UnitedHealth suspends outlook, Under Armour reports Q4 beat; Morning Buzz

The S&P 500 was higher near noon amid renewed optimism over a temporary trade agreement between the U.S. and China. The Dow Jones Industrial Index was the only major index in the red, as it was dragged down by UnitedHealth after news of a CEO change and a suspension of guidance amid rising medical costs.

Looking to commodities, the price of gold was fractionally higher, rebounding somewhat from recent losses. Oil prices were sharply higher again, continuing the commodity’s recent rally after a dismal April.

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

1. STOCK NEWS:

• United Healthcare (UNH) named Stephen Hemsley CEO as Andrew Witty steps down and suspended its 2025 outlook
• Under Armour (UAA) reported better-than-expected Q4 results and provided a mixed outlook for Q1
• Meanwhile, the Trump administration said it plans to cut “de minimis” tariffs on low-value parcels from China to 54% from 120%, according to The Wall Street Journal
• China has removed its ban on airlines taking deliveries of Boeing (BA) jets, Bloomberg says
• Coinbase (COIN) was named to join the S&P 500 as of the May 19 open

2. WALL STREET CALLS:

• Peloton (PTON) upgraded at Macquarie, here’s why
• Monness Crespi upgraded Coinbase (COIN) with Q2 guidance looking “conservative”
• Caterpillar (CAT) upgraded to Outperform from Neutral at Baird
• Barclays double downgraded Enphase Energy (ENPH) to Underweight from Overweight while the stock was also downgraded to Underperform at BNP Paribas Exane and BMO Capital
• Halozyme (HALO) and J&J (JNJ) had their ratings cut following CMS draft guidance

3. AROUND THE WEB:

• CrowdStrike (CRWD) CEO George Kurtz has gifted over $1B worth of his company’s stock to undisclosed recipients, reducing his influence over the company, Bloomberg says
• Microsoft (MSFT), which had 228,000 employees worldwide at the end of June, is laying off 3% of employees across all levels and geographies, CNBC says
• Apple (AAPL) is taking early steps to enable people to control their iPhones with neutral signals captured by brain implants, WSJ reports
• China has removed a ban on airlines taking delivery of Boeing (BA) planes following a breakthrough in trade talks with the U.S., Bloomberg says
• Live Nation (LYV) has agreed to join a planned stadium district in Atlanta, its latest bet demand for live events can power an entire real-estate sector, WSJ reports

4. MOVERS:

• Landsea Homes (LSEA) gains after reporting Q1 results and announcing it will be acquired by New Home
• Intuitive Machines (LUNR) and Microvast (MVST) higher reporting quarterly results
• Archer Aviation (ACHR) increases after reporting Q1 results and providing guidance for Q2
• Oddity (ODD) falls in New York after announcing a 5.5M share offering
• Hertz (HTZ) and Ambac Financial (AMBC) lower in New York after reporting quarterly results

5. EARNINGS/GUIDANCE:

• Honda (HMC) reported FY25 results and provided guidance for FY26
• Y-mAbs (YMAB) reported Q1 results, with EPS and revenue beating consensus
• Bayer (BAYRY) reported Q1 results and confirmed its outlook for 2025
• Tencent Music (TME) reported Q1 results, with Executive Chairman Cussion Pang commenting, “Our strong first-quarter performance… underscores the successful execution of our high-quality growth strategy”
• JD.com (JD) reported Q1 results, with CEO Sandy Xu commenting, “We saw a strong start to the year”

INDEXES:

Near midday, the Dow was down 0.36%, or 152.95, to 42,257.15, the Nasdaq was up 1.56%, or 292.34, to 19,000.69, and the S&P 500 was up 0.81%, or 47.09, to 5,891.28.