Morning Movers: UniFirst surges following Cintas takeover proposal

Stock futures ticked up as traders head into a holiday-shortened week, building on hopes for a year-end “Santa Claus rally” and anticipating softer monetary policy in the new year. There is some optimism that continued rate-cut expectations and seasonal buying could support equities despite light volume. Investors are also positioning ahead of key U.S. economic data releases expected later in the week, including GDP and consumer confidence figures that may influence early-2026 market direction.

The broader market backdrop remains mixed across regions. Asian stock markets climbed, boosted by gains in tech shares and strong performance in chip-related equities after last week’s rally on Wall Street. However, currencies such as the Japanese yen weakened following a Bank of Japan rate hike, adding volatility to foreign exchange and global equity flows. In Europe, major stock exchanges opened slightly lower, with subdued trading and slower economic growth data ahead of the holidays tempering sentiment.

Gold, silver and other precious metals reached record highs, supported by expectations of further rate cuts and safe-haven demand, a dynamic that has played into commodity-linked equity strength, particularly for mining stocks.

Markets this week are operating in a thin-liquidity environment, typical of the end of December, which can amplify price swings and volatility around any fresh news or geopolitical developments.

In pre-market trading, S&P 500 futures rose 0.42%, Nasdaq futures rose 0.64% and Dow futures rose 0.06%.

Check out this morning’s top movers from around Wall Street, compiled by The Fly. 

HIGHER –

• UniFirst (UNF) up 34% after Cintas (CTAS) announced that it submitted a proposal to the board of directors of the company to acquire all outstanding common and class B shares of UniFirst for $275 per share in cash
• T1 Energy (TE) up 9% after signing a three-year contract to supply independent power producer Treaty Oak Clean Energy with a minimum of 900MW of solar modules
• Clearwater Analytics (CWAN) up 8% after entering into a definitive agreement to be acquired in a transaction valued at approximately $8.4B by a Permira and Warburg Pincus-led Investor Group
• Rocket Lab (RKLB) up 4% after being awarded a prime contract by the U.S. Space Development Agency to design and manufacture 18 satellites for the Tracking Layer Tranche 3 program under the Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture.
• Paramount Skydance (PSKY) up 3% after amending its $30 per share all-cash offer for Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) to include the backing of billionaire Larry Ellison and the increase of the reverse termination fee to $5.8B
• Nvidia (NVDA) up 1% after Reuters reported that the company has told Chinese customers it plans to begin shipping its second-most powerful AI chips to China before the mid-February Lunar New Year

LOWER –

• Honeywell (HON) down 1% after cutting its Q4 and FY26 guidance following the reclassification of Advanced Materials to discontinued operations
• Cintas (CTAS) down 1% after the company announced that it submitted a $275 per share buyout proposal to the board of directors of UniFirst