1136 ET - Meta Platforms' new Muse Spark artificial-intelligence model is set up well to enable agentic commerce, Morgan Stanley analysts say in a note. Meta, like Google, can use its distribution and first-party data to push model adoption and improve the "human" feel of the shopping experience, they write, noting that the model already offers a shopping assistant. "This should be positive for conversion and a potential differentiator for Meta as 'trust' remains one gating factor holding back agentic purchase adoption," the analysts write. The model may not be exactly on par with the leading models, but the gap isn't as large as it could be - and the benchmarks matter less than Meta's ability to monetize its AI offerings, the analysts write. Meta is up 3.1% to $631.33. (elias.schisgall@wsj.com)

1111 ET - Starbucks CEO Brian Niccol continues to recruit from his old stomping grounds, hiring Stephen Piacentini as the new coffeehouse design and development officer, The Wall Street Journal reports, citing an internal message. Piacentini was most recently Chipotle's chief development officer, and before that held leadership roles at Arby's, Jimmy John's and Taco Bell. Niccol--who was Chipotle's CEO and a longtime executive at Taco Bell prior to joining Starbucks in a turnaround bid in 2024--is tasking Piacentini with advancing Starbucks's growth strategy. (connor.hart@wsj.com)

1112 ET — Netflix stands to benefit from a solid slate of content this year, including new seasons of popular shows such as "Bridgerton" and "Night Agent," continued film releases, a growing list of live events and a ramp-up in video games, UBS analysts say in a research note. Recent price increases and the continued scaling of ad-supported revenues should provide further upside, the analysts add. Looking ahead, engagement will remain the main focus among investors. "While Netflix continues to slowly grow share of total TV viewing in the U.S., its share of streaming viewership remains under pressure," the analysts write. (connor.hart@wsj.com)

1051 ET - Coinbase Institutional says that if bitcoin holds above $72,000 to $77,000 it "favors a breakout to $80K, however the band of strong resistance has widened so playing this could be difficult." A rejection of $72,000 favors a mean reversion to around $65,000, the firm says in a note. Should bitcoin claw its way back to $80,000, then that would be the highest its traded at since early February. Bitcoin is down 1% to $70,661, according to data from LSEG. (kirk.maltais@wsj.com)

1045 ET - Traffic through the Strait of Hormuz remains limited despite the cease-fire, and the tension is reflected in the movement of cryptocurrencies, with bitcoin down 0.9% to $70,770, according to LSEG data. "The core disputes remain unresolved," says Colin Basco of Coinbase Institutional in a note. "In other words, we think the market has been given a relief valve, not a full reset." Other crypto assets are lower as well, although its only a small reversal from the big upticks seen Wednesday. (kirk.maltais@wsj.com)

1034 ET - More than one-third (34.2%) of February home sellers lowered their list price, according to Redfin. That's up from 31.5% a year earlier. February home sellers who lowered their list price cut it by an average of $40,915, or 7.3%. Among all February home sellers, the average price cut was $13,463, or 2.4%. Price cuts are on the rise because it's a buyer's market. There are hundreds of thousands more home sellers in the market than buyers because buyers have been spooked by high mortgage rates, high prices and economic uncertainty. When sellers outnumber buyers, buyers can often negotiate on price because they have a lot of options to choose from, Redfin says. Redfin reported last month that relistings are on the rise as home sellers bet on a stronger spring market. (chris.wack@wsj.com)

1021 ET - Simply Good Foods plunges 18% after cutting its outlook for the year. Despite the downbeat readout, though, William Blair analysts say in a research note they remain optimistic about the packaged-food company's long-term outlook. "We believe in our thesis that Simply Good's target nutritious snacking market, on-trend brands in Quest and Owyn, and asset-light cash-generative model can support solid organic growth augmented (over time) by acquisitions," they say. William Blair maintains its outperform rating. (connor.hart@wsj.com)

1000 ET - Netflix's recent price increases seem to be indicative of its new content strategy: quality over quantity. The new strategy is much more expensive than Netflix's previous mantra, which highlighted quantity as its differentiating factor from other streaming services, Benchmark analyst Daniel Kurnos says in a research note. Kurnos also says he isn't too concerned Netflix's higher subscription prices will increase churn. He models that Netflix can grow revenue at a mid-teens rate over at least the medium term. The bigger question is engagement, a metric Netflix is looking to improve with its new focus on quality, Kurnos says. (connor.hart@wsj.com)

0951 ET - U.S. natural gas futures are little changed ahead of the EIA's weekly inventory report at 10:30 a.m. ET that's expected to show an increase in the storage surplus. The expected above-average injection and weak weather-driven demand are negative for prices, while support comes from strong LNG feedgas demand "and possibly further supply disruptions in the Middle East," Dennis Kissler of BOK Financial says in a note. "Technically, May natural gas remains in a bearish structure." The Nymex May contract is up 0.1% at $2.727/mmBtu.(anthony.harrup@wsj.com)

0949 ET - Oil futures recover some of the previous day's losses and are hovering under $100 a barrel amid uncertainty about the U.S.-Iran cease-fire and tanker transit through the Strait of Hormuz. "Supply fears linger and restoring capacity damaged during the hostilities cannot be done overnight, keeping crude on track for further gains," Nikos Tzabouras of Tradu says in a note. "On the other hand, there is now a roadmap to resolution and President Trump will likely have strong incentives to conclude the campaign and protect the economy ahead of the midterm elections," he adds. WTI is up 5.7% at $99.83 a barrel, and Brent is up 3.6% at $98.15. (anthony.harrup@wsj.com)

0944 ET - Amazon is investing in its ultra-fast delivery infrastructure, says Chief Executive Andy Jassy in his shareholder letter. The company's drone delivery service, which aims to deliver inside 30 minutes, "now has a design that'll scale, plans to serve communities with 30 million customers by year-end, and expects to deliver half a billion packages by the end of this decade," Jassy says. Meanwhile, the company is also starting to expand Amazon Now, which delivers within 20 minutes, to the U.S. and Europe. In India, Amazon Now orders are increasing 25% month-over-month, with Prime members tripling their shopping frequency once they start using it, Jassy says. (nicholas.miller@wsj.com)

source: https://www.tradingview.com/news/DJN_DN20260409006147:0/