Stock Market Live September 29: S&P 500 (VOO) Rises on Mergers & Acquisitions News
Key Points
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Vice President Vance confirmed Sunday that TikTok US will be sold to a coalition of companies led by Oracle for $14 billion.
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Electronic Arts announced over the weekend it will go private in a $55 billion transaction.
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Monday Wrap-up
EA Downgrades
All across Wall Street, analysts are downgrading EA stock in response to the news it’s going private. Baird, Freedom Capital, HSBC, and Wedbush have all taken their ratings down to “neutral” or the equivalent, while Goldman Sachs is reiterating its hold rating.
EA stock is still up 4.8% despite the downgrades.
As we approach the midday mark, the Voo’s gain has been cut to less than 0.3%.
General Dynamics Gets Promoted
Seaport Global Securities analyst Richard T. Safran upgraded General Dynamics (NYSE: GD | GD Price Prediction) stock to buy with a $376 price target this morning.
“Investor sentiment on GD remains indifferent,” said the analyst, but “valuation looks attractive” and “near-term budget battles and the associated stock weakness could provide a good entry point.”
GD stock is up almost 2% on the note.
Carnival Cruises Higher
Carnival Corporation (NYSE: CCL) beat earnings by 11 cents this morning, reporting it earned $1.43 per share in its fiscal Q3 2025. Revenue also came in ahead of estiamtes at $8.2 billion. Management further forecast improved net yields for the rest of the year, of 5.3%, but also higher costs that could weigh on profit.
Carnival stock is up 1.5% as trading begins, while the Voo’s gain has been cut to 0.4%.
This article will be updated throughout the day, so check back often for more daily updates.
Vice President JD Vance said on Sunday he is “very confident that we have successfully separated [TikTok US] from TikTok global and actually made it so that we can control people’s data security [and] ensure that the algorithm is not being used as a propaganda tool by a foreign government.” The Vice President also confirmed that TikTok US will be valued at $14 billion in a transaction that will see Oracle (NYSE: ORCL), private-equity firm Silver Lake, and Abu Dhabi-based MGX investment fund take significant stakes in the company, while the stake of TikTok’s original owner, ByteDance, shrinks below 20%.
ByteDance investors that include General Atlantic, Susquehanna, and Sequoia will also have stakes in TikTok US, but the United States government will not.
Oracle is an S&P 500 component company, and its stock is up 0.9% premarket.
Electronic Arts (Nasdaq: EA) is another big S&P 500 company on the move this morning. The gaming giant announced over the weekend it will go private in a $55 billion, all-cash deal, selling out to private equity companies PIF, Affinity Partners, and… Silver Lake (again).
EA stock is up more than 5%.
Finally, investors are starting to get antsy now as the federal government is set to shut down — absent passage of a continuing resolution to keep it funded — at midnight tomorrow.
For now, the stock news seems to be top of mind with investors, however, and the Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (NYSEMKT: VOO) is up 0.6% premarket.
Analyst Calls
Perhaps encouraged by the EA acquisition today, CICC analyst Zijie Yang just initiated coverage on fellow Nasdaq gamer Take-Two Interactive (Nasdaq: TTWO) with an outperform rating.
Separately, Barclays initiated coverage of nuclear power plant startup Oklo (NYSE: OKLO) with an overweight rating this morning. “As a developer, owner and operator of [nuclear] assets, it looks to build and grow a baseline of cash flows from the facilities that it puts into place from PPA agreements. It currently has 14 GW of non-binding agreements with various customers, such as data centers, military outposts, etc.” The analyst sees “material upside potential” in the stock, which is up more than 5% premarket.
Joel South covers large-cap stocks, dividend investing, and major market trends, with a focus on earnings analysis, valuation, and turning complex data into actionable insights for investors.
He brings more than 15 years of experience as an investor and financial journalist, including 12 years at The Motley Fool, where he served as an investment analyst, Bureau Chief, and later led the Fool.com investing news desk. He has also co-hosted an investing podcast and appeared across TV and radio discussing market trends.
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