Nvidia Stock Keeps Rising. The Next Catalyst Is in the Balance.

Nvidia’s third-quarter earnings weren’t a guaranteed catalyst for the stock, with expectations high and given the stock’s recent performance, a more than 30% rise in the past month. But the stock surged higher still in premarket trading.

The next catalyst—Nvidia’s proposed $40 billion acquisition of British chip designer Arm—is also far from certain. The deal is facing fresh scrutiny from the U.K. government, which ordered an in-depth antitrust investigation on Tuesday. The European Union has opened a similar probe, while U.S. and Chinese regulators are also scrutinizing the takeover.

Wedbush Securities analyst Matt Bryson said last week the involvement of Chinese regulators was the biggest concern, citing a dispute between Arm China and its parent company as well as geopolitical challenges.

Following Nvidia’s earnings, Oppenheimer analysts said most investors saw a less than 50-50 chance of regulatory approval, but that if the deal were to clear its many remaining hurdles it would certainly be a catalyst for the stock.

—Callum Keown

*** Join MarketWatch editor Jeremy Olshan and economist Stephanie Kelton as they talk to leaders in business, tech, finance, and government about the next phase of money’s evolution, and meet real people whose lives are being changed as these new ideas are put to the test. Listen to the Best New Ideas in Money podcast.

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Nvidia Earnings Are Strong, Boosting Enthusiasm Over Metaverse

Lately all the talk about Nvidia has been its promise as a chip maker for the builders of the metaverse, the next-generation internet where people will meet, interact, and buy things in a 3-D virtual world. But it also delivered record revenue in the real world.

• Third-quarter revenue surged 50% from the same quarter last year, to $7.1 billion. Analysts were looking for $6.8 billion. And the company said it could report $7.4 billion this quarter.
• Sales rose 55% for data center customers, driven by cloud customers. Gaming revenue rose 42%, boosted by sales of GeForce consumer graphics processors.
• Videogame companies and chip makers have talked about the metaverse for years but Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, founder of Facebook, put it firmly in the mainstream at a pitch for his renamed company in October.
• Computer networking company Cisco Systems fell short of expectations and lowered the bar for the next quarterly report after saying it faced supply constraints in the most recent period. Price increases will boost results next year.

What’s Next: Nvidia’s open platform for virtual collaboration is also on the minds of investors. “Nvidia Omniverse” brings together artificial-intelligence simulation, graphics, and computing infrastructure and CEO Jensen Huang calls it “the tip of the iceberg of what’s to come.”

—Liz Moyer

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White House Spending Billions for Covid-19 Drug Manufacturing

The White House announced plans to spend billions of dollars to expand U.S. Covid-19 vaccine manufacturing capacity, aiming to churn out at least one billion doses a year by the second half of 2022, to meet immediate needs and prepare for future pandemics.

• The Biden administration is paying more than $5 billion to buy enough of Pfizer ’s antiviral pill to cover 10 million courses of treatment, the New York Times reported. It’s also pledging $3 billion for over-the-counter rapid tests.
• The U.S. government has signed contracts for about $1 billion of an antibody treatment from Vir Biotechnology and GlaxoSmithKline . Sotrovimab was authorized by the Food and Drug Administration to treat mild to moderate Covid-19 in people at high risk for developing severe illness.
• Nearly 10% of children aged five to 11 have gotten their first vaccine shot since regulators authorized that age group, White House coronavirus response coordinator Jeffrey Zients said. And 80% of Americans 12 and older have received their first shots.
• Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy announced a tool kit to help people fight Covid-19 vaccine myths and misinformation in their communities, and said tech companies need to do more to stop the spread of false information.

What’s Next: The FDA could expand eligibility for Covid-19 vaccine boosters to all adults as early as today. Moderna also has filed for FDA authorization for all adults to receive its boosters, which are currently only authorized for those 65 and older and others at higher risk.

—Janet H. Cho

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AstraZeneca Says Preventive Covid Antibody Reduces Risk by 83%

AstraZeneca said Thursday that its preventive Covid-19 shot had shown in trials an 83% reduction of the risk of symptoms over six months for the noninfected population, boosting chances of a proper treatment for the unvaccinated.

• The U.K.-Swedish pharmaceutical group also said in a release that the same drug, known as AZD7442 or Evusheld, showed 88% reduced risk of severe Covid-19 or death if administered within three days of symptom onset, in a separate treatment trial.
• Mene Pangalos, AstraZeneca’s executive vice president for biopharmaceuticals R&D, said last month that the group’s experimental monoclonal antibodies therapy would have more impact as a prevention tool than as a treatment for the disease.
• “The real differentiator for this antibody is going to be in the prophylactic setting,” he said.
• AstraZeneca said last week that it had started making a profit from sales of its Covid-19 vaccine and that it was planning to house all its Covid assets in a separate unit.

What’s Next: Rival Pfizer Tuesday submitted its Covid antiviral treatment pill to the FDA for authorization. The two companies will now compete on both Covid vaccines and treatments, raising hopes for the immunocompromised and at-risk individuals.

—Pierre Briançon

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Biden Wants Oil Industry Examined Amid Gas-Price Spike

President Joe Biden sent a letter to Federal Trade Commission Chair Lina Khan asking her to investigate if “illegal conduct is costing families at the pump,” saying retail gas prices have risen 3% in the past month even though prices for unrefined fuel, such as unfinished gasoline, fell 5%.

• The national average price of regular gas was $3.42 a gallon on Wednesday, up 12 cents from October, and $1.30 from last year, according to GasBuddy.
• Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy, told Barron’s that Biden’s letter won’t relieve prices and was “just political theater.” BP ’s chief U.S. economist told The Wall Street Journal gas prices reflect supply and demand.
• ClearView Energy Partners, a research firm, found 13 times over the past decade when monthly prices for unfinished gasoline—which needs additives to be used in cars—fell while the price of retail gas rose, the Journal reported.
• Biden wrote that large oil companies are generating high profit and handing billions of dollars in cash back to shareholders. Pump prices are a political hot potato. Past presidents from both parties have asked for similar investigations that rarely resulted in federal action, the Journal reported.

What’s Next: A recent GasBuddy survey found that 68% of Americans aren’t traveling over Thanksgiving weekend, with 51% citing high gas prices as the reason. Gas prices are projected to decline to $3.35 per gallon by next week.

—Janet H. Cho

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Biden Visits GM Plant and Drives a Battery-Powered Hummer

Biden visited General Motors
’ Factory Zero electric-vehicle plant in Detroit to tout plans to build a national network of electric-vehicle charging stations in the $1 trillion infrastructure bill he signed on Monday, saying it would help the U.S. regain its competitive edge.

• Biden toured the factory, test-drove an all-electric GMC Hummer and noted that the U.S. market share of plug-in electric vehicle sales is one-third China’s EV market. “We’re about to turn that around in a big, big way,” Biden said.
• Biden sought $15 billion for 500,000 EV charging stations, but only $7.5 billion was approved. The International Council on Clean Transportation says the U.S. will need 2.4 million charging stations by 2030 if one-third of new vehicles sold are electric, the Associated Press reported.
• GM CEO Mary Barra said employment at the plant Biden visited has doubled since it was retooled to build zero-emissions electric vehicles. GM is introducing 30 electric vehicle models by 2025.
• Biden’s $1.85 trillion social spending and climate bill that Congress is still negotiating includes a $7,500 tax credit to purchase electric vehicles, plus another $4,500 if the vehicle is built by union workers. That limits it to autos made at GM, Ford Motor , and Jeep and Chrysler’s Stellantis factories.

What’s Next: A tax break favoring purchases of U.S.-made vehicles could cause tension at today’s North American Leaders Summit, when Biden hosts Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador.

—Janet H. Cho

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Thefts of catalytic converters from vehicles have been on the rise during the pandemic. What should you do if it happens to you? Does insurance cover the theft?

Nothing will make your heart sink faster than turning on your car and hearing the ungodly rumbling noise that comes when your catalytic converter has been stolen.

For many, that sound will be their first introduction to what has been among the fastest rising categories of auto theft during the pandemic. The surge has been fueled in part by skyrocketing prices for the precious metals contained within the part, which is a key part of a car’s emission’s system.

“The noise and the exhaust smell—I had no idea what it was, but I knew it was bad,” said actor Cameran Hebb, who had the catalytic converter stolen from her Toyota Prius last summer.

Catalytic converter theft has shot up tenfold since 2018 and the problem is rampant nationwide, according to the National Insurance Crime Bureau, a trade group that tracks theft and fraud.

Read more here.

—Lukas I. Alpert

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—Newsletter edited by Liz Moyer, Camilla Imperiali, Steve Goldstein, Callum Keown