The Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 Index were down, while the Nasdaq Composite was roughly flat in late-morning trading Wednesday amid an ongoing blockade of Iranian ports by the US and ahead of the Federal Reserve's decision on interest rates in the afternoon.
The US Senate Banking Committee on Wednesday voted 13-11 to advance Kevin Warsh's nomination as the next Fed chair, according to media reports.
In company news, Visa (V) reported fiscal Q2 adjusted earnings late Tuesday of $3.31 per diluted share, up from $2.76 a year earlier and above the FactSet consensus analyst estimate of $3.10. Fiscal Q2 revenue was $11.23 billion, up from $9.59 billion a year ago and above the FactSet consensus of $10.75 billion. Visa said its board authorized a new $20 billion multi-year share buyback program in April. The company also said it has expanded its Agentic Ready program to clients in the Asia Pacific and Latin America regions to prepare the payment sector for AI agent-led commerce. Visa shares were up 8.6% around midday.
Robinhood Markets (HOOD) reported Q1 earnings late Tuesday of $0.38 per diluted share, up from $0.37 a year earlier but below the FactSet consensus of $0.39. First-quarter revenue was $1.07 billion, up from $927 million a year earlier but below the FactSet consensus of $1.14 billion. The company said its board updated its share buyback authorization to $1.5 billion in March. Robinhood shares were down 13.3%.
KalVista Pharmaceuticals (KALV) and Chiesi Group said Wednesday they have entered into a definitive agreement through which Chiesi will acquire KalVista for $27 per share in cash, or about $1.9 billion. The deal is expected to close in Q3, they said. KalVista shares were up 38.9%.
NXP Semiconductors (NXPI) reported Q1 non-GAAP earnings late Tuesday of $3.05 per diluted share, up from $2.64 a year earlier and above the FactSet consensus of $2.98. First-quarter revenue was 43.18 billion, up from $2.84 billion a year ago and above the FactSet consensus of $3.16 billion. For Q2, the company said it expects non-GAAP EPS of $3.29 to $3.72 on revenue of $3.35 billion to $3.55 billion. Analysts polled by FactSet expect $3.21 and $3.28 billion, respectively. NXP shares were up 23.7%.
Seagate Technology (STX) reported fiscal Q3 non-GAAP earnings late Tuesday of $4.10 per diluted share, up from $1.90 a year earlier and above the FactSet consensus of $3.51. Fiscal Q3 revenue was $3.11 billion, up from $2.16 billion a year ago and above the FactSet consensus of $2.96 billion. For fiscal Q4, the company said it expects non-GAAP EPS of $5.00, plus or minus $0.20, above the FactSet consensus of $3.99. Fiscal Q4 revenue is expected to be $3.45 billion, plus or minus $100 million, above the FactSet consensus of $3.16 billion. Seagate shares were up 14.2%.
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