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

1248 ET - EBay should be able to effectively leverage artificial intelligence to improve its model, Deutsche Bank analysts write in a note. The unstructured and one-of-one nature of eBay's inventory, the analysts write, make "AI particularly relevant to both seller-side listing creation and buyer-side discovery," they say. The company's Magical Listings effort lets sellers generate listings with AI and give guidance on photos and pricing, and has reportedly driven more than a 50% increase in new listings and improved conversion, the analysts write. AI search should also help buyers navigate results, particularly relevant given eBay's fragmented and unique inventory, they say. The company is also using AI to drive internal efficiency, which can fund reinvestment, they write. (elias.schisgall@wsj.com)

1236 ET - Thomson Reuters is showing that employment reality runs counter to recent AI-driven doom narratives in legal services, according to TD Cowen's Vince Valentini. The analyst says in a note that AI adoption continues to scale rapidly among legal professionals, brushing aside fears that AI is taking services-sector jobs. "The data has yet to show that this increased adoption has led to a reduction in headcount," he says. Valentini notes that Thomson Reuters's peers are also showing healthy growth in their own legal segments. However, the analyst cautions that while the situation is positive for now, "the situation will need to be continuously monitored." (adriano.marchese@wsj.com)

1233 ET -- Of the key sources lululemon cited to explain why trends have worsened lately, the company's disclosure that some of its new product launches have underperformed expectations is the more worrying factor, Deutsche Bank analysts say in a note. The new product headwinds are expected to hurt Lululemon's gross margin by 50 basis points from markdowns in the current quarter, despite already lapping a 60-basis-point hit from the same quarter a year ago, the analysts say. The company also pointed to spikes in negative commentary as a key drag on sales. The analysts say the magnitude of the company's full-year guidance cut, and those underlying reasons, came as a surprise. (kelly.cloonan@wsj.com)

1231 ET - Buyer trends seem to support eBay's shift toward specific focus category verticals and suggest that the strategy can be replicated internationally, Deutsche Bank analysts write in a note. In the U.S., buyer growth is up 6% and enthusiast buyer growth up 8%, ahead of global trends, indicating that eBay's strategy can drive buyer acquisition and engagement as well as gross merchandise value growth. Though the European buyer is under greater pressure, focus categories are still outperforming the broader international business. "We contend that the U.S. is the more mature proof point, which implies that international markets may represent a multi-year catch-up opportunity as eBay brings more category-specific tooling, C2C improvements, shipping solutions, AI listing tools, and discovery enhancements into those regions," the analysts write. (elias.schisgall@wsj.com)

1230 ET - Oracle's cloud-infrastructure ramp will be in focus ahead of the company's fourth-quarter earnings report, Deutsche Bank analysts write in a note. So far, despite limited visibility, "Oracle appears to be delivering largely on schedule which should continue to build confidence in its execution as it aims to increase its pace ahead," the analysts write. A healthy showing from the supply side should also prompt updated fiscal 2027 guidance, they write. "In our view, Oracle is entering the inflection point in its cloud buildout/investment cycle, which we expect to temporarily put pressure on margins and FCF over the next couple years," they write, adding that investors are likely to have questions on financing and leverage. Oracle is down 8.5% to $216.30. (elias.schisgall@wsj.com)

After Lululemon Athletica trimmed its guidance for the year, Deutsche Bank analysts say the key question now is whether the company lowered the bar enough ahead of any potential product or strategy changes that incoming CEO Heidi O'Neill will make when she takes the reins in September. Additionally, while the company appears to be factoring in a slight improvement in underlying trends into the second half of the year, and cited a potential boost from initiatives already in place, the analysts say they are having trouble getting comfortable with compounding quarters of markdowns ahead of plans for an influx of new product. "The lack of visibility into LULU's go-forward earnings power keeps us cautious and on the sidelines," they say, cutting their price target on the stock to $127 from $171. Shares fall 9%. (kelly.cloonan@wsj.com)

1139 ET - EBay's structural shift toward focus categories, which alone now represent around 35% of gross merchandise value and are growing double digits, creates a compelling broad-based growth story for the online marketplace, Deutsche Bank analysts write in a note. Rather than being a generic horizontal marketplace, eBay is now "prioritizing categories where it has a clear right to win, large TAMs, differentiated supply, and identifiable friction points" that it can address through tailored experiences on important verticals, they write. "EBay is increasingly able to deliver verticalized category experiences without sacrificing the scale advantages of a horizontal marketplace," they add. Many focus categories are still underpenetrated, and the playbook should scale internationally, they write. (elias.schisgall@wsj.com)

1126 ET - Gold prices plunge below the $4,400-a-troy-ounce mark after the U.S. posted another month of strong job gains in May, raising concerns over potential interest-rate hikes later this year. New York gold futures fall 2.8% to $4,377.10 a troy ounce. "Providing the labour market does not suffer a dramatic summer jobs scare again, then it looks increasingly likely that the FOMC will enact a couple of insurance hikes later this year," says Stephen Brown from Capital Economics. Meanwhile, stalled U.S.-Iran talks and fresh hostilities in the Middle East continue to keep oil prices elevated and inflation concerns alive, reinforcing expectations that central banks may keep interest rates higher for longer. (giulia.petroni@wsj.com)

1123 ET - The streak of negative trading for bitcoin looks to continue for the foreseeable future, thanks to a stronger jobs report that all but eliminates the possibility of an interest-rate cut in the near term. This morning, May payrolls were reported at 172,000 against an 85,000 consensus, with the prior months revised up 93,000. "Strong jobs data kills the rate-cut narrative," says Nicolai Sondergaard of Nansen in a note. "Bitcoin, already down 15% and sitting on uncleared leveraged longs, has no macro catalyst to recover into, and Middle East tensions are keeping risk appetite soft across markets." Bitcoin is down 4.4% to $60,824. (kirk.maltais@wsj.com)

1116 ET - The crash in Zcash today is linked to an apparent exploit found in the coding of the token that allows for hackers to reproduce unlimited counterfeit tokens. Shielded Labs, an organization within the Zcash system, posted on its X account late Thursday that it found the bug using a detailed review of code via Claude. The firm says that the bug has been fixed and there's no evidence of the exploit being used, but steep selling has gripped the privacy coin. "This was a serious vulnerability, and we believe it's important to be transparent about what it means for Zcash users," says Shielded Labs in a press release regarding the exploit. Zcash is down 27% to $334.57 today. (kirk.maltais@wsj.com)

1048 ET--Saputo is approaching a volatile dairy market with a focus on low-cost production and tighter operational discipline. "We're feeling really good about the business continuing to optimize and through our continuous improvement programs," says CFO Maxime Therrien in an earnings call, adding that he expects to further gains in overall operating costs. He says the company remains "very disciplined" on inventory management and the overall supply and demand planning process, aiming to keep "working capital as low as possible, yet not sacrificing our service levels." He says protecting margins is a priority in the current geopolitical climate, while still "remaining competitive ... and focused on growth." Shares are up 0.6% to C$42.94, rebounding from a low of C$39.26 earlier in the morning. (adriano.marchese@wsj.com)

1031 ET--Canadian dairy products company Saputo faces a more-complicated road into fiscal 2027, despite 4Q landing largely in line, Desjardins analyst Chris Li says. He notes that adjusted Ebitda matched consensus, though higher stock-based compensation and higher advertising spend weighed on the quarter, while the pending sale of the Argentina division, classified as discontinued operations, continues to shape results. While demand remains broadly strong, Li says that the sector still remains strained. "Dairy market factors will likely remain volatile due to timing differences between input costs and pricing, inventory realization cycles, and market supply-demand conditions," he says. He points to higher SG&A costs, as well as capex, which will be partially offset by cost-reduction initiatives. (adriano.marchese@wsj.com)

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

June 05, 2026 12:48 ET (16:48 GMT)

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