The latest Market Talks covering Equities. Published exclusively on Dow Jones Newswires throughout the day.
0834 ET - The dollar could fall in response to potentially weak upcoming U.S. economic data, ING's Chris Turner says in a note. The University of Michigan's preliminary consumer sentiment survey for February is due at 1500 GMT. "Any surprise dip here could prove a mild dollar negative in that it would serve as a reminder of consumer dependency on stock market performance," Turner says, noting recent tech-led falls in U.S. equities. More importantly, the delayed January nonfarm payrolls report will be released Wednesday. Thursday's soft job openings and labor turnover survey prompted markets to price in lower interest rates. That leaves the dollar vulnerable ahead of the payrolls data, Turner says. The DXY dollar index falls 0.1% to 97.759. (renae.dyer@wsj.com)
0829 ET - Molina Healthcare's 4Q results came in well below the company's expectations, CEO Joe Zubretsky says on a call with analysts Friday. The quarter was hurt by ongoing medical-cost pressure in Medicare and the company's marketplace segment, as well as retroactive premium adjustments tied to the company's Medicaid business in California. "While disappointed in the performance for the quarter, we continue to remain confident in our durable and sustainable operating platform as the rate environment returns to equilibrium," Zubretsky says. Shares tumble 32% premarket. (connor.hart@wsj.com)
0820 ET - Oil futures are trading sideways with the market focused on talks in Oman between the U.S. and Iran over Iran's nuclear program. "While negotiations could go either way and President Trump's threats of military action are real, we believe Iran will ultimately submit, paving the way for a nuclear agreement and avoiding regime collapse," Peter Cardillo of Spartan Capital says in a note. "Such an outcome would likely send oil prices sharply lower." WTI is off 0.2% at $63.19 a barrel and Brent is down 0.1% at $67.51. (anthony.harrup@wsj.com)
0819 ET - Sterling looks set to fall against the euro as its strong start to the year looks overextended, Societe Generale strategists say in a note. The market unwound last year's excessive U.K. pessimism after wrongly pricing in aggressive interest-rate cuts by the Bank of England, they say. "With that correction done, support for sterling is fading." Moreover, eurozone growth expectations are turning higher relative to the U.K. and the euro-sterling exchange rate historically follows that differential, they say. The euro falls 0.3% to 0.8677 pounds, having dropped 0.4% in the year to date, according to LSEG data. (renae.dyer@wsj.com)
0758 ET - Software investors fear artificial-intelligence tools cutting into the sector's high margins, analysts at Goldman Sachs write. Product launches from artificial-intelligence startup Anthropic were only the "catalyst to realize fears that have been growing," they write. Those fears center on threats to the capital-light sector's typically high margins, they say. Higher margins also mean software companies are "ripe for disruption," especially given recent rises in software prices, the analysts add. European software stocks continue to slide Friday, with a sector-wide basket represented by the Stoxx Software & Computer Services index falling 0.7%.(josephmichael.stonor@wsj.com)
0755 ET -- Amazon's projection of $200 billion in 2026 capital spending will need to show a clear return on investment, Morgan Stanley analysts write in a note, cutting the stock's price target to $300. Growth in Amazon Web Services likely justifies the commitment, they write, but the company also said it was accelerating spending for the satellite internet business Amazon Leo, and "investors right now are not forgiving about large investments without clear signal on ROIC." The spend places more scrutiny on Leo as investors wait for quantifiable contracts, or until Amazon begins beating profit numbers by margin without Leo. Still, they write, "we believe AMZN is still the most under-appreciated GenAI winner in our group at its current multiple." (elias.schisgall@wsj.com)
0743 ET -- Consumers are hooked on nicotine pouches, which now account for a high single-digit percent of total industry volumes and remain the fastest-growing nicotine category, according to Philip Morris. Zyn continues to lead the segment, supported by its premium price positioning and "a wide range of commercial activities to further enhance the equity and presence of the brand," the company says. Zyn shipment volumes jumped nearly 20% during 4Q, to nearly 200 million cans. The brand is taking off internationally as well, with Zyn now available in 55 markets and growth fueled by strong market-share gains. (connor.hart@wsj.com)
0740 ET--The weakening position of Amazon's cloud business means it will have to step up its AI investments further, says D.A. Davidson analyst Gil Luria. "Amazon may not have a choice but to follow though with a $50 billion investment in OpenAI in order to enhance its position in the escalating frontier model battle," Luria says. If it doesn't, Amazon's retail business could suffer. "We believe the internet is changing very fast and merchants that are integrated into ChatGPT and Gemini (e.g. Shopify merchants) will have a significant advantage. Lower flow of leads would translate not only to less transactions, but also less advertising opportunities," Luria says. (nicholas.miller@wsj.com)
0735 ET -- Amazon's cloud business is seeing its leading position evaporate and is struggling to match Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud, says D.A. Davidson analyst Gil Luria, who downgrades the stock to neutral and lowers his price target to $175 from $300. "While AWS accelerated slightly to 24% growth, Google Cloud accelerated to 48% growth and Azure grew an allocation-constrained 39%," Luria says. The lack of a strong position with a frontier AI lab is hurting Amazon, while the performance of Google's in-house TPU chips is ahead of Amazon's Trainium, "also contributing to customer preference," Luria says. Shares are down 7.6% premarket. (nicholas.miller@wsj.com)
0727 ET - The worst of uncertainty over demand for Nordic Semiconductor products is behind the company, analysts at Bank of America say. Earnings in 2026 will be driven by the company's latest integrated semiconductor chip circuits--part of the nRF54 product line--according to the analysts. The results will benefit from increasing demand for more powerful chips over the year, they add. Expanding use cases for Nordic's chips, including in the healthcare and wearables sectors, will also support demand in the longer term. Nordic Semiconductor shares gain 1%, extending year-to-date gains of over 13% to Thursday's close. (josephmichael.stonor@wsj.com)
0717 ET - Novo Nordisk suffers more from compounders than rival Eli Lilly, as evident from Lilly's upbeat growth outlook versus Novo Nordisk's gloomy expectations, AlphaValue analyst Abhishek Raval writes. Interestingly, there is a seemingly tighter crackdown on making copycat versions of Lilly's weight-loss drug tirzepatide, whereas for Novo Nordisk's semaglutide the regulators have struggled to restrict illegal compounding, Raval says. "This raises doubts as to whether there is an invisible hand of the U.S. administration working against Novo." Raval also questions plans by Hims & Hers to sell copycat versions of Novo Nordisk's weight-loss pill at $49 a month and then $99 a month. "Based on our research, the cost of compounded semaglutide ranges from $100-$250 per month, meaning that Hims & Hers may not make profits from the above-mentioned pricing." (dominic.chopping@wsj.com)
0705 ET - German defense company Renk's free cash flow for the fourth quarter will look worse than it really is, MBW's Jens-Peter Rieck writes. The shifting of payments into the first quarter of 2026 will distort the company's cash generation picture, as the timing switch "masks underlying strength," the analyst writes. The company's guidance for 2025 earnings remains intact despite headwinds from a weaker dollar, U.S. tariffs and Germany's ban on the export of arms to Israel, the analyst writes. "That guidance remains unchanged underscores very strong cost control." Renk climbs 8.4%, more than recouping losses of 6% over the week to Thursday's close. (josephmichael.stonor@wsj.com)
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
February 06, 2026 08:36 ET (13:36 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2026 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
Comments