S&P 500 Dips to 6940.01 Amid Mixed Earnings

Written by Emily J. Thompson, Senior Investment Analyst

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Updated: 3d ago

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The major averages had a tepid session, all closing fractionally lower, with the S&P 500 nearing the 7,000 mark and the Dow remaining close to the 50,000 level. Bank earnings kicked off with a mixed week, and strength in semiconductors hasn't completely pushed back concerns around mixed macro signals.Looking to commodities, oil prices eased after the chance of a U.S. strike on Iran receded, tempering energy sector pressure, while gold dipped on stronger U.S. data boosting the dollar and reducing near-term rate-cut bets.Get caught up quickly on the top news and calls moving stocks with these five Top Five lists.1. STOCK NEWS:Vistraand Constellation Energywere slipping after the White House reached an agreement with a number of U.S. states to curb electricity costs,PNC Financialreportedand provided guidance for Q1 and FY26Regions Financialreported downbeat, with Wells Fargo downgrading the stockJ.B. Huntreported, saying the "freight market feels fragile" entering 2026Drugmakers are concerned about legal risk with the FDA's expedited review program,2. WALL STREET CALLS:BioNTechto Buy at Goldman Sachs on cancer potentialSusquehannaSeagateto Neutral on HDD industry growthKraft Heinzto Underweight at Morgan StanleyTractor Supplyto Hold at TruistHP Inc.to Underweight at Barclays3. AROUND THE WEB:The U.S. Supreme Court will hear Bayer'sappeal of Roundup lawsuitst, Bloomberg reportsBeyond Meatis testing a line of protein drinks, WSJ reportsThe European Patent Office appeals board has revoked one of Arbutus Biopharma'spatents, which is likely to affect its case against Modernain Switzerland and one Unified Patent Court case, Bloomberg saysAlibabaplans to link its online shopping and travel services to its AI app, Qwen, to build it into a one-stop artificial intelligence platform for consumers, Bloomberg saysThe proposed merger between Rio Tintoand Glencoremay require asset sales to win approval from China, which has concerns about resource security and market concentration, Reuters says4. MOVERS:ImmunityBiohigher after announcingfrom its ongoing QUILT-206 studyAST SpaceMobileincreases after beingby Missile Defense AgencyRiot Platformsgains after announcing a land acquisition andwith AMDSasollower after in New York JPMorganthe stock to UnderweightEndeavour Silverfalls in New York after providing5. EARNINGS/GUIDANCEOndasprovidedand raised its outlook for FY26WaFd, with revenue missing consensusWipro, with CEO Srini Pallia commenting, "In Q3, we delivered broad based growth in line with our expectations"QXOreportedState Street, with EPS and revenue beating consensusINDEXES:The Dow fell 83.11, or 0.17%, to 49,359.33, the Nasdaq lost 14.63, or 0.062%, to 23,515.39, and the S&P 500 declined 4.46, or 0.064%, to 6,940.01.

VST

$166.6+Infinity%1D

Analyst Views on VST

Wall Street analysts forecast VST stock price to rise over the next 12 months. According to Wall Street analysts, the average 1-year price target for VST is 240.09 USD with a low forecast of 217.00 USD and a high forecast of 287.00 USD. However, analyst price targets are subjective and often lag stock prices, so investors should focus on the objective reasons behind analyst rating changes, which better reflect the company's fundamentals.

11 Analyst Rating

11 Buy

0 Hold

0 Sell

Strong Buy

Current: 180.180

Low

217.00

Averages

240.09

High

287.00

Current: 180.180

Low

217.00

Averages

240.09

High

287.00

Goldman Sachs

Neutral -> Sell

downgrade

Al Analysis

2026-01-08

Reason

Goldman Sachs

Price Target

Al Analysis

2026-01-08

downgrade

Neutral -> Sell

Reason

Goldman Sachs downgraded Vestis to Sell from Neutral with a price target of $5.30, down from $6.30. The firm says the company's revenue growth turnaround will be constrained by customer service quality issues that are difficult to remediate. In addition, Vestis has limited pricing power in its business, with pricing up just 0%-1% year-over-year in recent quarters given service quality issues, the analyst tells investors in a research note.

BMO Capital

Outperform -> NULL

downgrade

$245 -> $230

2026-01-06

Reason

BMO Capital

Price Target

$245 -> $230

2026-01-06

downgrade

Outperform -> NULL

Reason

BMO Capital lowered the firm's price target on Vistra to $230 from $245 and keeps an Outperform rating on the shares. Vistra announced it executed agreements to acquire Cogentrix Energy for a net purchase price of about $4B, consisting of 10 natural gas generation facilities with roughly 5,500MW of capacity, the analyst tells investors in a research note.

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Seaport Research

Buy

downgrade

$238 -> $232

2026-01-06

Reason

Seaport Research

Price Target

$238 -> $232

2026-01-06

downgrade

Buy

Reason

Seaport Research lowered the firm's price target on Vistra to $232 from $238 and keeps a Buy rating on the shares.

JPMorgan

Jeremy Tonet

Overweight -> Overweight

downgrade

$249 -> $233

2025-12-16

Reason

JPMorgan

Jeremy Tonet

Price Target

$249 -> $233

2025-12-16

downgrade

Overweight -> Overweight

Reason

JPMorgan analyst Jeremy Tonet lowered the firm's price target on Vistra to $233 from $249 and keeps an Overweight rating on the shares. The firm updated the company's model post the Q3 report.

About VST

Vistra Corp. is an integrated retail electricity and power generation company that provides essential resources to customers, businesses, and communities from California to Maine. It operates a reliable power generation fleet of natural gas, nuclear, coal, solar, and battery energy storage facilities while taking an innovative, customer-centric approach to its retail business. Its segments include Retail, Texas, East, West, and Asset Closure. The Retail segment is engaged in retail sales of electricity and natural gas to residential, commercial and industrial customers. The Texas and East segments are engaged in electricity generation, wholesale energy sales and purchases, commodity risk management activities, fuel procurement, and logistics management. The West segment represents results from the CAISO market, including its battery ESS projects at its Moss Landing power plant site. The Asset Closure segment is engaged in the decommissioning and reclamation of retired plants and mines.

About the author

Emily J. Thompson

Emily J. Thompson, a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) with 12 years in investment research, graduated with honors from the Wharton School. Specializing in industrial and technology stocks, she provides in-depth analysis for Intellectia’s earnings and market brief reports.