Early Look

Wednesday, July 9, 2025

U.S. stock futures are again little changed after little movement on Tuesday, holding just off record highs a day after President Trump ratcheted up trade tensions with US trade partners. Trump spoke during a wide-ranging cabinet meeting, where he said a 50% tariff on copper was in the works and threatened 200% duties on pharmaceuticals. The president also reaffirmed that the pause he placed on “reciprocal” tariffs in April will end August 1, saying “no extensions will be granted” to countries that have not struck deals before then. The announcements followed Monday’s news where the President posted a flurry of letters to social media that announced new tariff rates ranging from 25% to 40% on more than a dozen countries starting August 1. In trade news this morning, the EU commission says aims to reach a trade deal with the U.S. before Aug. 1, potentially even in the coming days. In Asian markets, The Nikkei Index climbed 132 points to 39,821, the Shanghai Index dipped -4 points to 3,493, and the Hang Seng Index dropped -255 points to 23,892. In Europe, the German DAX is up 252 points to 24,459, while the FTSE 100 is up 27 points to 8,881. As for today, investors are looking forward to the release of the minutes from the Federal Reserve’s June meeting where the FOMC had held interest rates steady and indicated two rate cuts this year are likely. In stock news one big deal in Pharma as Merck acquires Verona (VRNA) in a $10B M&A deal.

• The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell -165.60 points, or 0.37%, to 44,240.76
• The Nasdaq Composite gained 5.95 points, or 0.03%, to 20,418.46
• The Russell 2000 Index advanced 14.51 points, or 0.66% to 2,228.74

• 10:00 AM ET                Wholesale Inventory M/M for May
• 10:30 AM ET                Weekly DOE Inventory Data
• 1:00 PM ET U.S. Treasury to sell $39B in 10-year notes

• Earnings After the Close: AZZ BSET

• President Trump decided to delay the implementation of his so-called reciprocal tariffs to Aug. 1 after advisers including Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told him he could get trade deals with more time, according to people familiar with the matter, the WSJ reported.

• PVH Corp. (PVH) downgraded to Hold from Buy at TD Cowen and cut tgt to $74 from $98 as the firm reduced estimates below consensus citing PVH’s rising inventory, the impact of tariffs, and weakening wholesale channel data.

• Bloom Energy (BE) was upgraded to overweight from neutral at JP Morgan after fuel cells unexpectedly qualified for Clean Electricity Investment credits as part of the new tax bill.
• U.S. copper prices soared to a new all-time high after President Trump said Washington will slap imports of the metal with a 50% tariff. Futures contracts for copper jumped 13% in the largest single-day price surge in records going back to 1968.
• Silgan Holdings (SLGN), Ball Corp. (BALL), O-I Glass (OI) and Greif (GEF) were all downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Bank America in the packaging sector.
• Venture Global (VG) said it will supply an additional 0.75 million tonnes per annum of liquefied natural gas (LNG) to Germany-based Securing Energy for Europe, the two companies said on Wednesday.

• Illumina (ILMN) was downgraded to Sell from Neutral at Citigroup and cut tgt to $80.
• Merck (MRK) confirms a Financial Times report overnight by acquiring Verona Pharma (VRNA), expanding its portfolio to include Ohtuvayre (ensifentrine) in a $10B deal, as Merck to pay $107 per ADS in a deal that is expected to close in Q4 2025.
• RxSIGHT (RXST) shares plunged over -30% after guides Q2 revs $33.6M vs. est. $39.8M; cuts FY25 revenue view to $120M-$130M from $160M-$175M (est. $167.56M), while increased its gross margin percentage and reduced its operating expense guidance.
• Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc (TMO) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at UBS with a view that a confluence of headwinds could pressure life sciences R&D (an end market that broadly comprises 50% of Thermo’s sales) longer than many expect. Downside risks to estimates driven by pressures on scientific research.

• Microsoft (MSFT) upgraded to Outperform from Perform at Oppenheimer with a $600 price target saying investors’ attention on the ramp of Microsoft’s AI revenue stream will only increase as Azure’s growth remains strong, offering not only valuation support.
• Mobileye (MBLY) announced the commencement of an underwritten secondary public offering of 45 million shares of Mobileye’s Class A common stock by Intel Overseas Funding Corporation; but also guided Q2 adj. revs $502M-$506M, above consensus est. $465.9M.
• Penguin Solutions (PENG) Q3 adj EPS $0.47 vs est. $0.32 on sales $324Mm vs est. $329.47Mm, adj gr mgn 31.7%; guides FY sales +15-19% vs est. +17.29%, adj gr mgn 30.5-31.5%, adj EPS $1.75-1.85 vs est. $1.62.
• WPP Group (WPP) shares fall after guidance saying it now expects its full-year net sales measurement – organic revenue less pass-through costs – to fall by 3% to 5%, with a decline in operating margin of 50 to 175 basis points. That compared to prior view of net sales to be between flat and down 2%, with a roughly flat headline operating profit margin (watch shares of other ad companies IPG, OMC).