The latest Market Talks covering Equities. Published exclusively on Dow Jones Newswires throughout the day.
1105 ET - Businesses across the U.S. can now order milk, produce and other groceries online -- and have it delivered the same day. Amazon Business is implementing same-day delivery of fresh groceries to business customers in more than 2,300 cities and towns in the U.S. Orders will be delivered within set hours and preferences, which customers can tailor during checkout, the company says. Same-day delivery is free for Business Prime members for orders over $25, the company says, and the service is available with a $12.99 fee for customers without a prime membership. The expansion of same-day delivery to business customers follows Amazon's launch of same-day grocery-delivery for consumers in 1,000 cities last year. (chris.kuo@wsj.com)
1057 ET - Bitcoin could extend gains while above the psychologically important $80,000 level, but investors should exercise caution, Zaye Capital Markets' Naeem Aslam says. The cryptocurrency remains at risk of sudden falls if sentiment changes, Aslam says. "It can fall if ETF flows turn negative, bond yields rise, the dollar strengthens, stocks sell off, regulation tightens, or geopolitical fear turns into panic." When Middle East tension "feels controlled" then investors often buy bitcoin as an alternative asset. However, they tend to sell if markets consider tensions to be chaotic, because bitcoin is liquid and risky, he says. "The message is: bullish above $80k, but not blindly bullish." Bitcoin rises to a three-month high of $81,680, LSEG data show. (jessica.fleetham@wsj.com)
1041 ET - PayPal says it wants to change the structure of its organization to cut costs. "This is about duplication. It is about layers. It is about org structure," Chief Financial and Operating Officer Jamie Miller tells analysts. The company wants to use more AI to cut costs, particularly in PayPal's customer service, Miller says. The use of AI is more about redesigning how the company operates, rather than just putting out new AI-driven technology, executives say. PayPal slides 10%. (katherine.hamilton@wsj.com)
1007 ET - Stronger demand from institutions and rising interest in bitcoin exchange-traded funds, or ETFs, are helping to boost bitcoin, Zaye Capital Markets' Naeem Aslam says. Bitcoin rises around 2% to a three-month high of $81,680, LSEG data show. Stronger institutional demand is coming from higher spot bitcoin ETF inflows, regulated asset-manager products, public-company buying, and bitcoin reserve discussions, he says. "The strongest proof is ETF flow data because it shows real money entering regulated bitcoin vehicles." However, this is still mostly investment demand rather than payment demand, he says. Bitcoin has become less volatile than previously but it is still volatile compared with stocks, bonds or gold and therefore relatively risky, he says. (jessica.fleetham@wsj.com)
0916 ET - Restaurants with higher income consumers, like Starbucks and Chipotle, are benefiting this earnings season more than those that skew lower income, like Wingstop. Breakfast chain First Watch Restaurant Group says on a 1Q analyst call that having a higher income consumer base has insulated them from rising gas prices and other pressures facing consumers. Bad weather in 1Q depressed the chain's traffic, executives say. The chain raises the low end of its adjusted Ebitda guidance for 2026.(heather.haddon@wsj.com; @heatherhaddon)
0914 ET - Shopify continues to add larger, more established retailers to its platform, a trend President Harley Finkelstein says is accelerating. Finkestein says in an earnings call that the company signed luxury brands Mulberry, Balmain and French luxury-goods conglomerate LVMH, along with fashion names such as Rag & Bone and The Outnet. He also lists Land's End and BevMo, and says one of the biggest U.S. liquor retailers is now using Shopify's point-of-sale system. At the same time, he says Outdoor brand Orvis is moving to a unified Shopify commerce stack. Recent go‑lives include Benetton Group, Victoria's Secret's Body, Vail Resorts' retail operations and Reitmans. (adriano.marchese@wsj.com)
0850 ET - The EU's push to revamp how officials review companies' multi-billion euro deals goes beyond signaling a more favourable view of some mergers, Nelson Jung, head of the U.K. antitrust practice at law firm Clifford Chance says. The EU's new draft merger guidelines outline how the European Commission could look at potential benefits a deal could bring and spur innovation in the bloc. The document also includes a section on assessing monopsony and oligopsony power, where the sole or dominant buyer in a particular market could influence wages or the price of the goods or services they purchase to run their business. Jung says that the EU is also looking at a whole range of concerns around workers, including wage suppression and common ownership by shareholders--when investors hold minority stakes in competing firms. (edith.hancock@wsj.com)
0851 ET - Ferrari's first-quarter report is "extremely reassuring" considering the environment, Bernstein analysts write. When the Italian automaker reported full-year results, before the outbreak of hostilities in the Gulf, it framed 2026 as being more heavily weighted in terms of revenue and results to the second half of the year. That Ferrari was able to navigate the disruption by bringing forward deliveries to other regions speaks volumes about its ability to make changes at extremely short notice, the bank adds. It shows Ferrari's ability to control shipments, revenues and margins in a manner that many had doubted after the underwhelming growth targets presented last October, it adds. "The launch of the Luce, Ferrari's first electric car, on 25 May may well confound some sceptics as well." Shares fall 1%. (dominic.chopping@wsj.com)
0800 ET - Vodafone will likely halt its current buyback program as a result of its agreement to acquire CK Hutchison's 49% stake in VodafoneThree, according to Barclays analysts Maurice Patrick and Mathieu Robilliard. The U.K. telecoms group will pay 4.3 billion pounds for the stake via a share cancellation, the companies said Tuesday. Vodafone's leverage will rise to the higher end of its forecasts, the analysts say. As a result, the company might struggle to continue buying back shares. Despite this, Vodafone's fast revenue growth and proceeds from selling its stake in the Dutch company Ziggo for 1 billion euros should ease its leverage, the analysts say. Vodafone shares fall 1.5% after CK Hutchison closed 4.1% higher in Hong Kong. (julia.nasser@wsj.com)
0736 ET - Cocoa prices approach a three-month high as concerns mount around the impact of an El Nino weather system on global supply. New York Cocoa futures rise 2.7% to $3,987 after briefly topping $4,000 earlier in the session--a level not reached since early February. Escalations in the Strait of Hormuz also support cocoa prices as a result of disruption to supply chains raising costs. Moreover, recent irregular rainfall in Ivory Coast is weighing on crop expectations, SwissPartners's Paul Bosmediano Benalcazar writes in a note. "The market is no longer pricing stability. It is starting to price in structural risk." (josephmichael.stonor@wsj.com)
0636 ET - Indonesia's economic growth beat expectations in 1Q, but it's likely all downhill from there, DBS's Radhika Rao says. Economic momentum was relatively resilient at the start of 2026, supported by holiday-boosted consumption, fiscal stimulus, strong government spending and low base effects. Activity, however, softened at the tail end of the quarter due to volatility in equity markets, and firms facing supply distortions as well as higher costs due to the onset of the U.S.-Iran conflict, the senior economist says. DBS expects momentum to moderate amid high energy prices and pressure to consolidate public finances. Factoring in these risks, it tempers its 2026 growth forecast to 5.1% from 5.3%. (fabiana.negrinochoa@wsj.com)
0629 ET - Cargojet's first-quarter results show resilience in the face of a challenging backdrop of geopolitical and trade tensions. TD Cowen's Tim James says the theme of trade and macro uncertainty are a regular feature for the air-freight company, but first-quarter results "will draw attention to the resiliency of the Cargojet business and provide investors confidence to step in once external environment improves." The quarter's steady Ebitda, stronger-than-expected revenue and signs of stabilizing block hours suggest that the core business remains durable. While broader sentiment may stay cautious "around global trade, Amazon initiative, and consumer strength," the strong results "don't justify historically low valuation," James says. (adriano.marchese@wsj.com)
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
May 05, 2026 11:05 ET (15:05 GMT)
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