The latest Market Talks covering Equities. Published exclusively on Dow Jones Newswires throughout the day.
1737 ET - Media company Sinclair said advertising for the mid-term elections in the U.S. pushed its political advertising revenue to $136 million in the third quarter, an increase of 55% versus the last mid-term elections in 2022. The company also said its full-year preliminary political advertising revenue stood at $455 million. That figure is above its prior political revenue record of $405 million in the presidential election year of 2024, and is also higher than the prior mid-term political revenue record of $333 million in 2022. Overall, the third quarter saw Sinclair's revenue rise 13%, to $893 million. (stephen.nakrosis@wsj.com)
1505 ET - Flutter's costs are rising as it tries to make its prediction markets offering competitive. The betting company, which owns Fanduel, says sales and marketing expenses were 16% higher year-over-year, driven in part by Fanduel Predicts. Cost savings in the second quarter helped offset some of Flutter's spending on prediction markets, as well as increased cloud and server expenses, the company says. General and administrative costs increased 6%, reflecting spending in regulatory affairs and prediction markets, Flutter says. Flutter expects investments in prediction markets to continue at similar or higher levels next year. (katherine.hamilton@wsj.com)
1501 ET - SpaceX's target for adding 10 gigawatts of data-center capacity next year looks far less achievable given the Democratic wave in Tuesday's midterms, particularly the election of Democrat Gina Hinojosa as Texas governor, Morgan Stanley analysts write in a note. They model 5.7 gigawatts of new capacity in 2027, with the company set to face headwinds from financing, chips, power, and local opposition. "After the results last night, we feel more convicted in our below consensus estimates" for data centers, they write. Still, SpaceX may not be in a worse position than peers, they say, and the company may be able to pivot to friendlier states. The results may also accelerate Elon Musk's push to put data centers in space, the analysts add. (elias.schisgall@wsj.com)
1457 ET - Flutter says prediction markets aren't eating into its betting market share, but they are pushing up marketing costs. The company has seen "a limited impact" from prediction markets on the betting activity of its existing customer base, Chief Executive Dan Taylor says. However, the company is seeing media costs rise as prediction market operators increase advertising spend, says Taylor. Flutter, which owns Fanduel, plans to maintain its marketing intensity in 2027 at levels similar to this year, he says. Flutter expects sales and market expenses to make up 21% of total revenue in 2026. (katherine.hamilton@wsj.com)
1429 ET - State and local pension funds hold a total between $578.1 billion and $706.6 billion of investments in artificial intelligence-related companies across their portfolios, according to Equable Institute, a bipartisan nonprofit that supports public retirement systems. The total accounts for 9% to 11% of those pensions' $6.42 trillion in assets, Equable says. It adds that the 51 largest publicly traded AI-related companies account for 35.1% of all equity investments by state and local pensions. Still, such portfolio concentration calls for greater disclosure, according to Anthony Randazzo, Equable's executive director. "A negative event like an AI-bubble bursting could cause very meaningful losses that [pension] stakeholders should be aware of," he says. (luis.garcia@wsj.com; @lhvgarcia)
1401 ET - The combination of a Democrat wave in Congress and SpaceX successfully catching both the ship and booster in its upcoming Starship test flight could accelerate Elon Musk's plans to build AI data centers in space, Morgan Stanley analysts say in a note. "If SpaceX achieves a successful ship catch (Flight 15?) we anticipate a marked change in the market's appreciation for Space as a viable domain for SI infrastructure," they say. "Space is a celestial 'escape valve' for terrestrial NIMBYism." Musk himself on Tuesday night wrote on X "data centers in space looking pretty appealing right now." SpaceX is off 4.7%.(elias.schisgall@wsj.com)
1349 ET - Energy affordability featured heavily in the U.S. midterm elections, and energy may be one of the few areas where compromise between both parties remains possible, PwC says in a note. With control of both the House and the Senate, Democrats will be better able to set hearing agendas, issue subpoenas, and shape appropriations, which could pressure agencies and regulated sectors to focus more on clean energy, transmission, storage, grid modernization, and consumer cost protections, the firm says. "Both parties have an interest in prioritizing affordability and reliability even as they continue to differ on how to expand capacity and modernize the grid system." (anthony.harrup@wsj.com)
1308 ET - The Democrat sweep of Congress doesn't change much for defense stocks, Morgan Stanley analysts say in a note, and they continue to view the sector as attractive. Substantially lower odds of a $350 billion defense funding package passing through reconciliation are already priced into defense prime stocks, the analysts say. Funding to replenish missiles is also likely to remain a priority despite the change in power, they add. "Now that the sector has put the midterms behind it, we think this could present a clearing event, and refocus the market on the fundamental geopolitical demand dynamics providing support for Defense," the analysts say. Lockheed Martin, RTX, L3Harris, and Northrop Grumman all trade in the red, while Boeing gains 2%.(elias.schisgall@wsj.com)
1249 ET - Kyndryl CEO Martin Schroeter says the majority of the company's restructuring actions have been completed. "We expect to begin realizing savings in the second half of this year," he says on a call with analysts. Kyndryl incurred $38 million worth of charges during its F2Q, largely stemming from workforce-rebalancing efforts. The company continues to expect about $200 million of charges in its fiscal 2027, of which $190 million were notched in the first half. Once completed, the actions are expected to save up to $500 million annually, beginning in fiscal 2028. Kyndryl jumps 36%. (connor.hart@wsj.com)
1243 ET - If a Democratic Congress delays or undoes cuts to SNAP and Medicaid in Trump's One Big Beautiful Bill Act, that could benefit consumer-facing sectors, according to Morgan Stanley. Analysts there currently model the law's cuts to SNAP and Medicaid as a 20 basis-point drag to real consumption growth next year. A targeted delay of the cuts under Democrats would suggest 10 basis points of upside to that projection, while a fuller set of delays and reversals could mean 40 basis points of upside, they estimate. "Potential delays in SNAP/Medicaid cuts provide a tailwind to consumer sectors & some upside risk to growth forecasts," the analysts write. Consumer stocks including Walmart, Dollar Tree, Dollar General, and Weis Markets are trading in the green. (elias.schisgall@wsj.com)
1237 ET - Inflation-weary consumers seemingly don't mind paying a bit extra for delivery. Nearly a quarter of Applebee's total 3Q sales were off-premise, split about evenly between to-go and delivery, says Vance Chang, finance chief of parent company Dine Brands Global. Meanwhile, roughly a fifth of IHOP's total sales during the period came from off-premises, with delivery accounting for the majority. "Off-premise remains a meaningful and consistent contributor to the brands' quarter-over-quarter progress," CEO John Peyton says on a call with analysts. Dine Brands Global is up 1%. (connor.hart@wsj.com)
1234 ET - Kyndryl is signing more contracts, CEO Martin Schroeter says on a call with analysts, as customers increasingly turn to the company to run their technology environments. The information technology services company says its consulting business has inked $4.6 billion in contracts over the past 12 months, up 19% year over year. The increase reflects ongoing demand for modernization, including the integration of agentic AI across infrastructure, applications and workflows, according to Schroeter. At the same time, Kyndryl continues to see positive momentum with hyperscalers, with hyperscaler-related revenues jumping 27% to more than $550 million in the recent quarter. Shares pop 36%.
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