Daily US Equity Opening News - ADBE falls after announcing CEO to step down; META delays Avocado AI model

TODAY’S AGENDA:

• US INDEX FUTURES: ES +0.4%, NQ +0.4%, YM +0.4%, RUT +0.6%
• DAY AHEAD: Prelim University of Michigan sentiment data are expected to show the headline easing to 55.2 in March from 56.6 prior; 1yr inflation expectations are expected to rise to 3.9% Y/Y (from 3.4%), and the 5-10yr gauge at 3.4% (prev. 3.3%). In energy, Baker Hughes will release weekly rig count data. On the CRA front, potential reviews are due from Scope Ratings on the UK (AA) and Spain (A); S&P may also review Spain (A+), and Fitch on Spain (A); Moody’s may review Germany (Aaa) and Greece (Baa3); Fitch may review Italy (BBB+)
• BROKER MOVES: AA upgraded at JPM; ADBE downgraded at Barclays. For the full list, click here.
• MAJOR MORNING MOVES RECAP: ADBE, ULTA, S, META, NVDA, NIO. For the full list, click here.
• US DAILY CONFERENCE CALENDAR: MS, PFE, NOW. For the full list, click here.

IRAN

• Trump - US President Trump on US escorts in Strait of Hormuz, says would do it if needed, via Fox News; going to be hitting Iran "very hard" over the next week.
• Israel - PM Netanyahu said US-Israeli strikes have significantly weakened Iran and its clerical leadership, but cannot guarantee regime change without an internal uprising. He said Israel was creating conditions for the regime’s toppling.
• Russian Crude - The US issued a second authorisation allowing buyers to take Russian oil cargoes already at sea, expanding a temporary waiver previously granted only to India. Treasury Secretary Bessent said the measure is narrowly tailored, short-term, applies only to oil already in transit, and will not provide significant financial benefit to the Russian government.
• Energy - About 30 tankers in Asian waters carrying at least 19mln bbls of Russian crude and 310k tons of refined products (mainly naphtha and diesel) are potentially available for purchase after a temporary US waiver for cargoes already at sea, Bloomberg reports. Elsewhere, ADNOC cut March crude volumes for its onshore equity partners by about 20%, allowing them to load 80% of their remaining Murban barrels; the flows will still go to Fujairah.
• India - Indian government official said oil tanker Jag Prakash moved out from the east of Strait of Hormuz, according to reports.

TRADE

• US Tariffs - The US launched a second tariff investigation in two days as it seeks to rebuild trade policy after the SCOTUS ruling. USTR Greer initiated a Section 301 probe into forced-labour practices in 60 economies, including the EU, China, Japan, South Korea, Canada, Mexico, India, Taiwan and the UK.
• Tariff Refunds - The Trump administration said a web portal to handle refund requests for nearly USD 170bln in global tariffs is about 70% complete.
• US-China - China’s MOFCOM said US Section 301 tariffs violate WTO rules and urged the US to correct its practices and return to dialogue. It said China is analysing and assessing the situation and will take necessary measures to safeguard its legitimate rights and interests.
• Asia-US - Japan and other APAC nations are set to announce at least USD 30bln of agreements with US companies this weekend, according to White House officials cited by Bloomberg. The deals include purchase commitments and other transactions across coal, oil, LNG and nuclear power, as Trump administration officials visit Tokyo to seek closer cooperation on energy and critical minerals.

INDEX

• S&P 500 - S&P Dow Jones Indices is considering rule changes for joining the S&P 500 that could speed SpaceX’s entry after its IPO, according to Bloomberg. The change could trigger billions of dollars of forced buying by index-tracking funds, the report said.

EQUITY NEWS:

TECH

• Apple (AAPL) - Apple will cut its standard commission on purchases in the mainland China App Store to 25% from 30%, effective 15th March; it said the change follows talks with Chinese regulators, and comes as it seeks to reduce antitrust risks in China.
• Samsung Electronics (SSNLF), Nvidia (NVDA) - Samsung and Nvidia are accelerating next-generation ferroelectric NAND development through a jointly developed AI system that analyses device performance more than 10,000 times faster than conventional methods, reducing task time from 60 hours to under 10 seconds, according to reports in Korean media.
• ByteDance, Nvidia (NVDA) - ByteDance is building AI computing capacity outside China using high-end Nvidia Blackwell chips as it pursues global expansion, WSJ reports. It is working with Malaysia-based Aolani Cloud on plans to use about 500 Nvidia Blackwell systems in Malaysia, totalling around 36,000 B200 chips, according to the Journal.
• Adobe (ADBE) - Adobe shares fell in extended trading after it announced that CEO Shantanu Narayen will step down. Narayen will transition from the CEO role once a successor is appointed and will remain chair, with Frank Calderoni appointed to lead the special committee overseeing succession. Q1 2026 (USD): Adj. EPS 6.06 (exp. 5.86), Revenue 6.4bln (exp. 6.28bln). Operating income 3.04bln (exp. 2.95bln), subscription revenue grew 13% Y/Y, AI-first ARR more than tripled Y/Y, creative freemium MAU crossed 80mln (+50% Y/Y), and total monthly active users surpassed 850mln (+17% Y/Y). Retail site traffic from LLMs increased nearly 7x during the 2025 holiday season, with referrals converting 31% higher and generating 254% more revenue per visit, although the traditional Stock business saw a deeper-than-expected decline in Q1. It reaffirmed FY26 targets, sees Q2 adj. EPS between 5.80-5.85 (exp. 5.69). Post-earnings, ADBE was downgraded at Barclays to 'Equal Weight' from 'Overweight' with a USD 275 PT (prev. 335). Adobe reported fiscal Q1 net new annual recurring revenue of USD 400mln versus Barclays' USD 460mln estimate and kept its fiscal 2026 guide unchanged. The bank says the biggest news of the quarter is that Adobe's long-time CEO is transitioning out. Barclays is moving to the sidelines on this news.
• Applied Materials (AMAT) - Board raised quarterly cash dividend 15% to USD 0.53/shr.
• Oracle (ORCL) - Will spend an additional USD 500mln on restructuring in the current FY, bringing total restructuring costs to USD 2.1bln for the year ending May, WSJ reports. The extra spending will cover redundancy packages and other exit costs.
• BE Semiconductor (BESIY), Lam Research (LRCX), Applied Materials (AMAT) - BE Semiconductor has attracted takeover interest as demand for advanced chip-packaging technology rises, with Lam Research among suitors and Applied Materials also seen as a potential bidder, according to sources cited by Reuters. Talks reportedly began in mid-2025 and paused earlier this year amid US-EU tensions.
• Memory Prices - China’s NDRC warned that rising memory prices are spreading across the electronics supply chain as tight supply and strong demand drive up DRAM and NAND flash prices, DigiTimes reports. The publication also said that the Middle East conflict is driving sharp increases in semiconductor material costs and raising concerns over global energy supply. Compound semiconductor manufacturers said prices for high-temperature metals have doubled, putting the supply chain on alert.
• GlobalFoundries (GFS) - GlobalFoundries CEO reportedly led a senior delegation to Taiwan this week for a 5 day visit, holding intensive meetings with supply chain partners, DigiTimes reports. The report said the visit focused on wafer deals rather than a takeover of United Microelectronics, it added.
• SentinelOne (S) - Shares fell around in extended trading on weak Q1 profit guidance. Q4 2025 (USD): Adj. EPS 0.07 (exp. 0.06), Revenue 271.2mln (exp. 271.16mln). It surpassed its 1bln revenue milestone, with revenue +22% Y/Y for FY26; management cited larger deals and continued expansion among larger enterprise customers. Sees Q1 adj. EPS between 0.01-0.02 (exp. 0.05), Q1 revenue of 276-278mln (exp. 277.35mln); FY27 adj. EPS seen at 0.32-0.38 (exp. 0.30), FY27 revenue seen at 1.195-1.205bln (exp. 1.2bln).
• PayPay (PAYP), SoftBank (SFTBY) - SoftBank-backed PayPay said it remains open to a dual listing in Tokyo after its USD 880mln US IPO.

CONSUMER DISCRETIONARY

• Alibaba (BABA) - Alibaba has launched "JVS Claw," a mobile app meant to help users install and deploy OpenClaw, an agentic AI assistant, Bloomberg reports. "JVS Claw" is meant to assist iOS and Android smartphone users without coding knowledge to instruct AI agents to perform real-world tasks
• Amazon (AMZN) - Plans to move its Prime Day sale event to late June from July, Bloomberg reports. The shift would place the event in Amazon’s Q2, which typically ends on 30th June. Prime Day has been held in July since its 2015 launch, except for two pandemic-era changes.
• Ulta Beauty (ULTA) - Shares fell in extended trading after it issued FY guidance at the low end of expectations, including a cautious outlook for comp sales. Q4 2025 (USD): EPS 8.01 (exp. 8.02), Revenue 3.90bln (exp. 3.82bln); Comp sales +5.8% in Q4, and 5.4% for the FY. Execs said it continued market share gains, closing the year with momentum. Sees FY26 EPS between 28.05-28.55 (exp. 28.47), FY26 revenue of 13.14-13.26bln (exp. 13.13bln), FY26 comp sales growth of +2.5-3.5%, and FY26 capex at 400-450mln.
• Colgate-Palmolive (CL) - Raised its quarterly dividend to 0.53/shr (prev. 0.52/shr). It also announced that Bristol Myers Squibb (BMY) Chair and CEO Christopher Boerner has been elected to its Board.
• Unilever (UL) - Plans to change CEO Fernandez’ pay to reward outperformance and attract more US talent, Bloomberg reports. The proposal would reduce short term compensation, while increasing the potential payout from long-term incentives.
• Lenar (LEN) Q1 2026 (USD): Adj. EPS 0.88 (exp. 0.95), Revenue 6.62bln (exp. 6.84bln). New orders +1% Y/Y to 18,515 homes, deliveries -5% Y/Y to 16,863 homes, backlog was at 15,588 homes with a dollar value of USD 6.0bln. Exec said the quarter was shaped by persistent housing-market headwinds, including high mortgage rates, affordability constraints, cautious consumer sentiment and geopolitical uncertainty; added that the broader market remains challenged in the near term, but it is positioned for long-term growth as affordability improves and rates stabilise. Sees Q2 new orders between 21,000-22,000, sees Q2 deliveries between 20,000-21,000, sees Q2 average sales price between USD 370,000-375,000, sees Q2 gross margin on home sales between 15.5-16.0%, and Q2 SG&A between 8.9-9.1%.
• Nio (NIO) - Upgraded at HSBC to 'Buy' from 'Hold' with a USD 6.80 PT (prev. 4.80). The firm sees better visibility and has "stronger conviction" on Nio's 2026 volume growth and earnings improvement trajectory following the Q4 report. The company's new models and core portfolio growth, especially the ES8, could support volume growth, mix upgrade, and margin expansion. HSBC believes "strong" order momentum in Nio's core portfolio, with new model launches, is set to drive volume growth.
• BYD (BYDDY) - Considering building a manufacturing plant in Canada and is also open to acquiring a more established global automaker, Bloomberg reports. No decisions have been made yet.

MATERIALS

• Glencore (GLNCY), Rio Tinto (RIO) - Glencore CEO hopes higher coal prices will support a renewed merger talks with Rio Tinto after talks on a USD 240bln combination ended in February over valuation, Reuters reports. Under UK rules, talks cannot resume until August.
• Glencore (GLNCY) - Workers at Glencore’s Australian copper refinery started a strike after last-minute talks failed to resolve a pay dispute. The action follows nearly a year of negotiations over wages and conditions at the Townsville refinery, which produces about 300k tons of copper/yr.
• Rio Tinto (RIO) - Rio Tinto confirmed the death of a contract worker following an incident at the Bingham Canyon Mine in Utah on 12th March. The company suspended all surface and underground mining operations at Kennecott and said it is working with authorities on an investigation.
• Alcoa (AA) - Upgraded at JPMorgan to 'Neutral' from 'Underweight' with a USD 68 PT (prev. 50). The firm says any prolonged Middle-East conflict is likely to result in additional force majeure declarations followed by smelter curtailments, which could take at least quarters to re-ramp. JPMorgan cites aluminum supply risk for the upgrade of Alcoa. It sees a more balanced risk/reward at current share levels.

INDUSTRIALS

• Boeing (BA) - Received a USD 2.34bln option exercise modification to a previously awarded Air Force contract for the E-7A Rapid Prototype Airborne Mission Segment.
• RTX (RTX) - Received a USD 266.91mln Defense Agency contract modification, raising the previously announced value to USD 1.37bln, and the total existing contract value to USD 3.31bln; the modification covers 23 additional SM-3 Block IB All-Up Rounds.
• Lockheed Martin (LMT) - Received a USD 111.5mln US Navy contract under a previously issued basic ordering agreement to procure F-35 Drag Chute Systems for Lot 18-19 aircraft deliveries.
• Canadian Pacific Kansas City (CP) - Certified 14 new Site Ready rail-served industrial development locations across North America, bringing the total to 22 across its Canada, US and Mexico network. The new sites add more than 6,600 acres of immediately developable land.

HEALTHCARE

• Insulet (PODD) - Insulet initiated a voluntary medical device correction for specific Omnipod 5 Pod lots in the US after identifying a manufacturing issue that may cause insulin under-delivery. It reported 18 serious adverse events, with no deaths. The affected Pods account for about 1.5% of annual global Omnipod 5 Pod production, and shipments are expected to continue without disruption.
• Quest Diagnostics (DGX) - Quest Diagnostics elected Timothy Wentworth to its board, increasing the size to 11 members. Wentworth is a former CEO of Walgreens Boots Alliance, Evernorth and Express Scripts.
• Grail (GRAL) - CEO Bob Ragusa will retire in June, with President Josh Ofman appointed as successor; Ofman has also been appointed to the Board, effective immediately. Ragusa plans to serve in a senior advisory role through March 2027.

COMMUNICATIONS

• Meta Platforms (META) - Meta delayed the release of its new frontier AI model, code-named Avocado, to at least May from this month after internal tests showed it lagged leading models from Google, OpenAI and Anthropic in reasoning, coding and writing, NYT reports. The model outperformed Meta’s previous model and Google’s Gemini 2.5, but not Gemini 3.0, according to the report.
• America Movil (AMX) - America Movil is seeking to acquire some Colombian telecom operations from Grupo Salinas. Its Colombian unit, Claro, submitted a pre-evaluation request to the competition authority, SIC, for a potential business integration with Azteca Comunicaciones, including the purchase of a fibre-optic network.

FINANCIALS

• Robinhood (HOOD) - Robinhood reported February total platform assets of USD 314bln and funded customers of 27.4mln at month-end. Net deposits were USD 5.6bln in February (around 21% annualised). Over the past 12 months, net deposits were USD 67.8bln (36% annual growth rate).
• HSBC Holdings (HSBC), Standard Chartered (SCBFY) - HSBC and Standard Chartered are set to be among the first licensed stablecoin issuers in Hong Kong, giving them a central role in the city’s digital asset push, according to Bloomberg.