EL News & Events

Stocks closed higher on Friday amid strong earnings and cautious signs of progress toward ending the U.S. conflict with Iran. The Dow advanced to a record high, while the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq 100 posted their eighth week of gains ahead of the long holiday weekend.Get caught up quickly on the top news and calls moving stocks with these five Top Five lists.1. STOCK NEWS:Estee Lauderand Puigannounced that the parties haveregarding a potential business combinationImaxis exploring a sale, according toWorkdayreportedand reiterated its FY27 revenue guidanceZoom Communicationsprovided areport for Q1Deckers Outdoorreportedand provided its outlook for FY272. WALL STREET CALLS:JPMorganSweetgreenon ramping brand transformationViking Holdingsto Buy at Truist on strong demand trendsJefferiesGeneracon data center contract potentialSummit Therapeuticsto Neutral at H.C. WainwrightInspire Medicalto Underperform at BofA on coding overhang3. AROUND THE WEB:Nintendoaims to make about 20M Switch 2 consoles in the year through March, Bloomberg reportsMicrosoftagreed to pay $250M to settle investor litigation over its massive takeover Activision Blizzard, Bloomberg saysSony'sBungie plans to lay off a significant number of workers as it concludes active development on "Destiny 2," Bloomberg saysStarbucksshut down an AI program for automating inventory counts, nine months after deploying it, after it frequently miscounted and mislabeled items, Reuters saysSamsungis set to distribute about $26.6B to its 78,000 chip employees, or a $340,000 bonus to each, in early 2027 as part of a last-minute labor union deal, Bloomberg reports4. MOVERS:Pelotongained afterEnviriin the S&P 600Rocket Labsincreased after completing its ninthGileadwas higher after the FDA approved the company'sFutu Holdingsand UP Fintechfell in New York afterhas launched a broad crackdown on unauthorized cross-border investingImmunityBiodeclined after reportingand presenting preliminary results from a new health economic analysis on that ANKTIVA plus Bacillus Calmette-Guerin5. EARNINGS/GUIDANCE:BJ's Wholesaleand backed its guidance for FY26 after what CEO Bob Eddy called "a strong first quarter"Take-Two, with EPS missing consensusBooz Allenand provided guidance for FY27Ross Stores, with EPS and revenue beating consensusGlobal Ship Lease, with EPS lower year-over-yearINDEXES:The Dow rose 294.04, or 0.58%, to 50,579.70, the Nasdaq gained 50.87, or 0.19%, to 26,343.97, and the S&P 500 advanced 27.75, or 0.37%, to 7,473.47.

The major averages were broadly higher near noon as markets head toward a weekly gain despite continued volatility. Treasury yields have eased, lifting megacaps and chip stocks, though markets continue to be on watch for signs of a breakthrough in negotiations to end the war in Iran.Get caught up quickly on the top news and calls moving stocks with these five Top Five lists.1. STOCK NEWS:Estee Lauderand Puigannounced that the partiesregarding a potential business combinationImaxis exploring a sale, according toWorkdayreportedand reiterated its FY27 revenue guidanceZoom Communicationsprovided areport for Q1Deckers Outdoorreportedand provided its outlook for FY272. WALL STREET CALLS:JPMorganSweetgreenon ramping brand transformationViking Holdingsto Buy at Truist on strong demand trendsJefferiesGeneracon data center contract potentialSummit Therapeuticsto Neutral at H.C. WainwrightInspire Medicalto Underperform at BofA on coding overhang3. AROUND THE WEB:Nintendo's"Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream" was the top-selling physical video game in Japan for the week of May 11-17 with 98,092 copies sold during the week, bringing the game's lifetime sales in Japan to 1.14M, Famitsu reportsSony'sBungie plans to lay off a significant number of workers as it concludes active development on "Destiny 2," Bloomberg saysMicrosoftcommercial chief marketing officer Yusuf Mehdi, a 35-year company veteran, is set to depart after the next fiscal year according to an internal memo, Business Insider reportsStarbucksshut down an AI program for automating inventory counts, nine months after deploying it, after it frequently miscounted and mislabeled items, Reuters saysSamsungis set to distribute about $26.6B to its 78,000 chip employees, or a $340,000 bonus to each, in early 2027 as part of a last-minute labor union deal, Bloomberg reports4. MOVERS:Pelotongains after beingin the S&P 600Rocket Labsincreases after completing itsfor SynspectiveFutu Holdingsand UP Fintechfall in New York afterChina has launched a broad crackdown on unauthorized cross-border investingCAElower in New York afterand setting long-term financial targets for FY30ImmunityBiodeclines afteron NMIBC and presenting preliminary results from a new health economic analysis on that ANKTIVA plus Bacillus Calmette-Guerin5. EARNINGS/GUIDANCE:BJ's Wholesaleand backed its guidance for FY26 after what CEO Bob Eddy called "a strong first quarter"Take-Two, with EPS missing consensusBooz Allenand provided guidance for FY27Ross Stores, with EPS and revenue beating consensusGlobal Ship Lease (GSL), with EPS lower year-over-yearINDEXES:Near midday, the Dow was up 0.81%, or 408.71, to 50,694.37, the Nasdaq was up 0.63%, or 164.99, to 26,458.08, and the S&P 500 was up 0.66%, or 49.08, to 7,494.80.

Notable gainers among liquid option names this morning include Dell Technologies (DELL) $286.96 +34.16, Estee Lauder (EL) $88.13 +9.22, HP Inc. (HPQ) $24.32 +2.42, NetApp (NTAP) $134.60 +10.65, and Ross Stores (ROST) $234.40 +17.21.