Tesla reports Q2 deliveries, Centene withdraws guidance: Morning Buzz

The major averages were fractionally higher near noon following yesterday’s modest pullback after strong Q2 gains. Tech stocks are under pressure following their recent run as investors are fixated on several catalysts, such as Tesla’s Q2 delivery report and today’s ADP data and tomorrow’s non-farm payrolls report.

Looking to commodities, gold was largely flat near noon, while oil prices edged higher following yesterday’s API crude numbers.

Get caught up quickly on the top news and calls moving stocks with these five Top Five lists. Also, subscribe to the Fly By if you want to know how the markets will open, which stocks will be moving and why. 

1. STOCK NEWS:

• Tesla (TSLA) delivered 384,000 vehicles in Q2, a 14% drop year-over-year
• Centene (CNC) withdrew its 2025 adjusted earnings per share guidance
• Netflix (NFLX) and Spotify (SPOT) have held talks to partner on several projects, WSJ reports
• Constellation Brands (STZ) reported downbeat Q3 results and provided guidance for FY26
• Land’s End (LE) shares jumped after Reuters reported that Authentic Brands and WHP have put in bids to acquire the company

2. WALL STREET CALLS:

• Apple (AAPL) upgraded to Hold at Jefferies on potential Q3 upside
• Adobe (ADBE) downgraded to Sell at Rothschild & Co Redburn
• Wolfe downgraded Stellantis (STLA) to Underperform on “meaningful” earnings risk
• Crocs (CROX) and Deckers Outdoor (DECK) were initiated with bearish views at Goldman Sachs
• Cava Group (CAV) initiated with an Overweight at KeyBanc

3. AROUND THE WEB:

• A jury in San Jose, California said Google (GOOGL) misused customers’ cell phone data and must pay more than $314.6M to Android smartphone users in the state, Reuters says
• Microsoft (MSFT) will lay off about 9,000 employees, affecting less than 4% of its global workforce across different teams, geographies and levels of experience, CNBC reports
• Paramount Global (PARA) has agreed in principle to pay $16M to settle a lawsuit with President Donald Trump over a “60 Minutes” interview with former Vice President Kamala Harris, WSJ says
• SoftBank’s (SFTBY) $6.5B acquisition of Ampere Computing LLC is facing a potentially lengthy probe by the U.S. FTC, Bloomberg reports
• Intel’s (INTC) CEO is exploring a change to its contract manufacturing business to win customers, Reuters says

4. MOVERS:

• Hut 8 (HUT) gains after securing five-year capacity contracts with IESO
• Enovix (ENVX) increases after announcing a $60M share repurchase program
• Rivian (RIVN) falls after delivering 10,661 vehicles in Q2
• Oscar Health (OSCR) lower after Barclays initiated coverage of the stock with an Underweight rating
• Vodafone (VOD) declines in New York after Morgan Stanley resumed coverage of the stock with an Equal Weight rating

5. EARNINGS/GUIDANCE:

• Aeries Technology (AERT) reported results for FY25, with revenue lower year-over-year
• UniFirst (UNF) reported Q3 results, with EPS beating consensus
• Informa TechTarget (TTGT) reported preliminary results for Q1
• Greenbrier (GBX) reported results for Q3 and reaffirmed its guidance for FY25
• BrightView (BV) cut its guidance for FY25

INDEXES:

Near midday, the Dow was up 0.01%, or 5.21, to 44,500.15, the Nasdaq was up 0.75%, or 150.80, to 20,353.69, and the S&P 500 was up 0.28%, or 17.13, to 6,215.14.