Cigna drops pursuit of Humana: Morning Buzz

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

1. STOCK NEWS:

• Cigna (CI) said it is not pursuing a combination with Humana (HUM)
• The U.S. has ordered TSMC (TSM) to halt shipments of advanced AI chips to Chinese customers, Reuters reports
• Aramark (ARMK) reported upbeat Q4 earnings, raised its quarterly dividend, and announced a $500M share repurchase program
• Pitney Bowes (PBI) provided Q4 revenue guidance as well as its long-term revenue considerations
• Elon Musk has created the perfect hedge for Tesla (TSLA) with his support of Trump, Al Root of Barron’s writes

2. WALL STREET CALLS:

• JPMorgan upgrades Cisco (CSCO) to Overweight on early demand recovery
• Wedbush upgrades Pinterest (PINS) to Outperform, says reaction post Q3 “overdone”
• Celanese (CE) downgraded to Underperform at BMO and to Neutral at UBS
• Nerdy (NRDY) downgraded to Underweight at JPMorgan, here’s why
• Piper Sandler ups Nvidia (NVDA) target, elevates to top large-cap pick, while Melius hikes target to $185 ahead of earnings

3. AROUND THE WEB:

• McKesson (MCK) and Oracle (ORCL) are among the finalists seeking to buy Veradigm (MRDX), Axios reports
• GSK (GSK) plans to depart the biotechnology industry’s largest trade group, STAT says
• Buyout firms are “circling” Marqueta (MQ) on a potential deal to acquire the company, Dealreporter says
• Amazon (AMZN) is developing smart eyeglasses for its delivery drivers, Reuters reports
• Deutsche Bank (DB) has fired 111 senior managers in its retail and private wealth unit, FT says

4. MOVERS:

• Canaan (CAN) increases in New York after announcing its subsidiary entered a purchase agreement with Hive Digital (HIVE)
• Mara Holdings (MARA) higher in New York after adding 372 megawatts of capacity across three sites in Ohio
• RadNet (RDNT) gains after announcing a collaboration with GE HealthCare (GEHC)
• AbbVie (ABBV) lower after announcing two of its Phase 2 EMPOWER trials investigating emraclidine did not meet their primary endpoint
• Bloomin’ Brands (BLMN) falls after Raymond James downgraded the stock to Market Perform

5. EARNINGS/GUIDANCE:

• ICL (ICL) reported Q3 results and raised its guidance for FY24
• Global Ship Lease (GSL) reported Q3 results, with Executive Chairman George Youroukos commenting, “Despite an uncertain macro environment, the factors that have driven significant containership charter… throughout 2024 remain firmly intact”
• Monday.com (MDNY) reported Q3 results, with EPS and revenue beating consensus
• Spruce Biosciences (SPRB) reported Q3 results, with EPS beating consensus
• Lincoln Educational (LINC) reported Q3 results and provided guidance for FY24

INDEXES:

Near midday, the Dow was up 358.77, or 0.82%, to 44,347.76, the Nasdaq was down 12.29, or 0.06%, to 19,274.48, and the S&P 500 was up 14.25, or 0.24%, to 6,009.79.