All three major US stock indexes were down in late-morning trading Thursday, as oil prices jumped on news of Iranian attacks on Qatar's natural gas infrastructure.
QatarEnergy Chief Executive Saad al-Kaabi said attacks by Iran have wiped out 17% of Qatar's liquified natural gas capacity, resulting in $20 billion in lost revenue, Reuters reported Thursday, citing an interview with the CEO.
In company news, Micron Technology (MU) reported fiscal Q2 non-GAAP earnings late Wednesday of $12.20 per diluted share, up from $1.56 a year earlier and above the FactSet consensus of $9.19. Fiscal Q2 revenue was $23.86 billion, up from $8.05 billion a year ago and above the FactSet consensus of $19.97 billion. For fiscal Q3, the company said it expects non-GAAP EPS of $18.75 to $19.55 on revenue of $32.75 billion to $34.25 billion. Analysts polled by FactSet expect $12.03 EPS on $24.29 billion in revenue. Micron shares were down 3.2% around midday.
Eli Lilly (LLY) said Thursday that a phase 3 study of retatrutide in patients with type 2 diabetes met its primary and all key secondary endpoints. Study participants who took retatrutide had average A1C reductions of up to 2%, achieving the primary endpoint. Participants' weight-loss average was 36.6 pounds, achieving a key secondary endpoint, the company said. Eli Lilly shares were up 0.1%.
Alibaba Group (BABA) reported fiscal Q3 non-GAAP earnings Thursday of 7.09 renminbi ($1.01) per diluted American depositary share, down from 21.39 renminbi a year earlier and below the FactSet consensus estimate of 11.51 renminbi. Fiscal Q3 revenue was 284.84 billion renminbi, up from 280.15 billion renminbi a year ago but below the FactSet consensus of 289.29 billion renminbi. CEO Eddie Wu said on an analyst call that the company is looking to top $100 billion in combined cloud and AI revenue over the next five years. Alibaba shares were down 6.8%.
Uber Technologies (UBER) is investing up to $1.25 billion in Rivian Automotive (RIVN) through 2031, subject to certain performance milestones, to support the development of a fleet of Rivian R2 robotaxis that will be exclusive to Uber's platform, the companies said Thursday. Uber has committed to an initial $300 million investment, subject to regulatory approval, the companies said. Uber shares were down 1.1%, while Rivian shares were up 3.4%.
Price: 445.61, Change: -16.12, Percent Change: -3.49