Wall Street Live — Friday, October 9
16:02 PM — The Dow and S&P 500 closed higher, and the Nasdaq stretched its weekly winning streak to four. Oil prices fell after Trump eased sanctions on Russian diesel.
4:34 PM — HP (HPQ) stock fell about 7% after IDC data showed PC shipments down 20.1% and HP’s units down 30.9%, with share loss and higher component costs.
4:07 PM — TKO offered $2 billion cash for Service Properties Trust’s (SVC) hotels. The deal would let the REIT cut over 40% of its debt and focus on steadier rental properties. Shares rose more than 15%. The offer still needs board approval.
4:02 PM — The Dow and S&P 500 closed higher, and the Nasdaq stretched its weekly winning streak to four. Oil prices fell after Trump eased sanctions on Russian diesel.
3:55 PM — Meta’s (META) new AI app Muse is cooling off. Downloads fell 8% week over week. It still has under 3 million daily users. Daily user growth slowed from about 198,000 to 74,000 — a 62% drop. App reviews are down too. Hunterbrook, which is short Meta stock, says the early surge is fading.
3:53 PM — Clover Health (CLOV) stock jumped 5.5% to $4.83 after CMS rated its 2027 PPO Medicare Advantage plans five stars. Shares have nearly doubled this year. Its HMO plans scored 4.5 stars, and membership grew 48%.
3:44 PM — Evercore says Nikkei’s iPhone reports have often been wrong and shouldn’t be trusted as a demand signal. It still expects the refresh cycle to boost growth and keeps an Outperform rating with a $380 target on Apple (AAPL).
3:38 PM — UBS says Planet Fitness (PLNT) looks much better than worried investors think before Q3 earnings. Membership grew strongly in September and early October, a price promo worked, and AI risks are manageable. UBS keeps a Buy rating and $80 target. Shares rose 9% to $48.09.
3:32 PM — AST SpaceMobile’s (ASTS) CEO says US carriers hold ~1,000 MHz of low- and mid-band spectrum usable on AST’s network. With satellites in orbit and under construction, plus AST’s 45 MHz of L-band, partners can reach nearly 200 Mbps peaks from the largest LEO sats—spectrum no rival matches. ASTS stock is still down after SpaceX’s (SPCX) spectrum deal, but off its lows.
3:26 PM — SpaceX’s (SPCX) spectrum deal could increase competition for mobile carriers and satellite rivals, while creating new opportunities for AST SpaceMobile (ASTS), Anterix (ATEX), NextNav (NN), GOGO, Aviat Networks (AVNW), and Ceragon (CRNT). Gogo’s spectrum alone could be worth $2.3 billion, Roth Capital estimates.
2:56 PM — CCI, AMT and SBAC jumped on SpaceX’s (SPCX) nationwide 800 MHz deal. Analysts say a ground network could mean new leases on existing towers.
1:14 PM — Ambarella (AMBA) rose after a report that Qualcomm (QCOM) is working with advisers on a possible deal. NXP (NXPI) remains in the rumor mix, and no deal is confirmed.
12:52 PM — Cantor Fitzgerald’s Imogen Mansfield started coverage of Ovid Therapeutics (OVID) with an Overweight rating. Her model puts the stock near $6, over 150% upside, based on seizure drug OV329 and a broader brain-disorder pipeline.
12:45 PM — CoBank asked a New York court to stop Cable One (CABO) from paying about $480 million for the rest of Mega Broadband, citing insolvency risk.
12:11 PM — Netflix (NFLX) plans to cut about 5% of staff, or roughly 800 jobs, with an announcement as soon as next week, Puck News says. Netflix declined to comment. It last cut jobs in 2022 and had about 16,000 employees. Competition from YouTube and rivals is rising.
12:10 PM — Apple (AAPL) cut iPhone 18 Pro part orders after weak early demand, Nikkei says. Morgan Stanley calls the timing concerning: just 3 weeks of data suggest strong sales hopes are fading, raising risk of lower builds into 2027. The analyst still rates shares Overweight with a $355 target.
12:02 PM — TRex Bio (TRXB) shares open at $13.50 after pricing IPO at $14 per share.
11:52 AM — Nvidia-backed Australian data-center firm Firmus dropped its $5 billion IPO after weak demand. Investors balked at heavy debt, a sharp valuation jump, thin track record, and a key partner exiting a big project. It will raise privately and may list on Nasdaq later.
11:48 AM — Microchip (MCHP) bought Austin-based VORAGO, which makes radiation-hardened chips for space and defense. The deal adds VORAGO’s HARDSIL process and expert team. Price wasn’t disclosed and isn’t expected to move Microchip’s results much.
11:46 AM — Monness Crespi upgraded Elastic (ESTC) to Buy from Neutral with a $120 target. It says the firm has recovered from a tough sales overhaul, looks reasonably priced, and should benefit from AI agent trends.
11:42 AM — Apple (AAPL) may hold a second event around Oct. 27 for its first touch-screen MacBook (thinner, OLED Pro models) plus a new iPad mini with OLED and a landscape camera. M6 MacBook Pro and iMac updates may also appear. Unconfirmed.
11:39 AM — DA Davidson kept a Neutral rating and $110 target on Starbucks (SBUX) after a report that it explored buying Chipotle (CMG). The analyst sees some logic for the deal but still puts the odds of it happening at only about 20%.
11:25 AM — Citi and Bank of America both kept Buy ratings on Alibaba (BABA) and slightly raised their price targets. Citi now targets $193 (from $190) and expects revenue up about 8% before the next report. BofA targets $178 (from $175), sees about 10% sales growth, and lifted later profit forecasts on stronger cloud and efficiency.
11:01 AM — BofA started coverage of Penguin Solutions (PENG) with a Buy and a $100 target. AI already makes up 78% of sales and grew 141% last quarter. The firm sees more upside from a memory cycle through 2028, rising agentic AI demand, and better margins.
10:43 AM — UBS’s Andrew Jones upgraded ArcelorMittal (MT) to Buy from Neutral and raised the target to €71 from €61. He expects higher European steel prices and tighter supply. ArcelorMittal should gain the most share as imports fall and is the easiest liquid way to play the theme.
10:26 AM — JPMorgan’s Matthew Boss upgraded VF Corp. (VFC) to Neutral from Underweight, keeping a $18 price target. After recent fieldwork, the firm sees a balanced risk/reward at the current share price, citing valuation as the reason for the upgrade.
10:24 AM — Oppenheimer upgraded Fastly (FSLY) to Outperform with a $35 target. Strong checks show bigger contracts and early AI traffic revenue, which could drive high-teens to low-20s growth. The firm says this is underappreciated and the stock should re-rate as growth and margins improve.
10:00 AM — September wholesale sales from Tesla (TSLA) Shanghai reached 95,366, the year’s best. Strong exports covered weaker demand from Chinese buyers.
09:34 AM — Dow, S&P 500 and Nasdaq open higher as technology stocks rebound.
09:22 AM — Morgan Stanley cut Gemini (GEMI) to Underweight from Equal Weight and lowered its target to $4.75 from $5.50. A better crypto market may not fix Gemini’s size and reach issues or bring profits. Over the next 12–18 months, they see better options elsewhere.
09:17 AM — Scotiabank upgraded Webull (BULL) to Outperform, keeping a $9 target, after the stock’s drop made it look cheap. A congressional report is only findings, not a fine or ban. The bank says the safety margin is too wide to ignore, and likely steps like more disclosures pose little risk to results or the stock.
09:03 AM — The FDA cleared Weltruza, Teva’s (TEVA) once-monthly olanzapine injection for schizophrenia. It needs no loading dose or three-hour observation.
08:36 AM — Raymond James, Canaccord and JPMorgan opened coverage on PALI, LBRX, CCCC and DFTX. Targets imply 88% to 314% upside, with cash into 2027-2030.
07:46 AM — Higher crude and jet fuel prices forced Delta (DAL) to trim its 2026 profit forecast by nearly a quarter at the midpoint, despite strong travel demand.
07:23 AM — Lumentum (LITE) cannot meet AI data-center demand for key optical chips through early 2029, CEO Michael Hurlston told Bloomberg.
06:45 AM — Barclays started coverage of aerospace and defense stocks, rating SpaceX (SPCX) at $254 and Rocket Lab (RKLB) at $85 while staying cautious on Joby (JOBY) and Northrop (NOC).
06:17 AM — Barclays analyst Anthony Valentini upgraded Archer Aviation (ACHR) to Overweight from Equal Weight and raised its price target to $8 from $4.50. The firm is positive on aerospace and defense, calling the U.S. early in a modern industrial boom, and prefers defense tech over big primes.
06:10 AM — US regulators fined American Express (AXP) $350 million for weak anti-money laundering controls. The bank failed to spot and report about $13 billion in suspicious activity over 10 years, mostly in its credit card business, due to poor staffing, training, and oversight. Amex says it will fix the gaps, and the fine plus related costs are not expected to change its outlook for 2026 and 2027.
06:02 AM — Apple (AAPL) has told suppliers to cut October iPhone 18 Pro component orders by at least 15% as higher memory costs and prices weaken demand, Nikkei reports.
05:46 AM — Dow, S&P 500 and Nasdaq poised to rebound after chip stock selloff over OpenAI revenue worries; Apple (AAPL) shares slide on report of reduced iPhone orders.