Post-Bell | Wall St Ends Higher, Boosted by Healthcare. Tesla, Oracle Jump 3%; Intel, Novo-Nordisk Rise 7%; Micron, Western Digital up 9%

Wall Street's main stock indexes closed higher on Wednesday, with the biggest boost from the healthcare sector, as investors looked past weaker-than-expected private payrolls data and uncertainty around the first day of the U.S. federal government shutdown.

After opening lower, all three main U.S. indexes advanced. Among the S&P 500's 11 major industry sectors, the biggest gainer was S&P 500 healthcare, boosted by pharmaceutical companies.

The healthcare rally started in earnest on Tuesday after Pfizer and U.S. President Donald Trump said they had cut a deal. The drugmaker agreed to lower prescription drug prices in the Medicaid program - compared to its charges in other developed countries - in exchange for tariff relief. Trump said he expected more drug companies to follow suit.

Market Snapshot

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 43.21 points, or 0.09%, to 46,441.10, the S&P 500 gained 22.74 points, or 0.34%, to 6,711.20 and the Nasdaq Composite gained 95.15 points, or 0.42%, to 22,755.16. AST SpaceMobile, Inc. rose 16%; Tempus AI, Micron Technology, Western Digital, Seagate Technology PLC up 9%; Eli Lilly, SanDisk Corp. up 8%; Intel, Novo-Nordisk A/S up 7%; Tesla Motors, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing, Oracle up 3%.

Market Movers

Nvidia was up 0.4% to hit a fresh record. It build on a closing high from Tuesday to bring its market cap to about $4.55 trillion. Meta Platforms, one of Nvidia's major customers, has been accelerating its efforts to develop alternatives to Nvidia's chips.

Nike reported fiscal first-quarter earnings of 49 cents a share, topping analysts' estimates of 27 cents, while revenue of $11.7 billion, up 1% from a year earlier, also beat predictions. Revenue in North America rose 4% from a year earlier to $5.02 billion, driven by higher apparel and equipment sales. The company, however, said progress wouldn't be "linear" as Nike's different businesses "recover on different timelines." Shares of the sneaker and athletic apparel retailer were rising 6.5%.

Netflix was down 2.3% after Tesla CEO Elon Musk echoed calls for a boycott of the streaming service. "Cancel Netflix for the health of your kids," Musk said in a post on his social-media platform X. Conservatives have shared screenshots that appear to show Hamish Steele, who created the animated Netflix show Dead End: Paranormal Park, criticizing U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer for condemning the assassination of right-wing political activist Charlie Kirk.

Fermi Inc. made its trading debut Wednesday at $25. At $32.53, it closed up 55% from its initial public offering price of $21. The company aims to power data centers using natural gas plants and nuclear reactors.

Occidental was up 1% after The Wall Street Journal reported Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway was in talks to buy the oil-and-gas company's petrochemical business for around $10 billion. The deal, which would be Berkshire's largest since 2022, could come together within days, people familiar with the matter told the Journal. Berkshire Hathaway's Class B shares fell 0.9%.

AES Corp surged 17% after the Financial Times reported that BlackRock-owned Global Infrastructure Partners was nearing a $38 billion deal to buy the utility company.

Lithium Americas soared 23%. The U.S. government is taking a 5% stake in the Vancouver-based mining company and a 5% stake in the company's Thacker Pass mining project in Nevada. General Motors owns a 38% stake in the Nevada mine. GM shares rose 0.6%.

Pfizer rose another 6.8% after shares jumped on Tuesday following an announcement from President Donald Trump that the company would be cutting prices for drugs sold into the Medicaid system, and would launch new drugs in the U.S. at lower prices that match those in other wealthy nations. Shares of competitor Merck were up 7.4% after also gaining 6.8% on Tuesday.

Shares of Moderna, Eli Lilly, and Regeneron Pharmaceuticals gained 6.9%, 8.2%, and 6.7%, respectively, as Trump's 100% tariff on pharmaceutical imports took effect. The levy only applies to branded products from companies that lack a U.S. manufacturing presence. Separately, on Tuesday, the Trump administration unveiled TrumpRx, a direct-to-consumer prescription drug marketplace.

Sunrun rose 6.1% to $18.35. Jefferies upgraded the solar company to Buy from Hold and raised the price target to $21 from $11. The upgrade came in anticipation of cash generation in the second half of the year, expected to finally materialize in line with the company's current guidance of $200 million to $500 million.

AppLovin Corporation, the developer of monetization tools for mobile app developers, fell 2%. Shares ended Tuesday's session up 0.9% at $718.54, a record closing high, and ended the third quarter as the best-performing stock in the S&P 500, rising 105% from the beginning of July to the end of September. AppLovin joined the index last month.

Carvana rose 4.8% to $395.41 after Jefferies boosted its rating on shares of the used-car retailer to Buy from Hold and hiked its price target to $485 from $375. The stock has gained 94% this year.

Market News

UnitedHealth, CVS Health, Humana Scale Back Medicare Advantage Offerings

UnitedHealthcare, the insurance arm of UnitedHealth, Humana, and CVS Health, the owner of the Aetna insurer, have scaled back their operations in the Medicare Advantage market as the next Medicare Open Enrollment period is set to start in a few days.

UnitedHealthcare, the number one player in the MA market, said on Wednesday that its 2026 Medicare Advantage plans will be available for 94% of Medicare beneficiaries in the U.S., and the company will maintain its market leadership.

Apple Tables Vision Pro Sequel to Pursue Smart Glasses: Report

Apple has tabled its efforts to produce a follow-up to its Vision Pro headset in favor of developing a new line of smart glasses powered by artificial intelligence, according to Bloomberg.

The Cupertino company has moved staff from working on its new, lighter and cheaper Vision Pro to focus on its smart glasses, which would be similar to those offered by Meta Platforms, Inc., the report said, citing people close to the issue. Apple engineers are working on at least two types of the smart glasses. One is being crafted to be paired with an iPhone and will lack its own display. This could be revealed as soon as 2026. The other version will contain a display similar to the recently released Meta Ray-Ban Display.