Moody’s cuts U.S. rating, Trump urges Walmart to ‘eat’ tariffs: Morning Buzz

Stocks are experiencing a downturn following Moody’s decision to downgrade the U.S. sovereign credit rating, though markets are off their earlier lows near noon. Moody’s downgrade, announced late Friday, cited concerns over the United States’ growing $36T debt and projected deficits, reducing the country’s credit rating from “Aaa” to “Aa1” . This move has intensified investor apprehension regarding the nation’s fiscal health.​

In response, Treasury yields have risen, with the 30-year yield surpassing 5%, reflecting increased borrowing costs. The U.S. dollar has weakened, while gold prices have climbed as investors seek safer assets.​

In corporate news, Walmart shares are fractionally weaker after President Trump criticized the retailer for potentially passing on increased tariff costs to consumers, urging the company to absorb the costs instead.​

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

1. STOCK NEWS:

• On Friday night, U.S. debt was downgraded by Moody’s by one notch from Aaa to Aa1, meaning that the U.S. is now rated one notch below AAA by all of the “big three” ratings agencies
• President Donald Trump said on Saturday that Walmart (WMT) should “eat the tariffs” instead of blaming duties on imports imposed by him and his administration if the retailer raises prices
• The FDA approved Novavax’s (NVAX) COVID-19 vaccine with restrictions
• TXNM Energy (TXNM) announced a deal to be acquired by Blackstone Infrastructure (BX) for $61.25 per share, reflecting a total enterprise value of $11.5B, including net debt and preferred stock
• Regeneron Pharmaceuticals (REGN) struck a deal to acquire 23andMe for $256M in a court-supervised sale

2. WALL STREET CALLS:

• Netflix (NFLX) downgraded to Neutral from Overweight at JPMorgan
• Charter (CHTR) upgraded to Buy at Loop and to Market Perform at Raymond James following Cox Communications buyout news
• Reddit (RDDT) downgraded to Equal Weight from Overweight at Wells Fargo
• UBS upgraded Delta Air Lines (DAL) and United Airlines (UAL) to Buy
• Starz Entertainment (STRZ) initiated with a Buy at Seaport Research

3. AROUND THE WEB:

• Toyota Industries plans to accept a tender offer by Toyota Motor (TM), the automaker’s Chairman Akio Toyoda, and others, with the company making arrangements to announce its intention as early as May, Reuters reports
• Qualcomm (QCOM) said it will make custom data center central processing units, CPUs, that use Nvidia (NVDA) technology to connect to Nvidia’s AI chips, Reuters says
• UnitedHealth’s (UNH) Optum is developing an AI-powered risk scoring system for Medicare patients that does not rely solely on physician-submitted diagnosis codes, STAT reports
• Apple (AAPL) is “unlikely” to spend much time discussing Siri at WWDC and is preparing to separate the Apple Intelligence brand from Siri in marketing, Bloomberg says
• Japan is considering a plan to offer subsidies for building charging stations for Tesla (TSLA) vehicles in tariff discussions with the U.S., Reuters reports

4. MOVERS:

• Paramount Group (PGRE) gains after initiating a strategic review and announcing the departure of its COO and CFO
• BGC Group (BGC) higher after announcing it will repurchase over 16.45M shares from Howard Lutnick
• Sable (SOC) increases after reaffirming its guidance for FY25
• Liquidia (LQDA) falls after Oppenheimer downgraded the stock
• Patterson-UTI (PTEN) lower after Citi downgraded the stock to Neutral

5. EARNINGS/GUIDANCE:

• Carrier Global (CARR) provided medium-term guidance
• Bath & Body Works (BBWI) reported preliminary Q1 results and reaffirmed its guidance for FY25
• Target Hospitality (TH) reported Q1 results, with CEO Brad Archer commenting, “We delivered a strong first quarter”
• ZIM Integrated (ZIM) reported Q1 results, with EPS and revenue higher year-over-year
• Diageo (DEO) reported Q3 results and reaffirmed its guidance for FY25

INDEXES:

Near midday, the Dow was down 0.04%, or 17.76, to 42,636.98, the Nasdaq was down 0.43%, or 82.75, to 19,128.35, and the S&P 500 was down 0.26%, or 15.30, to 5,943.08.