All three major US stock indexes were up in late-morning trading on Wednesday as investors await highly anticipated earnings results from Nvidia (NVDA) to be released after market close.
In company news, AppLovin (APP) shares tumbled Wednesday after short sellers Fuzzy Panda Research and Culper Research disclosed two separate allegations about the company. Fuzzy Panda released a report Wednesday stating that AppLovin uses a "black-box" algorithm known as Axon 2.0 "that serves as the 'matchmaker' between advertisers and publishers that is "the nexus of a House of Cards built upon tactics that formers and experts refer to as 'Ad Fraud.'" Meanwhile, Culper released a report Wednesday alleging that AppLovin's latest success in mobile gaming was due to "systematic exploitation of app permissions" that allow advertisements to "force-feed silent, backdoor app installations directly onto users' phones." AppLovin shares were down 12.5% around midday.
Super Micro Computer (SMCI) said late Tuesday it regained compliance with the Nasdaq Composite's filing requirements. The company filed its annual report on Feb. 25 for fiscal year 2024 that ended June 30, 2024 and its quarterly reports for fiscal Q1 ended Sept. 30, 2024 and fiscal Q2 ended Dec. 31, 2024. Super Micro said it is "now current" with its US Securities and Exchange Commission financial reporting obligations and there were no restatements of previously filed financial statements. Super Micro shares were up 18%.
BP (BP) on Wednesday unveiled a "fundamentally reset strategy" in which it will seek to reduce and reallocate capital expenditures, increase oil and gas investments and cut its share repurchases in an effort to increase cash flow. BP said it plans to increase oil and gas investment to about $10 billion per year while reducing investments in its energy transition businesses by more than $5 billion compared to the prior outlook. The energy company said it expects a Q1 share buyback of between $750 million and $1 billion, down from $1.75 billion in Q4. BP also said it has launched a strategic review of its Castrol unit.
General Motors (GM) said Wednesday it is increasing its quarterly dividend by $0.03 per share to $0.15. The new rate will take effect in April. The automaker also announced a $6 billion share repurchase program that includes a portion to be executed on an accelerated basis. General Motors shares were up 5.3%.
Eli Lilly (LLY) said Wednesday it intends to build four new pharmaceutical manufacturing sites in the US, bring the company's total US capital expansion commitments to over $50 billion since 2020. Three of the future US sites will focus on producing active pharmaceutical ingredients, while the fourth will extend the company's global parenteral manufacturing network for future injectable therapies, Eli Lilly said. Shares of the company were up 1.3%.
Amazon.com (AMZN) launched Alexa+, the generative artificial intelligence-powered version of its Alexa assistant, during a Wednesday event in New York. Alexa+ is conversational and is able to keep track of users' preferences and important information, allowing for personalized interactions, the company said. Amazon shares were up 1.8%.
Lowe's (LOW) reported fiscal Q4 earnings Wednesday $1.99 per diluted share, up from $1.77 a year earlier and above the consensus estimate of analysts surveyed by FactSet calling for $1.87. Fiscal Q4 revenue was $18.55 billion, down from $18.60 billion in the year-ago quarter but above the FactSet consensus estimate of $18.30 billion. The company said it expects fiscal 2025 diluted EPS of $12.15 to $12.40, compared to the FactSet estimate of $12.48. Fiscal 2025 revenue is expected to be between $83.5 billion and $84.5 billion, compared to the FactSet estimate of $84.56 billion. Shares of Lowe's were up 3.5%.
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