Stocks Lower at Midday as Oil Prices Hit New Highs
Stocks are lower at midday as traders keep an eye on rising oil prices. U.S. crude oil prices rose to their highest level since last June after Iran said it hit an oil tanker with a missile, with West Texas Intermediate crude futures trading above $77 per barrel during the session.Get caught up quickly on the top news and calls moving stocks with these five Top Five lists.1. STOCK NEWS:Broadcomrallied after the company said it expects artificial intelligence chip sales toin 2027OpenAI toppedas of end of last month, The Information reportsKrogerreported better-than-expected Q4 adjusted EPS, but gave arange that missed consensus at the midpointAmerican Eagle (AEO) reported what Telsey Advisory said wereStubHubreported Q4 GMS and revenue about 7% below consensus estimates, while the FY26 outlook for GMS and EBITDA came in2. WALL STREET CALLS:Meta Platformsto Neutral from Buy at AreteScotiabankMongoDBto Outperform following its post-earnings selloffPenn Entertainmentto Buy at BenchmarkBernsteinCoreWeaveat Underperform on hyperscaler competition riskJPMorgan and WedbushStubHubto Neutral after its earnings miss and guidance reset3. AROUND THE WEB:UniQure'sgene therapy for Huntington's disease has shown promising early results, but the FDA is requiring a new trial with a sham-surgery placebo group to prove its effectiveness, Bloomberg saysAlibabasaid it would set up a new task force to accelerate foundation model development, following the resignation of its Qwen AI division head Lin Junyang, Reuters reportsTencent'sSupercell is cooperating with a U.S. government security probe investigating its parent company's data practices, Bloomberg saysNvidiahas stopped production of its second-most advanced artificial intelligence chips, known as H200 chips, intended for the Chinese market, FT reportsSonyno longer plans to release its big single-player PlayStation 5 games on PC, a major strategy shift that sees it returning to console exclusivity, Bloomberg says4. MOVERS:Tango Therapeuticsgains after reportingand entering a clinical collaboration agreement with ErascaPalladyne AIincreases afterits guidance for FY26Alto Ingredientsand Ampriushigher afterquarterly resultsGrocery Outletfalls afterquarterly results and providing an update on its restructuring planPepGenlower afterquarterly results and announcing the FDA placed a partial clinical hold on Phase 2 trial of PGN-EDODM15. EARNINGS/GUIDANCE:BJ's WholesaleQ4 results, with EPS and revenue beating consensusJD.comQ4 results, with CEO Sandy Xu commenting, "We were pleased to close out 2026 with fourth quarter results in line with expectations"TeadsQ4 results and provided guidance for Q1 and FY26Victoria's SecretQ4 results, with CEO Hillary Super commenting, "We delivered an exceptional fourth quarter and a standout year"CienaQ4 results and provided guidance for Q2INDEXES:Near midday, the Dow was down 1.58%, or 768.33, to 47,971.08, the Nasdaq was down 0.39%, or 85.62, to 22,718.75, and the S&P 500 was down 0.71%, or 49.08, to 6,820.42.
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- Earnings Preview: Meta Platforms (META) is set to release its earnings report, with the stock modestly up about 1.2% year-to-date and trading near $671, reflecting cautious optimism among investors regarding the company's future performance.
- Market Focus Areas: Investors are keenly awaiting updates on Threads' user growth and engagement, which are expected to influence Meta's overall strategic positioning within its social ecosystem, particularly in expanding capabilities in content creation and artificial intelligence.
- Cloud Strategy: Market participants are closely monitoring how Meta is scaling its infrastructure to support AI workloads and digital services, with cloud-related commentary being a key focus in the earnings report that could sway investor sentiment.
- Trading Platform Predictions: According to trading activity on Kalshi, investors predict that Threads, Muse, and cloud services will be key discussion points in the earnings call, with attention levels at 98%, 97%, and 94% respectively, indicating high market interest in these themes.

Corporate Overhaul: A significant restructuring is underway at a Chinese firm, WeiGai Corporation, in response to recent market changes.
Impact of Meta-Manus Deal: The overhaul is influenced by the reversal of a deal involving Meta-Manus, highlighting the shifting dynamics in the corporate landscape.
Meta's Financial Offering: Meta has filed for a six-part senior notes offering, aiming to raise up to $25 billion.
Purpose of the Funds: The funds raised from this offering are expected to be used for general corporate purposes, which may include investments and operational expenses.
- Meta's Offering: Meta is providing six extra chances for senior notes with varying maturities.
- Purpose of Offering: The offering aims to enhance liquidity and financial flexibility for the company.
Meta's New Offerings: Meta has introduced multiple series of senior notes as part of its financing strategy.
Purpose of Senior Notes: The senior notes are intended to provide Meta with additional capital for various corporate purposes, including potential investments and operational expenses.
- Acquisition Update: Meta Platforms has completed the acquisition of Assured Robot Intelligence, a move that signifies a major advancement in Meta's humanoid technology efforts, although financial terms were not disclosed.
- Cutting-Edge Technology: Assured Robot Intelligence focuses on developing robotic intelligence capable of understanding, predicting, and adapting to human behaviors, which is expected to provide critical support for Meta's robotics technology in complex environments.
- Team Integration: Co-founders Lerrel Pinto and Xiaolong Wang from Assured Robot Intelligence will join Meta's Superintelligence Labs research division, working closely with Meta Robotics Studio to further advance humanoid robotics technology.
- Market Sentiment: Despite a 7.4% decline in Meta's stock year-to-date, retail sentiment on Stocktwits has been 'extremely bullish', indicating strong market confidence in the company's future growth potential.










