Closing Recap

Monday, June 09, 2025

U.S. stocks edge higher, adding to last week’s gains behind strength in some mega caps (AMZN, GOOG, NVDA, TSLA), as well as from surging Smallcaps (Russell 2000) as markets awaited key headlines out of London where U.S.-China trade negotiations are ongoing. Top officials from both countries kicked off discussions, looking to get back on track with a preliminary trade agreement struck last month. Markets are also awaiting further news on the tax bill out of Washington DC, key inflation data midweek (CPI and PPI), details from Apple (AAPL) at its Developers Conference this week and the upcoming Robotaxi event for Tesla. In sector movers, utilities, financials and communications fell the most in the S&P with leaders being Discretionary (XLY, Materials (XLB), and Technology (XLK). Still zero fear, as the CBOE Volatility index (VIX), or fear index, remains near late February lows of 17.00 level. In Macro research outlook, Citigroup raised its year-end 2025 S&P 500 PT to 6300 premised on a marginally more constructive fundamental view and an expectation for persistency of the current valuation backdrop. High policy volatility is likely to continue but fundamental read throughs appear manageable. A mid-’26 target of 6500 implies HSD% upside over the next twelve months and underscores Citi’s structural bullishness on US large cap.

• April wholesale inventories revised to +0.2% (consensus unchanged) from unchanged while U.S. April wholesale sales +0.1% vs March +0.8% (prev +0.6%); U.S. April stock/sales ratio 1.30 months’ worth vs March 1.30 months.

• In Restaurants: MCD was downgraded to Equal Weight (from OW) at Morgan Stanley and cut tgt to $324 from $329 saying with the stock up YTD and close to ~25x earnings, as many peers have de-rated, the firm sees the stock already embedding many of MCD’s advantages. SBUX announced price cuts for a slew of tea-based beverages at its stores across China.
• In Food & Beverages: Goldman Sachs downgraded GIS to Neutral from Buy (tgt to $58 from $68.) and cut CAG to Sell from Neutral (tgt to $21 from $26) saying center-of-store food companies continue to face a number of headwinds, including increasing cost pressures along with tepid volume demand amid ongoing consumption shifts toward fresh and increasing competition from private labels and smaller brands.
• In Home Improvement Retail: RH launched an incremental members-only promotion that raises the savings for members to 30% from 25% normally (and followed incremental Outdoor promotions a few weeks ago).

• In Theme Parks (DIS, CMCSA, FUN): Keybanc noted Domestic geolocation data tracking Theme Park Attendance appears positive; total Disney and Universal attendance accelerated y/y, which was driven by an acceleration for California parks and contribution from EPIC Universe. May attendance for Disney was +4% y/y vs +3% in April, and attendance for Universal was +7% y/y (+35% y/y including EPIC) vs -3% in April.

• In Solar: NOVA filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the United States; Sunnova said last week it would lay off about 55% of its workforce, or 718 employees, in a bid to cut spending. Earlier this month, its unit, Sunnova TEP Developer, had also filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.
• In Aerospace & Defense: ACHR, JOBY, EH, ASTS, RKLB and other air mobility stocks were stronger, extending late last week gains after President Donald Trump signed an executive order for American development, commercialization and export of drones.
• In Materials: uranium stocks outperformed early, led by CCJ after announcing an expected increase of about $170M for its 49% equity share of Westinghouse’s 2025 Q2 and annual adjusted EBITDA.
• In Industrials: BKR agreed to sell its Precision Sensors & Instrumentation product line to CR, a diversified manufacturer of engineered industrial products, for a total cash consideration of approximately $1.15 billion.

• In Crypto: MSTR announced updates with respect to its at-the-market offering programs and bitcoin holdings. The company raised $112.2M and purchased 1,045 BTC for an aggregate purchase price of $110.2M during the period of June 2 to June 8. As of June 8, the company’s aggregate BTC holdings were 582,000. stablecoin firm CRCL continue to surge, now more than quadruple their IPO price last week of $31 last Thursday. Now crypto exchange Gemini, run by the Winklevoss twins, on Friday said it confidentially filed for a U.S. IPO.
• In Real Estate Services: OPEN shares fell after the company announced plans to seek holder permission for a reverse stock split between 1-for-10 and 1-for-50 at its special meeting on July 28.
• In Consumer Finance: WMT credit cards will once again be issued by SYF as the world’s largest retailer makes a renewed push into financial services.

• KROS said it will return $375 million in "excess capital" to shareholders. The decision was made at the end of a strategic review of its operations.
• MRK said its experimental, oral PCSK9 inhibitor lowered levels of bad cholesterol in people with genetically high cholesterol, achieving the goals of two Phase 3 studies. No data was reported in its press release. Merck is conducting a large, cardiovascular outcomes study.
• PFE and other drug companies have met with the Trump administration to discuss most-favored-nation pricing, but no commitments have been made, CEO Albert Bourla said on Monday at an industry conference.
• PYPD announces positive topline results from phase 3 SHIELD II Trial: D-PLEX₁₀₀ demonstrated significant reduction in surgical site infections and successfully met primary and all key secondary endpoints.
• REGN and SNY said Dupixent achieved 75% or greater improvement in overall disease severity for Atopic dermatitis, the primary endpoint, in more than three-quarters of treated patients. Patients experienced substantial reductions in hyperpigmentation, dry skin and itch from baseline
• RNA said it received clearance from the FDA to seek accelerated approval for an RNA-based drug to treat facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy (FSHD). Separately, the company reported new study results showing its drug, called del-brax, improved function in patients with FSHD.
• In Medical Devices: ISRG was downgraded to Sell from Hold at Deutsche Bank and cut tgt to $440 from $515.
• Hospital operators CYH, HCA, THCand UHS were weak, with Wall Street citing a presidential memo released Friday highlighting Medicaid supplemental payment programs and apparently drawing concern over potential cuts to state-directed payments.

• In Gaming Software: Shares of APP declined after S&P Dow Jones Indices made no changes to the S&P 500 index on Friday. It’s the first quarterly rebalance without an S&P 500 stock change since March 2022 (APP was expected to be a top addition choice on any index change).
• In Quantum Computing: IONQ will acquire its British peer Oxford Ionics for $1.08 billion, the companies said on Monday, helping the U.S.-based quantum computing firm deepen its research expertise in the complex technology that is seeing booming investor interest. Also, IONQ announced results of a collaborative research program between IonQ, AZN, NVDA and AMZN’s Amazon Web Services (AWS), to develop and demonstrate a quantum-accelerated computational chemistry workflow.