Tesla’s big pay proposal for Musk, Wall Street sours on Lululemon: Morning Buzz

Markets started the day drifting higher as investors appeared to rally behind growing expectations of a Federal Reserve rate cut, fueled by signs of a weakening labor market, but the averages have turned lower following the weaker-than-expected August jobs report.

Across commodities, oil prices slipped for the week amid supply expectations and high inventories, while gold enjoyed its strongest weekly rally in three months as investors leaned on it amid growing policy uncertainty.

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

1. STOCK NEWS:

• Tesla’s (TSLA) board has proposed a new pay package for CEO Elon Musk worth $1T over the next decade if he is able to hit a series of aggressive targets, including 1M robotaxis in commercial operations and 1M Optimus robot deliveries
• Broadcom (AVGO) advanced after the chipmaker reported better-than-expected Q3 results and revealed it expects $10B in sales next year from a fourth confirmed artificial intelligence customer, which is said to be OpenAI
• Lululemon (LULU) fell after the athleisure wear maker slashed its outlook, disappointing investors for a third straight quarter and prompting downgrades from firms around the Street
• DocuSign (DOCU) shares rose after the company reported Q2 beats across the top- and bottom-line and upped its full year guidance
• The U.S. jobs report undershot estimates with a weaker-than-expected 22,000 August payroll gain and markets may see further weakening in employment supporting a rate cut when the Fed meets later this month

2. WALL STREET CALLS:

• State Street (STT) upgraded to Buy at Citi, here’s why
• UBS downgraded Knight-Swift (KNX), Schneider National (SNDR) and J.B. Hunt (JBHT) to Neutral on the view that a near-term pricing inflection in the truckload market is now less likely
• Baird upgraded Duluth (DLTH) on increased confidence in the company’s transformation
• Paramount Skydance (PSKY) initiated with an Underperform at BofA
• Lululemon (LULU) was downgraded by at least seven Wall Street firms after cutting its fiscal 2025 outlook meaningfully

3. AROUND THE WEB:

• Boeing (BA) plans to hire new workers to replace striking members of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers in the St. Louis area, Reuters reports
• Microsoft (MSFT)-backed OpenAI is set to produce its own artificial intelligence chip for the first time next year, as the ChatGPT maker attempts to reduce its reliance on chip giant Nvidia (NVDA), FT says
• The Trump administration will work with Gilead Sciences (GILD) and The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria to provide an HIV prevention drug to up to 2 million people in low- and middle-income countries, STAT reports
• A U.S. jury has ordered Google (GOOGL) to pay more than $425M to plaintiffs in a 2020 class action lawsuit for collecting data even after they turned off Web & App Activity tracking, Courthouse News says
• JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM) and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG) are leading an approximately $38B debt package to fund data centers connected to Oracle (ORCL) in Wisconsin and Texas, Bloomberg says

4. MOVERS:

• Braze (BRZE) gains after reporting Q2 results and provided guidance for Q3 and FY25
• Bill.com (BILL) increases after Starboard Value disclosed an 8.5% activist stake in the company
• Smithfield Foods (SFD) lower after announcing a 19.5M share offering
• Copart (CPRT) and American Eagle (AEO) falls after reporting quarterly results
• Franklin Resources (BEN) declines after reporting preliminary AUM at August 31, 2025

5. EARNINGS/GUIDANCE:

• Samsara (IOT) reported Q2 results and provided guidance for FY26
• Phreesia (PHR) reported Q2 results and reaffirmed its guidance for FY26
• Guidewire (GWRE) reported Q4 results, with CEO Mike Rosenbaum commenting, “We were thrilled to close the year with an outstanding fourth quarter”
• Argan (AGX) reported Q2 results, with EPS beating consensus
• ServiceTitan (TTAN) reported Q2 results and provided guidance for Q3 and FY26

INDEXES:

Near midday, the Dow was down 0.59%, or 268.75, to 45,352.54, the Nasdaq was down 0.25%, or 55.20, to 21,652.50, and the S&P 500 was down 0.51%, or 32.86, to 6,469.22.