Applied Materials, H&R Block report quarterly beats: Morning Buzz

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

1. STOCK NEWS:

• Applied Materials (AMAT) reported better-than-expected Q3 earnings and revenue (read more)
• H&R Block (HRB) reported upbeat Q4 results and provided FY25 guidance (read more)
• PropertyGuru (PGRU) agreed to be acquired by EQT Private Capital Asia for $1.1B in cash (read more)
• The EU has sent a request for information to Meta (META) under the Digital Services Act over the discontinuation of CrowdTangle (read more)
• Texas Instruments (TXN) will receive $1.6B in CHIPS and Scienct Act funds for new fabs in Texas and Utah (read more)

2. WALL STREET CALLS:

• HSBC upgraded Cisco Systems (CSCO) to Buy from Hold (NKE) was double upgraded to Buy at Williams Trading following the recent rehire of Tom Peddie (read more)
• Wells Fargo double upgraded Fox Corp. (FOXA) to Overweight from Underweight (read more)
• Silicon Motion (SIMO) was double downgraded to Underperform at BofA, as 2H24 guidance reflects minimal growth (read more)
• Janney Montgomery Scott initiated coverage of Two Harbors (TWO) with a Buy rating and $15 price target (read more)

3. AROUND THE WEB:

• Bavarian Nordic (BVNRY) has applied to the EMA to extend its Mpox vaccine for use in 12 to 17-year-olds, FT reports (read more)
• A Philadelphia appeals court has concluded federal regulations governing Bayer’s (BAYRY) Roundup weedkiller’s warning label supersede Pennsylvania laws, Bloomberg reports (read more)
• Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) is moving its cable networks operation under the direction of CEO Channing Dungey, WSJ says (read more)
• Autodesk (ADSK) still used a controversial sales strategy even after telling investors it would stop and ignored internal warnings about the risks associated with such a strategy, Bloomberg says (read more)
• Activist investor Engaged Capital has built a big stake in Portillo’s (PTLO) and is urging management to make changes to how the business grows and runs, CNBC says (read more)

4. MOVERS:

• Personalis (PSNL) gains after receiving a $36M investment from Tempus AI (TEM) (read more)
• Rocket Lab (RKLB) increases after it successfully packed and shipped two Mars-bound spacecraft to Cape Canaveral (read more)
• Planet Labs (PL) higher after announcing its first hyperspectral satellite will launch on August 16th (read more)
• Amcor (AMCR) falls in New York after reporting quarterly results and providing guidance for FY25 (read more)
• Pfizer (PFE) lower after providing an update with BioNTech (BNTX) on its mRNA-based combination vaccine program (read more)

5. EARNINGS/GUIDANCE:

• Coherent (COHR) reported Q4 results and provided guidance for Q1 (read more)
• MSG Entertainment (MSGE) reported Q4 results, with EPS and revenue higher year-over-year (read more)
• RLX Technology (RLX) reported Q2 results, with CEO Ying Wang commenting, “We delivered a strong second quarter performance” (read more)
• Purple Biotech (PPBT) reported Q2 results, with EPS beating consensus (read more)
• Flower Foods (FLO) reported Q2 results and reaffirmed its guidance for FY24 (read more)

INDEXES:

Near midday, the Dow was up 46.88, or 0.12%, to 40,609.94, the Nasdaq was up 9.54, or 0.054%, to 17,604.03, and the S&P 500 was up 1.53, or 0.028%, to 5,544.75.