Stock Market Live September 29: S&P 500 (VOO) Rises on Mergers & Acquisitions News
By
Joel South
Sep 29, 2025 | Updated 9:35 AM ET
This post may contain links from our sponsors and affiliates, and Flywheel Publishing may receive compensation for actions taken through them.
<!– Legacy Bulma: `live-update-content` opening
Key Points
- Vice President Vance confirmed Sunday that TikTok US will be sold to a coalition of companies led by Oracle for $14 billion.
- Electronic Arts announced over the weekend it will go private in a $55 billion transaction.
- Are you ahead, or behind on retirement? SmartAsset’s free tool can match you with a financial advisor in minutes to help you answer that today. Each advisor has been carefully vetted, and must act in your best interests. Don’t waste another minute; get started by clicking here.(Sponsor)
<!– Legacy Bulma: `live-update-content` closing
–>
<!– Modern Tailwind content closing
–>
Live Updates
Live Coverage
Updates appear automatically as they are published.
Get The Best Electronic Arts Live Earnings Coverage Like This Every Quarter
Get earnings reminders, our top analysis on Electronic Arts, market updates, and brand-new stock recommendations delivered directly to your inbox.
Carnival Cruises Higher
Carnival Corporation (NYSE: CCL) beat earnings by 11 cents this morning, reporting it earned $1.43 per share in its fiscal Q3 2025. Revenue also came in ahead of estiamtes at $8.2 billion. Management further forecast improved net yields for the rest of the year, of 5.3%, but also higher costs that could weigh on profit.
Carnival stock is up 1.5% as trading begins, while the Voo’s gain has been cut to 0.4%.
This article will be updated throughout the day, so check back often for more daily updates.
Vice President JD Vance said on Sunday he is “very confident that we have successfully separated [TikTok US] from TikTok global and actually made it so that we can control people’s data security [and] ensure that the algorithm is not being used as a propaganda tool by a foreign government.” The Vice President also confirmed that TikTok US will be valued at $14 billion in a transaction that will see Oracle (NYSE: ORCL), private-equity firm Silver Lake, and Abu Dhabi-based MGX investment fund take significant stakes in the company, while the stake of TikTok’s original owner, ByteDance, shrinks below 20%.
ByteDance investors that include General Atlantic, Susquehanna, and Sequoia will also have stakes in TikTok US, but the United States government will not.
Oracle is an S&P 500 component company, and its stock is up 0.9% premarket.
Electronic Arts (Nasdaq: EA) is another big S&P 500 company on the move this morning. The gaming giant announced over the weekend it will go private in a $55 billion, all-cash deal, selling out to private equity companies PIF, Affinity Partners, and… Silver Lake (again).
EA stock is up more than 5%.
Finally, investors are starting to get antsy now as the federal government is set to shut down — absent passage of a continuing resolution to keep it funded — at midnight tomorrow.
For now, the stock news seems to be top of mind with investors, however, and the Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (NYSEMKT: VOO) is up 0.6% premarket.
Analyst Calls
Perhaps encouraged by the EA acquisition today, CICC analyst Zijie Yang just initiated coverage on fellow Nasdaq gamer Take-Two Interactive (Nasdaq: TTWO) with an outperform rating.
Separately, Barclays initiated coverage of nuclear power plant startup Oklo (NYSE: OKLO) with an overweight rating this morning. “As a developer, owner and operator of [nuclear] assets, it looks to build and grow a baseline of cash flows from the facilities that it puts into place from PPA agreements. It currently has 14 GW of non-binding agreements with various customers, such as data centers, military outposts, etc.” The analyst sees “material upside potential” in the stock, which is up more than 5% premarket.