Mid-Morning Look: April 20, 2026

Mid-Morning Look

Monday, April 20, 2026

Can the Nasdaq make it 14 straight days higher in a row? U.S. futures fell overnight and oil prices jumped after a ceasefire between the United States and Iran appeared in jeopardy after the U.S. said it had seized an Iranian cargo ship that tried to run its blockade and Tehran vowed to retaliate, refusing for now to join new peace talks. Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Baghaei said Washington has shown it was “not serious” about pursuing the diplomatic process and Tehran would not change its clearly stated demands. But after recovering some losses overnight, U.S. markets extended its bounce this morning with gains in energy and financials offsetting weakness in discretionary and communications (two of the better performing sectors last week) ahead of a busy week of earnings. The U.S. had hoped to start negotiations in Pakistan shortly before the two-week ceasefire expires, with sweeping security preparations under way in Islamabad, but Baghaei said the U.S. was “insisting on some unreasonable and unrealistic positions”. There is no economic data today while the Fed is in quiet period ahead of 4/29 FOMC. Bitcoin prices are higher, gold and silver lower while treasury yields little changed after falling 3 straight weeks from 2026 highs. There a re a few notable movers in the healthcare sector today on data (more details below).

• In Chemicals: Nitrogen fertilizer prices (CF), almost double what they were before the Iran war, may climb further as vital supplies remain locked up in the Persian Gulf, according to one of the world’s biggest exporters of the crop nutrient, per Bloomberg. ECL was upgraded to Buy, $325 as believes Ecolab’s early and aggressive price increases to offset higher energy prices due to the US-Iran conflict, coupled with the recent pullback in oil prices as the conflict winds down, has the potential to drive earnings upside in the back half of the year on widening price / cost differentials. WLK was downgraded to Hold at Deutsche bank, though raise tgt slightly to $120 as believes a sum-of the-parts analysis is best way to capture the value of Westlake’s portfolio.
• In Utilities: Seaport Research with several changes as they upgraded AEP to Buy from Neutral with a $145 tgt as likes the company’s load growth, especially given the stock’s moderate 3% price-to-earrings premium to an average electric utility on its updated 2028 estimates while downgraded SO to Neutral from Buy citing regulatory uncertainty in Georgia and Alabama ahead of the upcoming elections of their state commissioners; EIX cut to neutral after Edison’s strong outperformance year-to-date and over the last 12 months and ETR to Neutral saying its unmatched AI-driven growth story in the utilities sector is reflected in Entergy’s valuation premium.

• ATAI +25%; along with gains in other psychedelic-related stocks (CMPS, DFTX, GHRS, ENVB) after U.S. President Trump signed an executive order directing health regulators to speed up reviews of psychedelic drugs and boosted federal research funding.
• BLD 18%; after QXO said it’s acquiring the insulation company for about $17 billion; the acquisition will make QXO the second largest publicly traded building products distributor in North America.
• MRVL +3%; shares jumped after a report in The Information said GOOGL is in discussions the chip maker to develop two new chips designed to improve the efficiency of running AI models https://tinyurl.com/25jdafkf
• NKTR +20%; as reported positive 52-week Phase 2b data for rezpegaldesleukin in severe alopecia areata. SALT ≤20 responses reached 25.8% and 27.6% in the treatment arms vs. 6.7% for placebo at week 52. The drug received FDA Fast Track status in 2025.
• USAR +12%; said to acquire Brazilian rare earths miner Serra Verde for $2.8 billion in cash and shares. The U.S. company will pay $300 million in cash and 126.9 million newly issued shares of its stock for the transaction, which is expected to close in the third quarter of 2026.

• ASTS -12%; shares tumbled after New Glenn rocket, launched by Jeff Bezos-owned Blue Origin on Sunday, failed to deploy ASTS satellite into correct orbit. The Satellite placed too low to sustain operations with its on-board thruster technology, will be de-orbited.
• CALM -1%; shares were active after reports the U.S. Justice Department is preparing an antitrust suit against a few major egg producers, including Cal-Maine Foods and Versova, over alleged price coordination, the Wall Street Journal said on Friday.
• CCL -3%; as airlines (AAL, DAL, UAL) and cruise operators (NCLH, RCL, VIK) are down as the prospects of fuel prices staying at elevated levels weigh on sentiment.
• CLF -5%; Q1 adj EPS loss (-$0.40) vs. est. loss (-$0.42) on revs $4.9B vs. consensus $4.79B; reported adjusted EBITDA of $95M, impacted by $80M one-time energy cost from extreme cold weather; maintains 2026 steel shipment guidance at 16.5-17.0 mln net tons; expects 2026 capital expenditures of about $700M
• FRMI -14%; said its chief executive officer and chief financial officers have stepped down as the firm tries to secure its first customer. Stifel said this indicates that there was friction between customers and Mr. Neugebauer, and negotiations could be simpler going forward.
• ONON -2%; Jefferies said analysis of US website traffic data for ONON suggests that the quality of traffic growth is increasingly below peers. ONON’s paid search share hit 77% vs peers at 26-48%, while organic traffic growth grew just 4% Y/Y in Mar after a 17% decline in Sept