Early Look

Friday, April 17, 2026

Another day, another record for the S&P 500 and Nasdaq, with the latter chalking up a remarkable 12 day win streak that has produced a 3,000 point move off the bottom, erasing all the Iran/U.S. war losses. At the same time, the S&P 500 (SPX) has surged over 650 points from its lows during this stretch. Just how remarkable is this historically? Well, @Bluekurtic noted on X, “the S&P 500 took only 12 days to go from oversold to overbought, making this the third fastest move. $SPX forward returns look pretty good 6 months out, positive in 14 of 15 cases.” Thursday's gains came after U.S. President Trump said Israel and Lebanon had agreed to a 10-day ceasefire, potentially removing an obstacle to a broader peace agreement in the region. Despite worries about global inflation as the Strait of Hormuz remains all but closed, investors expect strong results from companies reporting their quarterly earnings in the next few weeks, which is keeping market expectations high. Overnight, shares of Netflix (NFLX) and Alcoa (AA) both declined following mixed results/guidance. Brent crude approached $100 a barrel Thursday after Gulf Arab and European leaders signaled a US-Iran peace agreement could still be six months away, but oil prices slide over -3% this morning as traders await details of talks between the US and Iran following optimistic comments from President Trump. In Asian markets, The Nikkei Index pulled back from all-time highs, sliding -1,042 points to 58,475, the Shanghai Index slipped -4 points to 4,051, and the Hang Seng Index dropped -233 points to 26,160. In Europe, the German DAX is up 179 points to 24,334, while the FTSE 100 is down -22 points to 10,567. Bitcoin prices hit 10-week highs of $76,336 before paring gains.

• The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 114.82 points, or 0.24%, to 48,578.54
• The Nasdaq Composite gained 86.69 points, or 0.36%, to 24,102.70
• The Russell 2000 Index advanced 5.95 points, or 0.22% to 2,719.61

• The UK and France will host a summit to discuss setting up a naval force that would ensure freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz, as Europe seeks to rebut US claims that it’s not doing enough to secure the waterway – Bloomberg.
• Global equity funds received a fourth successive weekly inflow in the week through April 15 as upbeat ‌earnings and increased optimism that the Iran war could be resolved ‌more quickly than expected boosted risk appetite. Investors allocated a net of $31.26 billion to global ​equity funds in their largest weekly purchase since March 25, LSEG Lipper data showed - Reuters

• Uber (UBER) is raising its holding in Delivery Hero, buying a stake from its European rival’s biggest shareholder for €270 million ($318 million).

• Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings Inc (KNX) lowers guidance as now sees Q1 2026 adj EPS $0.08-$0.10, down from prior view of $0.28-$0.32; cites negative impact from claims development in less-than-truckload segment, an adverse decision on VAT reimbursement in Mexico, negative impact due to severe winter weather disruptions and impact from project business in our warehousing business included in our All Other Segments being deferred.
• NiSource (NI) announces strategic energy infrastructure agreements to enhance customer value and economic growth in Indiana; says new cost savings expand to approximately $1.25B for existing customers; residential customers expected to save $90-$115 annually.

• Fifth Third (FITB) Q1 revs $2.83B vs. est. $2.84B; Q1 net interest margin 3.30% vs. 3.03% last year; Q1 provisions for credit losses $227M.
• FNB Corp. (FNB) Q1 EPS $0.38 vs est $0.38 on NII $359.278Mm, CET1 capital ratio 11.4%, credit loss provision $18.462Mm, tangible BV/shr $12.06.
• Independent Bank Corp. (INDB) Q1 adj EPS $1.68 vs. est. $1.65; generated a return on average assets and a return on average common equity of 1.31% and 9.02%, respectively, for the first quarter of 2026, as compared to 1.20% and 8.38%, respectively; Q1 net interest margin of 3.90% increased 13 bps q/q; Q1 Deposit balances of $20.1B at March 31, 2026, decreased $29.3M q/q.
• Simmons First National (SFNC) Q1 adj EPS $0.47, in-line with consensus on adj net income $68.6M vs. est. $68.8M; Q1 Net interest margin up 3 bps to 3.84%; cost of deposits down 8 bps to 1.96%; efficiency ratio of 57.56%; adjusted efficiency ratio of 56.16%; Total average deposits up 6% annualized.
• Truist Financial (TFC) Q1 EPS $1.09 vs. consensus $1.00 and revs $5.15B vs. est. $5.18B;

• Lakeland Industries (LAKE) Q4 EPS ($0.61) vs est ($0.21) , adj EBITDA ex FX $1.3Mm on sales $45.8Mm vs est $49.45Mm; says targets FY single digit revenue growth vs est +6.69% and positive cash flow from ops in FY.
• Trevi Therapeutics (TRVI) 11.6M share Spot Secondary priced at $13.00.

• Ericsson (ERIC) posted worse-than-expected Q1 earnings; said increasing chip costs caused by artificial intelligence demand and a sales slowdown in North America weigh on results; Q1 adjusted operating profit of SEK 5.2B ($565.8M) falls short of the SEK 5.4B seen in the company-provided consensus; reports Q1 sales of SEK 49.33B was below consensus.
• In analog semis, NXP Semiconductors (NXPI) downgraded to Underperform from Outperform at Mizuho (tgt to $188 from $255), Texas Instruments (TXN) upgraded to Neutral from Underperform (tgt to $215 from $160) and STMicroelectronics (STM) upgraded to Outperform from Neutral (tgt to $48 from $32).
• Onto Innovation (ONTO) upgraded to buy from hold at Stifel citing the semiconductor manufacturing company’s solid preliminary revenue.
• Qorvo (QRVO) downgraded to Peer Perform from Outperform at Wolfe Research.

Mid-Morning Look

Friday, April 17, 2026

U.S. stocks are looking to make it 3 straight closing all-time record highs for the S&P 500 (SPX) and Nasdaq, with the Nasdaq on track for a 13^th consecutive winning day as oil prices plunge and investors remain optimistic a full peace deal between the U.S. and Iran can be reached shortly after major developments this morning. After falling five consecutive weeks in March/late February, major U.S. averages are now on track for three straight winning weeks, with the last two being the best weekly returns since November. The Smallcap Russell 2000 is also on track for a record high close. Just massive upside market momentum following new developments out of Iran today! Stock futures popped initially on a report by Axios that the U.S. and Iran are negotiating over a three-page plan to end the war, with one element under discussion being that the U.S. would release $20 billion in frozen Iranian funds in return for Iran giving up its stockpile of enriched uranium. https://tinyurl.com/mwpjw67m . The U.S. Dollar index (DXY) continued its decline after the Axios report and US Treasury yields decline on the report US as the 10-year yields last at 4.24%, Two-year yields at 3.72%. The market last leg higher came after Iran’s Foreign minister Araghchi said, “In line with the ceasefire in Lebanon, the Passage for all commercial vessels through Strait of Hormuz is declared completely open for the remaining period of ceasefire.” Passage will follow the coordinated route announced by Iran's Ports and Maritime Organization. Those headlines pushed oil prices much lower (10%) and lifted stocks, bonds and precious metals, and also boosted airlines, cruise lines and others that benefit from lower energy costs. President Trump did note: “"the strait of Hormuz is completely open and ready for business and full Passage, but the naval blockade will remain in full force and effect as it pertains to Iran, only, until such time as our transaction with Iran is 100% complete. This process should go very quickly in that most of the points are already negotiated. Thank you for your attention to this matter! President Donald J. Trump." More market momentum to the upside with only Energy (XLE) and Utilities (XLU) trading lower. Note the S&P 500 is now up over +12% higher since the March 30th low. @charliebilello noted on X, “The S&P 500 just crossed above 7,100 for the first time. A year ago, it was at 5,300. 5 years ago, it was at 4,200. 10 years ago, it was at 2,100. $SPX.” The U.S. dollar (DXY) is headed for a second weekly drop, and hovered near six-week lows, after snapping its 8 day losing streak on Thursday.

• In Metals & Mining: precious metals got an early boost, with GOLD, NEM, HL, WPM and others moving higher with gold and silver benefitting from lower oil and weaker dollar after Iran headlines; aluminum producer AA reported a miss on the top and bottom line as Q1 adj EPS $1.40 vs est $1.49 on revs $3.193B vs est $3.297B; expects FY total alumina and Aluminum segment production and shipments to remain unchanged.
• In Auto Semis: Mizuho upgraded STM to Outperform and new $48 PT, TXN upgraded to Neutral and raised $215 PT on Ai/DC Industrial Recovery and NXPI was downgraded to Underperform and cut PT to $188 in semis saying ahead of earnings, assesses three key analog industry drivers: 1) Ai DC is a key 2026-27E growth vector with 800V NVDA Ai racks benefiting power semis, with SiPho starting to ramp (positive for STM, Ex-3), 2) Industrial recovery broadening - green shoots in A&D, Robotics, Medical and energy, with broad China price hikes, up >10% Y/y in April (positive for TXN), and 3) Autos soft in 2026E - global LVP down ~2% Y/y (negative for NXPI) with geopolitical, macro demand headwinds, and elevated inventory potentially signaling more downside to LVP.
• In Trucking/Transports: The Dow Jones transport Average is coming off all-time highs on Thursday and now making new highs, helped greatly by a surge in airlines AAL, ALK, DAL, UAL, JBLU amid a plunge in oil prices; in trucking, KNX lowered Q1 EPS outlook to $0.08-$0.10, down from prior view of $0.28-$0.32 citing negative impact from claims development in LT segment, an adverse decision on VAT reimbursement in Mexico, negative impact due to severe winter weather disruptions and other items.

• CRML +32%; shares jumped after saying Greenland approved its purchase of the remaining 50.5% stake in Tanbreez, lifting ownership to 92.5%. The approval clears a major overhang on the rare earth project. CRML is targeting first ore in late 2028 to early 2029.
• CRVS +12%; after Goldman Sachs initiated coverage of the drug developer with a buy rating and a $40 price target, citing an attractive entry point.
• DAL +5%; as airline AAL, JBLU, UAL and cruise lines CCL, RCL, NCLH shares jumped as oil prices tumbled after Iran Foreign minister Araghchi said in line with the ceasefire in Lebanon, the Passage for all commercial vessels through Strait of Hormuz is declared completely open for the remaining period of ceasefire.
• HOOD +4%; seeing bounce in bitcoin levered stocks MSTR, IBIT, and others as Bitcoin hits 10-week highs above $77,000
• INTC +2%; among leaders in semiconductors this month, hitting highest levels since 2000 amid surge in chip makers; Philly semi index (SOX) topping 9,450, extending monthly gains to around 25% so far and YTD gains up over 33%; NVDA, AVGO, TSM, WDC extend gains.
• NI +2%; shares rose after announces strategic energy infrastructure agreements to enhance customer value and economic growth in Indiana; signed a long-term energy supply deal with a GOOGL unit and expanded its agreement with AMZN; says new cost savings expand to approximately $1.25B for existing customers.
• ONTO +5%; was upgraded to buy from hold at Stifel citing the semiconductor manufacturing company’s solid preliminary revenue. The firm said they were surprised by the muted reaction to their 1H +pre-announcement and even moreso the qualification of its new Gen5 Dragonfly system for 2.5D advanced packaging.

• CF -9%; weakness in fertilizer stocks (MOS, NTR) after Iran re-opened the Strait of Hormuz, raising hopes it can begin to free up the supply chain and bring down fertilizer prices which have spiked in recent weeks.
• EXC -3%; was downgrade to Equal Weight at Barclays and to market perform at BMO Capital noting Maryland and Pennsylvania are becoming less constructive jurisdictions, which now argues for a wider discount on EXC's distribution portfolio on most comparatives. Yesterday, PECO filed to withdraw its Electric and gas rate cases.
• FLNC -3%; was downgraded to Sell from Neutral and cut PT to $8 from $22 at UBS saying believes U.S. tax policy is catalyzing a step-change increase in domestic Battery supply by incentivizing Auto OEMs to pivot from EV Battery manufacturing toward utility scale Battery energy storage systems.
• NFLX -11%; shares slid after noting founder Reed Hastings will not stand for re-election to the Board when his current term expires at the Annual Meeting in June. The company also reported better Q1 results as EPS $1.23 vs est $0.76 on revs $12.25B vs est $12.18B, but guides Q2 revs $12.57B vs est $12.63B and EPS $0.78 vs est $0.84.
• XOM -4%; as energy stocks tumble; the group was broadly lower (CVX, PBF, VLO, EOG, HAL) given the pullback in oil prices after Iran/U.S. reach some agreements.

Closing Recap

Friday, April 17, 2026

US equity futures gained modestly overnight following headlines Trump may be a bit more flexible in Iran negotiations.  Later indications that the Strait of Hormuz had been opened to commercial shipping pushed futures higher and prompted traders to once again price in a chance of a 2026 Fed rate cut.  The Iran situation is not totally settled, but traders are growing more confident in ongoing ceasefire and resolution.  Sentiment has turned more bullish with yesterday’s AAII weekly survey at -17.7% versus -21.6% the week prior and bulls rising to 18.1% from 17.6% while bears slipped to 49.8% from 52%.  Meanwhile, today’s Fear & Greed Index hit 69/100 (Greed), up from  36 (Fear) last week and 20 (Extreme Fear) last month. Early breadth favored advancers by almost 5:1 as small caps outperformed with IWM (+2.33%) versus SPY (+1.19%) and QQQ (+1.12%) in a broad rally. On the sector side, Consumer Discretionary (+3.43%), Industrials (+2.77%) and Technology (+1.74%) were early outperformers among S&P sector ETFs, while Communications (+0.35%), Utilities (-1.23%) and Energy (-5.52%) paced the underperformers with 9 sectors gaining versus only 2 declining.

In data of note today, @RyanDetrick gave bulls more ammunition, noting the S&P 500 has a shot at closing up 3% for three consecutive weeks and that has only happened twice in history. At the '82 lows and after COVID. A year later, stocks were up 33.9% and 32.3%, respectively.  Meanwhile, @bespokeinvest noted the Technology sector has gained over 20% in the past 13 trading days.  The last two times it was up more were coming out of the Financial Crisis in 2009 and coming out of Covid.  As a result, the Nasdaq 100 is on track for its best April in 40 years after 12 consecutive up days (only enjoyed this long a streak seven other times since 1985 and, another one for the bulls here, was up a year later every time).

Stocks extended gains into the early afternoon following Trump comments that a deal to end the war is mostly complete and Iran had agreed to suspend its nuclear program indefinitely and will not receive any frozen funds from the US.  Comments out of Iran threatening to reciprocate if the blockade continues were met with a small retreat in stocks but the tenor of the day remained very positive. Of course, nothing’s done until it is and later headlines were decidedly more mixed.  In the end, the Nasdaq posted its 13^th consecutive day in positive territory; @Bluekurtic noted on X, "This is only the 5th time $NDX has had a 13 day positive streak. When the Nasdaq 100 is up for 13 straight days, it has been positive 100% of the time since the index was formed." Overall, for the week, the S&P 500 gained 4.53%, the Nasdaq climbed 6.84%, and the Dow climbed 3.2%.

• As has been the case most days recently, WTI crude futures moved on Iran headlines.  This time, news of the opening of the Strait of Hormuz sent futures lower overnight and into the regular session.  Even Trump comments later on the US Naval blockade remaining in force for Iran until the negotiations are 100% complete were not enough to stop the early selling pressure as optimism for a final deal took control.  Later headlines were mixed and futures finished off the lows with June WTI crude settling -$8.58/bbl, or -9.41%, at $82.59.
• The 10-year yield fell 6.5 bps to 4.244%, down just a little over 7 bps for the week and down 19.5bps the last three weeks off the March 27^th, 2026, high of 4.439%. The 2-year yield  fell 7.8bps today and down around 10bps for the week to 3.699%; down 21.6bps the last 3-weeks.

• In Auto Suppliers: ALV shares jumped as reported a stronger-than-expected Q1 as adj EBIT of $245M topped the $209M consensus on better revs and said it now expects about 3% positive FX impact on its net sales in 2026 compared to the earlier view of around 1% positive; Autoliv had warned in January that it expected its Q1 adj operating margin to be considerably weaker y/y, but said today operational performance exceeded its forecast (the guidance boosted others in the group LEA, BWA, VC, ADBT, MGA).
• In Auto/Services: UBER is raising its holding in Delivery Hero, buying a stake from its European rival’s biggest shareholder for €270 million ($318M). Ford (F) said they were recalling about 1.4 million F-150 pickup trucks in the U.S. following a U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) investigation into reports of unexpected downshifts.
• In The RV/towable sector, Bloomberg reported PATK is in talks to combine with rival recreational-vehicle supplier LCII and the companies are negotiating a potential all-stock transaction. A deal could be announced in the coming weeks, though no final decision has been made and the talks could still fall apart

• Building Aggregates: UBS previewed MLM and VMC saying the biggest risks we see with aggregates companies in the near term are the expectations for residential construction in 2H26 and cost pressures due to higher oil prices. We don't expect guidance reductions per se, but we expect some more cautious commentary on housing markets and some possible timing impacts on margins.
• Home improvement retailers HD, LOW, JHX, RH, rising on lower rate expectations giving easing inflation concerns after energy prices tumbled today. Also, a report showed more than two in five (43%) Americans renovated their home in the last year, and another 33% plan to renovate in the next year, according to a recent survey commissioned by Redfin, the real estate brokerage powered by Rocket.

• In Trucking/Transports: The Dow Jones transport Average is coming off all-time highs on Thursday and now making new highs, helped greatly by a surge in airlines AAL, ALK, DAL, UAL, JBLU amid a plunge in oil prices; in trucking, KNX lowered Q1 EPS outlook to $0.08-$0.10, down from prior view of $0.28-$0.32 citing negative impact from claims development in LT segment, an adverse decision on VAT reimbursement in Mexico, negative impact due to severe winter weather disruptions and other items.
• In Utilities: NI shares rose after announces strategic energy infrastructure agreements to enhance customer value and economic growth in Indiana; signed a long-term energy supply deal with a GOOGL unit and expanded its agreement with AMZN; says new cost savings expand to approximately $1.25B for existing customers; residential customers expected to save $90-$115 annually. EXC was downgrade to Equal Weight at Barclays and to market perform at BMO Capital noting Maryland and Pennsylvania are becoming less constructive jurisdictions, which now argues for a wider discount on EXC's distribution portfolio on most comparatives. Yesterday, PECO filed to withdraw its Electric and gas rate cases.

• Trust Banks: STT shares rallied behind better quarterly results
• In Crypto: Bitcoin prices hit 10-week highs above $77K after having closed and held above its 100 day moving average of $74,800 for 3 days now.
• In FinTech: AFRM named as Top Pick at Morgan Stanley citing upward estimate revision potential, overdone private credit fears, and a strong catalyst path saying the company’s upcoming investor forum in May could be a major catalyst, with the company likely to raise GMV, margin and EPS targets.

• KLRA Kailera Therapeutics opens at $26, after 39.06M share IPO priced at $16 per share
• In Life Sciences (TMO, DHR, A, ILMN, BIO, QGEN, RVTY, TXG, AVTR): OpenAI announced Thursday GPT-Rosalind, a life sciences research model to support research across biology, drug discovery, and translational medicine. This news weighed on the tech-enabled sector. Keybanc said they believe this is a buying opportunity for many in this sector given most are leveraging proprietary and complex datasets to develop their own pipelines (many with clinical readouts coming over the next 12 months).

• In Metals & Mining: precious metals got an early boost, with GOLD, NEM, HL, WPM and others moving higher with gold and silver benefitting from lower oil and weaker dollar after Iran headlines; aluminum producer AA reported a miss on the top and bottom line as Q1 adj EPS $1.40 vs est $1.49 on revs $3.193B vs est $3.297B; expects FY total alumina and Aluminum segment production and shipments to remain unchanged.
• In Chemicals: fertilizer and nitrogen producers (CF, IPI, MOS, NTR) pulled back after Iran re-opened the Strait of Hormuz, raising hopes it can begin to free up the supply chain and bring down fertilizer prices which have spiked in recent weeks.

• In Telco Equipment: ERIC posted worse-than-expected Q1 earnings; said increasing chip costs caused by artificial intelligence demand and a sales slowdown in North America weigh on results; Q1 adjusted operating profit of SEK 5.2B ($565.8M) falls short of the SEK 5.4B seen in the company-provided consensus.
• In Internet: META plans to begin companywide LAYOFFS on May 20, with the first round expected to affect about 10% of its workforce, or roughly 8,000 employees, sources say per Reuters which also said more firmwide cuts are planned later in 2026.

• In Auto Semis: Mizuho upgraded STM to Outperform and new $48 PT, TXN upgraded to Neutral and raised $215 PT on Ai/DC Industrial Recovery and NXPI was downgraded to Underperform and cut PT to $188 in semis saying ahead of earnings, assesses three key analog industry drivers: 1) Ai DC is a key 2026-27E growth vector with 800V NVDA Ai racks benefiting power semis, with SiPho starting to ramp (positive for STM, Ex-3), 2) Industrial recovery broadening - green shoots in A&D, Robotics, Medical and energy, with broad China price hikes, up >10% Y/y in April (positive for TXN), and 3) Autos soft in 2026E - global LVP down ~2% Y/y (negative for NXPI) with geopolitical, macro demand headwinds, and elevated inventory potentially signaling more downside to LVP.
• In Semi Equipment Sector: ONTO was upgraded to buy from hold at Stifel citing the semiconductor manufacturing company’s solid preliminary revenue. The firm said they were surprised by the muted reaction to their 1H +pre-announcement and even moreso the qualification of its new Gen5 Dragonfly system for 2.5D advanced packaging.

Street Recommendations

Friday, April 17, 2026

• CF Barclays raised the firm's price target on CF Industries to $130 from $120 and keeps an Overweight rating on the shares ahead of the Q1 report. The firm cites the company's higher near-term free cash flow generation for the target boost. The Iran war continues to impact nitrogen and sulfur pricing, benefiting the former in Q2 and impacting phosphate margins from the latter due to higher freight costs, the analyst tells investors in a research note.
• FAST Barclays raised the firm's price target on Fastenal to $45 from $44 and keeps an Equal Weight rating on the shares. The company reported strong Q1 volumes but its pricing came in below expectations, the analyst tells investors in a research note. It cites Fastenal's higher volumes and better expense control for the target bump.
• NFLX Barclays analyst Kannan Venkateshwar lowered the firm's price target on Netflix to $110 from $115 and keeps an Equal Weight rating on the shares. The firm updated the company's model post the Q1 report. The earnings stock reaction "points to the risk with expectations set up which may persist beyond the short term," the analyst tells investors in a research note.

• CSX Benchmark raised the firm's price target on CSX to $46 from $40 and keeps a Buy rating on the shares. The firm is mark-to-marketing estimates for the North American rail group ahead of Q1 earnings.
• UNP Benchmark analyst Nathan Martin raised the firm's price target on Union Pacific to $275 from $260 and keeps a Buy rating on the shares. The firm is mark-to-marketing estimates for the North American rail group ahead of Q1 earnings.

• PSTL BMO Capital upgraded Postal Realty Trust to Outperform from Market Perform with a price target of $23, up from $21. The firm says the company has a "unique" business model focused on acquiring assets leased to the United States Postal Service. With a new, 3% annual escalator lease structure being implemented and a 100% rent collection rate, Postal Realty has the highest same store net operating income growth, the analyst tells investors in a research note.
• EXC BMO Capital analyst James Thalacker downgraded Exelon to Market Perform from Outperform with a price target of $49, down from $52. The firm believes regulatory uncertainty will keep the shares range-bound after PECO filed to withdraw its electric and gas rate cases. The stock to remain range-bound over the intermediate term given the lack of a visible path for multiple expansion, the analyst tells investors in a research note. BMO cites increased regulatory risk that extends across Exelon's three primary operating companies for the downgrade.

• FND BofA reinstated Floor & Decor at Underperform with a $45 price target. Previously, the firm had a Buy rating on shares. Near-term catalysts to jump start the flooring market remain limited and the firm sees risk that estimates will move lower throughout the year, says the analyst, whose FY26 and FY27 EPS estimates are 2% and 13% below consensus, respectively.
• ABT BofA lowered the firm's price target on Abbott to $120 from $150 and keeps a Buy rating on the shares. The biggest overhang prior to Q1 was investors not believing in the second half acceleration and the Q1 results "didn't give investors any more confidence" in the second half, the analyst contends. The firm estimates implied organic growth is now guided at 6.2% versus prior guidance for 6.5%-7.5%, the analyst added.

• MAN Goldman Sachs analyst George Tong raised the firm's price target on ManpowerGroup to $33 from $30 and keeps a Neutral rating on the shares. Manpower delivered a strong Q1 beat with upbeat Q2 guidance, supported by improving European manufacturing trends and early benefits from AI-driven productivity and growth initiatives, the analyst tells investors in a research note. However, uneven segment performance, margin pressure, and geopolitical risks temper the outlook despite longer-term efficiency gains from its transformation program, Goldman says.

• LU JPMorgan upgraded Lufax to Neutral from Underweight with a price target of $2, down from $2.20, after assuming coverage of the name. The firm sees limited valuation downside in the shares given the company's "cash cushion," Ping An parentage, and lower regulatory exposure than peers. However, a lack of earnings visibility, Lufax's commitment to shareholder returns, and its unresolved litigation prevent a more positive stance of the stock, the analyst tells investors in a research note. JPMorgan says Lufax is "cash-rich but catalyst-poor."
• SCHW JPMorgan analyst Kenneth Worthington raised the firm's price target on Charles Schwab to $131 from $128 and keeps an Overweight rating on the shares. The firm views the company's Q1 report as solid. The analyst expects Schwab's net interest margin to expand throughout 2026. While AI concerns on cash sorting appear to have been the focus of investors post earnings, the company has secular tailwinds and strategic monetization opportunities going forward, the analyst tells investors in a research note.
• NFLX JPMorgan reiterates an Overweight rating on Netflix with a $118 price target following the Q1 report. The firm recommends buying the shares on the selloff. The stock is down 10% to $96.66 in premarket trading. JPMorgan understands that some investors will be disappointed with no increase to the 2026 outlook despite the Q1 upside. Netflix indicated that price increases for the year are already factored into the initial 2026 guidance for revenue growth of 12%-14%, the analyst tells investors in a research note. JPMorgan believes Netflix "continues to execute well, with considerable growth headroom."
• ABG JPMorgan analyst Rajat Gupta lowered the firm's price target on Asbury Automotive to $235 from $240 and keeps an Underweight rating on the shares. The firm adjusted targets in the franchise auto dealers group as part of a Q1 preview. JPMorgan continues to see an attractive risk/reward for the sector, but says stock re-ratings will be pushed into late Q2 as underlying EBITDA growth becomes visible.
• GPI JPMorgan raised the firm's price target on Group 1 Automotive to $385 from $370 and keeps an Overweight rating on the shares. The firm adjusted targets in the franchise auto dealers group as part of a Q1 preview. JPMorgan continues to see an attractive risk/reward for the sector, but says stock re-ratings will be pushed into late Q2 as underlying EBITDA growth becomes visible.
• LAD JPMorgan lowered the firm's price target on Lithia & Driveway to $320 from $335 and keeps a Neutral rating on the shares. The firm adjusted targets in the franchise auto dealers group as part of a Q1 preview. JPMorgan continues to see an attractive risk/reward for the sector, but says stock re-ratings will be pushed into late Q2 as underlying EBITDA growth becomes visible.
• PAG JPMorgan analyst Rajat Gupta lowered the firm's price target on Penske Automotive to $165 from $170 and keeps a Neutral rating on the shares. The firm adjusted targets in the franchise auto dealers group as part of a Q1 preview. JPMorgan continues to see an attractive risk/reward for the sector, but says stock re-ratings will be pushed into late Q2 as underlying EBITDA growth becomes visible.
• SAH JPMorgan raised the firm's price target on Sonic Automotive to $67 from $65 and keeps an Underweight rating on the shares. The firm adjusted targets in the franchise auto dealers group as part of a Q1 preview. JPMorgan continues to see an attractive risk/reward for the sector, but says stock re-ratings will be pushed into late Q2 as underlying EBITDA growth becomes visible.

• PDD Morgan Stanley analyst Eddy Wang opened at Research Tactical Idea on PDD Holdings based on a belief that the share price will rise in absolute terms over the next 15 days. The State Administration for Market Regulation of China imposed penalties on seven e-commerce platforms in "Ghost Takeaway" cases involving PDD and others, notes the analyst, who adds that investors have been waiting for the regulation penalty outcome for PDD since the end of 2025. The firm, which thinks the market will view this penalty as a regulation overhang removal, believes this news could be seen as incrementally positive for PDD and its share price in the near-term. The firm has an Overweight rating and $148 price target on PDD shares.
• NFLX Morgan Stanley would "buy the dip" in Netflix following the company's Q1 report with numbers not moving much, noting that firm nudged up its FY27 EPS forecast to $3.87 and that it finds "valuation compelling for a compounder with pricing power." While the Q2 guidance and lack of FY26 raise drove shares lower in after-hours, the firm thinks these are explained by the timing of U.S. price hikes and some conservatism early in the year, adds the analyst, who keeps an Overweight rating and $115 price target on Netflix shares.

• HOMB Piper Sandler lowered the firm's price target on Home BancShares to $33 from $35 and keeps an Overweight rating on the shares. The firm notes that the market reaction to Q1 results was much as it had expected given the lack of loan growth, and concerns about loan growth over the next couple of quarters. While Piper did reduce its 2027's by about 5.5%, the firm thinks that the shares should re-rate throughout the year given the bank's ability to deliver top-quartile profitability, along with a conservative balance sheet and the potential for capital deployment through M&A and repurchases.
• KEY Piper Sandler raised the firm's price target on KeyCorp to $24 from $23 and keeps an Overweight rating on the shares. The firm is keeping its EPS estimates following KeyCorp's Q1 earnings and updated outlook. Specifically, its 2026 EPS remains $1.75, and its 2027 EPS remains $2.08.

• DOMO Stephens analyst Brett Huff lowered the firm's price target on Domo to $8 from $18 and keeps an Overweight rating on the shares. The firm thinks Domo remains a company "far more sophisticated than the market's outdated 'BI/data intelligence' view," but also thinks that it needs scale and distribution, the analyst tells investors.
• CACC Stephens raised the firm's price target on Credit Acceptance to $540 from $450 and keeps an Equal Weight rating on the shares. Ahead of the Q1 print, the firm fine tuned estimates based on conversations with investors, industry participants and recent macro data, the analyst tells investors in a preview.

• CAMT Stifel analyst Brian Chin downgraded Camtek to Hold from Buy with an unchanged price target of $185. The firm cites valuation for the downgrade with the shares near the price target. Camtek has announced solid outsourced semiconductor assembly and test order momentum and is positioned for a stronger second half of the year, the analyst tells investors in a research note. However, at the stock's current valuation, Stifel suspects some upside may already be priced in. It prefers to wait for a better entry point.
• ABT Stifel lowered the firm's price target on Abbott to $120 from $145 and keeps a Buy rating on the shares. High-level Q1 performance optics were "all basically in-line with our expectations," but "under the hood", multiple other, more-complex factors drove a move lower, the analyst tells investors in a post-earnings note. The new "comparable" 2026 revenue growth guidance is exactly in-line with the prior 6.5%-7.5% organic revenue growth view, but this new guidance range benefits from the exclusion of now-ended Structural Heart royalty revenues and the inclusion of Exact Sciences, the analyst noted.
• GFL Stifel analyst Shlomo Rosenbaum lowered the firm's price target on GFL Environmental (GFL) to C$65 from C$84 and keeps a Buy rating on the shares. The firm believes the GFL investor narrative is changing due to the Secure Waste Infrastructure (SECYF) acquisition and it expects the shares to trade at an EV/EBITDA discount to the solid waste peer group, the analyst tells investors.
• MTZ Stifel raised the firm's price target on MasTec to $401 from $335 and keeps a Buy rating on the shares. The firm's transmission and distribution engineering and construction survey found Q1 project activity was above expectations and that Q1 project growth was strongest in the history of the survey, the analyst tells investors.

• FLNC UBS downgraded Fluence Energy to Sell from Neutral with a price target of $8, down from $22. The firm believes the company's competitive risks are intensifying. U.S. tax policy is "catalyzing a step-change increase" in domestic battery supply by incentivizing auto makers to pivot from electric vehicle battery manufacturing toward utility-scale battery energy storage systems, the analyst tells investors in a research note. UBS expects battery oversupply in 2027 onward to drive declining battery energy storage systems costs and challenge Fluence's margins. It believes the market "significantly underappreciates" the potential scale of battery energy storage systems manufacturing capacity additions.

• APLS Wells Fargo downgraded Apellis to Equal Weight from Overweight with a price target of $41, up from $26.

• WTI William Blair initiated coverage of W&T Offshore with an Outperform rating. The company "takes virtually no operational risk" by focusing on production uplift of existing projects and ramping up acquired fields rather than drilling offshore exploration wells, the analyst tells investors in a research note. The firm believes W&T continues to find accretive acquisitions that add meaningful reserves with minimal capital to maximize production. It projects 40% fair-value upside in the shares. W&T could trade as high as $5 per share, or 74% upside from current levels.

• NFLX Wolfe Research analyst Peter Supino lowered the firm's price target on Netflix to $107 from $110 and keeps an Outperform rating on the shares. Despite a Q1 earnings beat, weaker-than-expected Q2 guidance points to slowing sales and margin momentum for Netflix, signaling a deceleration after several years of exceptional growth at scale, the analyst tells investors in a research note. As a result, consensus estimates for the second quarter are likely to be revised lower, the firm says.

Rating abbreviations…

***OP = Outperform

***SP = Sector Perform

***UP = Underperform

***OW = Overweight

***EW = Equal-weight

***UW = Underweight

***Report powered by thefly.com***

What’s on Tap Weekly Calendar

• Earnings After the Close: AGNC ALK BOKF FLXS HBCP NTST RBB SFBS STLD WASH WTFC ZION

• 8:30 AM ET                   Retail Sales M/M for March
• 8:30 AM ET                   Retail Sales – Less Autos M/M for March
• 8:55 AM ET                   Johnson/Redbook Weekly Sales
• 10:00 AM ET                 Business Inventories M/M for February
• 10:00 AM ET                 Pending Home Sales M/M for March
• 4:30 PM ET API Weekly Inventory Data

• Earnings After the Close: ADC AERO BBNX BWB CALX CB COF CYH ELS EQT EWBC HAFC HWC IBKR ISRG MANH MCB MCRI NBHC NLY OZK PEGA RRC SON TFIN TRST UAL WAL WRB WSBC ZWS

• 10:30 AM ET                 Weekly DOE Inventory Data
• 1:00 PM ET US Treasury to sell $13B in 20-year notes

• Earnings After the Close: AGSN AZZ BANC BANR BDN CACI CASH CATY CBAN CCI CCS CHDN CSX EFSC EGBN EGP EPRT FAF FR FRME FULT GGG GL GTY HBNC HLX HXL IBM KALU KNX KREF LBRT LOB LRCX LUV MEDP MMLP MOH MTH NEU NOW NP OBK OII PKG PNFP PTEN QRCH QS RJF RLI ROL RS SEIC SIGI STC TSLA TXN URI WCN WEX

• 8:30 AM ET                   Continuing Claims
• 9:45 AM ET S&P Global Manufacturing PMI, April-flash
• 9:45 AM ET S&P Global Services PMI, April-flash
• 9:45 AM ET S&P Global Composite PMI, April-flash
• 10:30 AM ET                 Weekly EIA Natural Gas Inventory Data
• 11:00 AM ET                 Kansas City Fed Manufacturing for April

• Earnings After the Close: ABCB AMP AMTB APPF ASB BKR BY BYD CHE COLB CSL CUBI CVLG DLR ENVA ERIE FBIZ FFBC FISI GBCI GLPI HIG INTC KN KNSL MXL NBTB NEM PECO PFG REXR SAP SKYW SLM SSB TBBK USCB VRSN WSFS

• 10:00 AM ET                 University of Michigan 1-yr and 5-yr inflation expectations
• 1:00 PM ET                    Baker Hughes Weekly rig count data

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