Luke Kawa3/25/25

US stocks rise as investors ditch defensive parts of the market

The S&P 500 rose 0.2%, the Nasdaq 100 gained 0.5%, while the Russell 2000 gave back 0.7% on Tuesday.

Communications services was the best-performing S&P 500 sector ETF, while utilities, real estate, and healthcare — all traditionally defensive sectors — fell more than 1%.

Alibaba dipped after its chairman warned of an AI data center bubble brewing.

Trump Media & Technology Group soared after striking a deal with Crypto.com to launch exchange-traded products.

Cloudflare was the recipient of a double upgrade by Bank of America, all the way from “underperform” to “buy,” as analysts now think the cybersecurity firm will be “one of the true ‘AI winners’ in software.”

Carvana also popped on the heels of an upgrade from Morgan Stanley.

Mobileye jumped after the autonomous driving company partnered with Volkswagen to offer driver assistance systems. Elsewhere in the space, Alphabet caught a bid after announcing plans to bring its autonomous ride-hailing service to the nation’s capital.

KB Home slumped after whiffing on its Q1 earnings and lowering its full-year outlook.

US copper futures also hit a record high amid tariff worries and supply constraints.

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Quantum stocks soar after reports that the Trump administration is in talks to invest directly in the sector

After speculation has swirled for weeks that the US government might consider investing in the quantum sector, discussions are now underway, with the Wall Street Journal reporting that the Trump administration is negotiating with several quantum computing companies about giving the US Commerce Department equity stakes in exchange for federal funding.

Companies in talks include IonQ, Rigetti Computing, and D-Wave Quantum, with each seeking a minimum of $10 million in funding, per the report, while others like Quantum Computing and privately-held Atom Computing consider similar arrangements. The deals "haven't been completed and might change."

IONQ, RGTI, QBTS, and QUBT all soared on the news, and the first three of that quartet are currently the most heavily traded stocks in the premarket after Tesla. Each of the four is up between 11% and 13% as of 5:40am ET.

Exclusive | Trump Administration in Talks to Take Equity Stakes in Quantum-Computing Firms

Exclusive | Trump Administration in Talks to Take Equity Stakes in Quantum-Computing Firms

Companies in talks include IonQ, Rigetti Computing, and D-Wave Quantum, with each seeking a minimum of $10 million in funding, per the report, while others like Quantum Computing and privately-held Atom Computing consider similar arrangements. The deals "haven't been completed and might change."

IONQ, RGTI, QBTS, and QUBT all soared on the news, and the first three of that quartet are currently the most heavily traded stocks in the premarket after Tesla. Each of the four is up between 11% and 13% as of 5:40am ET.

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Beyond Meat craters in premarket trading on heavy volumes

Beyond Meat’s rally has seemingly gone from well done to overcooked in a hurry.

Shares of the plant-based meat company are cratering, down nearly 20% in premarket trading on heavy volume.

As of 5:05 a.m. ET, the stock has traded more than $60 million in the premarket. That’s the fifth-highest of all stocks listed on US exchanges, trailing only the pure-play quantum computing companies (after a report that the US government may take stakes in these companies) as well as Tesla, which reported earnings after the close on Wednesday.

It’s an about-face for Beyond, which has seen the premarket session be a source of particular strength over the past few sessions. In fact, the stock’s recent peak of $8.86, which marked a rally of 1,672% from its all-time low in less than four sessions, occurred in the premarket session on Wednesday. It’s down more than 60% since that time.

What’s different about the Beyond Meat move compared to past so-called short squeezes we’ve seen in the past is that the cost of borrowing shares has gone down, not up, during its period of intense gains. However, that’s what we would expect given its shares outstanding jumped from ~76 million to close to 400 million in light of its debt-for-equity swap which temporarily gave those creditors control over the company.

So, while its previous parabolic move may have been extremely painful for existing shorts, it’s also making it arguably more attractive for any doubters to put on fresh bets that the surge in the stock is half-baked.

Southwest Airlines At Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport

Southwest’s first full quarter charging for checked bags drives it to record Q3 revenue

Southwest became the third major airline to report its third-quarter earnings when it dropped its results after the bell Wednesday.

Max Knoblauch13h

IBM Q3 Earnings Numbers

IBM slides despite earnings beat

Here’s how Big Blue did.

Matt Phillips13h

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J. Edward Moreno13h

Moderna drops after reporting trial for birth defect vaccine failed

Moderna dropped in after-hours trading Wednesday after it reported that its experimental vaccine for cytomegalovirus (CMV), which can cause birth defects, failed in a late-stage trial.

The company is perhaps best known for being tapped by the government to quickly develop a vaccine for COVID-19 in 2020, which remains its single source of revenue. Investors have been eager for signs that it will add more vaccines to its portfolio soon.

The CMV vaccine was the main product in Moderna’s pipeline prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. In the most recent results, the vaccine was only between 6% and 23% effective in blocking infection, which was “well below” the company’s target of at least 49%, the company said in a statement.

In statements announcing the results, Moderna’s leaders described the results at “disappointing.” The company fell more than 5% after-hours and is down more than 35% this year.

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