Check out the companies making headlines in premarket trading. Spotify — The music platform rose more than 2% after Wells Fargo named Spotify a top stock pick . Analyst Steven Cahall is particularly bullish on the company’s rising margins, strong product mix and evolving record label relationships. The bank currently has an outperform rating on the stock. Robinhood — The stock added 2%. On Monday, the retail investing company announced users can trade a Kamala Harris or Donald Trump contract ahead of the 2024 presidential election. Users must meet certain criteria, including being a U.S. citizen. Boeing — Shares of the planemaker slipped roughly 2% after Boeing launched a stock offering that could raise roughly $19 billion. The move is aimed at strengthening the company’s finances, which have been hit by a worker strike and a slew of production and safety issues. Occidental Petroleum , Exxon , BP — Shares of oil companies edged lower as crude prices slid, after Iranian energy facilities were found not damaged by Israel’s attack over the weekend on Iran’s military installations. Citi analysts said the Israeli strike will likely not lead to an escalation that disrupts oil supply. Occidental Petroleum , Exxon Mobil and BP shares each declined more than 2%. McDonald’s — Shares advanced 1% after the fast food chain said its Quarter Pounder burger would return this week to about 900 restaurants where it was removed following a deadly E. coli outbreak. These locations will serve the burger without slivered onions, which are believed to be the source of the outbreak, for the foreseeable future. McDonald’s shares dropped more than 7.5% last week, marking its worst weekly performance since 2020. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing — Shares of the chip manufacturer shed 2% after TSMC suspended shipments to a China-based chip designer after a chip it made was found on a Huawei AI processor, people familiar with the matter told Reuters. The U.S. in 2020 had restricted Huawei from buying the technology over national security concerns. ON Semiconductor — Shares gained more than 3% after the semiconductor product maker posted adjusted earnings per share of 99 cents and revenue of $1.76 billion for the third quarter. Those results exceeded expectations from analysts polled by FactSet, who forecasted the company would earn 97 cents per share on revenue of $1.75 billion. Tesla — The electric vehicle maker’s shares inched up by 0.7% after Canaccord Genuity hiked its price target on the stock, saying Tesla’s earnings trends will get closer to other “Magnificent Seven” companies in the current quarter and outperform them next year. Nio — Shares rose more than 2% after the Chinese automaker was upgraded to outperform from neutral at Macquarie, which cited accelerating volumes in the current quarter due to strong orders of model Onvo L60. Delta Air Lines — Shares gained 2% after Delta Air Lines on Friday sued CrowdStrike , alleging breach of contract and negligence following the July outage that led to 7,000 flight cancellations. — CNBC’s Sarah Min, Alex Harring, Lisa Kailai Han, Sean Conlon and Michelle Fox contributed reporting.
Check out the companies making headlines in midday trading: American Airlines — Shares slipped less than 1%, recovering from earlier losses, after the airline temporarily grounded all of its flights due to a technical issue. Broadcom — The semi stock added 2%, extending its December rally. Shares have surged more than 46% this month, propelling its 2024 gain above 112%. Big banks — Shares of some big bank stocks rose more than 1% amid news that a group of banks and business groups are suing the Federal Reserve over the annual stress tests, saying it “produces vacillating and unexplained requirements and restrictions on bank capital.” Citigroup , JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs shares gained more than 1% each. Arcadium Lithium — Shares rose more than 4% after the company announced its shareholders have approved the $6.7 billion sale to Rio Tinto . The deal is expected to close in mid-2025. International Seaways — The energy transportation provider surged 8% after an announcement that the company would be added to the S & P SmallCap 600 index, effective Dec. 30. The company will replace Consolidated Communications , which is soon to be acquired. Crypto stocks — Shares of stocks tied to the price of bitcoin rose as the cryptocurrency gave back recent losses amid a climb in tech names broadly. Crypto services provider Coinbase gained almost 3% and bitcoin proxy MicroStrategy gained more than 5%. Miners Riot Platforms and IREN gained 6% and 4%, respectively. U.S. Steel — The steel producer’s stock hovered near the flatline amid news that President Joe Biden will decide on the fate of its proposed acquisition by Japan’s Nippon Steel after a government panel failed to reach a decision . Apple — Apple shares gained 0.9% to notch a new all-time high. The stock has rallied nearly 34% year to date. — CNBC’s Sean Conlon, Lisa Han, Tanaya Macheel and Alex Harring contributed reporting.
A general view of the Federal Reserve Building in Washington, United States.
Samuel Corum | Anadolu Agency | Getty Images
The biggest banks are planning to sue the Federal Reserve over the annual bank stress tests, according to a person familiar with the matter. A lawsuit is expected this week and could come as soon as Tuesday morning, the person said.
The Fed’s stress test is an annual ritual that forces banks to maintain adequate cushions for bad loans and dictates the size of share repurchases and dividends.
After the market close on Monday, the Federal Reserve announced in a statement that it is looking to make changes to the bank stress tests and will be seeking public comment on what it calls “significant changes to improve the transparency of its bank stress tests and to reduce the volatility of resulting capital buffer requirements.”
The Fed said it made the determination to change the tests because of “the evolving legal landscape,” pointing to changes in administrative laws in recent years. It didn’t outline any specific changes to the framework of the annual stress tests.
While the big banks will likely view the changes as a win, it may be too little too late.
Also, the changes may not go far enough to satisfy the banks’ concerns about onerous capital requirements. “These proposed changes are not designed to materially affect overall capital requirements, according to the Fed.
The CEO of BPI (Bank Policy Institute), Greg Baer, which represents big banks like JPMorgan, Citigroup and Goldman Sachs, welcomed the Fed announcement, saying in a statement “The Board’s announcement today is a first step towards transparency and accountability.”
However, Baer also hinted at further action: “We are reviewing it closely and considering additional options to ensure timely reforms that are both good law and good policy.”
Groups like the BPI and the American Bankers Association have raised concerns about the stress test process in the past, claiming that it is opaque, and has resulted in higher capital rules that hurt bank lending and economic growth.
In July, the groups accused the Fed of being in violation of the Administrative Procedure Act, because it didn’t seek public comment on its stress scenarios and kept supervisory models secret.