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

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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.

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

By David MeierTeam Rule Breakers

Big news between Bloom Energy (BE +23.98%) and Oracle (ORCL +4.77%). 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 +8.43%), 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.

3:04 pm — UPS +0.44%

United Parcel Service (UPS +1.18%) 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.

2:42 pm — WFC -4.99%

Wells Fargo (WFC 5.60%) 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.

2:27 pm — GOOG +3.13%

Alphabet (GOOG +3.52%) shares climbed roughly 3.3% Monday after Citi (C +2.61%) 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.

1:10 pm — META +4.4%

A Milan court has authorized a class-action lawsuit against Meta Platforms (META +4.41%) 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.

1:15 pm

Walt Disney (DIS +1.37%) 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.

12:40 pm

Anthropic has appointed Novartis (NVS 0.71%) 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 +3.02%) 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.

12:20 pm — AMZN +3.7%

Amazon.com (AMZN +3.83%) is launching a massive $11.57 billion offensive against Elon Musk’s Starlink by acquiring satellite operator Globalstar (GSAT +9.63%). 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 0.14%). This consolidation underscores the urgent "scale-or-fail" reality for satellite players facing SpaceX's unrivaled launch capacity.

11:20 am — LCID -5.8%

Lucid Group (LCID 4.76%) 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 0.36%), 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 +0.79%). 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.

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.

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 +4.77%). 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.

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

By Morning Show host Sanmeet DeoTeam Rule Breakers

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 +3.53%) -- 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 +4.26%) and Sanofi (SNY +1.45%).

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

By Morning Show host Jim Gillies

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 +4.12%) 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.

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

CarMax (KMX 15.12%) 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.

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

Novo Nordisk (NVO +3.53%) announced a new partnership with OpenAI, designed to push AI transformation in healthcare and help bring new and enhanced treatments to patients quicker.

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

BlackRock (BLK +3.02%) 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.

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

Rambus (RMBS +7.57%) was the subject of the latest Scoreboard video.

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

Meta Platforms (META +4.41%) is projected to surpass Alphabet (GOOG +3.52%) 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 Prem