Early Look

Monday, September 22, 2025

After closing at another record late last week for the S&P 500, Nasdaq Comp and Dow Industrials, U.S. futures slip overnight to kick off a busy week of Fed speakers and inflation data later in the week. Gold futures surge another 1% to blow past another all-time high (and silver at 2011 highs), with investors betting that the Federal Reserve’s rate-cutting cycle has further to run. In tech news this weekend, President Trump announced a hefty $100,000 fee for skilled workers applying for H-1B visas, of whom there are many working for tech giants (hitting shares of Indian IT stocks CTSH, INFY, WIT) while was boosted after Trump said Friday, he and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping finalized a deal on an American buyout of TikTok’s U.S. business. In Asian markets, The Nikkei Index jumped 447 points to 45,493, the Shanghai Index gained 8 points to 3,828, and the Hang Seng Index declined 200 points to 26,344. In Europe, the German DAX is down -140 points to 23,499, while the FTSE 100 gains 8 points to 9,225. Bitcoin prices -2.5% at $112,500 and Ethereum -7% at $4,160 as Crypto-linked stocks fell after more than $1.5 billion in bullish positions were liquidated Monday, which sparked a sharp selloff, particularly affecting smaller tokens. https://tinyurl.com/mr2h4apf .

• The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 172.85 points, or 0.37%, to 46,315.27
• The Nasdaq Composite gained 160.75 points, or 0.72%, to 22,631.48
• The Russell 2000 Index declined -18.93 points, or 0.77% to 2,448.77

• Earnings After the Close: ABAT FLY

• RBC Capital Pharma Services and Bioproduction Conference (Virtual), 9/22-9/23
• Roth Capital 3^rd Annual AI Summit, 9/22-9/25 (virtual)

• Goldman Sachs raised its year-end target for the S&P 500 (SPX) to 6,800 from an earlier 6,600, implying a 2.04% upside from its last close as it cited a dovish U.S. Federal Reserve and resilient corporate earnings and also raised its 6-and-12-months return forecasts to 5% and 8%, implying levels of 7,000 and 7,200.

• Porsche (POAHY) announced a delay in the launch of some all-electric models on Friday, saying its strategy shift is expected to hit operating profit by up to 1.8 billion euros ($2.12 billion) this year, and now expects its 2025 profit margin to be no more than 2%, down from a previously guided range of 5% to 7%.

• Reynolds Consumer Products (REYN) to replace SpartanNash (SPTN) in S&P 600 on 9/24.

• EverQuote (EVER) was downgraded to Outperform from Strong Buy at Raymond James at Evercore as sees the company’s revenue growth decelerating year-over-year in Q3 and beyond as its prior year period comps normalize.
• Faraday Future Intelligent Electric (FFAI) announced that it is strategically investing in public company Qualigen Therapeutics (QLGN), which will start a crypto and web3-related business.
• Paycom (PAYC) upgraded to Buy from Hold at TD Cowen citing positive indications from its 2025 human capital management survey and the company’s commentary at a recent conference on its near-term capex expectations for the upgrade; raise tgt to $258 from $246.
• Premier, Inc. (PINC) announces definitive agreement to be acquired by Patient Square Capital in transaction valued at $2.6B as Premier stockholders will receive $28.25 in cash per share.

• Metsera (MTSR) shares surge 50% after the Financial Times reported Pfizer (PFE) is close to a $7.3B takeover of Metsera, planning to pay the company $47.50 per share in cash and an additional $22.50 if certain milestones are met, https://tinyurl.com/y4rca288 (was confirmed this morning)
• Novartis (NVS) CEO Vas Narasimhan said the company is looking into ways to propose price cuts to U.S. President Donald Trump.
• Regeneron Pharmaceuticals (REGN) and Sanofi (SNY) announced that the European Medicines Agency’s Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use has adopted an opinion recommending the approval of Dupixent in the EU for the treatment of chronic spontaneous urticaria in adults and adolescents.
• Sarepta (SRPT) was upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform at BMO Capital saying they appreciate the credible concerns around a potential ambulatory patient death that could compromise Elevidys’ viability but believes the stock’s current valuation skews the risk/reward to the upside.

• Comcast Corp. (CMCSA) plans to cut jobs at the unit that includes its Xfinity internet, mobile and pay TV business, Reuters reports.
• Fox Corp. (FOXA) Class A shares rose 5% in premarket trading after President Trump said Rupert and Lachlan Murdoch were probably going to be part of an investor group forming to own TikTok, as the popular Chinese social media app faces a potential ban in the U.S. The group also could include tech billionaires Larry Ellison and Michael Dell, Trump told Fox News on Sunday.
• Indian IT stocks Cognizant (CTSH), Wipro (WT) and Infosys (INFY) shares extending declines on Monday on concern that US President Trump’s hefty fee for new H-1B visas, by mandating a $100,000 fee for new applications, may disrupt projects of Indian outsources.
• InterDigital (IDCC) said it signed a new license agreement with a major Chinese smartphone vendor and has raised its outlook o $2.08-$2.27 for EPS from $1.52-$1.72 (est. $1.29), raises Q3 revenue view to $155M-$159M from $136M-$140M, and boosts raises Q3 adjusted EBITDA view to $91M-$97M from $69M-$75M.
• Oracle (ORCL) to secure TikTok’s algorithm in deal supported By President Trump, ensuring data privacy and security.
• VodafoneThree has awarded a 2-billion-pounds ($2.7 billion) deal to Swedish telecom gear maker Ericsson (ERIC), opens new tab and Finland’s Nokia (NOK), to supply 5G communications equipment into the next decade, the companies said. Ericsson, the primary vendor, said in a statement its contract is worth 12.5 billion Swedish crowns ($1.3 billion).