Midday Fly By: Transocean to buy Valaris, Kyndryl sinks after CFO exit

The major averages were higher near noon as traders await the January jobs report and another slate of earnings reports. Of note, several companies in the AI infrastructure space, including Nvidia, Broadcom, and Oracle, were trading higher despite continued concerns around valuations in the space.

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Looking to commodities, gold was sharply higher near noon with the “safe haven” asset surpassing $5,000 once again. Oil prices were also on the rise, continuing the commodity’s strength over the past few sessions.

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

1. STOCK NEWS:

• Transocean (RIG) agreed to acquire Valaris (VAL) in a $5.8B all-stock transaction
• Eli Lilly (LLY) agreed to acquire Orna Therapeutics for up to $2.4B
• Kyndryl Holdings (KD) reported mixed Q3 results and named Harsh Chugh interim CFO
• Hims & Hers (HIMS) will stop offering access to its compounded semaglutide pill days after the FDA said it would “take action” against non-FDA-approved GLP-1 drugs
• Kroger (KR) named Greg Foran CEO and reaffirmed its FY25 guidance

2. WALL STREET CALLS:

• Oracle (ORCL) was upgraded to Buy at DA Davidson and downgraded to Hold at Melius Research
• Microsoft (MSFT) downgraded to Hold at Melius Research on threats from AI
• SoFi Technologies (SOFI) upgraded to Outperform at Citizens
• Roblox (RBLX) upgraded to Buy at Roth Capital
• JPMorgan double downgraded Kyndryl (KD) after “stunning” CFO exit

3. AROUND THE WEB:

• Meta (META) criticizes EU regulators after they charged the company with breaching antitrust rules and threatened to halt its block AI rivals on WhatsApp, Reuters reports
• Apple’s (AAPL) iPhone 17e with MagSafe is coming “soon,” Bloomberg says
• DF Research issued a cautious report on RXO (RXO), saying the firm believes lenders forced RXO to replace the unsecured credit with secured because the company is failing
• JBS (JBS) has agreed to invest $150M to obtain an 80% stake in an Oman food business through a deal with Oman Investment Authority, Bloomberg reports
• Block (XYZ) has begun notifying hundreds of employees that their jobs may be eliminated as the company undergoes a broader business overhaul, Bloomberg says

4. MOVERS:

• STMicroelectronics (STM) gains in New York after expanding its collaboration with Amazon Web Services (AMZN)
• Americas Gold and Silver (USAS) increases in New York after TD Securities initiated coverage of the stock with a Buy rating
• TeraWulf (WULF) higher after Morgan Stanley initiated coverage with an Overweight rating
• Cleveland-Cliffs (CLF) falls after reporting Q4 results and providing guidance for FY26
• Vizsla Silver (VZLA) lower after providing an update on its project site in Concordia, Mexico

5. EARNINGS/GUIDANCE

• Pagaya (PGY) reported Q4 results and provided guidance for Q1 and FY26
• Hain Celestial (HAIN) reported Q2 results, with EPS missing consensus
• Monday.com (MNDY) reported Q4 results, with co-CEOs Roy Mann and Eran Zinman commenting, “We delivered another year of strong, disciplined execution in 2025”
• Sally Beauty (SBH) reported Q1 results and narrowed its guidance for FY26
• PowerFleet (AIOT) reported Q3 results and narrowed its guidance for FY26

INDEXES:

Near midday, the Dow was up 0.06%, or 29.95, to 50,145.62, the Nasdaq was up 1.12%, or 257.85, to xxx, and the S&P 500 was up 0.63%, or 44.01, to 6,976.31.