Amazon introduces Alexa+, GM announces $6B stock buyback: Morning Buzz

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

1. STOCK NEWS:

• Amazon (AMZN) introduced its next generation assistant Alexa+, which is powered by generative AI
• General Motors (GM) announced a new $6B share buyback authorization and increased its dividend
• Lowe’s (LOW) reported upbeat Q4 results and provided its outlook for FY25
• Instacart (CART) reported downbeat Q4 revenue and provided a conservative adjusted EBITDA view for Q1
• AB InBev (BUD) reported year-over-year increases in Q4 underlying earnings and revenue

2. WALL STREET CALLS:

• American Airlines (AAL) upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Redburn Atlantic
• Home Depot (HD) upgraded at HSBC, here’s why
• Deutsche Bank downgraded Flywire (FLYW) to Hold following “disappointing” fiscal 2025 guidance while Goldman Sachs and UBS also downgraded the stock to Neutral-equivalent ratings
• Morgan Stanley downgraded Krispy Kreme (DNUT) to Underweight
• Lucid Group (LCID) downgraded to Underperform at BofA after founder’s departure

3. AROUND THE WEB:

• Bank of New York (BK) entered a multiyear relationship with OpenAI, WSJ says
• A federal judge has ruled that Meta (META) must face a lawsuit alleging it favors hiring foreign workers over Americans to pay them lower wages, Reuters says
• UniCredit (UNCRY) reported its planned acquisition of a 29.99% minority stake in Commerzbank (CRZBY) to the German Cartel Office for assessment, Reuters reports
• Tencent (TCEHY), Alibaba (BABA), ByteDance, and other Chinese companies are ramping up orders for Nvidia’s (NVDA) H20 AI chip, Reuters says
• Indonesia and Apple (AAPL) have reached an agreement to lift the country’s ban on iPhone 16s, Bloomberg reports

4. MOVERS:

• Porch Group (PRCH) increases after reporting quarterly results, with Loop Capital upgrading the stock to Buy in response
• Gaotu Techedu (GOTU) higher in New York after reporting Q4 results
• ASP Isotopes (ASPI) gains after commencing commercial production of Carbon-14 at its ASP facility
• Grocery Outlet (GO) lower after reporting Q4 results and providing guidance for FY25
• AppLovin (APP) falls after Fuzzy Panda and Culper Research released short reports on the company

5. EARNINGS/GUIDANCE:

• Intuit (INTU) reported Q2 results and backed its guidance for FY25
• TJX (TJX) reported Q4 results and provided guidance for Q1 and FY26
• Graham Holdings (GHC) reported Q4 results, with EPS and revenue beating consensus
• Centuri (CTRI) reported Q4 results and provided guidance for FY25
• Brink’s (BCO) announced Q4 results, with CEO Mark Eubanks commenting, “2024 completes another year of strategic progress as we continue to transform Brink’s”

INDEXES:

Near midday, the Dow was up 0.31%, or 134.20, to 43,755.36, the Nasdaq was up 1.30%, or 247.31, to 19,273.70, and the S&P 500 was up 0.83%, or 49.37, to 6,004.62.