FedEx reports downbeat Q1, Nike vet returns as new CEO: Morning Buzz

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

1. STOCK NEWS:

• FedEx (FDX) reported downbeat Q1 results and cut its FY25 guidance
• Nike (NKE) president and CEO John Donahoe will retire, with veteran Elliott Hill returning to the company and named as his successor
• Constellation Energy (CEG) signed a 20-year power purchase pact with Microsoft (MSFT), paving the way for the restart of Three Mile Island Unit 1
• GE Vernova (GEV) could cut its offshore wind business by about 900 workers, Bloomberg reports
• Texas Instruments (TXN) raised its quarterly dividend 5%

2. WALL STREET CALLS:

• Darden (DRI) was downgraded to Market Perform at Bernstein, while being upgraded to Outperform at Evercore ISI
• Morgan Stanley downgraded FedEx (FDX) to Underweight
• Morgan Stanley also downgraded PepsiCo (PEP) to Equal Weight
• Wells Fargo upgraded Aptiv (APTV) to Overweight on what it calls a “much improved valuation”
• B. Riley started Snap (SNAP) at Neutral, Reddit (RDDT) at Buy

3. AROUND THE WEB:

• Amazon (AMZN) plans to introduce a new competition show, WSJ reports
• Warner Music (WMG) expanded its layoff plans and now expects to cut 750 employees, WSJ says
• Eli Lilly (LLY) and Novo Nordisk (NVO) are releasing discounts for its weight-loss drugs to gain an edge and to push health plans to cover their costs, WSJ reports
• J&J (JNJ) has raised its offer to over $8.2B to settle thousands of lawsuits by people who claim its baby powder gave them cancer, Bloomberg says
• Google’s (GOOGL) self-driving car unit Waymo and Hyundai Motor (HYMTF) executives have met numerous times to discuss using the South Korean automakers, Ioniq 5 EVs, “for Waymo’s sixth-generation self-driving technology,” Reuters reports

4. MOVERS:

• Battalion Oil (BATL) soars after announcing an amendment to its merger agreement with Fury Resources
• Arcadium Lithium (ALTM) increases  in New York after detailing its expansion programs and long-term targets at its investor day
• Apellis (APLS) declines after announcing the CHMP of the EMA has confirmed its June 2024 negative opinion on the marketing authorization application of intravitreal pegcetacoplan
• Chewy (CHWY) falls after announcing a $500M share offering
• Sable Offshore (SOC) lower after announcing a $150M private placement

5. EARNINGS/GUIDANCE:

• Lennar (LEN) reported Q3 results, with Co-CEO Stuart Miller commenting, “We are pleased to report another solid quarter”
• CleanCore Solutions (ZONE) reported FY24 results
• Allegiant Travel (ALGT) reported August traffic and provided guidance for Q3
• Environmental Solutions (ESGL) announced results for the first half of the year, with EPS lower year-over-year
• iPower (IPW) reported Q4 results, with EPS beating consensus

INDEXES:

Near midday, the Dow was down 85.69, or 0.20%, to 41,939.50, the Nasdaq was down 94.22, or 0.52%, to 17,919.76, and the S&P 500 was down 24.05, or 0.42%, to 5,689.59.