Netflix reports Q3 beat, CVS CEO Lynch steps down: Morning Buzz

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

1. STOCK NEWS:

• Netflix (NFLX) reported better-than-expected Q3 results and provided upbeat guidance for Q4
• CVS Health (CVS) CEO Karen Lynch will step down, with David Joyner named the next CEO
• Procter & Gamble (PG) reported upbeat Q1 earnings and revenue and affirmed its FY25 guidance
• Jana Partners confirmed it has built a roughly 5% stake in Lamb Weston (LW) and plans to push for strategic alternatives at the company
• Gilead (GILD) will voluntarily withdraw U.S. accelerated approval for Trodelvy in metastatic urothelial cancer

2. WALL STREET CALLS:

• T-Mobile (TMUS) downgraded to Sector Perform on valuation at Scotiabank
• UBS upgraded Datadog (DDOG) to Buy
• Jefferies upgraded Ecolab (ECL) to Buy
• Needham downgraded Boston Scientific (BSX) to Hold
• Barclays sees story getting “more challenging,” cuts Zeta Global (ZETA) to Equal Weight

3. AROUND THE WEB:

• Intel (INTC) is looking to sell at least a minority stake in its Altera unit in a transaction that would raise several billion dollars, CNBC reports
• Google (GOOGL) will block U.S. election ads after the polls close on November 5 to prevent voting misinformation, Axios says
• Amazon (AMZN) AWS CEO defended the new 5-day-per-week in-office policy, Reuters reports
• OpenAI and Microsoft (MSFT) are facing off in a high-stakes negotiations focusing on how a nearly $14B investment in a nonprofit translate to equity for a for-profit company, WSJ says
• Counterpoint Research data provided to Bloomberg News shows that sales of Apple’s (AAPL) newest iPhones in China are up 20% in their first three weeks compared with 2023’s model, Bloomberg says

4. MOVERS:

• Hepsiburada (HEPS) higher in New York after Kaspi.kz (KSPI) announced it will acquire 65.4% of the company for $1.13B
• PureCycle Technologies (PCT) increases after Cantor initiated coverage of the stock with an Overweight rating
• Serve Robotics (SERV) gains after Northland initiated coverage of the stock with an Outperform rating
• MGP Ingredients (MGPI) falls after providing guidance for Q3 and FY24
• Western Alliance (WAL) lower after announcing results for Q3

5. EARNINGS/GUIDANCE:

• SLB (SLB) reported Q3 results, with CEO Le Peuch commenting, “SLB delivered strong third-quarter results”
• Intuitive Surgical (ISRG) reported Q3 results and raised its guidance for FY24
• Ally Financial (ALLY) reported Q3 results, with EPS and revenue beating consensus
• American Express (AXP) reported Q3 results and raised its guidance for FY24
• Simmons First National (SFNC) reported Q3 results, with revenue missing consensus

INDEXES:

Near midday, the Dow was down 53.88, or 0.12%, to 43,185.17, the Nasdaq was up 94.90, or 0.52%, to 18,468.51, and the S&P 500 was up 15.09, or 0.26%, to 5,856.56.