Stock Market Today (LIVE): S&P 500 Wipes Out Iran War Losses; UPS Wants RFID on Every Package; Citi Puts Alphabet on 90-Day Watch

📌 Top story — scroll down for more updates

Closing Bell

4:04 pm

Stocks climbed Tuesday as traders looked past stalled U.S.-Iran talks, betting a deal is still within reach. The S&P 500 rose 1.2% to within 1% of its 52-week high, with the Nasdaq up 2%. A cooler-than-expected producer price index reading added fuel.

• Banks under the microscope: Wells Fargo (WFC 1.73%) fell 5% on disappointing earnings, while JPMorgan Chase (JPM 1.65%) beat Q1 estimates but trimmed its net interest income guidance, sending shares slightly lower.
• 18 S&P 500 stocks hit 52-week highs, including Citigroup (C +1.63%) at its highest level since November 2008, and several chip companies—KLA Corporation (KLAC 2.68%), Stock Advisor (Team RB) rec Lam Research (LRCX 2.57%), and Monolithic Power Systems (MPWR 0.76%).

The Turbine Gap Is Fueling Fluence Energy

3:33 pm — FLNC +8.79%, BE +21.78%, ORCL +4.45%

Big news between Bloom Energy (BE 2.88%) and Oracle (ORCL +4.18%). Oracle has contracted 1.2 GW of power generation from Bloom’s fuel cell technology, with the option to expand to 2.8 GW worth of purchases. This is a huge deal, and it comes at a time when Bloom is actively expanding its production capacity from 1 GW to 2 GW, with the additional capacity expected to be available in 2026. Oracle needs the power now, and it cannot wait for industrial gas turbines to be available. So it went with a substitute generation technology that Bloom has ready to go.

Fluence Energy (FLNC +2.77%), in my opinion, is up in sympathy. The deal is highlighting a big problem: gas turbines are not available for years. So data centers that need power now are turning to alternative sources. And, in addition to fuel cells, solar + battery storage is another viable substitute for power generation.

UPS’s RFID Push Has Labor Implications

3:04 pm — UPS +0.44%

United Parcel Service (UPS +0.34%) announced a $100 million investment in RFID tracking technology it says will eliminate 20 million manual package scans per day across its U.S. network. The company has embedded RFID chips into shipping labels and installed sensors in all delivery trucks, 5,500+ retail locations, and final-mile delivery centers.

• Misloads down nearly 70%: Since piloting RFID in 2024, packages loaded onto wrong trucks — a costly, time-consuming error — have dropped sharply.
• Labor implications loom: UPS declined to quantify job cuts, but eliminating 20 million daily manual scans will reduce headcount needs as the company continues restructuring for profitability.

Wells Fargo Q1 Misses on Key Metrics

2:42 pm — WFC -4.99%

Wells Fargo (WFC 1.73%) shares fell 5% Tuesday after Q1 earnings missed on several key metrics. Revenue of $21.4 billion and net interest income of $12.1 billion both came in below analyst estimates, and investment banking fees and credit quality also disappointed—even as both revenue and earnings grew year over year.

• The asset-cap removal raised the bar: Investors expected more after regulators lifted the cap on Wells Fargo’s total assets last year. “With the cap now lifted this gives Wells a chance to start growing again,” Motley Fool analyst Jason Moser said in June. The bank is growing, but not fast enough to satisfy expectations.
• The bull case isn’t broken: Analysts likely set the bar too high given the economic environment. A 2.3% forward dividend yield sweetens the wait for a potential rebound.

Why Alphabet Shares Are Rising Today

2:27 pm — GOOG +3.13%

Alphabet (GOOG +1.21%) shares climbed roughly 3.3% Monday after Citi (C +1.63%) placed the stock on a “90-day catalyst watch” and raised its price target to $405 from $390, citing expectations for strong upcoming earnings on April 29. Google Cloud now contributes nearly 15% of Alphabet’s operating income, and a new deal in which Anthropic will purchase computing power from Google’s TPU accelerators strengthens Cloud’s competitive position.

• The April 29 earnings report looms large: Analysts expect Alphabet to announce product upgrades alongside solid revenue growth, potentially providing a meaningful near-term catalyst.
• The Anthropic TPU deal signals more than one win: Beyond boosting Cloud’s credibility, it opens the door to additional third-party TPU agreements and accelerates development of future chips.

Meta Fights Massive Italian Data Lawsuit

1:10 pm — META +4.4%

A Milan court has authorized a class-action lawsuit against Meta Platforms (META +1.41%) following a historical data scraping incident that exposed the personal information of 533 million users globally. The consumer group CTCU is pursuing compensation for roughly 35 million Italian Facebook users, alleging violations of the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). While Meta maintains the action is meritless and purely procedural, the ruling reopens legal vulnerabilities from a 2018–2019 breach first disclosed in 2021. Shareholders should monitor this as a potential template for broader European litigation that could impact the company’s regulatory compliance costs.

• Regulatory Red Zone: This case tests the strength of GDPR enforcement regarding “fear of loss” of data control, which could broaden liability beyond proven financial theft. Success for the plaintiffs might trigger similar high-volume filings across other EU jurisdictions.
• Financial Shielding: Meta remains confident in a dismissal, but the sheer scale of the 35-million-user pool creates a headline risk that could dampen sentiment. The company’s legal defense will focus on the fact that the data was scraped by third parties rather than stolen via a direct system hack.

Today’s Lunchtime News

1:15 pm

Walt Disney (DIS +0.45%) is eliminating 1,000 positions in new CEO Josh D’Amaro’s first major round of layoffs since succeeding Bob Iger in March. The cuts will hit the marketing department hardest, which is being consolidated under a single executive.

• Ongoing trimming: The layoffs add to more than 8,000 cuts at Disney since 2023, though they represent a small fraction of the company’s 231,000-person workforce. D’Amaro framed the move as an effort to build a more agile, tech-enabled organization.
• Industrywide pain: Sony‘s (SONY +1.38%) film and TV division announced hundreds of its own cuts earlier this month. Hollywood studios have been steadily downsizing as the movie business struggles to recover to pre-pandemic levels and streaming divisions push to turn profitable.

Novartis CEO Joins Anthropic Board

12:40 pm

Anthropic has appointed Novartis (NVS 0.85%) CEO Vas Narasimhan to its board, marking a strategic pivot toward the pharmaceutical sector for the Claude AI developer. Narasimhan joins other heavy hitters like Netflix (NFLX +1.41%) Chairman Reed Hastings on a board increasingly staffed with corporate veterans. This high-profile addition comes as Anthropic reportedly explores a 2026 initial public offering, positioning itself to monetize AI applications in drug discovery and disease biology. By adding the first pharma executive to its governing body, Anthropic signals that healthcare may be the next major frontier for its generative models.

• Pre-IPO Polishing: The recruitment of a Fortune 500 CEO and former Microsoft (MSFT +4.64%) executive Chris Liddell suggests the startup is professionalizing its leadership ahead of a potential public debut.
• Responsible Scaling: Narasimhan was appointed by an independent trust focused on long-term safety, ensuring AI deployment balances industry-shaking speed with ethical governance in high-stakes medical fields.

Amazon’s $11.6B Bet to Catch Starlink

12:20 pm — AMZN +3.7%

Amazon.com (AMZN 0.21%) is launching a massive $11.57 billion offensive against Elon Musk’s Starlink by acquiring satellite operator Globalstar (GSAT +1.18%). The deal aims to bridge the gap between Amazon’s Project Kuiper and Starlink’s 10,000-satellite dominance, specifically targeting Direct-to-Device (D2D) connectivity. While Globalstar shares soared 10% and Amazon rose 3%, the acquisition also creates a rare partnership between retail giants; Amazon confirmed it will honor Globalstar’s existing contract to power emergency SOS features for Apple (AAPL +2.91%). This consolidation underscores the urgent “scale-or-fail” reality for satellite players facing SpaceX’s unrivaled launch capacity.

• Frenemies in Orbit: Despite their hardware rivalry, Amazon will continue serving as the backbone for Apple’s safety features, maintaining the $1.5 billion infrastructure expansion Apple funded in 2024.
• Race Against the Clock: Amazon faces a looming July regulatory deadline to deploy half of its planned 3,200-satellite constellation. Acquiring Globalstar’s spectrum and existing birds provides a critical shortcut to launching commercial services by year-end.

Lucid Taps Outsider for CEO Turnaround

11:20 am — LCID -5.8%

Lucid Group (LCID 6.36%) is pivoting from its automotive roots, naming former Schindler Group chief Silvio Napoli as CEO. Napoli, who also sits on the board of Eaton (ETN 1.70%), brings industrial scaling expertise to a company reeling from Peter Rawlinson’s 2025 exit. Accompanying the leadership shift is a critical $750 million capital injection from Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund and Uber Technologies (UBER +5.99%). The expanded Uber deal is particularly notable, increasing Uber’s commitment to 35,000 custom-built robotaxis. Lucid shares jumped 5% on the news as investors weigh whether an industry outsider can finally fix production bottlenecks.

• Ride-Hailing Reinforcements: Uber added $200 million to its stake, signaling deep integration into its future autonomous fleet. This partnership provides Lucid a guaranteed buyer for its high-volume midsize platform.
• Fiscal Hardball: The Saudi PIF’s $550 million contribution reinforces its role as Lucid’s lender of last resort. Napoli’s background in capital allocation suggests a move toward stricter financial discipline over engineering vanity projects.

Energy Spikes Drive Wholesale Prices

10:05 am

March producer prices rose 0.5%, a figure dominated by a massive 8.5% energy spike that pushed the annual rate to 4%. Despite this headline heat, the core PPI rose a meager 0.1%, coming in significantly cooler than economists feared. While geopolitical oil shocks remain a wild card, the flat services reading suggests underlying inflationary pressures are actually stabilizing, though the Federal Reserve is unlikely to pivot toward rate cuts with the headline figure still doubling its target.

Opening Bell

9:35 am — ORCL +6.6%

The S&P 500 climbed Tuesday, erasing all losses sustained since the onset of the Iran conflict. Investors are rotating back into pro-cyclical sectors, signaled by a 0.7% Nasdaq lift led by Oracle (ORCL +4.18%). While geopolitical friction remains, cooler-than-expected Producer Price Index data and renewed hopes for U.S.-Iran negotiations are bolstering sentiment. This resilience suggests the market is looking past immediate volatility toward a constructive second half of 2026.

Top of the Morning

9:25 am — NVO +3.1% in pre-market trading

AI is proving to be much more than a buzzword; it’s becoming the ultimate accelerant for any industry it touches. Perhaps nowhere is this more vital than in healthcare, a sector that has long been overdue for a technological shot in the arm. This morning, Novo Nordisk (NVO +3.79%) — the powerhouse behind weight-loss blockbuster Ozempic — joined the fray by announcing a partnership with OpenAI. The goal? To supercharge drug discovery and trim the fat off their operational efficiency, following in the footsteps of peers like Moderna (MRNA +2.69%) and Sanofi (SNY +0.87%).

Novo Nordisk executive Mike Doustdar framed the move as a game-changer, noting that AI gives the company the ability to analyze massive datasets at a scale that was previously “impossible.”

8:25 am — SNBR +5.88% in pre-market trading

There’s nothing better than a good night’s sleep, right?

Well, unless it’s on a Sleep Number bed.

Word came out via Bloomberg, on April Fool’s Day no less, that the Sleep Number Corporation (SNBR +27.68%) was seeking “rescue financing” in order to prevent a potential bankruptcy filing.

Here’s the thing – the damage potentially necessitating corporate equity wipe-out? It’s a completely self-inflicted wound.

Today’s Change

(27.68%) $0.49

Current Price

$2.26

Key Data Points

Market Cap

$40M

Day’s Range

$1.72 – $2.37

52wk Range

$1.06 – $13.94

Volume

3.7M

Avg Vol

1.4M

Gross Margin

59.64%

CarMax Posts 47% EPS Drop in Fiscal Q4

8:00 am — KMX -6.91% in pre-market trading

CarMax (KMX 2.76%) reported another challenging quarter as sales momentum remained weak and profitability declined. Earnings per share (Non-GAAP) dropped to $0.34 from $0.64, with revenue down 1%. Management eyes deeper cost reductions and digital platform improvements, but offered no specific outlook for fiscal 2027.

Today’s Change

(-2.76%) $-1.15

Current Price

$40.51

Key Data Points

Market Cap

$5.9B

Day’s Range

$40.17 – $41.66

52wk Range

$30.26 – $71.99

Volume

4.9M

Avg Vol

3.5M

Gross Margin

11.31%

This Morning’s Breakfast News

7:30 am — NVO +2.50% in pre-market trading

Novo Nordisk (NVO +3.79%) announced a new partnership with OpenAI, designed to push AI transformation in healthcare and help bring new and enhanced treatments to patients quicker.

• “We know there are therapies still waiting to be discovered that could change their lives”: Mike Doustdar, Novo’s CEO, explained how OpenAI’s advanced capabilities should give “us the ability to analyse datasets at a scale that was previously impossible, identify patterns we could not see, and test hypotheses faster than ever.”
• “The thing with Novo is they look pretty cheap right now”: Last month, Fool analyst Karl Thiel said “I think investors see slowing growth and more looming competition” but “they just need the right deal or the right internal development to change that calculus.”

BlackRock Upgrades U.S. Stocks on Profit Strength

7:15 am — BLK +1.01% in pre-market trading

BlackRock (BLK 0.56%) has upgraded U.S. equities to “overweight” from “neutral,” citing resilient corporate profits and a belief that the economic fallout from the Iran conflict remains contained. The $14.2 trillion asset manager pointed to two critical signals for reupping risk: signs of restored shipping through the Strait of Hormuz and a “high threshold” for further military escalation. Despite geopolitical friction, S&P 500 earnings are projected to climb 12.6% this quarter–potentially reaching 19% if historical beat rates hold. BlackRock strategists noted that while technology profits are forecast to grow 45% this year, the sector’s valuation relative to the broader market is at its lowest level since mid-2020, presenting a compelling entry point for investors.

• Tech Sector Opportunity: The firm highlighted that information technology’s valuation premium has eroded significantly, making it an attractive thematic play alongside defense stocks during the current earnings season.
• Earnings Resilience: Upgraded forecasts for both U.S. and emerging markets suggest that global growth remains durable despite the February 28 conflict onset, providing a fundamental floor for equities even if diplomatic talks remain fluid.

Today’s Change

(-0.56%) $-5.96

Current Price

$1048.60

Key Data Points

Market Cap

$172B

Day’s Range

$1043.45 – $1062.00

52wk Range

$845.82 – $1219.94

Volume

1M

Avg Vol

886K

Gross Margin

78.20%

Dividend Yield

2.03%

ICYMI: Monday’s Scoreboard

6:30 am — RMBS +0.74% in pre-market trading

Rambus (RMBS 1.41%) was the subject of the latest Scoreboard video.

Meta Set to Dethrone Google in Global Ad Revenue

6:00 am — META +0.65%, GOOG +0.72% in pre-market trading

Meta Platforms (META +1.41%) is projected to surpass Alphabet (GOOG +1.21%) as the world’s top digital advertising revenue generator by the end of 2026, according to a new Emarketer forecast. Meta’s net worldwide ad revenues are expected to hit $243.46 billion, securing a 26.8% global market share, fueled largely by AI-driven automation tools and the monetization of Reels. While Google’s ad revenues are still growing, analysts suggest its diversified business model and reliance on subscription services like YouTube Premium may hinder its ability to match Meta’s singular focus on ad-tech performance. Together with Amazon (AMZN 0.21%), which is on track for $82 billion in ad revenue, the “Big Three” will control over 62% of all global digital ad spending this year.

• The AI Advantage: Meta’s “Advantage+” and generative AI creative tools are delivering higher returns for advertisers, effectively siphoning budgets away from traditional search and legacy platforms.
• Amazon’s Rising Threat: While Meta and Google fight for the top spot, Amazon’s ad business is growing at a faster clip, leveraging deep first-party shopper data to command a 9% share of the global market.

Bloom Energy Lights Up on Oracle’s 2.8GW Deal

5:15 am — BE +15.30% in pre-market trading

Bloom Energy (BE 2.88%) rose over 15% ahead of the market open after confirming the expansion of an existing partnership with Oracle (ORCL +4.18%), more than doubling the amount of gigawatt power supply.

• “The expanded partnership underscores Bloom’s capability to provide fast, reliable power suited for AI workloads”: Bloom’s statement confirmed Oracle now intends to procure up to 2.8 gigawatts of Bloom’s fuel cell systems in the coming years, primarily to support Oracle’s projects in the U.S.
• The news reflects a growing shift away from traditional power systems: Bloom’s modular fuel cell systems can be deployed far faster than traditional power solutions, making it more appealing for large tech companies like Oracle in the race to get operational.

Today’s Change

(-2.88%) $-6.32

Current Price

$212.71

Key Data Points

Market Cap

$61B

Day’s Range

$211.20 – $229.50

52wk Range

$16.01 – $229.55

Volume

535K

Avg Vol

11M

Gross Margin

30.89%

Before the Opening Bell

5:00 am

Stock futures remained stable Tuesday as the S&P 500 fully recovered its losses from the Middle East conflict, signaling investor confidence despite a breakdown in formal negotiations. Although President Trump recently ordered a naval blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, he claimed Monday that Iranian officials have since reached out to “work out a deal,” reigniting hopes for a diplomatic off-ramp. This resilience suggests that Wall Street is looking past the immediate military posturing, betting instead that the “war premium” on equities was overblown. While the geopolitical situation remains fluid, the market’s return to pre-conflict levels indicates a significant shift from panic to cautious optimism.

• Geopolitical Risk Pricing: The market’s rapid rebound implies that traders are prioritizing Trump’s rhetoric of a potential “grand bargain” over the logistical risks posed by a continued blockade of the world’s most critical energy artery.
• Inflationary Easing: As equity indices stabilize, the “fear trade” in commodities has cooled slightly, providing a reprieve for broad-market valuations that were previously weighed down by the threat of a sustained energy-led inflation spike.