Micron reports Q4 beat, Instagram reports 3B MAUs: Morning Buzz

The major averages were lower in early afternoon trading following yesterday’s sharp pullback as investors digest Fed Chair Powell’s warning that markets may be “fairly highly valued.” Meanwhile, U.S. new home sales surged 20.5% in August, the highest jump since January 2022.

Looking to commodities, gold prices were slipping near noon after reaching record highs yesterday, with the “safe haven” commodity back below $3,800. Meanwhile, oil prices jumped after the EIA crude oil inventory report.

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

1. STOCK NEWS:

• Micron (MU) reported better-than-expected Q4 results and provided an upbeat outlook for Q1
• Alibaba (BABA) is integrated Nvidia’s (NVDA) AI development tools, Bloomberg reports
• Lithium Americas (LAC) is in talks with the U.S. Department of Energy and General Motors (GM) on first draw on a DOE loan
• Integral Ad Science (IAS) agreed to be acquired by Novacap for $10.30 per share, or $1.9B
• Meta (META) CEO Mark Zuckerberg said that Instagram now has 3B monthly active users

2. WALL STREET CALLS:

• Wells Fargo upgraded Amazon (AMZN) on expected AWS sales acceleration
• Adobe (ADBE) downgraded to Equal Weight at Morgan Stanley on the company’s decelerating Digital Media annual recurring revenue
• General Motors (GM) upgraded at UBS, here’s why
• Bloom Energy (BE) downgraded to Underperform at Jefferies
• Arete launched coverage on bitcoin miners with three Buys

3. AROUND THE WEB:

• Oracle (ORCL) is looking to borrow $15B through the U.S. sale of corporate bonds, as it begins to fulfill major cloud infrastructure deals with OpenAI and others, Bloomberg says
• Engine Capital, an activist hedge fund, has built a roughly 3% stake in Acadia Healthcare (ACHC) and is arguing that the company needs a board refresh, FT reports
• The French government is investigating whether Nissan’s (NSANY) European business has paid suppliers on time and has asked it to submit financial records for 2024, Reuters says
• United Airlines (UAL) ended a brief ground stop on Wednesday after requesting the FAA to pause departures at U.S. and Canadian airports due to a tech issue, Reuters reports
• Microsoft (MSFT) is in talks with U.S. publishers about launching a two-sided marketplace that would compensate publishers for their content used by AI products, Axios reports

4. MOVERS:

• uniQure (QURE) increases in New York after its Phase I/II study of AMT-130 met its primary endpoint
• Standard Lithium (SLI) gains in New York after Smackover Lithium, the company’s joint venture with Equinor (EQNR), announced a maiden inferred resource for its Franklin Project
• Soleno (SLNO) higher after Acadia’s (ACAD) Phase 3 COMPASS PWS trial missed its primary endpoints
• Harmony Biosciences (HRMY) lower after announcing its RECONNECT study did not meet its primary endpoint
• Freeport-McMoRan (FCX) falls after providing an update on the mud rush incident in Indonesia and cutting its guidance for Q3

5. EARNINGS/GUIDANCE:

• Cintas (CTAS) reported Q1 results and raised its guidance for FY26
• Thor Industries (THO) reported Q4 results, with EPS higher year-over-year
• Evolent Health (EVH) reaffirmed its guidance for FY25
• AAR Corp. (AIR) reported Q1 results, with CEO John Holmes calling the quarter “a strong start to the fiscal year”
• MillerKnoll (MLKN) reported Q1 results and provided guidance for Q2

INDEXES:

Near midday, the Dow was down 0.37%, or 172.25, to 46,120.53, the Nasdaq was down 0.68%, or 153.74, to 22,419.74, and the S&P 500 was down 0.50%, or 33.16, to 6,623.76.