4 Stocks to Watch in Today's Sell-Off 📉

US benchmarks sold off on Thursday as interest rate concerns continued to weigh on investor sentiment. The Dow fell 2.2%, and the S&P 500 lost 2.4%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq was the biggest loser, with a 3.2% loss. The small-cap Russell 2K also took a steep loss of 2.5%.

Today, futures are pointing to more losses at the open. Dow and S&P 500 contracts are currently down 1.0%.

📉 Sentiment Sours: A recent poll of registered voters by WSJ found nearly two-thirds of respondents say the US economy is heading in the wrong direction, and more than half say it'll be in worse shape in 2023 than it is now.

Strong earnings are boosting shares of Adobe today.

The worldwide software company reported its fiscal Q4 earnings in Thursday's after-market, and the results surpassed expectations.

Adobe reported non-GAAP EPS of $3.60 per diluted share, topping the consensus of $3.50 per share.

Revenues of $4.53 billion were inline with analysts' estimates.

Adobe also raised its fiscal 2023 forecast in response to the strong quarter, prompting several upgrades from analysts.

ADBE is leading the S&P 500 with a 4.6% gain.

My Take: ADBE is a high quality large-cap, but it's taken a beating this year, like many other tech sector stocks. The move higher is promising, but I don't know if it's enough for a long-term pivot.

Maxar Tech is rallying on buyout news.

According to a report from The Wall Street Journal, Advent International has agreed to buy satellite imaging firm Maxar in a $4 billion all-cash deal.

Advent will pay $53 per share to acquire the company, representing a premium of 129% from MAXR's Thursday's closing price.

The deal also includes Maxar's debt, which brings the total transaction value to $6.4 billion.

Neither company responded immediately to comment requests.

MAXR is today's top premarket performer with a 115.9% gain on huge trading volume.

My Take: MAXR's current price is about $4 away from the acquisition bid of $53, and the deal hasn't been confirmed by the companies yet. Not a lot of upside left, but there's plenty of potential downside if the deal doesn't go through.

News of a new partnership is lifting shares of Applied UV this morning.

The UV light technology company announced a new strategic manufacturing and supply chain collaboration agreement with a Canon subsidiary today.

Under the terms of the deal, Canon Virginia will serve as the primary manufacturer, assembler, and logistical authority for Applied UV's air purifiers.

The manufacturing agreement is the first in a series of anticipated deals that will allow Applied UV to leverage Canon Virginia's resources.

AUVI is up 28.1% in the wake of the early morning announcement.

My Take: This deal could help AUVI grow its air purification business and its revenues. The financial benefit won't be clear without a deep analysis, but it could be a big step forward for the company.

Antitrust efforts against a competitor are translating into gains for Exact Sciences.

The genetic diagnostic & testing company is moving higher on news the European and US regulators want to nix Illumina's [ILMN] $7.1 billion purchase of Grail.

Illumina's sequencers are being used by many companies, and regulators fear the company could unfairly prioritize Grail in a race to create early detection tests for cancer.

Exact Sciences and six other companies have testified that they relied heavily on Illumina's system in court and said switching would be too costly.

Regulators are now pushing to unwind Illumina's proposed acquisition of Grail, and the market sees that as good news for Exact Sciences and other Grail competitors.

EXAS is up 17.9% on news of the regulatory scrutiny.

My Take: If regulators can successfully break up the Illumina-Grail deal, we could see another big move in EXAS in the future. Even the suggestion the deal could be broken up gave the stock a 17% gain, so there could be a big rally if regulators get their way.

Accenture Plc [ACN] ... AM
Darden Restaurants, Inc. [DRI] ... AM
Winnebago Industries, Inc. [WGO] ... AM
Neptune Wellness Solutions Inc. [NEPT] ... PM