Notes
MARKET UPDATE:
CONSUMER
🔸 Autos ($GM, $F, $STLA, $TSLA): Trump plans 25% tariffs on foreign cars/parts starting Thursday. He told NBC he "couldn’t care less" if automakers raise prices.
🔸 Harley-Davidson ( $HOG): Warns EU’s potential 50% retaliatory tariff could push prices to extreme levels.
ENERGY, INDUSTRIALS & MATERIALS
🔸 FTC Solar ( $FTCI): Q4 adj. EPS loss (-$0.80) vs. est. (-$0.84); revenue $13.2M vs. est. $11.61M; Q1 rev. outlook ($18M-$20M) vs. consensus $23.47M.
🔸 Honeywell ( $HON): Plans to take Quantinuum public by 2026-2027, market conditions permitting.
🔸 U.S. Steel ( $X): Downgraded to Market Perform at BMO; Steel Dynamics (STLD): Upgraded to Outperform, seen benefiting from Trump's tariffs.
FINANCIALS
🔸 Cannae ( $CNNE): Plans to use $460M from Dun & Bradstreet sale for buybacks, dividends, and debt reduction.
🔸 LPL Financial ( $LPLA): Acquiring Commonwealth Financial for ~$2.7B in cash (2,900 advisors, $285B AUM).
🔸 PNC Financial ( $PNC): Upgraded to Buy at HSBC.
HEALTHCARE
🔸 RFK Jr.: Doubling HHS layoffs to 20,000, consolidating divisions from 28 to 15, renaming it "Administration for a Healthy America ( $AHA)."
🔸 Waters Corp. ( $WAT): Upgraded to Overweight at KeyBanc ($460 target), citing strength in pharma/biotech manufacturing.
TECH, MEDIA & TELECOM
🔸 xAI & X Merger: xAI acquires X in an all-stock deal, valuing xAI at $80B and X at $33B. The merger integrates AI expertise with X’s distribution and data.
🔸 Semiconductors: Renesas, Sumco, and Tokyo Electron among Japan’s biggest losers as Nikkei 225 slumps. Foxconn and TSMC also fell in Taiwan.