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Stocks end strong quarter higher as investors shrug off an imminent government shutdown

The S&P 500 ticked up 0.4%, the Nasdaq moved up 0.3%, and the Russell 2000 eked out a 0.1% gain.

In a reversal of Monday’s session, the S&P 500, Nasdaq 100, and Russell 2000 spent most of the day in the red before powering higher in the final hours of trading to end near session highs and in positive territory.

The S&P 500 shook off the September scaries to sail 3.5% higher this month, its best September in 15 years, continuing its five-month streak of gains. In the third quarter, the benchmark index gained 7.8%.

Stocks that moved higher:

Retail traders rushed into Wolfspeed as the embattled silicon carbide semiconductor maker announced that it’s exiting the Chapter 11 bankruptcy process.
CoreWeave rallied on news that it signed a deal to provide up to $14.2 billion of compute to Meta.
Nio climbed following a 62% jump in weekly registrations in China.
Pfizer rose after the drugmaker reached a deal with the Trump administration to lower its prices in the US.

Stocks that moved lower:

Betting stocks DraftKings and FanDuel parent Flutter Entertainment got hammered after Kalshi quietly introduced a new feature mimicking the popular parlay-style sports bets that have been an important differentiator for the sportsbooks.
Firefly Aerospace plunged after disclosing it lost a rocket stage during a preflight test.
Oklo fell after a downgrade from Bank of America.

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Nike pops on Q1 earnings beat and surprise revenue jump

Nike topped first-quarter estimates after the bell Tuesday.

Adjusted earnings per share came in at $0.49, nearly double the $0.27 expected by Wall Street. Revenue rose to $11.7 billion, also beating analyst forecasts of $11 billion. Wholesale revenues rose 7% to $6.8 billion.

On Friday, the sneaker giant rolled out its first collaboration with Kim Kardashian’s Skims, betting that the brand’s popularity and star power will help expand its female customer base.

Ahead of earnings, Nike shares were down over 5% year to date.

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Betting stocks slammed on growing pressure from prediction markets

The duopoly that dominates the US online sports betting business — DraftKings and FanDuel parent Flutter Entertainment — dove Tuesday after prediction markets company Kalshi quietly introduced a new feature mimicking the popular parlay-style sports bets that have been an important differentiator for the sportsbooks from fast-growing prediction markets.

Robinhood Markets, which has partnered with prediction markets platform Kalshi to offer event contracts to its users, has surged to record highs in recent days on signs that its prediction markets business is gaining traction as the NFL season unfolds.

(Robinhood Markets Inc. is the parent company of Sherwood Media, an independently operated media company subject to certain legal and regulatory restrictions.)

Market analysts have noted that prediction markets — which in the US are regulated as financial products by the CFTC — have some significant regulatory advantages compared to non-prediction market sports betting activity, which typically operates under state gaming regulators.

“Prediction markets like Kalshi, which is available nationwide to anyone over 18, are... increasingly an alternative to traditional online sportsbooks like DraftKings, which is generally available 21 and up in about half the country,” analyst Edwin Dorsey wrote earlier this month on his newsletter The Bear Cave, which spotlights potential short positions on some stocks.

Separately, Flutter is also under some idiosyncratic pressure amid reports that Rachel Reeves, the UK’s chancellor of the exchequer, is open to raising taxes on the country’s gambling companies in the upcoming budget.

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Nio climbs following a more than 60% jump in weekly registrations in China

A host of new Model Y competitors appear to be paying off for Chinese EV maker Nio.

Shares of the company rose more than 5% in Tuesday morning trading, following reports that the company last week logged a record 10,800 vehicle insurance registrations in China, a common proxy for vehicle deliveries.

The figure, which would represent a 62% jump in registrations week over week, was reportedly shared by a Nio executive on Chinese social media. Nio is said to have delivered more than 2,000 of its new three-row electric SUV, the ES8, and 2,600 Onvo L90s (another SUV) in the week ended September 28.

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Pfizer reaches deal with Trump admin on drug pricing

Pfizer rose Tuesday after it was announced that the drugmaker reached a deal with the Trump administration to lower its prices in the US.

Pfizer will sell its drugs through Medicaid at lower prices, according to the White House. In its own press release, Pfizer said it has agreed to take steps to ensure Americans receive “comparable drug prices to those available in other developed countries” and will price “newly launched medicines at parity with other key developed markets.”

Pfizer said it would participate in the administration’s direct-to-consumer platform dubbed “TrumpRx.” Many of the company’s drugs will be available on TrumpRx.gov (the website does not appear to be active yet) at “at savings that will range as high as 85% and on average 50%.”

The specific terms of the agreement are confidential, Pfizer said. President Trump signed an executive order in May demanding drugmakers give the US the best prices on medications, and the deadline to comply with that was Monday.

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Oklo whipsaws amid BofA downgrade, accelerated future review process by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission

Shares of Oklo were volatile in early trading, falling as Bank of America downgraded the stock to “neutral” from “buy” before getting a short-lived jolt after the nuclear technology company said regulators accepted a key design report faster than anticipated. The stock is down about 3% as of 10:05 a.m. ET.

“Valuations now embed deployment ramps and discount rates we view as unrealistic at this stage of SMR [small modular reactor] adoption,” BofA analyst Dimple Gosai wrote. “While we remain constructive on Oklo’s differentiated build-own-operate model, pipeline conversion, HALEU recycling, and DOE/DoD contracting, we view near-term risk/reward as balanced.”

She also raised her price target to $117 from $92.

Separately, the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission accepted Oklo’s Principal Design Criteria topical report “in just 15 days, compared to the typical 30–60 days following submission,” the company shared in a press release, noting that “recent legislation and executive orders have called for the delivery of more nuclear power for clean, reliable energy on accelerated timelines, and this is how it’s done.”

Per the company, the PDC report establishes a regulatory framework for future reactor licensing and design activities, and once approved, effectively streamlines Oklo’s deployment of advanced reactors by reducing unnecessary steps in the licensing process.

In a note published on Monday, Barclays analysts wrote that “government approval of each step of the process is one of the largest moats in the space,” especially considering the “prolonged, expensive, and complex” regulatory framework under the NRC.

Oklo is up 65% in the past month, riding a wave of investor enthusiasm for clean power plays as the market anticipates a surge in AI-related energy demand. Earlier this morning, shares were under pressure after BofA cut the stock to “neutral” from “buy.”