The latest Market Talks covering Equities. Published exclusively on Dow Jones Newswires throughout the day.

1536 ET - JetBlue investors think that Alaska Air Group has the clearest path to acquire the airline, followed by Southwest Airlines and United Airlines, TD Cowen analysts write in a note, after holding investor meetings in Boston with JetBlue leadership. Investors see a more favorable M&A environment under the Trump administration, though they wondered whether state attorney generals could try to block any potential deal, the analysts wrote. The meetings coincided with a report in Semafor that JetBlue is exploring various M&A possibilities, though the article said planning is preliminary and may not lead to talks with rivals. JetBlue says it doesn't comment on rumors or market speculation. (elias.schisgall@wsj.com)

1526 ET - New data from Waymo shows the Alphabet-owned unit is scaling faster than Wall Street expects. The autonomous vehicle company's cumulative miles driven through year-end came in 6% ahead of Morgan Stanley analysts' forecast, with better-than-expected growth across all geographies, the analysts say in a note. Waymo trips per week also continue to inflect, up about five times since August 2024, they say. The analysts expect Waymo's growth to continue as it launches in more cities and increases its fleet per city. However, fleet size and how quickly the company can scale the fleet will be a constraint, they say. (kelly.cloonan@wsj.com)

1506 ET - One veteran money manager said two seemingly disparate market risks are currently converging, as the war in Iran pressures credit markets. "The fact that central banks are more worried about inflation than weakening growth has set off a vicious cycle -- as long as Hormuz remains closed -- where higher oil prices drive bond yields higher, hurting the economy on two fronts and putting additional strain on private credit," said Lorenzo Di Mattia, manager of hedge fund Sibilla Global Fund, over a messaging service. Di Mattia, who typically makes macro bets on stocks, bonds and currencies, is mostly holding cash. Earlier, former Goldman Sachs Chief Executive Lloyd Blankfein, another veteran of the 2008 financial crisis, drew parallels between that event and the current private-credit scare, noting a lack of investor confidence in asset valuations. (rob.curran@wsj.com)

1446 ET - Mondelez International is focused on offering the right value in North America as it looks to win over cautious U.S. shoppers, BofA Securities analysts say in a note after meeting with the snack company's leadership. Mondelez is aiming to remain selective with its promotions and price increases to make sure its products hit the right price points and pack points while also balancing elasticity with long-term brand equity, the analysts say. The company's U.S. business is stabilizing, with trends expected to improve on a sequential basis as it builds momentum in brands like Give & Go and Tate's and looks to drive recovery in the biscuits category, the analysts say.(kelly.cloonan@wsj.com)

1349 ET - Mohawk Industries is likely to raise prices now that competitors Engineered Floors and Shaw have done so in response to the conflict in the Middle East, say Truist analysts Keith Hughes and Julian Nirmal. Mohawk is particularly likely to raise prices for its soft surface lineup, which has more exposure to rising petrochemical input prices. Higher prices could lead the product mix for flooring companies to suffer with consumers trading down to stay in budget, as has happened in recent years. "Breaking this trend would be a big win for the industry, but we are not sure anything has changed to foretell this," the analysts say. (nicholas.miller@wsj.com)

1342 ET - Alcohol demand issues in the U.S. appear more structural than cyclical, BNP Paribas analyst Kevin Grundy says in a note. U.S. consumers have distinctly negative attitudes toward alcohol consumption, driven by a shift towards health and wellness, links to cancer and the rise of GLP-1s, he says. Difficult economic conditions are also contributing, though to a lesser extent, he says. As a result, consumers are drinking less than any time in decades, a trend that will be tough to reverse, he says. However, Wall Street's estimates reflect a rosier recovery in trends for alcohol stocks, which seems unlikely, he says. "No easy cure for US hangover," he says. (kelly.cloonan@wsj.com)

1326 ET - Memory companies still have a long runway for growth, despite investors' concerns they have hit a peak, Morgan Stanley analysts say. While Wall Street lacks conviction about the companies' long-term growth, the analysts think memory supply is severely bottlenecked and will continue to drive up prices. AI is consuming so much memory that there isn't enough left for other sectors, and is holding back PC and smartphone production, the analysts note. "We don't think 81% gross margin is the new normal, but it's also hard to see that getting worse in the next several quarters--perhaps even through the next two years," the analysts say. (katherine.hamilton@wsj.com)

1322 ET - Investors are selling off U.S. memory stocks to price in concerns about long-term strength, Morgan Stanley analysts say. Shareholders feel positively about growth in the short-term, as memory shortages are driving up prices, but there is low conviction that growth will continue at this pace further down the road, the analysts say. Sandisk is off 9%, while Micron Technology is down 6%. The analysts say this is a healthy selloff given gains in recent months, but they think demand will be enough to spur long-term growth. (katherine.hamilton@wsj.com)

1312 ET - Shares in Pernod Ricard fall in late-afternoon trading Thursday following a media report that the French distiller is weighing a move for U.S. peer Brown-Forman, maker of Jack Daniel's whiskey. Preliminary talks have taken place between the two drinks groups, according to a Bloomberg report Thursday. Pernod, whose labels cover the likes of Absolut vodka, Martell cognac and Jameson whiskey, didn't immediately respond to a request for comment from Dow Jones Newswires. Shares close 5.7% lower at 59.94 euros.(joshua.kirby@wsj.com; @joshualeokirby)

1310 ET - Costco's private-label brand Kirkland Signature is firing on all cylinders with a slew of new, low-price products as value remains key for shoppers, Mizuho says in a note. Kirkland's offerings are also adding pressure for national brands, analyst David Bellinger says. Kirkland's new energy drink has dragged on Celsius's stock and garnered media attention, which follows heightened awareness around its fresh dog food offering, which hurt Freshpet shares, he says. Lululemon has also been in the crosshairs with legging dupes, according to Bellinger. "Single product launches aren't enough to move the needle for COST, yet the power of the $90B global Kirkland Signature brand is as strong as ever," he says. The brand's value offerings are winning, particularly as consumers face high prices, sticky inflation and gas price swings, Bellinger says. (kelly.cloonan@wsj.com)

1146 ET - Mizuho says in the industrial sector, and specifically electrical equipment and multi-industry companies, the group is off roughly 8% since the Iran conflict began. Analyst Brett Linzey says investors were repricing the probability and timing of a sustained recovery. But after analyzing 25-years of Middle Eastern conflicts, Linzey says that outperformance typically follows each event on a 3M, 6M and 12M basis. "Escalation or a prolonged conflict could defer this timeline, but at some point we believe peak fear will be met with buying," he says. (elias.schisgall@wsj.com)

1126 ET - The Middle East war risks escalating in the coming weeks before it de-escalates, Alpine Macro's Dan Alamariu says in a note. "We continue to estimate the conflict will last roughly two months from its start, but a longer war is increasingly possible, given plausible escalation traps," he says. If the war intensifies, global stock prices could fall sharply and oil could rise above $150 dollars a barrel, Alamariu says. "If peak panic arrives in the next few weeks, beaten-down Asian stocks, Gulf countries' stocks and European equities present compelling buy-the-dip opportunities." (miriam.mukuru@wsj.com)

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

March 26, 2026 15:36 ET (19:36 GMT)

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