Stocks soar on hopes of Iran war resolution — plus, Lilly takes a big swing in sleep disorders
Every weekday, the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer releases the Homestretch — an actionable afternoon update, just in time for the last hour of trading on Wall Street. The market rally gained momentum on Tuesday with signs of potential de-escalation in the Iran conflict. The S & P 500 was up more than 2%, jumping on unconfirmed reports that Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian was open to ending the war on the condition of certain guarantees. We’re hesitant to call this an all-clear signal, but it takes two sides to end a war. Between this news and a late Monday report from The Wall Street Journal that President Donald Trump is willing to end the war without reopening the Strait of Hormuz, the market is responding to the first sign of mutual interest in de-escalation. U.S. oil benchmark WTI crude dropped about 1% Tuesday, though it was still north of $100 a barrel. Eli Lilly made a big splash on the M & A front , announcing Tuesday that it was buying Centessa Pharmaceuticals in a deal that could be worth up to $7.8 billion. Centessa Pharmaceuticals is a clinical-stage company working on new medicines for the treatment of excessive daytime sleepiness, like narcolepsy. The company’s key asset is cleminorexton (formerly known as ORX750), which seeks to mimic a molecule in the brain, known as orexin, that helps regulate wakefulness. It’s shown promising results in Phase 2a clinical studies across type 1 and type 2 narcolepsy and idiopathic hypersomnia, which is another form of excessive daytime sleepiness. Analysts at Wolfe Research are currently forecasting more than $3 billion in peak sales for cleminorexton if it hits on those three targeted indications. Several analysts are coming out positive on the deal, noting it broadens Lilly’s presence in neuroscience, an area of growing focus beyond obesity and diabetes. Leave it to Lilly to try to track the code on difficult conditions like these sleep disorders. In an interview with our CNBC colleague Angelica Peebles last year , Lilly Chief Scientific Officer Dan Skovronsky said the company would invest to solve “big problems that are hiding in plain sight.” Separately, Lilly is battling headlines from Novo Nordisk, which announced Tuesday it is launching a subscription program with lower monthly prices on its oral and injectable versions of Wegovy. It’s another bid to try and take back market share from Eli Lilly, the leader in the GLP-1 category because of its superior medications and supply chain. Catching up on some other analysts calls from Wall Street , Truist started coverage of Club name Corning with a hold rating and a $125 price target. The analysts were positive on the momentum in Corning’s optical business and pointed out that its solar segment represents another growth driver in the upcoming years. However, valuation was their main concern with shares trading a big premium to the S & P 500. It sounds like Truist wants to be positive on Corning, but they are waiting on a pullback to get more constructive on shares. On a historical basis, Corning wasn’t cheap when we started buying it last October, but a premium is the price to pay for the accelerating growth unfolding at the company, especially if it strikes more multibillion-dollar partnerships like it did earlier this year with Meta Platforms . We also view Nvidia’s strategic partnership with Marvell and collaboration on silicon photonics technology as a vote of confidence in the future of fiber optics in data centers. Nike reports after the closing bell on Tuesday, and we’re looking for signs that the turnaround under CEO Elliott Hill is back on track. Nike’s North America business should see positive sales, while China and Converse are likely to remain a big drag. The impact from tariffs is always a wildcard. Before the opening bell on Wednesday we’ll see earnings from Lamb Weston and Conagra . On the data side, we’ll see the March private payroll update from ADP, the government’s February retail sales report, and the Institute for Supply Management’s March manufacturing index. (See here for a full list of the stocks in Jim Cramer’s Charitable Trust.) As a subscriber to the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer, you will receive a trade alert before Jim makes a trade. Jim waits 45 minutes after sending a trade alert before buying or selling a stock in his charitable trust’s portfolio. If Jim has talked about a stock on CNBC TV, he waits 72 hours after issuing the trade alert before executing the trade. THE ABOVE INVESTING CLUB INFORMATION IS SUBJECT TO OUR TERMS AND CONDITIONS AND PRIVACY POLICY , TOGETHER WITH OUR DISCLAIMER . NO FIDUCIARY OBLIGATION OR DUTY EXISTS, OR IS CREATED, BY VIRTUE OF YOUR RECEIPT OF ANY INFORMATION PROVIDED IN CONNECTION WITH THE INVESTING CLUB. NO SPECIFIC OUTCOME OR PROFIT IS GUARANTEED.
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