Check out the companies making headlines in midday trading. Cardinal Health — The health care services provider gained 5.5%, hitting a new 52-week high, after Cardinal exceeded fiscal first-quarter earnings expectations and lifted its adjusted earnings outlook for fiscal year 2025. The company posted earnings of $1.88 per share, excluding items, on revenue of $52.28 billion. Analysts polled by FactSet called for adjusted earnings per share of $1.62 on revenue of $50.90 billion, meanwhile. Boeing — Shares gained 3.4% after the plane maker agreed to a new negotiated contract with its machinists’ union in an effort to bring an end to a seven-week-long strike, with a vote on the proposal set for Monday. The contract would raise worker pay by 38% over the next four years, up from a previous offer of 35%. Intel — Shares popped 9% after the chipmaker topped third-quarter earnings estimates and shared upbeat quarterly guidance. The company posted adjusted earnings of 17 cents per hare on $13.28 billion in revenue. Amazon — The e-commerce stock surged more than 6% on third-quarter results that beat analyst expectations. The company’s cloud segment, Amazon Web Services, grew 19% year over year for the quarter. Apple — Shares dropped roughly 1.5% even after the iPhone maker exceeded top- and bottom-line estimates for the fiscal fourth quarter. Apple’s net income declined during the quarter, however, as the company paid a one-time charge connected to a tax decision in Europe. Atlassian — The software company surged 19% after it reported better-than-expected quarterly results for the fiscal first quarter. Atlassian earned 77 cents per share, excluding items, on revenue of $1.19 billion, while analysts polled by FactSet had forecasted 64 cents per share and $1.16 billion in revenue. Atlassian also lifted its full-year revenue growth forecast. Trump Media & Technology Group — The stock dropped 12%, extending its heavy losses from the previous trading session as investors sell the highly volatile shares ahead of the upcoming presidential election. The company, which is majority-owned by former President Donald Trump, also dropped more than than 22% on Wednesday. Charter Communications — Shares soared more than 13% after Charter reported adjusted third-quarter EBITDA of $5.65 billion, exceeding estimates of $5.59 billion from analysts surveyed by FactSet. The telecommunication company’s quarterly revenue came out at $13.80 billion, also higher than expectations of $13.66 billion. Abbott Laboratories — The health care stock popped 5% after a jury Thursday found the company not liable in a lawsuit over its baby formula. There are a number of similar cases still pending against Abbott. Super Micro Computer — Shares of the artificial intelligence server maker shed 8%. Friday’s losses stacked brought the company’s week-to-date loss to 41.5% loss. The sell-off has been fueled by Ernst & Young resigning as its auditor due to concerns over its accounting practices and the independence of its board. Avis Budget — The car rental stock surged 20%, reversing course after seeing declines in extended trading. Avis posted $6.65 in earnings per share on revenue of $3.48 billion, missing than the consensus forecasts of $8.18 a share and $3.53 billion from analysts polled by LSEG. Chevron — Shares rose more than 2% on the heels of the oil giant’s better-than-expected third-quarter results . Chevron also returned a record of more than $7 billion to shareholders in the quarter through buybacks and dividends. — CNBC’s Alex Harring, Brian Evans, Michelle Fox Theobald, Sean Conlon and Samantha Subin contributed reporting.
Check out the companies making headlines in premarket trading. Novo Nordisk — The stock jumped about 5%, rebounding from the nearly 18% losses seen in the previous session. On Friday, the Danish pharmaceutical giant’s experimental weight loss drug, CagriSema, reported late-stage trial results that missed expectations . Honda – U.S.-listed shares surged 15% after the company officially began merger talks with fellow Japanese automaker Nissan. The automakers plan to conclude discussions in June 2025. Xerox — The document services provider added nearly 7% after announcing its acquisition of printer maker Lexmark. The deal is worth $1.5 billion. Occidental Petroleum , Sirius XM , VeriSign — The stocks continued to rise in Monday’s premarket after Warren Buffett disclosed last week that his Berkshire Hathaway conglomerate added to its stake in each name. Occidental and Sirius XM each climbed more than 2%, while VeriSign advanced 1.8%. Tesla — The electric vehicle maker bounced 3% before the bell, regaining some ground after last week’s decline. Tesla slid 3.5% last week, which marked its worst weekly performance since before the U.S. presidential election. Despegar.com — Shares soared 32% after Prosus entered into a definitive agreement to buy the Argentina-based online travel platform for $19.50 per share. Prosus will pay $1.7 billion as part of the deal, which is expected to close in the second quarter of 2025. Traws Pharma — Shares of the clinical-stage virology company skyrocketed more than 76% after it announced progress in the development of its treatment for H5N1 bird flu. The company said tivoxavir marboxil showed safety and tolerability in the phase 1 trial, and it will begin a phase 2 study early next year. The news comes as the threat of bird flu is expected to rise. Immunocore — The biotech stock rose more than 5% on word that the first patient has been dosed with its experimental immunotherapy treatment, IMC-0115C. — CNBC’s Sean Conlon and Christina Cheddar Berk contributed reporting
Investors may want to consider adding exposure to the world’s second-largest emerging market.
According to EMQQ Global founder Kevin Carter, India’s technology sector is extremely attractive right now.
“It’s the tip of the spear of growth [in e-commerce] … not just in emerging markets, but on the planet,” Carter told CNBC’s “ETF Edge” this week.
His firm is behind the INQQ The India Internet ETF, which was launched in 2022. The India Internet ETF is up almost 21% so far this year, as of Friday’s close.
‘DoorDash of India’
One of Carter’s top plays is Zomato, which he calls “the DoorDash of India.” Zomato stock is up 128% this year.
“One of the reasons Zomato has done so well this year is because the quick commerce business blanket has exceeded expectations,” Carter said. “It now looks like it’s going to be the biggest business at Zomato.”
Carter noted his bullishness comes from a population that is just starting to go online.
“They’re getting their first-ever computer today basically,” he said, “You’re giving billions of people super computers in their pocket internet access.”
“I think the best case scenario is we’re going to continue to see mortgage rates hover around six and a half to 7%,” said Jordan Jackson, a global market strategist at J.P. Morgan Asset Management. “So unfortunately for those homeowners who are looking for a bit of a reprieve on the mortgage rate side, that may not come to fruition,” Jordan said in an interview with CNBC.
Mortgage rates can be influenced by Fed policy. But the rates are more closely tied to long-term borrowing rates for government debt. The 10-year Treasury note yield has been increasing in recent months as investors consider more expansionary fiscal policies that may come from Washington in 2025. This, combined with signals sent from the market for mortgage-backed securities, determine the rates issued within new mortgages.
Economists at Fannie Mae say the Fed’s management of its mortgage-backed securities portfolio may contribute to today’s mortgage rates.
In the pandemic, the Fed bought huge amounts of assets, including mortgage-backed securities, to adjust demand and supply dynamics within the bond market. Economists also refer to the technique as “quantitative easing.”
Quantitative easing can reduce the spread between mortgage rates and Treasury yields, which leads to cheaper loan terms for home buyers. It can also provide opportunities for owners looking to refinance their mortgages. The Fed’s use of this technique in the pandemic brought mortgages rates to record lows in 2021.
“They were extra aggressive in 2021 with buying mortgage-backed securities. So, the [quantitative easing] was probably ill-advised at the time.” said Matthew Graham, COO of Mortgage News Daily.
In 2022, the Federal Reserve kicked off plans to reduce the balance of its holdings, primarily by allowing those assets to mature and “roll-off” of its balance sheet. This process is known as “quantitative tightening,” and it may add upward pressure on the spread between mortgage rates and Treasury yields.
“I think that’s one of the reasons the mortgage rates are still going in the wrong direction from the Federal Reserve’s standpoint,” said George Calhoun, director of the Hanlon Financial Systems Center at Stevens Institute of Technology.