China’s DeepSeek sinks tech, AT&T reports Q4 beat: Morning Buzz

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

1. STOCK NEWS:

• Publicly traded companies in the generative AI space were in focus after DeepSeek-R1, a new large-language open source model from China that is said to run at lower cost but with high performance, (T) reported upbeat Q4 results and provided its outlook for FY25
• SoFi Technologies (SOFI) reported better-than-expected Q4 earnings and revenue and provided FY25 earnings and revenue guidance
• Sage Therapeutics (SAGE) initiated a strategic review and rejected Biogen’s (BIIB) proposal
• Emerson (EMR) will acquire the remainder of Aspen Technology (AZPN) for $265 per share in cash

2. WALL STREET CALLS:

• Twilio (TWLO) upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Goldman Sachs
• Bloomin’ Brands (BLMN) downgraded to Underperform at BofA on “reinvestment reset”
• UBS upgraded Take-Two (TTWO) to Buy from Neutral
• Seaport Research downgraded Plug Power (PLUG) to Sell
• Piper Sandler upgraded Qorvo (QRVO) to Overweight

3. AROUND THE WEB:

• Meta (META) has set up four war rooms to analyze DeepSeek’s technology, The Information reports
• Walgreens Boots (WBA) deal with Sycamore is “mostly dead,” CNBC says
• Amazon (AMZN) is in open talks with officials from the Canadian and Quebec governments about the decision to shut down operations in the country’s French-speaking providence, WSJ says
• Chevron’s (CVX) Cabinda Gulf Oil operations are running normally after an oil sheen and debris were reported along the coast of Angola, Bloomberg says
• Diversified Energy (DEC) is in advanced talks to buy Maverick Natural Resources, WSJ reports

4. MOVERS:

• Akero Therapeutics (AKRO) gains after releasing preliminary results from its Phase 2b cirrhosis trial
• Dada Nexus (DADA) higher in New York after receiving preliminary non-binding acquisition proposal from JD.com (JD)
• SES AI (SES) increases after receiving a purchase order from Data Blanket for AI drones
• Vistra (VST) falls after BofA reinstated coverage of the stock with a Neutral rating
• Nvidia (NVDA) lower after the newest model from OpenAI rival DeepSeek went live

5. EARNINGS/GUIDANCE:

• Atlas Energy (AESI) provided guidance for Q4 and FY24
• Bank of Hawaii (BOH) reported Q4 results, with EPS beating consensus
• SoFi Technologies (SOFI) provided guidance for Q1 and FY25
• Bank of Marin (BMRC) reported Q4 results, with EPS beating consensus
• Sacks Parente Golf (SPGC) reported preliminary Q4 results

INDEXES:

Near midday, the Dow was up 0.05%, or 22.90, to 44,447.15, the Nasdaq was down 2.99%, or 596.74, to 19,357.56, and the S&P 500 was down 1.73%, or 105.71, to 5,995.53.