Bronfman drops Paramount bid, Apple names new CFO: Morning Buzz

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

1. STOCK NEWS:

• Paramount (PARA) has ended its “Go-Shop” period with Edgar Bronfman’s proposal withdrawn
• Apple (AAPL) said that Kevan Parekh will replace Luca Maestri as CFO
• Eli Lilly (LLY) has released Zepbound single dose vials, which are available for self-pay
• Two killed, one injured in an “incident” at a Delta Air Lines (DAL) facility, ABC News reports
• Voxx (VOXX) announced an exploration of strategic alternatives, including a possible sale of the company

2. WALL STREET CALLS:

• Hershey (HSY) downgraded at Citi to Sell
• Seaport makes tactical steel call, upgrades Cleveland-Cliffs (CLF) to Buy
• Scotiabank upgrades Thomson Reuters (TRI) with AI opportunity not priced in
• Temu parent PDD Holdings (PDD) downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Citi
• Truist upgraded Energizer (ENR) to Buy on battery stability returning

3. AROUND THE WEB:

• Amazon (AMZN) is planning to launch its delayed overhaul of Alexa in October as new competition rises with AI voice assistants, Washington Post reports
• The Federal Trade Commission argued in court that Kroger’s (KR) plans to takeover Albertsons (ACI) would eliminate competition at the expense of consumers and employees, NY Times reports
• Sony (SONY) is hiking the price of its PlayStation 5 games console in Japan by about 20%, Reuters reports
• Lowe’s (LOW) is making changes to its diversity, equity, and inclusion policies amid pressure from conservative podcast host and activist Robby Starbuck, Washington Post reports
• Toyota Motor (TM) and BMW (BMWYY) will expand their partnership in fuel cell vehicles, Nikkei reports

4. MOVERS:

• JD.com (JD) gains in New York after authorizing a new $5B share repurchase program
• Vale (VALE) increases in New York after naming Gustavo Pimenta as its new CEO
• XPeng (XPEV) higher in New York after Bocom upgraded the stock to Buy
• Cava Group (CAVA) lower after announcing a 6M share offering
• Lumen (LUMN) falls after announcing Kerrisdale Capital published a short report on the stock

5. EARNINGS/GUIDANCE:

• Heico (HEI) reported Q3 results, with EPS beating consensus
• Trip.com (TCOM) reported Q2 results, with EPS and revenue ahead of consensus
• Scansource (SCSC) reported Q4 results, with CEO Mike Baur commenting, “Our results for the year reflect a soft demand environment”
• Cognizant (CTSH) raised its guidance for Q3 and cut its outlook for FY24
• Hain Celestial (HAIN) reported Q4 results and provided guidance for FY25

INDEXES:

Near midday, the Dow was down 90.46, or 0.22%, to 41,150.06, the Nasdaq was down 8.23, or 0.05%, to 17,717.53, and the S&P 500 was down 0.65, or 0.01%, to 5,616.19.