The latest Market Talks covering Equities. Published exclusively on Dow Jones Newswires throughout the day.
1429 ET - DraftKings says it has an opportunity for margin expansion if prediction markets take up a bigger share of its business. Chief Financial Officer Alan Ellingson tells analysts at a conference that prediction markets are higher margin than sports betting because they don't have the same overhead costs, as they are not taxed the same way. However, Ellingson cautions analysts that the company is still collecting data on predictions' return on investment, which could determine how much of the business is predictions-related. "We're going to have to follow the data for the next few months just to see what size that could look like," he says. (katherine.hamilton@wsj.com)
1401 ET - DraftKings is racing to add more events that users can trade on to drive engagement with its new predictions platform, Chief Financial Officer Alan Ellingson says at a conference. "The more markets you can create and you can price for them, the more they're willing to engage," Ellingson says. For now, DraftKings' prediction markets are limited as it ramps up the platform, so trades are limited to main lines in bigger markets, he says. The online sports betting platform is trying to change that though. It recently launched combo trades on DraftKings Predictions, which is the equivalent of a betting parlay where multiple events have to occur to win money. (katherine.hamilton@wsj.com)
1328 ET - The number of rigs drilling for oil in the U.S. rose by five this week to 415, oil services company Baker Hughes reports. It was the highest oil rig count since November, and up by eight since the start of the U.S.-Iran conflict that closed the Strait of Hormuz and sent oil prices into triple digits. Still, producers have proceeded with caution. With $100 a barrel oil it's profitable to drill anywhere, but producers know that isn't going to last forever, says Gary Cunningham of Tradition Energy. "People know that eventually there will be some type of a resolution with Iran and some type of reopening of the strait." Rigs directed at natural gas slipped by one this week to 128. (anthony.harrup@wsj.com)
1241 ET - At both Walmart and Target, weekday visits rose sharply during 1Q, Placer.ai data shows. "Weekday traffic growth across both brands highlights the growing importance of routine, need-based shopping trips in driving visits," a recent report from the location-analytics firm reads. "This pattern signals that essential retail demand is currently outweighing discretionary behavior, shaping near-term performance." While weekday visits rose sharply in 1Q, weekend visits remained essentially flat year-over-year. For Target, this stabilization in weekend visits is notable, as prior declines had weighed on overall performance. "This matters because weekends tend to capture more discretionary browsing and higher-margin categories that are central to Target's model," Placer.ai says in the report.(connor.hart@wsj.com)
1226 ET - Target entered the year on shaky footing, but the retailer's turnaround seems to have gained some real traction over the past few months. January appears to be "the beginning of a notable shift, with both overall visits and same-store visits stabilizing," a report from location-analytics firm Placer.ai says. "The months that followed brought a meaningful traffic rebound, indicating that February's positive sales trends may have continued, and new CEO Michael Fiddelke's turnaround strategy may be bearing fruit." These improvements are particularly noteworthy, Placer.ai says, given ongoing weakness in consumer sentiment, as well as the recent impact of energy price hikes, Placer.ai says. Target is scheduled to report 1Q results on May 20th. (connor.hart@wsj.com)
1127 ET - Bird Construction's growth trajectory is showing promise, most recently proven by its newly appointed role on the Bell AI Fabric 300 megawatt data center in Saskatchewan. Raymond James analyst Frederic Bastien says the project "further boosts its record backlog and accelerates demand across its buildings, industrial and infrastructure segments." This growth, which Bastien expects to accelerate through 2027, prompts the analyst to raise the stock price target to C$60 from C$54. The analyst maintained its outperform 2 rating. "BDT continues to see a barrage of positive demand signals, suggesting its record C$5.4 billion backlog may not remain the high-water mark for long," he adds. Shares are up 10% to C$56.38. (adriano.marchese@wsj.com)
1010 ET - Calian Group joins a growing list of Canadian companies seeing momentum from rising defense spending, a theme also visible across peers with defense exposure such as Bombardier, Kraken Robotics and MDA Space. CIBC's Stephanie Price notes that the services-and-technology company's 2Q revenue topped consensus estimates by 6%, with adjusted Ebitda coming in 26% above expectations. Bookings are up 29% year over year, and Price says Calian is seeing good growth in Europe as it focuses on leveraging long-term customer relationships and bidding on larger opportunities as a prime vendor. "We continue to see Calian as well positioned to benefit from defense spending tailwind," Price says. Shares are trading down 2.5% at C$80.16, but up 44% year to date. (adriano.marchese@wsj.com)
1006 ET - Oil prices are little changed, with Brent headed for a weekly loss of more than 7% as hopes for a swift reopening of the Strait of Hormuz have faded. Brent crude is up 2.7% to $108.56 a barrel, while WTI futures rise 2.9% to $99.71 a barrel. At the end of a two-day summit with Chinese leader Xi Jinping, U.S. President Donald Trump said China agreed that the war in Iran should end and ship traffic through the Strait of Hormuz be free. Still, a lack of progress in U.S.-Iran negotiations is making markets nervous. "The longer the Strait of Hormuz remains blocked, the more attention is focused on inventory levels," analysts at Commerzbank say. "If the U.S. Department of Energy's weekly inventory report shows another significant drawdown in U.S. oil stocks, this is likely to support oil prices." (giulia.petroni@wsj.com)
0954 ET - Onex's Convex valuation uplift is the key takeaway of its in-line 1Q, TD Cowen's Graham Ryding says in a note. Onex raised the fair value of its 63% stake in Convex by 4% to C$4 billion, which has grown to be a big part of Onex's net asset value and highlights Convex's importance to the company's overall results. Ryding notes that the updated valuation, along with steady operating performance at Convex, helped balance weaker fee-related earnings and a decline in fee-earning assets under management in the quarter. (adriano.marchese@wsj.com)
0942 ET - Shares in Hiscox surge after a report on potential bid interest from Intact Financial. Intact is exploring a possible move for Hiscox as it tries to build out its commercial lines business, trade publication Insurance Post reports, citing sources. Hiscox is unlikely to agree to a low price tag, given improving momentum in its retail business, better profitability and its strong franchise at Lloyd's and in Bermuda, analysts at RBC Capital Markets Ben Cohen and Sarah Chong say in a note. Hiscox trades 12% higher at 18.43 pounds. The companies declined to comment when approached by Dow Jones Newswires. (andrea.figueras@wsj.com)
0918 ET - Oppenheimer analysts say investors could show interest in Aardvark Therapeutics again if upcoming results for ARD-101, a treatment for people with the genetic disorder Prader-Willi Syndrome, show unequivocal efficacy. The analysts expect the company to unblind Phase 3 trial results in July after its application for the treatment was placed on clinical hold by the Food and Drug Administration. The trial's volume of placebo-controlled efficacy data could be sufficient to show whether its worthwhile to push ARD-101 forward, they say. "We can envision a scenario in which a dose level capable of yielding disease benefit remains below that associated with the observed cardiac safety signal," the analysts say. "While the implications of this safety signal to ARD-101's forward development remain unclear, we believe an unequivocal efficacy showing would be positively received by the market."(kelly.cloonan@wsj.com)
0913 ET - Magnum Ice Cream shares jump after a Reuters report that Blackstone and CD&R are among the private-equity firms in the early stages of exploring bids for the company. The owner of Ben & Jerry's and Cornetto was spun out of Unilever last year and is now seen as a potential turnaround target, according to the report. The report, based on two unnamed sources, said that the firms are monitoring Magnum's share price before deciding whether to make a move. Shares are up 10.5% at 14.37 euros. (aimee.look@wsj.com)
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
May 15, 2026 14:29 ET (18:29 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2026 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
Comments