Early Look

Wednesday, October 8, 2025

U.S. futures are looking higher, trying to rebound after all three major averages ended lower on Tuesday following reports of weaker-than-expected cloud margins at Oracle (ORCL) fueled fresh concerns about AI and pressured tech stocks. Crude ended flat, the U.S. Dollar strengthened, and gold extended gains above $4,000 an ounce (and extending gains this morning another 1.5%). Treasury yields ended Tuesday lower with the 10-year yield around 4.12% after rising near levels up around 4.2% earlier in the day. The federal stoppage, now in its eighth day, continues to breed uncertainty. So far, no end to the gridlock in Washington is in sight with President Trump backing Republicans’ stance that no negotiations will be made with Democrats on the healthcare subsidies they hope to extend until the government is reopened. In Asian markets, The Nikkei Index declined -215 points to 47,734, while the Shanghai Index remained closed for holiday. In Europe, the German DAX is up 97 points to 24,483, while the FTSE 100 is up 50 points to 9,536. The euro falls 0.3% to $1.1616, having earlier reached a one-month low of $1.1606 weighed down by political turmoil in France. The Japanese yen extends its decline, falling to the lowest levels since February as the dollar/yen rises to 0.6% at 152.84. No major economic data today, but heavy on Fed headlines as the release of minutes from the central bank’s September policy meeting is due this afternoon, as well as a barrage of speakers with remarks from St. Louis Fed President Alberto Musalem, Fed Governor Michael Barr, Dallas Fed President Lorie Logan, Chicago Fed President Austan Goolsbee and Minneapolis Fed President Neel Kashkari is on deck.

• The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell -91.99 points, or 0.20%, to 46,602.98
• The Nasdaq Composite dropped -153.30 points, or 0.67%, to 22,788.36
• The Russell 2000 Index declined -27.93 points, or 1.12% to 2,458.42

• 10:30 AM ET                Weekly DOE Inventory Data
• 1:00 PM ET US Treasury to sell $39B in 10-year notes
• 2:00 PM ET                   Minutes from the September Fed meeting released

• Earnings After the Close: AZZ BSET RELL RGP

• Citizens Global Gaming Expo, 10/6-10/8, in Las Vegas, NV
• SEMICon West, 10/7-10/8, in Arizona
• Telsey Global Consumer & Retail Conference, 10/8 in New York

• Reserve Bank of New Zealand surprised financial markets on Wednesday by slashing its official cash rate by 50 basis points to 2.50% at its October 2025 meeting, marking the lowest rate since July 2022. Since August 2024, the central bank has aggressively reduced rates by a cumulative total of 300 bps.
• German industrial output fell much further than expected in August, pushed down by a sharp decrease in car production. Industrial production fell by -4.3% compared with the previous month, the biggest fall since March 2022, and vs. ests -1.0% fall. Production in the automotive industry fell by -18.5% M/M.
• U.S. admin has pushed back its plans to roll out economic aid for farmers this week due to the government shutdown; OMD preparing package worth between $12-13b although no final decision has been taken on amount of aid for farmers yet – Politico.
• Scientists from Japan, the UK and Jordan were awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for creating molecular constructions that can be used to capture carbon dioxide or harvest water from desert air.

• European auto makers weaken overseas after the European Commission, the EU’s executive arm, announced on Tuesday that it plans to hike steel tariffs and sharply cut import quotas, seeking to offer “strong and permanent protection” to the region’s steel industry.
• Freshpet (FRPT) named Ivan Garcia, VP of finance as interim CFO, effective October 17 who will succeed Todd Cunfer, who has made the decision to accept an opportunity outside the company.

• FedEx (FDX) was downgraded to Neutral from Overweight at JPMorgan and trim tgt to $274 from $284 saying its recent channel checks in the less-than-truckload industry warrant a lower multiple in its sum-of-the-parts analysis for FedEx’s freight segment.
• Mining and Building Material sector initiated at Wells Fargo: names Freeport (FCX) top pick with an Overweight and $47 PT, with other initiations include: VALE – EW, $11 PT, SCCO – EW, $121 PT, VMC – EW, $311 PT, CENX – OW, $37 PT, and AA – OW, $40.
• Joby Aviation Inc (JOBY) files share offering of common stock with aggregate offering price of $500M.
• Nano Nuclear Energy Inc. (NNE) shares fell 8% in premarket trading after the company announced it had entered into securities purchase agreements with institutional investors for the purchase and sale of 8,490,767 shares of common stock.
• Primoris (PRIM) appointed Koti Vadlamudi President and Chief Executive Officer effective November 10, 2025, and succeeds Interim President and CEO David King, who will continue to serve as Chairman of Primoris’ Board of Directors.
• Rocket Lab (RKLB) said it signed a contract with iQPS to launch three more satellites for the Japanese company.

• Saratoga Investment (SAR) Q3 adj EPS $0.58, falling -56.4% y/y from $1.33; increase in NAV from $25.52 the previous quarter to $25.61 per share; an increase in AUM of $27.0M, or 2.8%, to $995.3M from the previous quarter; Q3 net interest margin decreased from $15.1M last quarter to $13.1M.

• Edwards Lifesciences (EW) downgraded to Perform from Outperform at Oppenheimer.
• Gilead Sciences (GILD) said for Q3, currently expects $170.4M in acquired IP&D expenses; sees acquired IPR&D expenses to represent charge of about $0.11 to both GAAP and non-Gaap EPS.
• Sarepta (SRPT): A New York panel has voted unanimously to recommend the state Medicaid program should pause coverage of a treatment for Duchenne muscular dystrophy in response to a high-profile safety controversy this past summer. The Drug Utilization Review Board late last week suggested the state should wait for the FDA to add safety and clinical trial data to the product labeling for the therapy, Elevidys – STAT News reports.
• Zenas BioPharma (ZBIO) said it has secured global rights to develop and commercialize an experimental drug from China-based InnoCare Pharma for multiple sclerosis and other autoimmune conditions under a licensing deal potentially worth more than $2 billion.

• Confluent (CFLT) shares rise 19% pre mkt after Reuters reported that the company is exploring a sale after attracting acquisition interest. The co is working with an investment bank on the sale process, which is in its early stages https://tinyurl.com/37f4338r
• SoftBank Group Corp. (SFTBY) announced that on October 8, it entered into a definitive agreement with ABB Ltd (ABBNY) to acquire ABB’s robotics business for a total purchase price of $5.375B.
• Penguin Solutions (PENG) shares fall on results; Q4 adj EPS $0.43 vs est. $0.38 on sales $337.9Mm vs est. $342.11Mm; guides FY sales -4% to +16% vs est. +8.9%, gr mgn 28.5-30.5%, op exp $245-265Mm and adj EPS $1.75-2.25 vs est. $2.12.