The latest Market Talks covering Equities. Published exclusively on Dow Jones Newswires throughout the day.

2013 ET - Japan's Nikkei Stock Average is flat at 34364.54 as gains in bank and pharmaceutical stocks help offset losses in electronics stocks. Takeda Pharmaceutical is up 2.1% and Mizuho Financial Group is 1.4% higher, while Advantest is down 1.6% and Tokyo Electron is 1.7% lower. The broader market index Topix is up 0.3% at 2537.31. USD/JPY is at 142.26, compared with 142.80 as of Thursday's Tokyo stock market close. Investors are focusing on any developments related to U.S. tariffs and their economic implications. (kosaku.narioka@wsj.com; @kosakunarioka)

1946 ET - Japanese stocks may rise as fears about U.S. tariffs ebb for now. Nikkei futures are up 0.4% at 34530 on the SGX. USD/JPY is at 142.39, compared with 142.80 as of Thursday's Tokyo stock market close. Investors are focusing on any developments related to U.S. tariffs and their economic implications. Japan's consumer price index rose 3.6% in March on year, government data showed earlier. The Nikkei Stock Average rose 1.3% to 34377.60 on Thursday. (kosaku.narioka@wsj.com)

1828 ET - Huntington Bancshares appears to be more optimistic on its growth prospects than most other regional banks, Truist analysts say in a research note. "Huntington is at the top of the performance stack today and it is not hard to see why--they are the only bank that raised guidance for revenues," the analysts wrote. The bank delivered a more upbeat outlook on its capital-markets business in particular, guiding for solid growth in its commercial loans with higher fees as a result even amid any merger- and acquisition-related weakness, which they even sounded roughly positive on, the analysts said. "Obviously, current activities will cause some delay, but this could be a very strong capital markets year on the IB side as well," Chief Executive Zachary Wasserman said during the company's earnings call. (kelly.cloonan@wsj.com)

1825 ET - Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg's outsized voting power comes from his ownership of almost all the tech company's Class B stock. The company said in a Thursday filing that Zuckerberg owns 342.6 million Class B shares, which constitute 99.8% of the total shares. That gives him 61% voting power. Even though his economic interest in Meta is around 14%, his voting power is much higher because Class B shares come with 10 votes a share, while Class A shares come with one vote. Zuckerberg has a mere 141,000 shares of Class A stock, half the number that Chief Product Officer Chris Cox owns. (katherine.hamilton@wsj.com)

1650 ET - Bill Ackman says in an X post that Uber should partner with Hertz to roll out a fleet of autonomous vehicles. "Hertz's large installed fleet of 500k vehicles, its expertise in vehicle maintenance and servicing, and the significant scope and scale of its thousands of locations (11,200 globally) and other difficult to replace at scale physical infrastructure make it an ideal partner for Uber," Ackman writes. A partnership would greatly improve the utilization and profitability of Hertz's vehicle fleet, he says. Ackman's Pershing Square Capital Management holds 12.7 million shares of stock in the car rental company, according to a securities filing on Wednesday. Hertz shares fall 1.4% in late trading, while Uber's stock is flat. (connor.hart@wsj.com)

1647 ET [Dow Jones]--Pershing Square Capital Management has acquired a 19.8% stake in Hertz since it began accumulating shares late last year, Bill Ackman says in an X post. He believes investors will be able to generate a return on investment from the car-rental company, citing in part an improving industry structure and a successful turnaround plan. "Hertz is uniquely well-positioned in the current tariff environment, where auto tariffs are likely to cause used car prices to rise," Ackman adds, noting that a 10% increase in used car prices would equate to a $1.2 billion gain on Hertz' auto assets. (connor.hart@wsj.com)

1639 ET - Netflix says it is continuing to make progress building its advertising business. "We remain on track to reach sufficient scale with our member base in all ads countries in 2025, and we expect to continue to grow our ads membership from this strong base in the future," the streamer says. At the same time, the company will continue investing in the business, enabling it to offer better measurement, enhanced targeting, innovative ad formats and expanded programmatic capabilities. Given its nascency, Bank of America analysts say in a research note that they expect Netflix's ad business to benefit the company even in a more challenging advertising backdrop. Shares rise 4.4%. (connor.hart@wsj.com)

1637 ET - Netflix is increasing its focus on international markets, where gaining market share and subscribers is critical to the streamer's goal of achieving a $1 trillion market capitalization and doubling its revenue by 2030. "While the majority of our content spend and production infrastructure investment is in the U.S., we now also spend billions of dollars per year making programming abroad," the company says. Netflix has spent years building out international offices in cities including Mexico City and Paris, where the company now makes local shows and films for the regions. Shares rise 4.3% after Netflix beats its forecast for core metrics. (connor.hart@wsj.com)

1609 ET - U.S. stocks end a shortened week with mixed performances. For the first time on record, the DJIA drops more than 1% while the S&P 500 rises. The Dow industrials are dragged down by a 22% slide on UnitedHealth Group, after the insurer slashes its outlook. Alcoa falls 7% as it expects tariffs on aluminum to create a $100 million headwind on annual earnings. Eli Lilly gains 14% as its experimental pill to fight diabetes while reducing weight meets pivotal goals. Energy and consumer staples stocks are the top gainers among S&P 500 sectors. DJIA falls 1.3%, to 39142; the S&P 500 gains 0.1%, to 5283; and Nasdaq falls 0.1%, to 16286. Weekly, Nasdaq and DJIA are down, S&P 500 is up. (paulo.trevisani@wsj.com; @ptrevisani)

1558 ET [Dow Jones]--L'Oréal wants to help Walmart accelerate its expansion into beauty, but year to date its sales in Walmart aren't positive, executives of the French beauty company say on a call with analysts. L'Oréal is discussing the way the retailer is approaching theft, noting that if they want to sell beauty, they need to allow the consumer to have the impulse purchase experience. "Having to call a sales assistant that comes from the other side of the store to sell you or to give you a lipstick is not necessarily the best way to accelerate beauty." L'Oréal wouldn't say that it has benefited from Walmart's acceleration into beauty. However, Walmart is working with them to address these concerns. "They [Walmart] are very positive about working on these issues and developing the category because it's a big potential for us and for them." (sabela.ojea@wsj.com)

1553 ET - L'Oreal is looking into the effects that retaliatory tariffs from regions such as the European Union and U.S. could have on its business and margins overall. The French beauty company manufactures around half of its products in the U.S., and most of its luxury products in North America, executives say on a call with analysts. About 30% of its products are also made in Europe, and the rest comes from Mexico or Canada and a few other parts of the world, the executives say. The company is considering raising prices for its luxury brands--one of its main growth drivers in the latest quarter--to offset tariff effects. The company took on more inventory in advance of tariffs, but the magnitude has been a bit higher than expected and any updates regarding tariffs will mainly affect second-half margins. (sabela.ojea@wsj.com; @sabelaojeaguix)

1511 ET [Dow Jones]--Nike is effectively clearing out its excess inventory, Jefferies analysts say in a research note, citing a recent trip to a New York outlet mall where store traffic was "insane." At the same time, the sportswear maker is leaning into innovation with new product launches and balancing its distribution channels. Combined, these efforts should position Nike well ahead of this year's holiday season, the analysts say. Still, the company will have to contend with tariffs, and many investors are worried that Chinese consumers will boycott U.S. brands. However, the analysts say these concerns are likely overblown. "Despite the tariff impact, we anticipate a V-shaped recovery in F'27 and recommend aggressively buying shares at these levels," the analysts write. Shares rise 4.3%. (connor.hart@wsj.com)

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

April 17, 2025 20:13 ET (00:13 GMT)

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