX) higher after reporting quarterly results
• Grocery Outlet (GO) falls after reporting quarterly results and providing an update on its restructuring plan
• PepGen (PEPG) lower after reporting quarterly results and announcing the FDA placed a partial clinical hold on Phase 2 trial of PGN-EDODM1

5. EARNINGS/GUIDANCE:

• BJ’s Wholesale (BJ) reported Q4 results, with EPS and revenue beating consensus
• JD.com (JD) reported Q4 results, with CEO Sandy Xu commenting, “We were pleased to close out 2026 with fourth quarter results in line with expectations”
• Teads (TEAD) reported Q4 results and provided guidance for Q1 and FY26
• Victoria’s Secret (VSCO) reported Q4 results, with CEO Hillary Super commenting, “We delivered an exceptional fourth quarter and a standout year”
• Ciena (CIEN) reported Q4 results and provided guidance for Q2

INDEXES:

Near midday, the Dow was down 1.58%, or 768.33, to 47,971.08, the Nasdaq was down 0.39%, or 85.62, to 22,718.75, and the S&P 500 was down 0.71%, or 49.08, to 6,820.42.