Verizon reports Q2 beat, Block to join S&P 500: Morning Buzz

The major averages were broadly higher near noon, kicking off the week in positive territory amid optimism over potential U.S.-EU trade progress and the start of a busy earnings week. Quarterly reports will feature top tech names like Alphabet and Tesla, as well as other major players like General Motors and Lockheed Martin. 

Looking to commodities, gold prices are sharply higher, surging past the $3,400 threshold for the first time in about a month. The price of oil, meanwhile, was fractionally lower, inching further away from the $70 mark. 

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

1. STOCK NEWS:

• Verizon (VZ) provided a “beat and raise” report for Q2
• Block (XYZ) was named to join the S&P 500 on July 23
• Sarepta’s (SRPT) LGMD gene therapy trials were placed on clinical hold by the FDA
• Domino’s Pizza (DPZ) reported mixed Q2 results, with U.S. comp sales up 3.4%
• Stellantis (STLA) reported preliminary first half results, with consolidated shipments in Q2 falling 6% year-over-year

2. WALL STREET CALLS:

• Target (TGT) downgraded to Underweight at Barclays
• Pinterest (PINS) upgraded to Overweight at Morgan Stanley
• Etsy (ETSY) upgraded to Equal Weight at Morgan Stanley
• Royal Caribbean (RCL) downgraded to Hold at Truist
• Dollar Tree (DLTR) upgraded at Barclays, here’s why

3. AROUND THE WEB:

• Meta (META) CEO Mark Zuckerberg has offered more than OpenAI researchers packages of $300M over four years, and asked OpenAI’s Mark Chen if he would consider joining Meta, WSJ reports
• Since President Trump first announced sweeping tariffs, Amazon (AMZN) has raised prices on low-cost products, WSJ reports
• Ryanair (RYAAY) has said any tariff cost would be on Boeing (BA) to bear, saying it could go as far as not taking its remaining jets until from the company until things have been settled, Bloomberg says
• Sir Keir Starmer’s government is looking for a way to avoid a clash with the Trump administration over the UK’s demand Apple (AAPL) provide it with access to secure customer data, FT reports
• Blackstone (BX) has left a consortium set on investing in TikTok’s U.S. operations, Reuters reports

4. MOVERS:

• ZimVie (ZIMV) gains after announcing it will be acquired by ARCHIMED by $19 per share in cash
• Upexi (UPXI) increases after acquiring 100,000 SOL
• Ondas (ONDS) higher after retiring all outstanding convertible notes
• Alkermes (ALKS) lower after announcing results from its Vibrance-1 study
• Globus Medical (GMED) falls after announcing CEO Daniel Scavilla will resign and providing guidance for Q2

5. EARNINGS/GUIDANCE:

• Bruker (BRKR) reported preliminary results for Q2, with EPS and revenue missing consensus
• Cleveland-Cliffs (CLF) reported Q2 results, with EPS beating consensus
• Evotec (EVO) cut its guidance for FY25
• Roper Technologies (ROP) reported results for Q2 and raised its guidance for FY25
• HBT Financial (HBT) reported Q2 results, with CEO J. Lance Carter commenting, “our team continued to deliver consistently strong earnings”

INDEXES:

Near midday, the Dow was up 0.56%, or 247.35, to 44,589.54, the Nasdaq was up 0.72%, or 151.38, to 21,047.04, and the S&P 500 was up 0.60%, or 37.67, to 6,334.46.