Trump announces crypto reserve, Kroger CEO resigns: Morning Buzz

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

1. STOCK NEWS:

• President Trump has announced a strategic cryptocurrency reserve including bitcoin, ether, Solana, XRP, and ADA
• Kroger (KR) CEO Rodney McMullen has resigned from the company following a board investigation of his personal conduct
• Sunnova Energy (NOVA) reported FY24 results and said there is “substantial doubt” on its ability to continue as a going concern
• Allegro (ALGM) has drawn takeover interest from ON Semiconductor (ON), Bloomberg reports
• Bill Gross announced a position in AGNC Investment (AGNC), saying investors should “be defensive”

2. WALL STREET CALLS:

• Chipotle (CMG) upgraded to Overweight from Equal Weight at Morgan Stanley
• Deutsche Bank downgraded Dollar General (DG) to Hold
• Baird downgraded Deere (DE), CNH Industrial (CNH) and Agco (AGCO), all to Neutral
• AES Corp. (AES) downgraded to Sell at Seaport on renewables segment weakness
• Piper Sandler upgraded Check Point (CHKP) to Overweight

3. AROUND THE WEB:

• Nvidia (NVDA) and Broadcom (AVGO) are running 18A manufacturing tests with Intel (INTC), and AMD (AMD) is also evaluating whether Intel’s 18A process is suitable for its needs, Reuters reports
• Super Micro Computer (SMCI) is building a third campus in California, with the more than 300,000 square foot campus intended to accelerate its production of liquid-cooled services for data centers and generate hundreds of new jobs, WSJ says
• Some in Apple’s (AAPL) AI division believe that a true conversational “LLM Siri” won’t be ready until iOS 20 at best in 2027, Bloomberg says
• Honda (HMC) has decided to produce its next-gen Civic hybrid in Indiana, U.S. instead of Mexico to avoid potential tariffs, Reuters says
• BYD (BYDDF) has launched a sale of its Hong Kong shares to raise up to $5.2B via an accelerated, Reuters reports

4. MOVERS:

• Coinbase (COIN) rises after Trump’s reserve announcement
• TG Therapeutics (TGTX) higher after reporting Q4 results and providing guidance for FY25
• Capri Holdings (CPRI) gains after Bloomberg reported Prada (PRDSY) is moving closer to buy Versace from the company after agreeing to a price of nearly $1.6B
• Ready Capital (RC) lower after reporting quarterly results
• Li Auto (LI) falls in New York after providing a delivery update for February

5. EARNINGS/GUIDANCE:

• Microchip (MCHP) provided an update on its long-term targets
• Horace Mann (HMN) backed its FY25 guidance and boosted its dividend
• Surgery Partners (SGRY) reported Q4 results, with CEO Eric Evans commenting, “We are pleased to report another year of mid-teens growth”
• Nomad Foods (NOMD) reported Q4 results and raised its guidance for FY25
• Fortrea (FTRE) reported Q4 results and provided guidance for FY25

INDEXES:

Near midday, the Dow was down 0.24%, or 104.16, to 43,736.75, the Nasdaq was down 0.42%, or 79.11, to 18,768.17, and the S&P 500 was down 0.22%, or 12.86, to 5,941.64.