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Investing.com -- Aethlon Medical Inc (NASDAQ:AEMD) stock dropped 7.7% on Friday after the company announced a private placement and warrant inducement agreement expected to raise approximately $3.3 million in gross proceeds.

The medical therapeutic company, which focuses on developing products to treat cancer and life-threatening infectious diseases, has entered into a securities purchase agreement with a single institutional investor. The deal includes the sale of 595,897 shares of common stock (or pre-funded warrants) along with warrants to purchase up to an additional 1,042,820 shares at a combined effective price of $4.03 per share.

Additionally, Aethlon has reached a warrant inducement agreement with the same investor to exercise certain outstanding warrants issued in March and September 2025. The agreement reduces the exercise price of these warrants to $4.03 and provides for the immediate exercise of warrants to purchase a total of 210,555 shares. In exchange, the company will issue new unregistered warrants to purchase 368,471 shares.

The transaction, expected to close around December 8, 2025, is being facilitated by Maxim Group LLC as the sole placement agent. Proceeds will be used after deducting placement agent fees and other offering expenses.

The new warrants will have an exercise price of $4.03 per share, will be exercisable upon shareholder approval, and will expire five and a half years after receiving such approval.

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Investing.com-- U.S. stocks edged higher ahead of a key inflation report, with investors looking for confirmation that the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates next week.

At 09:35 ET (14:35 GMT), the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 85 points, or 0.2%, the S&P 500 index gained 14 points, or 0.2%, and the NASDAQ Composite rose 102 points, or 0.4%.

PCE inflation gauge in spotlight

Expectations of 25-basis point reduction at the Federal Reserve’s December 9–10 meeting are running hot -- with futures now pricing in roughly an 87% probability -- on the back of recent weak labor data and broader signs of economic cooling.

Thursday’s weekly jobless claims plunged by 27,000 to a seasonally adjusted 191,000, the lowest level since September 2022, but economists cautioned that distortions tied to the Thanksgiving holiday may have exaggerated the decline.

Elsewhere, a private-sector payroll report from ADP on Wednesday showed a decline of 32,000 jobs -- the largest drop in over two and a half years, and a report by Challenger, Gray & Christmas stated that announced job cuts dropped sharply in November but hiring intentions remained weak.

While the importance of price stability, the second element of the Fed’s dual mandate, has faded a little of late, all eyes are now on the release of the delayed monthly core inflation gauge, the Personal Consumption Expenditures Price Index (PCE), later in the session.

This is widely seen as the Fed’s preferred inflation measure, and a soft PCE print could further embolden rate-cut expectations.

Excluding food and energy, the underlying, or "core," PCE price index is seen holding at 2.9% in the 12 months to September and 0.2% month-on-month.

Beyond PCE, the economic calendar will feature the latest survey of consumer sentiment from the University of Michigan.

Netflix agrees to buy Warner Bros Discovery

In the corporate sector, Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX) has agreed to acquire Warner Bros Discovery (NASDAQ:WBD) in a cash and stock transaction valued at $27.75 per share, with a total enterprise value of approximately $82.7 billion.

The deal, announced on Friday, follows a weeks-long bidding war where Netflix outbid Paramount Skydance’s (NASDAQ:{{8171’s|PSKY}}) nearly $24-a-share offer with its nearly $28-a-share proposal.

Should the transaction be finalized, it would transform Netflix into a media powerhouse with control over one of the most valuable content libraries in the entertainment industry.

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Elsewhere, Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) shares soared after the cosmetics retailer topped Wall Street estimates for its fiscal third quarter and raised its full-year outlook.

Victoria’s Secret (NYSE:VSCO) stock rose strongly after the lingerie retailer reported better-than-expected third quarter results, raising its full-year outlook as its turnaround strategy shows signs of success.

On the flip side, Hewlett Packard Enterprise (NYSE:HPE) stock slumped after the cloud services and hardware company missed analysts’ revenue expectations for the fourth quarter, posting $9.68 billion versus a consensus estimate of $9.94 billion.

Crude steadies; WTI on track for weekly gain

Oil prices steadied Friday, maintaining the previous session’s gains as stalled diplomatic progress over the Ukraine war and firm expectations of a U.S. Federal Reserve rate cut supported sentiment.

Brent futures slipped 0.2% to $63.16 a barrel, and U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures fell 0.3% to $59.51 a barrel.

Both contracts jumped nearly 1% on Thursday, and while Brent was mostly unchanged this week, WTI was on track for a 1.5% weekly gain - a second straight week of increase.

The lack of progress in U.S.-Russia talks to end the Ukraine war has dampened hopes that energy sanctions on Russian crude could be eased soon, keeping a risk premium in the market.

Ayushman Ojha contributed to this article