Daily US Equity Opening News - NVDA sees $1tln Blackwell, Rubin sales by 2027; STLD cuts profit outlook; DAL lifts revenue guidance

NVDA sees $1tln Blackwell, Rubin sales by 2027; STLD cuts profit outlook; DAL lifts revenue guidance

TODAY’S AGENDA:

US INDEX FUTURES: ES +0.3%, NQ +0.2%, YM +0.3%, RUT +0.2%
DAY AHEAD: Axios reports that US envoy Witkoff plans to brief a small bipartisan group of senators in a classified setting on Tuesday about the Iran war, as Senators seek information on Trump’s next moves, diplomacy with Iran, and options for reopening the Strait of Hormuz. Stateside, the Pending Home Sales for February will also be released. In energy, the API will release its gauge of inventories for the week after the US close. In ags, the GDT price index data will be released (last time out, the change in GDT price index was +5.7% to USD 4,301, while WMP prices were +4.5% to USD 3,863). On the speakers’ slate, ECB’s Nagel (hawk) is due to give remarks. In supply, the US will auction USD 13bln of 20yr bonds. Notable corporate reports due today include: Lululemon (LULU) and DocuSign (DOCU).
BROKER MOVES: LMND upgraded at Morgan Stanley; LLY downgraded at HSBC. For the full list, click here.
MAJOR MORNING MOVES RECAP: NVDA, LITE/CIEN/COHR, JHG, DAL, JBLU, STYLD, NBIS, LNSR. For the full list, click here.
US DAILY CONFERENCE CALENDAR: NVDA, QCOM, ORCL, AVGO, MSFT, LLY. For the full list, click here.

IRAN

Trump - President Trump said the war would be wrapped up soon, but not this week. He added that other countries should be thanking the US, and that he was proud of what had been done, adding that without it, there would have been a nuclear war. He said China, Japan and South Korea should help. Trump said Secretary of State Rubio will announce the countries involved in a potential Strait of Hormuz coalition. He said deployment takes time, and some countries are geographically closer. The President spoke with French President Macron, and said he rated his support 8 out of 10, adding that he expects France to help; he also said that he is unhappy with the UK, but thinks it will be involved.
Iran Regime - Following reports that had suggested Iran and the US had direct contact in recent days, Iran denied the reports; Foreign Minister Araghchi said his last contact with US envoy Witkoff was before the US attack on Iran. Iranian officials said the US had crossed the line, and Tehran would target oil and gas facilities in countries from which any US attack on Kharg Island originated. Separately, US intelligence assessments say Iran’s regime is likely to remain in place for now despite more than two weeks of airstrikes, WaPo reports. Officials see a weakened but more hard-line government in Tehran, with the IRGC security forces exerting greater control. Meanwhile, an Israeli official told the Jerusalem Post that Israel struck senior Iranian official Ali Larijani overnight. It is not yet known whether he was injured or killed.
Middle East Energy Infrastructure - Iran intensified attacks on Persian Gulf energy infrastructure, with a drone strike setting off a fire at the Shah natural gas field in the UAE and suspending operations while damage is assessed. An Iraqi oil field and the key Emirati port of Fujairah were also targeted. The UAE’s Fujairah port suspended oil loadings; loading berths at Fujairah Oil Tanker Terminals were halted as of Tuesday morning, and a joint venture terminal with Koninklijke Vopak also suspended operations at its offshore mooring point. Tasnim reported that Iranian oil exports continue without interruption.
Shipping Insurance - The cost of insuring vessels through the Strait of Hormuz has risen to about 5% of a ship’s value, Bloomberg reports, about five times the level seen in the earliest days of the Iran war.

TRADE

US-China - US President Trump said he asked China to delay his summit with China President Xi by about a month because he wants to remain in Washington to oversee the Iran war; Trump said the US is speaking with China about rescheduling the meeting, which was due to begin later this month.
US AI Exports - The Commerce Department said the Trump administration’s AI exports programme will enter its next phase on 1st April, with industry-led groups given 90 days to submit proposals for full-stack AI export packages. Selected groups may receive faster export licence reviews, access to federal credit programmes, government advocacy abroad and interagency support, Axios reports.
Global Internet - The US is pushing to make permanent the WTO moratorium on customs duties on electronic transmissions ahead of the ministerial later this month, Bloomberg reports. The ban has been renewed every two years since 1998, and is understood to cover digital activity including online purchases, social media, data transfers and video calls.
EU-Australia - The EU is close to finalising a free-trade agreement with Australia after years of negotiations, President von der Leyen said in a letter to EU leaders, adding that the talks were in the final stretch.

MACRO

US Corporate Reporting - The SEC is preparing a proposal to remove the quarterly earnings reporting requirement and instead let companies report results twice a year, according to sources cited by the WSJ. The proposal could be published as soon as next month, and regulators have been discussing potential rule changes with major exchanges.
US Benefits Fraud - US President Trump signed an executive order creating a task force led by VP Vance to target federal benefits fraud. The order expands the administration’s anti-fraud scrutiny nationwide, following Trump’s focus on fraud allegations in Democratic-led states.
Antitrust - Senator Klobuchar seeks to stiffen antitrust review process in wake of Live Nation (LYV) scrutiny, Semafor reports.

NEWS:

TECH

Nvidia (NVDA) - Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said at the company’s annual GTC event that its flagship AI processors for Blackwell and Vera Rubin systems would help generate USD 1tln in sales through 2027 (vs USD 500bln announced in October). Vera Rubin will ship later this year. He also unveiled new products, said Nvidia will expand further into CPUs, introduced semiconductors using technology acquired from Groq, and said the company is developing chips for data centres in outer space. Analysts at Wedbush said Huang’s remarks reinforced Nvidia’s position at the top of the AI demand curve for 2026 and beyond, while noting Huang indicated the AI revolution is accelerating.
Nvidia (NVDA) - Nvidia launched Dynamo 1.0, an open-source AI inference software designed to scale generative and agentic workloads across data centers. Works with the Blackwell platform, acting like an AI “operating system” for resource orchestration; Nvidia said it can boost inference performance up to 7x while lowering costs.
Nvidia (NVDA) Partnerships - Nvidia’s announced partnerships spanning AI infrastructure, enterprise software, design tools, storage, healthcare, transport and power systems, involving Cisco (CSCO), Synopsys (SNPS), NetApp (NTAP), HPE (HPE), IQVIA (IQV), Cadence (CDNS), Adobe (ADBE), Lyft (LYFT), Salesforce (CRM), CrowdStrike (CRWD), Eaton (ETN), IBM (IBM), CoreWeave (CRWV) and Texas Instruments (TXN). Some notable announcements include enterprise AI with IBM, AI deployment with Cisco, data centre power with Texas Instruments, and creative and marketing workflows with Adobe. Meanwhile, Uber (UBER) will deploy Nvidia Drive AV-powered fleets in 28 cities by 2028.
Reflection AI , Nvidia (NVDA) - Nvidia-backed startup Reflection AI is investing billions of dollars with Shinsegae Group to build AI models and a South Korean data centre, as the Trump administration pushes exports of US AI technology to allies, WSJ reports. Company and government officials said the facility will be capable of consuming 250 megawatts of power.
Micron (MU) - Began volume shipments of its HBM4 36GB 12H in Q1 2026 for Nvidia (NVDA) Vera Rubin. Micron also shipped samples of HBM4 48GB 16H to customers.
NXP Semiconductors (NXPI) - Announced robotics solutions for data processing, transport and advanced networking developed with Nvidia (NVDA).
Nvidia (NVDA), Uber (UBER) - Uber Technologies and Nvidia expanded their AV partnership to launch a global fleet of Nvidia software-driven robotaxis. Initial rollout in Los Angeles and San Francisco in 1H27, scaling to 28 cities by 2028 using Nvidia DRIVE Hyperion and Alpamayo AI.
STMicroelectronics (STM) - STMicroelectronics said it is integrating robotics components into the Nvidia (NVDA) Holoscan Sensor Bridge reference set and adding high-fidelity component models to Nvidia Isaac Sim. ST and Leopard Imaging also introduced a multimodal vision module combining ST sensors and Nvidia Holoscan Sensor Bridge technology, designed to work with Nvidia Jetson and Isaac for humanoid and other robotics systems.
SK Group, SK Hynix (HXSCL) - SK Group Chair said the global chip wafer shortage may last until 2030 as AI demand outpaces supply. He said SK Hynix is reviewing a US ADR listing, its CEO may announce a plan to stabilise DRAM prices, and the group is exploring alternative energy sources as higher Middle East energy prices create difficulties.
OpenAI - OpenAI is finalising a strategy shift to refocus on coding and business users, with leaders reviewing which areas to deprioritise, WSJ reports. In an all-hands meeting, applications CEO Fidji Simo told staff that Sam Altman and Mark Chen were assessing where to pull back, with employees expected to be informed of changes in the coming weeks.
Dell Technologies (DELL) - Said headcount fell ~10% (~11,000 employees) in FY26 to ~97,000, as it limits hiring to cut costs. Severance totaled USD 569mln (prev. 693mln prior year); the company expects AI server revenue to double in FY27 and recently raised dividend 20% and added USD 10bln to buybacks.
Intuit (INTU) - Said its founder and executive leadership team terminated all outstanding Rule 10b5-1 stock sale plans. The company also reiterated plans to substantially accelerate share repurchases, with up to USD 3.5bln remaining under board authorisation as of 31st January.
Nebius (NBIS) - To raise USD 3.75bln in convertible loan offering Nebius; to use proceeds of convertible loan to finance its core AI cloud services business. Separately, announced it is collaborating with Nvidia (NVDA) to accelerate physical AI development with an end-to-end platform purpose-built for the full robotics lifecycle, from simulation and training to real-world deployment at scale.
Optical - Lumentum (LITE), Ciena (CIEN), and Coherent (COHR) are weighed in the premarket following remarks from Nvidia (CEO) Huang on Monday that copper wires remain important in server racks. Though added, they are going to be scaling up optical.
Sony Group (SONY) - Downgraded at Bernstein to 'Market Perform' from 'Outperform' with a USD 22 PT (prev. 30). The firm said memory prices are expected to rise 7-times by the end of the year due to the rapid rise of AI memory demand. Memory is facing a supply shortage that is unlikely to be addressed anytime soon. Bernstein believes higher memory prices put Sony's PS5 hardware margins at risk and raises questions about PS6 as well. The firm thinks Sony will let PS5 hardware volumes decline as a way to manage hardware losses.
Semtech (SMTC) Q4 2025 (USD): EPS 0.44 (exp. 0.43), Revenue 274.4mln (exp. 273.2mln); sees Q1 EPS at 0.42-0.48 (exp. 0.43) and Q1 revenue of 278-288mln (exp. 272.6mln).

COMMUNICATIONS

Alphabet (GOOG) - Google is in talks with China’s Envicool and other suppliers to purchase liquid cooling systems for AI data centres, reflecting tight supply in Taiwan, Reuters reports. The global AI server liquid cooling market is projected to reach over USD 17bln in 2026 (vs USD 8.9bln in 2025), driven by demand from Nvidia (NVDA) and cloud providers.
Disney (DIS) - Named Debra O’Connell chairman of Disney Entertainment Television. She will oversee ABC Entertainment, Disney Branded Television, Hulu Originals and National Geographic Content, while continuing to oversee ABC News and ABC-owned television stations. Disney also moved Sean Shoptaw and the games business into its entertainment segment under a new leadership structure.
Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD), Paramount Skydance (PSKY) - Warner CEO David Zaslav could receive more than USD 667mln from the company’s sale to Paramount Skydance, Bloomberg said. The amount includes USD 34.2mln in cash severance, USD 115.8mln in vested stock awards, and USD 517.2mln in deal-triggered share awards.

CONSUMER DISCRETIONARY

Alibaba (BABA) - Alibaba launched Wukong, an enterprise AI platform designed to automate tasks including document editing, spreadsheet updates, meeting transcription and research through multiple AI agents in a single interface. The product is in invitation-only beta, available as a desktop app or through DingTalk, and will connect with Slack, Microsoft Teams and WeChat. Separately, Alibaba formed a new business unit, Alibaba Token Hub, to oversee all its AI businesses. Led by CEO Eddie Wu, the unit includes Tongyi Laboratory, the model-as-a-business line, the Qwen AI assistant unit, the Wukong enterprise AI platform business, and the company’s AI innovation business unit.
Amazon (AMZN) - Expanding faster delivery options across the US, adding 1-hour and 3-hour shipping in markets including Los Angeles and Chicago to compete with Walmart. The 1-hour service covers 90,000+ items and is now live in major metros and some smaller cities; 3-hour delivery is available in 2,000+ locations.
BYD (BYDDF), Geely (GELYF), Isuzu (ISUZY), Nissan (NSANY), Lyft (LYFT) - Nvidia (NVDA) said adoption of its Drive Hyperion platform is expanding to BYD, Geely Automobile, Isuzu Motors, Lyft, and Nissan, alongside mobility providers.
Nissan (NSANY) - Said it will introduce the US-built Murano to the Japanese market, with sales scheduled to begin in early 2027.
Tesla (TSLA), LG Energy Solution (373220 KS) - Tesla and LG Energy Solution will build a USD 4.3bln battery plant in Michigan to supply Tesla’s energy storage systems business, BBG reports. Confirmation of the project was included in a US Department of the Interior statement highlighting energy security cooperation between the US and Indo-Pacific nations.
Bally’s (BALY) - Preannounced Q4 revenue of USD 746.2mln (exp. 669.4mln). Execs highlighted that the New York State Gaming Commission issued a Gaming Facility License in December for Bally’s Bronx, a USD 4.0bln integrated casino resort project expected to open by 2030. Bronx development is expected to deliver more than USD 765mln of community benefits and thousands of jobs. Continues to advance Bally’s Las Vegas on the former Tropicana site.
Six Flags (FUN) - Jana Partners urged Six Flags to explore a sale and immediately appoint a new board chair, according to reports.
Delivery Hero (DELHY) - Reduced the size, and widened pricing of its USD 1.4bln loan offering amid market turmoil, according to Bloomberg citing sources. The loan is now offered at 5% over SOFR, and USD 0.965 on the dollar (vs an earlier indicated range of 4.5-4.75% range, USD 0.99 pricing, and a principal amount USD 100mln higher).
Vail Resorts (MTN) - CEO Robert Katz purchased 37.5K shares on 16th March, for a total USD 4.94mln.

FINANCIALS

Private Credit - Morgan Stanley said default rates in private credit could rise to 8% as AI disruption continues to pressure the software sector. Its analysts said elevated leverage and upcoming maturity walls in software may drive defaults toward levels not seen since the pandemic, even though AI has not yet materially affected private credit fundamentals.
Asia Private Credit - Private bankers in Hong Kong and Singapore are fielding urgent calls from high-net-worth clients seeking clarity on or redemption from private credit products as pressure spreads through the USD 1.8tln market, Bloomberg said. Regulators in Asia are also increasing scrutiny of the asset class, with attention on fund gating mechanisms and risks for individual investors.
Janus Henderson (JHG) - Victory Capital submits revised bid for Janus Henderson, Bloomberg TV reports. Janus Henderson shareholders are to receive USD 40 cash and 0.250 victory capital shares per share, for a total consideration of USD 56.84 per Janus Henderson share.
Blue Owl Capital (OWL) - Blue OWL tipped bridging loan specialist Century Capital Partners into administration last month after discovering the UK group had dismissed a director because of financial discrepancies, according to the FT, citing documents and people familiar with the matter and documents. The collapse of Century Capital, which owed almost GBP 100mln to creditors, came weeks before that of MFS. Sources said creditors have not accused Century Capital or its management team of fraud, but took action after uncovering apparent issues with its financial reporting and controls.
JPMorgan (JPM), Goldman Sachs (GS) - JPMorgan hired Zhang Yi from Goldman Sachs to co-head its China investment banking business, according to an internal memo.
Lemonade (LMND) - Upgraded at Morgan Stanley to 'Overweight' from 'Equal Weight' with a USD 85 PT (prev. 80). The company's partnership with Tesla (TSLA) "represents an important first step" and gives Lemonade first-mover advantage in data analysis and on-the-ground experience. Morgan Stanley says that while Lemonade is offering a 50% discount on auto insurance when full self-driving is engaged in Tesla vehicles, the company is maintaining underwriting discipline based on the quotes it viewed. It expects Lemonade to expand its autonomous exposure, driving the scale needed to "meaningfully improve" its long-term earnings profile.
BNP Paribas (BNPQY) - BNP Paribas Cardif is in advanced talks to buy Warburg Pincus’ 26% stake in IndiaFirst Life Insurance, according to Bloomberg. The transaction could value IndiaFirst at about USD 350mln. A deal has not yet been finalised, the report adds.

INDUSTRIALS

AeroVironment (AVAV) - Acquired Empirical Systems Aerospace, a producer of unmanned aircraft systems and advanced air mobility platforms. The company said the deal strengthens its defence technology position, expands electric and hybrid propulsion capabilities, and adds AS9100-certified California facilities.
Honeywell International (HON) - CEO on Tuesday said the conflict in the Middle East could impact Honeywell International's first-quarter revenue by high-single-digit percentages. However, the industrial giant remains confident in its 2026 forecast, viewing the disruptions as a "tactical issue" rather than demand-driven, he said. Expects 2026 sales of USD 38.8-39.8bln and a FY adj. EPS of USD 10.35-10.65. A Honeywell executive on Venezuela says, “We have over 400 assets in Venezuela… short term, it’s not going to grow… more of a 3–4 year type of cycle”; working with Chevron (CVX) to assess the situation. The LNG business is essentially sold out for the next two and a half years, and we have more.
Delta Air Lines (DAL) - Raised revenue outlook on demand momentum; looking at somewhere around three points of higher revenue growth above what they prev. guided. The executive said jet fuel has almost doubled since the start of the year, and crack spreads are significantly higher than crude, via conference call.
American Airlines (AAL) - Expects Q1 2026 adj. loss per diluted share at the lower end of guidance range, according to SEC filing; expects Q1 ASM +3-4% (prev. +3-5%) Y/Y; expects Q1 CASM +4-5% Y/Y ; Raised Q1 total revenue view to more than 10% (prev. 7-10%).
JetBlue (JBLU) - Cuts its Q1 ASM and reported stronger Q1 travel demand vs. prior expectations; Q1 rasm seen +5-7%.

HEALTHCARE

Eli Lilly (LLY) - Downgraded at HSBC to 'Reduce' from 'Hold' with a USD PT of 850 (prev. 1,070). The firm believes expectations for the total addressable market of obesity are elevated to over USD 150bln. The market is likely to be USD 80-120bln by 2032, and price competition "is likely to be significant". HSBC notes that Eli Lilly's obesity price cuts in 2026 are a headwind while its guidance implies that it can continue to "defy gravity with volume growth." While the oral launch might expand access to anti-obesity medications, the "compliance and persistence of these drugs might disappoint". It thinks oral drug launch expectations for Lilly are too high.
Nvidia (NVDA), Roche (RHHBY) - Roche is deploying more than 3,500 NVIDIA Blackwell GPUs across hybrid cloud and on-premises environments in the US and Europe, expanding on an existing collaboration to turn AI and accelerated computing into a core operating capability across its pharmaceutical and diagnostics businesses.
Pfizer (PFE) - Announced positive topline Phase 2 results for next-generation CDK4 inhibitor, Atirmociclib, in second-line metastatic breast cancer. The study met its primary endpoint, demonstrating a statistically significant and clinically meaningful improvement in progression-free survival as assessed by the investigator.
Merck (MRK) - Will present new clinical and real-world data reaffirming the long-term effectiveness of the company's 9-valent Human Papillomavirus vaccine, GARDASIL 9 and its 4-valent HPV vaccine, GARDASIL against certain HPV-related cancers and diseases at the EUROGIN International Multidisciplinary HPV Congress 2026 in Vienna, Austria, from March 18-21.
Stryker (SYK) - Says it is actively bringing its systems back online and are prioritizing systems that directly support customers, ordering and shipping.
Cencora (COR) - Announced financial leadership transition and James F. Cleary to retire as CFO effective June 30, 2026; reaffirms FY26 adj. diluted EPS guidance range of USD 17.45-17.75.
US Vaccine Policy - A federal judge blocked the US government from implementing vaccine policy changes made over the last year by Health Secretary RFK Jr., NYT reports. The ruling also reversed, for now, decisions made by Kennedy’s appointees to the Advisory Committee for Immunisation Practices and prevents the committee from meeting later this week.
Alcon (ALC), Lensar (LNSR) - Alcon and Lensar agreed to terminate their previously announced merger agreement. Alcon said it still believes the acquisition would have enhanced FLACS' innovation and competition, but that delays, added costs, and the FTC’s opposition, following nearly a year of regulatory review, made the transaction unattractive to continue.

MATERIALS

Steel Dynamics (STLD) - Sees Q1 2026 EPS between USD 2.73-2.77 (exp. 3.18).
US Coal - Terra Energy Centre is committing USD 1bln to a planned coal project in Alaska, marking the first investment in new US coal power in more than a decade. An Interior Department fact sheet said the company reached an in-principle agreement with Hyundai Heavy Industries Power Systems for power-plant boilers.
BHP Group (BHP) - Submitted the Escondida New Concentrator project for environmental assessment in Chile. The plan involves USD 4.4-5.9bln to replace the ageing Los Colorados plant and add 220-260kt per annum of copper capacity. First production is expected in 2031-2032, subject to approval, while Escondida’s overall processing capacity would remain at 460ktpd.

ENERGY

Crude - Goldman Sachs said the Middle East war’s oil market shock is likely to hit refined products such as jet fuel and diesel harder than crude. Analysts said prices for many refined products have risen more than crude, and that severe disruption to medium-heavy crude supplies risks reducing diesel, jet fuel and fuel oil output.
Seadrill (SDRL) - Seadrill said Sonadrill, its 50/50 JV with an affiliate of Sonangol, received a contract extension after a seven-well priced option for the ultra-deepwater drillship Sonangol Quenguela was exercised.
BP (BP) - Confirmed the production start-up from a new gas consortium project in Angola; initial production from the Quiluma field is expected to be 150mln standard cubic feet per day, and rise to 330mmscf/day by year-end.