US Stocks End Mixed as Nvidia’s $12.9B, Aon’s $17B Deals Drive Moves

Mumbai, Sept 5: A week of stark contrasts unfolded in US equity markets as company-specific catalyst, ranging from blockbuster M&A deals and AI-driven earnings beats to strategic partnerships and major contract wins, drove sharp moves in individual stocks, even as broader indices ended the week mixed.  

The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite struggled for direction amid volatility stemming from Federal Reserve rate expectations, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average managed modest gains. However, beneath the surface, a flurry of corporate activity kept traders focused on individual names, with Nvidia’s $12.93 billion acquisition of Hugging Face, Aon’s $17 billion purchase of USI Insurance Services, and a wave of earnings reports from Medtronic, Ciena, Brown-Forman and others providing the week’s dominant narratives.  

The week also saw significant IPO activity, including Inflection Point Acquisition Corp. VIII’s $287.5 million SPAC debut and SB Energy’s high-profile IPO filing, alongside major contract wins for Palantir, Centuri and Crusoe that moved shares sharply. 

Medtronic Beats Estimates and Raises Fiscal 2027 Outlook 

Medtronic plc (NYSE: MDT) reported adjusted earnings of $1.45 per share for the first quarter of fiscal 2027, exceeding Wall Street expectations of $1.39 per share. Revenue reached $9.8 billion, also ahead of the consensus estimate of $9.55 billion. The medical device company raised its full-year organic revenue growth guidance to 7.25% to 7.75%, compared with its previous forecast of 6.75% to 7.25%. Management attributed the stronger outlook to broad-based demand and continued execution across its portfolio. 

Revenue increased 13.7% organically during the quarter. However, the comparison benefited from an additional selling week in the fiscal year, which contributed approximately $570 million to revenue growth. Even after excluding this benefit, management described the quarter as the company’s strongest quarterly performance in nearly eight years, excluding periods affected by COVID-19. 

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Cardiac Ablation Solutions was a major contributor, with worldwide revenue increasing 88%. Cardiac Rhythm Management also performed strongly, with global revenue rising 15%. Medtronic’s adjusted gross margin reached 65.2%, an increase of 10 basis points from the year-earlier period. Adjusted operating margin also increased 10 basis points to 23.7%. 

For fiscal 2027, Medtronic now expects adjusted earnings per share of $5.94 to $6.00. For the second quarter, the company expects organic revenue growth of approximately 6% and adjusted earnings per share between $1.32 and $1.34. 

Medtronic shares opened at $94.00, compared with the previous close of $90.65, before easing during the session. The stock traded between $90.04 and $91.12 and was down 0.64% on the day. 

Ciena Revenue Jumps 37% as AI Drives Network Investment 

Ciena Corporation (NYSE: CIEN) delivered a strong fiscal third-quarter performance, with revenue increasing 37% year over year to $1.67 billion. The networking company benefited from rising investment in network infrastructure linked to artificial intelligence. 

Adjusted earnings per share increased 215% to $2.11 from $0.67 in the corresponding quarter last year. GAAP diluted earnings per share rose to $1.83 from $0.35. Networking Platforms revenue reached $1.36 billion, with Optical Networking contributing $1.19 billion, compared with $815.5 million in the year-ago period. 

Profitability also improved significantly. GAAP gross margin expanded by 410 basis points to 45.4%, while adjusted gross margin reached 46.4%. Operating margin increased to 18.0% from 6.1% a year earlier. Chief Executive Gary Smith attributed the company’s performance to its position as a pure-play optical systems and interconnects provider, as demand for high-capacity networks increases alongside AI adoption. 

Ciena raised its full-year 2026 revenue guidance to $6.42 billion, representing a 35% year-over-year increase at the midpoint of the company’s guidance. Fourth-quarter revenue is expected to range between $1.70 billion and $1.80 billion. Despite the strong quarterly numbers and higher revenue outlook, Ciena shares fell 8.52% to around $324. The decline reflected investor concerns about the company’s gross margin outlook, which stands at approximately 45%, plus or minus 50 basis points. 

Brown-Forman Sales Decline 1% as Tequila Weakness Weighs 

Brown-Forman Corporation (NYSE: BFA, BFB) reported first-quarter fiscal 2027 net sales of $911 million, down 1% from the prior-year period. Organic net sales also declined 1%. Reported operating income decreased 3% to $252 million, although organic operating income increased 4%. Diluted earnings per share rose 6% to $0.38. The company maintained its full-year outlook. Brown-Forman expects organic net sales to remain approximately flat, while organic operating income is expected to decline by 3% to 5%. 

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Several factors weighed on sales during the quarter. These included the end of the Korbel relationship, lower used barrel sales and weakness across the tequila portfolio. The tequila business declined 12%, while Herradura sales dropped 17%, primarily because of lower US volumes. The Ready-to-Drink portfolio provided an important offset. New Mix performed particularly well, with reported sales increasing 48% and organic sales rising 36%, supported by strong consumer demand in Mexico. 

Emerging Markets revenue increased 11%, led by Mexico and double-digit growth for New Mix. Developed International markets declined 6%, reflecting lower Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Whiskey volumes in Germany, France and Spain. US sales declined 3%. Gross margin increased 40 basis points to 60.2%, supported by lower costs. Brown-Forman Class A shares traded at $27.01, down 0.84%. 

Ollie’s Revenue Rises 9.1% but Retailer Cuts Full-Year Sales Outlook 

Ollie’s Bargain Outlet Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: OLLI) reported second-quarter net sales of $741.3 million, representing a 9.1% increase from the year-earlier period. Growth primarily reflected the addition of new stores. Comparable store sales, however, declined 1.8%, compared with a 5.0% increase in the same quarter last year. The weaker comparable-store performance highlighted softer underlying sales momentum despite continued expansion in the store network. 

Gross margin increased 360 basis points to 43.5%. The improvement was supported by lower supply chain costs, including a 380-basis-point benefit from IEEPA tariff refunds. Adjusted net income increased 40.3% to $85.4 million, while adjusted diluted earnings per share rose 43.4% to $1.42. Ollie’s Army loyalty membership also continued to expand, increasing 12.7% to 18.1 million members.  

The company opened 15 new stores during the quarter and closed one store following storm damage. It ended the period with 686 stores across 36 states, representing an 11.9% increase in store count. Despite the growth in revenue and adjusted earnings, Ollie’s lowered its fiscal 2026 net sales outlook. The company now expects net sales of $2.928 billion to $2.941 billion, compared with its earlier forecast of $2.980 billion to $3.000 billion. Ollie’s shares traded at $72.34, down 4.08%. 

Campbell’s Reports Sharp Earnings Decline and Cuts Dividend 

The Campbell’s Company (NASDAQ: CPB) reported a challenging fourth quarter, with net sales declining 8% to $2.1 billion. Organic net sales fell 1%. Reported earnings before interest and taxes dropped sharply to $4 million from $269 million in the prior-year quarter. Adjusted EBIT declined 25% to $242 million. Reported earnings per share moved to a loss of $0.23 from earnings of $0.48 a year earlier. Adjusted EPS declined 37% to $0.39. 

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The Meals & Beverages segment recorded a 4% decline in net sales, although organic sales increased 3%, supported by favourable volume and mix. US soup sales declined 8%, partly reflecting the comparison with an extra week in the previous year’s quarter. 

The Snacks segment faced greater pressure. Net sales declined 12%, while organic sales fell 6%, primarily because of weakness in the salty snacks portfolio and lower third-party brand sales. Campbell’s announced a reset of its quarterly dividend to $0.25 per share, equivalent to $1.00 on an annualised basis. The new dividend represents a 36% reduction from the previous quarterly payout of $0.39. The company said the move would help accelerate debt reduction. 

Campbell’s also launched a new enterprise-wide cost savings programme targeting $500 million in savings by fiscal 2030. For fiscal 2027, the company expects net sales to decline between 4% and 2% and adjusted EPS to range from $1.65 to $1.80, compared with $2.17 in fiscal 2026. Campbell’s shares fell sharply, declining 10.5% to $21.28. 

Victoria’s Secret Raises Guidance Despite 13.21% Share Price Drop 

Victoria’s Secret & Co. (NYSE: VSXY) reported second-quarter net sales of $1.611 billion, up 10% year over year and near the upper end of its guidance range. Total comparable sales increased 9%. 

Reported operating income surged to $257 million from $41 million in the prior-year quarter. Net income reached $183 million, or $2.18 per diluted share. However, the reported profitability received a substantial boost from more than $140 million in IEEPA tariff refunds. The refunds represented more than 95% of the tariffs previously paid by the company. 

Excluding these refunds and other adjustments, adjusted operating income stood at $124 million, above the company’s guidance range of $90 million to $100 million. Adjusted net income was $80 million, or $0.95 per diluted share. Chief Executive Hillary Super pointed to the progress of the company’s “Path to Potential” strategy, highlighting broad-based growth, market-share gains and an expanding customer file. 

Victoria’s Secret raised its full-year 2026 net sales guidance to $7.100 billion to $7.180 billion. It also increased its adjusted operating income outlook to $560 million to $590 million. 

Despite the higher outlook, the stock fell 13.21% to $73.60 as the market focused on adjusted profitability after excluding the significant tariff refunds. 

BRP Beats Earnings and Revenue Estimates 

BRP Inc. (NASDAQ: DOO) reported third-quarter earnings of a loss of $0.18 per share, which was better than the analyst estimate of a loss of $0.46 per share. The company therefore beat the consensus earnings expectation by $0.28 per share. Revenue reached $2.24 billion, significantly above the consensus estimate of $1.45 billion. BRP provided fiscal 2026 earnings per share guidance of $4.00 to $4.50. 

The company’s shares traded at $63.30, representing a 2.53% increase from the previous close. The positive share-price reaction followed the company’s better-than-expected earnings and revenue performance. 

Nio Revenue Rises 69.1% as Margins Improve 

Nio Inc. reported strong year-over-year growth in the second quarter, although revenue came in below Wall Street expectations. Revenue increased 69.1% to RMB32.14 billion, equivalent to approximately $4.74 billion, compared with analysts’ expectations of around $4.95 billion. 

The Chinese electric vehicle maker continued to improve profitability. Its GAAP net loss narrowed substantially to RMB528 million from RMB4.99 billion in the prior-year period. Nio also reported an adjusted profit for the quarter. Vehicle margin increased to 18.5% from 10.3% a year earlier, while overall gross margin expanded to 18.4%. 

Vehicle deliveries increased 49.4% year over year to 107,658 units, reflecting continued growth in demand and deliveries. For the third quarter, Nio expects vehicle deliveries of between 108,000 and 111,000 units, representing growth of approximately 24% to 27.5% from the corresponding period last year. 

The company expects third-quarter revenue between RMB33.29 billion and RMB34.05 billion, equivalent to approximately $4.9 billion to $5 billion. The forecast represents year-over-year growth of 52.7% to 56.2%, although it remains slightly below initial Wall Street projections. Nio also warned about higher component costs. Rising costs for batteries and memory chips are expected to add approximately RMB2,000 to RMB3,000 per vehicle during the second half of the year. Nio shares fell 3.20% to $4.23 following the results. 

Rezolve AI Revenue Surges but Losses Remain High 

Rezolve AI reported first-half 2026 revenue of $130.8 million, a substantial increase from $6.3 million in the corresponding period of the previous year. Despite the sharp increase in revenue, the company continued to report significant losses. Net loss reached $139.5 million, compared with a net loss of $57.9 million a year earlier. 

Adjusted EBITDA loss stood at $32.6 million, while operating cash use reached $96.1 million. Rezolve AI reaffirmed its expectation of approximately $360 million in fiscal 2026 revenue. The company also maintained its target of achieving at least $500 million in annual recurring revenue exiting the year. 

The results highlighted the contrast between the company’s rapid revenue growth and continued investment and cash requirements. Rezolve AI shares fell 18.69% to $2.35 following the announcement. 

Nvidia’s $12.93B Hugging Face Buy, Aon’s $17B USI Deal, Oneok’s $4.4B Permian Acquisition, SLB’s $3.4B Kelvion Buy and More 

Nvidia Corporation (NASDAQ: NVDA) agreed to acquire open-source artificial intelligence platform Hugging Face for $12.93 billion, marking one of its largest acquisitions and expanding its presence across the AI software ecosystem. Hugging Face has more than 18 million developers and hosts over 3 million AI models, 500,000 datasets and 1 million applications. Nvidia said the platform will remain open and interoperable after the acquisition. The deal strengthens Nvidia’s position beyond AI chips and into models, software and developer tools. Nvidia shares rose about 1.8% to around $188.11 on September 3 following the announcement. 

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Aon plc (NYSE: AON) agreed to acquire USI Insurance Services for approximately $17 billion, including debt, from KKR and other shareholders. USI generates around $3 billion in annual revenue and employs more than 10,500 people across nearly 200 offices. Aon expects the acquisition to strengthen its US middle-market insurance operations and add to adjusted EPS in 2028. The company plans to fund the transaction with new debt while prioritising debt reduction. Aon shares closed at $327.00 on September 3, down 1.17%, after trading at $355.40 on August 28. 

ONEOK Inc. (NYSE: OKE) agreed to acquire Brazos Midstream’s Permian Midland Basin assets for $4.425 billion in cash. The acquisition will more than double ONEOK’s Midland Basin processing capacity to approximately 2.3 Bcf/d and includes around 600,000 dedicated acres under long-term contracts. ONEOK shares closed at about $95.96 on September 3, down marginally during the session, compared with $94.76 on August 28. 

SLB (NYSE: SLB) agreed to acquire thermal-management company Kelvion for approximately $3.4 billion in cash and assume about $0.7 billion of debt. Kelvion’s data-centre business is its largest and fastest-growing segment, giving SLB greater exposure to cooling infrastructure supporting AI data centres. SLB shares closed at $57.41 on September 3, down 1.24%, after jumping 4.22% to $57.33 on August 28 when the deal was announced. 

LivePerson (NASDAQ: LPSN) shareholders approved the proposed transaction with SoundHound AI (NASDAQ: SOUN) on September 2, moving the companies closer to completing their conversational-AI combination. The acquisition subsequently closed on September 4, with LivePerson becoming a wholly owned subsidiary of SoundHound. SoundHound shares traded around $6.70 on September 4, while LivePerson shares remained around $3.10. 

Americold Realty Trust (NYSE: COLD) completed its cold-storage joint venture with EQT, covering 12 US temperature-controlled facilities with more than $1.3 billion in gross asset value. EQT owns 70%, while Americold retains 30% and manages the platform. Americold received approximately $1.1 billion in net cash proceeds, which it plans to use to repay debt and reduce leverage. Shares closed at $14.09 on September 3, down 3.32%. 

Palantir Expands PwC Alliance, Tata Advanced Systems-Javelin MoU and Vertiv’s $2.6B UIG Acquisition 

Palantir Technologies (NASDAQ: PLTR) shares rose as much as 8.8% after the company expanded its strategic alliance with PwC US. The partnership covers enterprise AI, M&A transformation and ERP modernisation. The companies launched an AI-native deals IT platform designed to help clients complete transactions up to 50% faster and reduce one-time transaction costs by up to 45%. Separately, Palantir USG received a $127 million US Army contract for eight TITAN battlefield reconnaissance systems, comprising four Advanced and four Basic variants. The Army expects to receive the systems over the next 18 months. Palantir shares remained volatile during the week as investors weighed its growth prospects against valuation concerns. 

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Tata Advanced Systems Limited and the Javelin Joint Venture, comprising Raytheon and Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT), signed a memorandum of understanding to explore co-production of Javelin missiles in India. Tata Advanced Systems will serve as the prime partner for proposed in-country production, potentially supporting final assembly, integration and component manufacturing. The initiative could create defence jobs in India while strengthening links between US supply chains and Indian manufacturing. The Javelin Joint Venture has produced more than 55,000 missiles and 12,000 reusable Command Launch Units. 

Vertiv Holdings Co. (NYSE: VRT) agreed to acquire UtilityInnovation Group for approximately $1.45 billion in cash at closing, with potential additional consideration of up to $1.15 billion based on EBITDA targets. The transaction could reach $2.6 billion. UIG provides microgrid and power-management solutions for data centres. Vertiv expects the acquisition to close in the fourth quarter of 2026 and become accretive to adjusted EPS in the first year. 

SB Energy Files for $5-7B IPO, Inflection Point Raises $287.5M and Accelevation Files $800M Nasdaq Listing 

SB Energy, majority-owned by SoftBank, filed with the SEC for a proposed Nasdaq IPO under the ticker SBE. The company aims to raise $5 billion to $7 billion at a valuation above $50 billion. Nvidia plans to invest $3 billion through a private placement and prepaid forward contract. SB Energy also issued 4 million warrants to OpenAI, estimated at $5.5 billion. Its contracted data centre capacity totals 8.8 gigawatts, with 803 megawatts under construction. The company has 5.5 gigawatts of standalone solar and battery storage capacity, while its first data centre revenue is expected in the fourth quarter. 

Inflection Point Acquisition Corp. VIII completed its IPO on August 31, 2026, selling 28.75 million units at $10 each and raising $287.5 million. The proceeds were placed in a US-based trust account to support a future business combination. 

Accelevation Holdings filed for a US IPO targeting approximately $800 million and plans to list on Nasdaq under ACCV. The data centre infrastructure company reported a $1.1 billion backlog as of June 30. Annual revenue rose to $448 million from $181 million, while net income more than doubled to $21.8 million. 

Crusoe Raises Over $3B at $30B Valuation, ResMed’s $450M Buyback, Nova’s $200M Repurchase Programme and More 

Crusoe, a cloud-computing provider and data centre developer, raised more than $3 billion in a funding round that valued the startup at approximately $30 billion. Atreides Management and Valor Equity Partners co-led the round, with Mubadala Capital also participating. Separately, Crusoe secured a roughly $13 billion, five-year agreement to supply AI cloud-computing capacity to quant trading firm Jane Street, including advanced AI chips and infrastructure for training and inference. 

ResMed Inc. (ASX: RMD) entered an accelerated share repurchase agreement with Citibank to buy back $450 million of its common stock. The company plans to fund the repurchase with proceeds from the sale of its MatrixCare business and cash on hand. 

Nova (NASDAQ: NVMI) authorised a $200 million share repurchase programme, funded through available cash and covering open-market and privately negotiated transactions. Nova shares traded at $187.45, up 0.13%. 

TXNM Energy (NYSE: TXNM) priced an offering of 7.08 million shares at $56.50 each, expected to generate about $400 million in gross proceeds. The company plans to use the net proceeds to repay borrowings under its $400 million term loan. 

Rainier Acquisition Corporation raised total gross proceeds of $86.25 million after its underwriter fully exercised an over-allotment option. The funds were placed in trust to support a potential life sciences business combination. 

Tyree & D’Angelo Partners closed its fourth fund at $650 million, significantly above its previous $350 million fund. 

Campbell’s Cuts Dividend 36%, Rush and Truxton Split Shares, 3M Plans Euro Notes 

The Campbell’s Company (NASDAQ: CPB) announced a 36% reduction in its quarterly dividend to $0.25 per share from $0.39, taking the annualised payout to $1.00. The company said the move would help accelerate debt reduction following weak fourth-quarter results. Campbell’s also launched a cost savings programme targeting $500 million by fiscal 2030. Shares fell 10.5% to $21.28. 

Rush Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ: RUSHA) announced a three-for-two stock split for its Class A and Class B common shares. The stock dividend was payable on August 31, 2026, to shareholders of record as of August 11. The company also declared a $0.14 per share dividend on a post-split basis. 

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Truxton Corporation completed a four-for-one forward stock split, with shareholders of record as of August 17 receiving three additional shares for each share held. Split-adjusted trading began on August 31. The company also approved a quarterly cash dividend of $0.22 per share, payable on September 24. 

3M Company (NYSE: MMM) plans to issue three series of euro-denominated senior unsecured notes with staggered maturities. Proceeds will support general corporate purposes, including potential debt refinancing. 3M shares traded at $168.75, down 0.88%. 

Palantir’s $127M Contract, Centuri’s $345M Awards, Eaton’s $242M Investment and Eos’ $350M Project 

Palantir Technologies (NASDAQ: PLTR) received a US Army prime agreement worth $127 million to produce eight TITAN systems, comprising four Advanced and four Basic variants. The programme combines data from space, aerial, high-altitude and terrestrial sensors to support targeting intelligence. The Army is expected to receive the systems over the next 18 months. Palantir shares traded at $168.66, down 6.26% during one session, despite rising earlier in the week following news of its PwC alliance. 

Centuri Holdings Inc. (NYSE: CTRI) announced $345 million in new utility infrastructure contracts, expanding its utility infrastructure services business. The awards add to the company’s project pipeline as demand for utility infrastructure continues to support its operations. 

Halliburton Company (NYSE: HAL) secured a multibillion-dollar, multi-year contract from YPF to provide unconventional well completion services in Argentina’s Vaca Muerta shale basin. The agreement establishes an exclusive partnership covering bundled completion services in the major shale formation. 

Eaton Corporation plc (NYSE: ETN) announced a $242 million investment to build a new 1 million-square-foot manufacturing facility in North Little Rock, Arkansas. The plant, operated through Eaton’s Fibrebond business, will manufacture customised electrical enclosures and create more than 1,200 jobs. The facility will double Eaton’s US manufacturing capacity for modular electrical enclosures and serve demand from data centres, utilities, industrial operations and digital communications. Eaton acquired Fibrebond in April 2025. Its shares traded at $390.65, down 0.02%. 

Eos Energy Enterprises (NASDAQ: EOSE) shares rose 18.75% to $3.61 after Google and MN8 Energy selected its zinc-based Z3 storage system for a $350 million solar project in West Virginia serving Google data centres. The stock opened at $3.04 and reached a high of $3.69 during the session. 

Ionic Rare Earths (ASX: IXR) shares rose as much as 13% to A$0.39 after signing a 50/50 joint venture term sheet with US Strategic Metals to develop magnet recycling facilities in Missouri. The project requires $100 million for initial construction, with USSM providing $95 million, while both companies will contribute $2.5 million each towards the remaining equity portion. 

Company news remained driven by AI, M&A and earnings. Nvidia’s Hugging Face acquisition and SB Energy’s IPO filing reinforced AI momentum, while mixed results from Medtronic, Ciena, Campbell’s and Victoria’s Secret highlighted execution. Major Aon, ONEOK and SLB deals, alongside Palantir’s partnerships, supported sector activity. 

Source 

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• https://www.spglobal.com/spdji/en/indices/equity/dow-jones-composite-average/ 

• https://www.nasdaq.com/market-activity/index/sox 

• https://www.cboe.com/tradable_products/vix/