Newsquawk Daily US Equity Opening News: MU rallies after strong earnings; LULU to expand into six new markets; GEV upgraded

TODAY'S AGENDA:

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  US INDEX FUTURES: ES +0.9%, NQ +1.4%, YM +0.5%, RUT +1.4%


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  DAY AHEAD: In the US afternoon Cleveland Fed CPI (Nov), KC Fed Manufacturing are both due. In supply, the US is to announce issuance sizes for the 2-, 5-, 7-year notes and the 2-year FRN. Additionally, the US is to sell USD 24bln of 5yr notes. Elsewhere, remarks are expected from BoE's Bailey, and Banxico is expected to cut rates by 25bps to 7.00%. At the US cash close, the US Treasury will release the Treasury International Capital report for October.


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  BROKER MOVES: CORZ upgraded at Citizens; PYPL downgraded at Morgan Stanley. For the full list, click here.
  


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  MAJOR MORNING MOVES RECAP: MU, INSM, LULU, COIN, ACN, FDS, CART, GEV, ETSY, DJT, SERV, RIVN. For the full list, click here.
  


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  US DAILY CONFERENCE CALENDAR: For the full list, click here.
  

EQUITY NEWS

TECH

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  Micron Technology Inc (MU) Q1 2026 (USD): Adj. EPS 4.78 (exp. 3.84), Revenue 13.6bln (exp. 12.78bln). Outlook: Q2 adj. EPS 8.42 (exp. 4.78), Q2 revenue 18.7bln (exp. 13.64bln), Q2 adj. gross margin 67-69%. Raised FY26 capex view to 20bln from 18bln. CEO said Co. has completed agreements on price and volume for calendar 2026 HBM supply, expects tight memory market conditions to persist beyond calendar 2026; Server demand strength is expected to continue in 2026; Data center NAND portfolio revenue exceeded 1bln in fiscal Q1; First wafers from the new Idaho fab are expected in early 2027, earlier than previously anticipated; The second Idaho fab is expected to be operational by 2028; Construction on the New York fab is expected to start in 2026, with the facility becoming operational by 2030.


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  OpenAI - OpenAI has discussed raising tens of billions at a valuation of around USD 750bln, according to The Information. That would mark a valuation 50% higher than the value of the Co. in the last share sale. Separately, chairman Brett Taylor said the growth of OpenAI is limited by access to compute, according to Fox Business. OpenAI also introduced an app directory inside ChatGPT, allowing developers to submit apps to ChatGPT.


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  NVIDIA (NVDA) - Director Harvey Jones reported an open market sale of 250,000 common stock shares on December 15th at an average price of USD 177.30/shr and a value of USD 44.3mln, according to SEC filing. Meanwhile, CEO Huang said have not yet given OpenAI a penny, adds he supports AI regulation, according to Fox Business. Elsewhere, NVIDIA settled a US lawsuit from automotive supplier Valeo that alleged a former Valeo software engineer hired by NVIDIA stole company trade secrets related to car parking assistance technology and inadvertently revealed the theft on a video call.


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  Apple (AAPL) - Announced changes to iOS in Japan, allowing app distribution on alternative marketplaces, will charge commission on digital goods sales with reduced rates of 10% or 21%, and introduces protections against new threats. The new rules mean Japanese developers can launch their own app marketplaces on iPhones and pay Apple as little as 5% of sales made through those marketplaces and apps.


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  Accenture PLC (ACN) Q1 2026 (USD): Adj. EPS 3.94 (exp. 3.75), Revenue 18.7bln (exp. 18.48bln), new bookings 20.9bln; sees FY adj. EPS of 13.52-13.90 (exp. 13.78).


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  SK Hynix (000660 KS) - Sk Kynix became the first to complete Intel (INTC) data centre certification for 32GB die-based 256GB server DDR5 RDIMM.


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  TSMC (TSM) - To install cutting-edge 3nm chip tools in Arizona plant next summer, according to Nikkei.


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  Core Scientific (CORZ) - Upgraded at Citizens to 'Outperform' from 'Market Perform' with a USD 30 PT. The firm cites the company's "robust growth prospects" for the upgrade. Core Scientific's power pipeline provides a solid foundation to secure additional high-performance compute lease agreements with new customers beyond CoreWeave (CRWV). Citizens believes this should allow the company to capture the accelerating demand for HPC infrastructure.


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  IonQ (IONQ - Announced an expanded agreement with QuantumBasel, the quantum initiative of uptown Basel, Switzerland's innovation campus. The extended contract grants QuantumBasel ownership of its existing IonQ Forte Enterprise system and secures ownership of a next-generation Tempo system. This new agreement brings the total deal value of the QuantumBasel and IonQ partnership to over USD 60mln and extends IonQ's on-site presence in Switzerland for four more years, continuing through 2029.


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  Parsons (PSN) - Announced it was awarded a seat on the US Air Force Comprehensive Construction & Engineering Multiple Award Task Order Contract. Managed by the Air Force Civil Engineering Centre, this USD 15bln ceiling value contract will ensure the readiness and resilience of US Air Force and Department of War facilities.

CONSUMER DISCRETIONARY

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  Amazon (AMZN), Walmart (WMT), Alphabet (GOOGL) - A union-aligned investment group sent letters to the companies on Wednesday, asking how US President Trump's immigration policies were impacting their finances and supply chains, according to Reuters, citing documents. SOC Investment Group owns less than 1% of each of the companies, which include some of the top recipients of H-1B visa petition approvals for skilled foreign professionals. It wants the companies to show how they will navigate Trump's USD 100k fee structure for new visa approvals.


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  Lululemon (LULU) - To expand into six new markets in 2026. Lululemon plans to launch in Greece, Austria, Poland, Hungary, and Romania next year with partner Arion Retail Group, in addition to its previously announced entry into India through a partnership with Tata CLiQ. Meanwhile, Elliott built over a USD 1bln stake in Lululemon and is pushing for former Ralph Lauren executive Jane Nielsen to be Lululemon's new CEO, according to WSJ.


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  DoorDash (DASH) - Teaming up with OpenAI to bring grocery shopping options directly into ChatGPT. The new DoorDash app in ChatGPT enables customers to turn recipes into grocery orders delivered from local stores in as little as an hour.


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  Instacart (CART) - US FTC investigates Instacart over AI pricing tool, according to a Reuters source. The FTC is seeking information about Instacart's Eversight pricing tool after a recent study showed that different shoppers were offered different prices for the same products.


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  CarMax (KMX) Q3 2025 (USD): EPS with items 0.43 (exp. 0.32), was impacted by 0.08 from restructuring charges; revenue 5.79bln (exp. 5.63bln). Expect improved sales performance trends: improving price competitiveness by lowering retail used unit margins in Q4 and increasing marketing spend on a total unit basis to be up year-over-year in Q4, though to a lesser degree than during Q3, with a focus on investing in acquisitions to drive buys and sales.


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  Darden Restaurants (DRI) Q2 2026 (USD): Adj. EPS 2.08 (exp. 2.10), Revenue 3.1bln (exp. 3.07bln); backed FY26 adj. EPS view of 10.50-10.70 (exp. 10.59); raised FY26 total sales growth view to 8.5-9.3%.


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  Rivian (RIVN) - Upgraded at Baird to 'Outperform' from 'Neutral' with a USD 25 PT (prev. 14). The firm says the R2 launch should boost for Rivian's brand, product demand, and the shares as deliveries begin near mid- year. In addition, Baird says the company's recent autonomy day was highlighted by the unveiling of custom chips, which is a positive for Rivian's long-term competitiveness. The firm wants to own the stock into the new product cycle of launching the R2.


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  Etsy (ETSY) - Announced a new USD 750mln share repurchase plan.


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  Birkenstock (BIRK) Q4 2025 (EUR): Adj. EPS 0.51 (prev. 0.29 last year), 526.34mln (prev. 455.76mln last year); sees FY26 EPS between 1.90-2.05.

FINANCIALS

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  Franklin Resources (BEN) - Raised quarterly dividend 3.1% to USD 0.33/shr; announces addition to stock buyback programme - will buy, from time to time, an additional 20.8mln shares, for a total of up to 40mln shares.


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  Coinbase (COIN) - Announced it has begun rolling out stock trading to Coinbase users in the US. Consumers will now be able to buy, sell, and manage leading stocks and ETFs alongside their crypto portfolios - with USD or USDC - all within one Coinbase app and account. The company also began rolling out access to prediction markets on Coinbase in the United States. Consumers will soon be able to trade on the outcomes of real-world events like elections, sports, collectibles, and economic indicators, with prices of the event contracts determined by the collective trading activity of market participants. Meanwhile, the CFO sold 7,375 shares of common stock in a total transaction size of USD 1.97mln, via a filing.


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  Nasdaq (NDAQ) - Announced that in 2025 it raised a total of USD 46.65bln from new listings, marking the strongest year for capital raise since 2021. In addition, 22 companies transferred their corporate listings to Nasdaq in 2025, including Walmart, the largest exchange transfer in history.


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  FactSet Research Systems (FDS) Q1 2026 (USD): Adj. EPS 4.51 (exp. 4.36), Revenue 607.21mln (exp. 600.6mln); sees FY26 adj. EPS at 16.90-17.60 (exp. 17.34) and FY26 GAAP revenues of 2.423-2.448bln (exp. 2.44bln).


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  PayPal (PYPL) - Downgraded at Morgan Stanley to 'Underweight' from 'Equal Weight' with a USD 51 PT (prev. 74). The firm said the improvements to the company's branded checkout integrations will be "slow and complex." Morgan Stanley believes PayPal will see "sluggish" dollar growth through 2028 on share loss, take rate degradation, and lack of Venmo monetization.


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  Citigroup (C), JPMorgan (JPM), UBS (UBS) - Major US bank won their bid to block a USD 3.6bln mass lawsuit over alleged foreign exchange rigging, Reuters reports.


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  Citigroup (C) - Appointed Ryan Ellis as head of market sales for Australia and New Zealand, covering financial institutions and corporates, according to Reuters, citing an internal memo. Ellis, who has led Australia and New Zealand rates sales at Citi since 2023 after joining the bank in 2020, will retain responsibility for rates.


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  Goldman Sachs (GS)- GS hired Brian Cayne, a co-founder of boutique tech investment bank Qatalyst Partners, as a global co-head of its software investment banking group, according to Reuters, citing people familiar with the matter.


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  Heritage Commerce (HTBK) - CVB Financial (CVBF) will buy rival Heritage in a USD 811mln all-stock deal, as it looks to expand its presence into the Bay Area. The deal will create a combined bank with about USD 22bln in assets.

HEALTHCARE

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  Eli Lilly (LLY) - Eli Lilly's orforglipron achieved the primary and all key secondary endpoints for weight maintenance vs. placebo at 52 weeks following weight loss on Wegovy or Zepbound. The overall safety and tolerability profile of orforglipron in ATTAIN-MAINTAIN was consistent with previous orforglipron Phase 3 studies. Lilly has submitted a new drug application to the FDA for orforglipron for the treatment of adults with obesity or overweight. Orforglipron was granted a Commissioner's National Priority Voucher from the FDA.


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  Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) - Received approval from the FDA for Rybrevant Faspro, which is co-formulated with Halozyme Therapeutics' (HALO) Enhanze drug delivery technology, for patients with epidermal growth factor receptor,-mutated locally advanced or metastatic non-small cell lung cancer.


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  Novo Nordisk (NVO) - Filed for FDA approval of Cagrisema, the first weekly combination of GLP-1 and Amylin analogues for weight management.


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  BioNTech (BNTX) - Closed its acquisition of CureVac (CVAC), with around 86.75% of CVAC shares being tendered. Expects mandatory acquisition of the remaining shares to be carried out in Jan'26.


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  Insmed (INSM) - Announced that the Phase 2b BiRCh study of brensocatib in patients with chronic rhinosinusitis without nasal polyps did not meet its primary or secondary efficacy endpoints in either the 10 mg or 40 mg treatment arms. Insmed has discontinued its development program of brensocatib in CRSsNP, effective immediately, and intends to present these data at a future congress. Guggenheim lowered its price target after the disappointing results to USD 221 from 230 and keeps a Buy rating. The firm, which is removing all CRSsNP-related sales and expenses from its model, notes that while the stock was down over 10% in post-market trading, the impact to its price target is a "much more modest" 4%.


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  Humana (HUM) - Pentagon said Humana government business was awarded USD 7.3bln to exercise the option for healthcare and administrative support services. Humana is to exercise Option Period Two under a contract for health care and administrative support services in support of the Defense Health Agency TRICARE program in the East Region.


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  Medicare - US President Trump is reportedly expected to announce a pilot programme to pay for Medicare patients to use CBD, via WaPo.

COMMUNICATIONS

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  Meta (META) - Chief AI scientist Yann LeCun, who recently announced he would be leaving the company is in early discussions to raise EUR 500M for his start-up, FT reports. LeCun is targeting a valuation of EUR 3B for his startup, but discussions are in the early stages and could change, the sources added.


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  Disney (DIS), Roblox (RBLX) - Disney has not partnered with or licensed its IP to Roblox, unlike Netflix (NFLX), Lionsgate (LION), and others, because it doesn't consider Roblox a safe platform, Variety reports.


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  Trump Media and Technology (DJT) - To merge with TAE Technologies, in an all-stock transaction valued at more than USD 6bln. Upon closing, shareholders of each company will own approximately 50% of the combined company on a fully diluted equity basis. The companies said the transaction will create one of the world's first publicly traded fusion companies. In 2026, the combined company plans to site and begin construction on the world's first utility-scale fusion power plant, subject to required approvals. Additional fusion power plants are planned and expected to be 350 - 500 MWe.


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  Warner Bros Discovery (WBD) - Urged its shareholders to reject Paramount Skydance's hostile takeover bid, arguing Paramount was inadequate compared to Netflix (NFLX), WSJ reports. Warner has lingering concerns about the financing and wants Larry Ellison to give a stronger personal guarantee that he will fully commit to the USD 77.9bln bid. Warner argues it can't know if Paramount's all-cash bid will close unless the Ellisons signal a deeper commitment to the transaction. Elsewhere, Soo Kim, founder of New York hedge fund Standard General, has been in talks over potentially buying or investing in the company’s television networks, FT reports, citing sources. Standard General has been approached by at least one major WBD shareholder to acquire all or part of its cable television assets, including CNN, the report added.

ENERGY

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  Sable Offshore (SOC) - Disclosed that on December 17, the US DoT's Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration notified Sable Offshore that it confirms the company's November 26 determination that the company's pipeline connecting the Santa Ynez Unit to the Pentland Station terminal in Kern County, California constitutes an interstate pipeline facility under the Pipeline Safety Act, pursuant to which PHMSA is vested with exclusive regulatory authority over interstate pipelines. In its notification, PHMSA additionally states that it considers the company's pipeline system connecting the Santa Ynez Unit to the Pentland Station terminal in Kern County, California, to be an "active" pipeline according to PHMSA regulations.


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  US-Venezuela - US President Trump's administration is asking the US oil industry if they would return to Venezuela if Maduro is gone, according to POLITICO.


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  Crude - BofA said if WTI prices averages USD 57/bbl in 2026, in line with its forecasts, US Shale oil production may fall by 70k BPD or 1% Y/Y. Said it remains somewhat bearish on prices in 2026, with Brent set to trade below USD 60/bbl in Q1'26 and average roughly next year compared to almost USD 69 this year. Several downside risks could push crude oil prices and US Shale production substantially lower.


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  BP (BP) - Appointed Meg O'Neill as CEO, effective 1 April 2026. Murray Auchincloss has decided to step down from his position as CEO and director of the Board, effective Thursday, 18 December. Carol Howle, current executive vice president, supply, trading & shipping, will serve as interim CEO until Meg joins as CEO. Murray will serve in an advisory role until December 2026 to ensure a smooth transition. O'Neill currently serves as CEO of Woodside Energy (WDS).

INDUSTRIALS

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  Boeing (BA) - Labor officials said on Wednesday that contract talks with the Boeing covering the future of roughly 1,600 white-collar union members at fuselage supplier Spirit AeroSystems after its acquisition by Boeing had been paused until January 5, Reuters reports.


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  Joby Aviation (JOBY) - Announced its support for the US Department of Transportation's Advanced Air Mobility National Strategy, as well as its intent to immediately engage on key recommendations.


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  Northop Grumman (NOC) - Awarded a USD 334.42mln firm-fixed-price modification to a previously awarded contract for production of Surface Electronic Warfare Improvement Program Block 3 Hemisphere and Quadrant systems.


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  GE Vernova (GEV) - Upgraded at Jefferies to 'Buy' from 'Hold' with a USD 815 PT (prev. 736). Shares are down since the December 9 analyst day, though the firm is more positive on the outlook for Power given gas pricing and services visibility, and the outlook for electrification as well. Gas turbine pricing continues to positively surprise, and services provide visibility deeper into the 2030s.


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  Serve Robotics (SERV) - Oppenheimer initiated coverage of Serve Robotics with an 'Outperform' rating and USD 20 PT. The firm, which calls Serve Robotics "a Physical AI pioneer," sees the company leveraging its data leadership in complex environments, notably sidewalks, into "advantaged" hardware design and software efficiency to drive structural cost advantages and accelerated learning cycles compared to peers.

REAL ESTATE

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  Howard Hughes (HHH) - Pershing Square (PSH LN) to invest up to USD 1bln in Howard Hughes preferred stock, according to Bloomberg.


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  MAA (MAA) - Increased quarterly dividend USD 1.53/shr from 1.51/shr.


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  Fermi (FRMI) - Denied a Business Insider report that said Amazon (AMZN) was a prospective tenant and that it withdrew funding from the company's project.

INDUSTRIALS

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  Delta Airlines (DAL) - Said Glen Hauenstein, Delta's President, will retire on February 28th; Joe Esposito has been named EVP and CCO.

18 Dec 2025 - 13:49- Exclusive- Source: Newsquawk