Applovin and Exxon Mobil among market cap stock movers on Tuesday

Investing.com -- Tronox Holdings (NYSE:TROX) stock surged 28% after receiving conditional support for up to $600 million in financing from Export-Import Bank of the United States (EXIM) and Export Finance Australia (EFA) to develop its rare earth elements supply chain.

The coordinated, non-binding letters of support/interest from the two export credit agencies represent a significant vote of confidence in Tronox’s rare earth strategy. The potential financing would support mine extensions, infrastructure development, and cracking and leaching capacity.

The letters are part of the agencies’ work under the United States-Australia Framework for Securing of Supply in the Mining and Processing of Critical Minerals and Rare Earths announced in October. Tronox, primarily known as a titanium dioxide pigment manufacturer, has completed a pre-feasibility study and is now moving to a definitive feasibility study for a proposed cracking and leaching facility in Western Australia.

The facility would produce a mixed rare earth carbonate including both light and heavy rare earths, critical components for permanent magnet, defense, energy, and advanced technology industries.

"This announcement represents a significant milestone in advancing the expansion of Tronox’s minerals processing operations to produce rare earth elements," said Tronox CEO John D. Romano. "The Letters from EFA and EXIM highlight the opportunity for Tronox to assume a leading role as a supplier of rare earth elements to support the critical mineral strategies of Australia and the United States."

The company will now work with downstream customers and business partners to develop a financeable project structure aligned with its long-term capital allocation priorities. Both agencies’ support remains subject to satisfactory completion of due diligence and various approvals.

This article was generated with the support of AI and reviewed by an editor. For more information see our T&C.

Investing.com -- SES AI Corporation (NYSE:SES) stock fell 5% Tuesday after short-seller Wolfpack Research released a critical report questioning the company’s business model and recent partnerships.

The report, titled "SES’s Dying Biz Pivoting into Another AI Pipedream," alleges that SES AI has announced "phantom deals" and promoted an AI product called "Molecular Universe" that Wolfpack claims appears to be "a Chat GPT wrapper." According to Wolfpack, these moves are meant to distract from SES potentially losing Honda and Hyundai as major customers at the end of 2025.

Wolfpack Research, which disclosed it has taken a short position in SES AI, also raised concerns about the company’s acquisition of UZ Energy, a Chinese Energy Storage System provider. The report claims this acquisition involves a "related entity whose registered agent was allegedly part of a $1 billion Ponzi scheme."

The short-seller’s report specifically questioned a memorandum of understanding SES signed in January 2025 with Texas-based retail energy provider AISPEX, which projected up to $45 million in revenue. Wolfpack claims a former SES employee told them "the announcement [of the deal] was a complete surprise and then it was like nobody ever talked about it...they did nothing to fulfill it."

Additionally, Wolfpack expressed skepticism about SES’s recently announced AI joint venture with Hisun New Energy Materials, claiming that the facility depicted on Hisun’s website has not begun construction despite claims that production would start in July 2025.

SES AI Corporation, which develops lithium-metal batteries for electric vehicles and other applications, has not yet publicly responded to the allegations in the report.

This article was generated with the support of AI and reviewed by an editor. For more information see our T&C.

Investing.com -- RBC Capital Markets has identified several promising investment opportunities in the U.S. beverages, household, personal care, and packaged food sectors. Despite challenging macroeconomic conditions affecting consumer spending, these companies demonstrate resilience and growth potential according to the firm’s analysis.

Monster Beverage Co (MNST) leads RBC’s recommendations with an Outperform rating and $81 price target, representing approximately 11% upside potential. The energy drink category has rebounded strongly in 2024 after facing headwinds from reduced convenience store foot traffic and broader economic pressures.

Monster benefits from increasing consumer interest, strong category innovation, and retailer support. The appointment of Chief Growth Officer Rob Gehring is expected to enhance capabilities and unlock growth opportunities. RBC forecasts mid-single-digit percentage growth in the U.S. market and over 15% international growth for the next few years.

Following a recent investor meeting, Monster Beverage saw several analysts raise their price targets, including Piper Sandler and Goldman Sachs, who cited the company’s strong growth momentum and robust innovation pipeline.

The receives an Outperform rating with a $113 price target, suggesting 9% upside. Despite facing significant pressure since early 2022 due to volatility in China and Asia travel retail, along with North American share losses and leadership changes, the stock has gained over 60% since hitting lows in April 2025.

RBC believes Estee Lauder’s turnaround is progressing well, with potential for further upside as the company’s Profit Recovery and Growth Program delivers results amid stabilizing sales.

In recent developments, The Estée Lauder Companies acquired a minority stake in Mexican fragrance brand XINÚ, its first investment in a Latin American beauty brand. Separately, Rothschild Redburn downgraded the company’s stock to Sell, citing concerns about its margin recovery.

Colgate-Palmolive (CL) earns an Outperform rating and $88 price target, representing 13% upside potential. While recent quarters have shown slower growth due to global macro pressures affecting category performance, RBC views organizational changes made in recent years as enhancing capabilities that drive international business strength and market share momentum.

The firm sees opportunity for Colgate to consistently meet or exceed its long-term growth algorithm.

Colgate-Palmolive reported growth in net sales and earnings per share for the second quarter of 2025 and confirmed its guidance for the year. The company also received an upgrade to Outperform from RBC Capital.

Kimberly-Clark Corporation (KMB) rounds out the recommendations with an Outperform rating and $162 price target, offering substantial 54% upside potential. The company’s announced acquisition to become a global health and wellness leader represents a strategic pivot, though RBC acknowledges investor skepticism around large-scale M&A in consumer staples.

The firm believes KMB is undervalued but notes that realizing this value depends on successfully integrating the acquisition while maintaining core business momentum.

Kimberly-Clark Corporation declared a regular quarterly dividend of $1.26 per share. In other news, TD Cowen lowered its price target on the company, noting investor concerns related to its recently announced acquisition.

This article was generated with the support of AI and reviewed by an editor. For more information see our T&C.

Investing.com -- U.S. stocks traded in a mixed fashion Tuesday as investors digested more labor market data ahead of the Federal Reserve’s final meeting for the year, which is likely to drive sentiment into the new year.

At 09:35 ET (14:35 GMT), the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 100 points, or 0.2%, while the S&P 500 index fell 8 points, or 0.1%, and the NASDAQ Composite slipped 90 points, or 0.4%.

Fed rate decision looms

Attention is firmly on the start of the Fed’s latest two-day policy meeting, which investors are expecting will end with a cut to U.S. interest rates on Wednesday.

The chances of an easing from Fed’s current target rate of 3.75%-4% now stand at roughly 89%, CME FedWatch has shown.

Still, with some policymakers recently flagging concerns around unveiling a third cut since September during a time when fresh economic data has been scarce because of a record-long government shutdown, this could prove to be one of the most contentious decision in years.

"There are now high expectations of a ’hawkish cut’ at Wednesday evening’s FOMC decision," said analysts at ING, in a note.

Data released earlier Tuesday has added to the potential that the FOMC policymakers try to play down expectations of another rate cut in the new year, as U.S. private payrolls increased by 4,750 on average per week in the four weeks ending on November 22, according to a weekly update of the monthly ADP National Employment Report.

There are also JOLTS job openings data for October due later in the session.

Analysts cautioned against reading too much into the figures, arguing that the monthly estimate has recently diverged from a separate gauge of the U.S. employment market from the Labor Department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The BLS is due to release its closely-monitored nonfarm payrolls report for November on December 16, after it was delayed by a record-long U.S. government shutdown. The October unemployment rate will also never be known, after having hovered around a four-year high of 4.4% in September.

Nvidia, Warner Bros Discovery in spotlight

There are a few corporate earnings to digest Tuesday, including from AutoZone (NYSE:AZO), Campbell’s (NASDAQ:CPB), AeroVironment (NASDAQ:AVAV) and Cracker Barrel Old Country Store (NASDAQ:CBRL).

However, most eyes are likely to be on Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA) after President Donald Trump stated, via a Truth Social post, that he will allow the company to sell its H200 AI chips to approved customers in China and other countries, albeit with a 25% tariff and with restrictions to ensure U.S. national security.

Trump said he had informed Chinese President Xi Jinping of his decision, to which Xi “responded positively.”

Nvidia’s H200 chip was unveiled in 2023 as the successor to the company’s H100 chip, and is estimated to be about six times more powerful than the H20, the most advanced AI chip that Nvidia is currently allowed to sell to China.

Nvidia chips are widely used by Chinese companies in AI development, with Trump’s Monday announcement presenting a path for higher chip sales for the world’s most valuable company.

Additionally, Warner Bros Discovery (NASDAQ:WBD) has another suitor, as just days after streaming titan Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX) was named the winner of a bidding war for the studio, Paramount Skydance (NASDAQ:PSKY) said it had launched a hostile bid worth $108.4 billion.

The amount would surpass the $72 billion equity deal Netflix had secure for Warner’s television, film studios and streaming assets, and notably, Paramount’s rival bid would be for all of Warner, including its cable television properties.

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Crude stable with Ukraine talks in focus

Oil prices stabilized Tuesday after the previous session’s weakness, as traders maintain a watchful look at the peace talks to end Russia’s war in Ukraine.

Brent futures slipped 0.1% lower to $62.41 a barrel, and U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures fell 0.2% to $58.78 a barrel.

Both contracts slipped 2% on Monday after Iraq’s move to restore production at the West Qurna-2 oilfield, a site representing a meaningful share of national exports.

Ukraine has signaled it will present a revised peace proposal to the U.S. after talks in London between President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and leaders of France, Germany, and Britain.

The prospect of progress toward a negotiated settlement could remove part of the geopolitical risk premium embedded in crude prices.

Ambar Warrick contributed to this article

Investing.com -- RBC Capital Markets upgraded Colgate-Palmolive to Outperform, saying the maker of toothpaste, pet food, and household cleaners is positioned to deliver more reliable results after two years of sector-wide forecast cuts and slowing global category growth.

Colgate shares have fallen 14% this year as industry growth cooled to about 1%, down from the historical 2 to 4% range, breaking the company’s streak of 24 straight quarters of organic sales growth at or above its long-term target of 3 to 5%.

While the consumer backdrop remains difficult, expectations for 2026 are now low enough for Colgate to begin rebuilding its record of steady delivery, said RBC.

According to brokerage consensus already embeds a below-algorithm year for 2026, with organic sales expected to rise 2.6% and EPS up 4.7%.

RBC expects the company to guide to 2 to 4% organic sales next year and 3 to 6% EPS growth, a range it views as achievable even if category growth remains weak.

For a consumer staples stock to work, investors need to believe earnings forecasts are attainable, even if growth is modest. After repeated downward revisions across the sector, Colgate is one of the few companies set up to meet or slightly exceed Street expectations through 2026.

The firm highlighted stronger productivity programs, reinvestment behind brands, and improving momentum across key emerging markets.

It expects Latin America to stabilize, Africa and Eurasia to remain solid, and India and China to show gradual improvement. Europe continues to post share gains in a slow-growth environment, while the US remains challenging but has pockets of better market share trends.

RBC called the valuation attractive after recent underperformance. Colgate trades at about 20.5x two-year forward earnings, in line with its 20-year average but two turns below its 10-year average of nearly 23x.

The stock now trades at a roughly 9% premium to the broader staples index, well below its historical 20% premium.

RBC noted that when growth slowed in 2017 and 2018, the multiple compressed similarly but later recovered to about 22x when sales returned to the company’s long-term range.

RBC kept its price target at $88.

Investing.com -- Goldman Sachs revised its cruise sector ratings amid what analyst Lizzie Dove called “the most hotly debated subsector” in its coverage, driven by mounting concerns about Caribbean oversupply. 

The bank now expects “1H net yield growth to be pressured across the industry, before ramping in 2H,” and argues that consensus forecasts are “over estimating net yield growth across the board in 1H.”

Against this backdrop, Goldman upgraded Viking Holdings (VIK) to Buy, citing its resilience as broader cruise trends wobble. 

Dove said “the benefits of VIK’s differentiated geographic exposure and higher-income demographic have offset the choppier broader cruise trend,” noting that the company has “~LSD% exposure to the Caribbean” and has seen “a nice acceleration in the 2026 pricing curve.”

Goldman believes VIK’s pricing power and mix shift toward exotic itineraries remain underappreciated, adding that “future potential capital returns program could double FCF/share and EPS growth.” The firm raised its price target to $78 from $66.

By contrast, Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings (NCLH) was cut to Neutral due to its heavy exposure to a softening Caribbean market. 

Dove wrote that NCLH is “shifting a significant amount of capacity into the Caribbean at a rate that far outpaces industry growth,” a setup that introduces “downside risk to consensus estimates.”

Goldman expects NCLH to rely on more aggressive price competition to fill berths, “pressuring net yield momentum relative to peers” until its private island and megaship strategy scales. 

As a result, the bank lowered earnings estimates for 2026 and 2027, saying the stock now carries “a more balanced risk-reward profile.”