Top Midday Stories: Overall, Core PPI in April Hit Highest Levels Since December 2022; Alibaba Misses Fiscal Q4 Earnings, Revenue Estimates
The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down, while the Nasdaq Composite and the S&P 500 Index were up in late-morning trading Wednesday after another hotter-than-expected inflation report and as President Donald Trump prepares for his summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping.The US Producer Price Index rose by 1.4% in April, well above the 0.5% gain expected in a survey compiled by Bloomberg as of 7:35 a.m. ET and up from a 0.7% gain in March. Excluding food and energy prices, core PPI rose by 1.0%, well above the 0.3% gain expected and up from the 0.2% gain in March. Year over year, the PPI rose 6.0% in April, while core PPI rose by 5.2%, both well above their respective March rates and the strongest readings since December 2022.Alibaba Group (BABA) reported fiscal Q4 adjusted earnings Wednesday of 0.62 Chinese renminbi ($0.09) per diluted American depositary share, down from 12.52 renminbi a year earlier and below the FactSet consensus estimate of 6.14 renminbi. Fiscal Q4 revenue was 243.38 billion renminbi, up from 236.45 billion renminbi a year earlier but below the FactSet consensus of 246.97 billion renminbi. Alibaba shares were up 7.9% around midday.Nvidia (NVDA) Chief Executive Jensen Huang joined President Trump on his visit to Beijing, a last-minute addition that has raised expectations of progress in stalled talks over Nvidia's H200 AI chip sales to China, Reuters reported Wednesday. Nvidia shares were up 2.5%.Nebius Group (NBIS) reported Q1 earnings Wednesday of $2.11 per diluted share, swinging from a loss of $0.48 a year earlier and above the FactSet consensus for a loss of $0.83. First-quarter revenue was $399 million, up from $50.9 million a year ago and above the FactSet consensus of $375.1 million. Nebius shares were up more than 15%.Wix.com (WIX) reported Q1 adjusted earnings Wednesday of $0.68 per diluted share, down from $1.55 a year earlier and below the FactSet consensus of $1.24. First-quarter revenue was $541.2 million, up from $473.7 million a year ago but below the FactSet consensus of $544 million. For Q2 and full-year 2026, the company said it expects revenue to grow at a mid-teen percentage. Wix shares were down 30.2%.JPMorgan Chase (JPM) has appointed global head of investment banking coverage Dorothee Blessing, global head of capital markets Kevin Foley and financial institutions group co-head Jared Kaye as co-heads of global investment banking, according to media reports. JPMorgan shares were down 1.2%.Walmart (WMT) will fire or relocate about 1,000 corporate workers, The Wall street Journal reported late Tuesday, citing people familiar with the matter and a memo sent to staff it viewed. Walmart shares were flat.Price: $145.45, Change: $+10.67, Percent Change: +7.92%
