Wall Street’s Big Movers: Winners and Losers
U.S. stocks saw wide swings across key sectors Wednesday, with bank earnings and nuclear energy plays driving much of the action.
Big Bank Rally
- Morgan Stanley (MS) surged nearly 7% after reporting its strongest earnings beat in five years — $2.80 per share versus expectations of $2.10. Revenue hit $18.2 billion, far ahead of forecasts, as dealmaking and asset management rebounded.
- Bank of America (BAC) climbed 5% after topping estimates with $1.06 per share in earnings on $28.2 billion in revenue, driven by a strong investment banking recovery.
Insurance Rout
- Progressive (PGR) plunged 8% after missing both earnings and revenue estimates, reporting $4.45 EPS versus $5.04 expected. The company cited a Florida policy change capping insurer profits as a key headwind.
- The selloff spread across the sector — Allstate (ALL) dropped nearly 5%, Chubb (CB) fell 2%, and Travelers (TRV) declined almost 3%.
Nuclear Stocks Heat Up
The U.S. Department of the Army announced plans to develop next-generation small modular nuclear reactors, sparking investor enthusiasm for clean-energy defense plays.
- NuScale (SMR) jumped 17%.
- Oklo (OKLO) rose 7%.
- Nano Nuclear (NN) added 4%.
- Uranium producer Centrus (LEU) gained 13% on spillover optimism.
Agriculture Gains on Trade Tensions
Amid escalating trade threats between Washington and Beijing, Archer-Daniels-Midland (ADM) and Bunge Global (BG) advanced 3% and 13%, respectively.
The moves followed reports that the White House could embargo Chinese cooking oil imports in retaliation for Beijing’s restrictions on U.S. soybean purchases.
Tech and Specialty Movers
- F5 (FFIV) slipped 3% after revealing a nation-state cyber breach, though operations were unaffected.
- ASML (ASML) rose 3% after projecting higher 2026 sales, despite mixed Q3 results.
- Papa John’s (PZZA) spiked 9% on reports that Apollo Global made a $64/share takeover offer.
- Sunrun (RUN) climbed 4% after BMO upgraded the solar firm and doubled its price target to $19.
- Dollar Tree (DLTR) gained 2% after projecting high-teens EPS growth for 2026, lifting Five Below (FIVE) and Dollar General (DG) in sympathy.
- Grindr (GRND) rose 4% as major shareholders proposed taking the company private.
- Sable Offshore (SABL) tumbled 18% after a California court ruling went against the firm in its Santa Ynez oil project dispute.
WSA Take
Earnings season continues to reveal clear sector splits: banks are thriving, insurers are stumbling, and energy innovation is back in focus. The surge in nuclear and defense-linked tech stocks highlights how policy is increasingly steering market winners.
With corporate earnings driving daily volatility, investors should expect sharper rotations — and opportunities — across sectors in the weeks ahead.
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