11:49 AM EST, 12/04/2024 (MT Newswires) -- All three major US stock indexes were up in late-morning trading Wednesday, with the Nasdaq Composite leading the ascent thanks to some strong earnings reports from tech companies.

In company news, UnitedHealth Group's ( UNH ) UnitedHealthcare Chief Executive Brian Thompson was fatally shot Wednesday morning in Midtown Manhattan in what New York police are calling a possible targeted attack, according to multiple news outlets. According to reports, the shooting occurred at around 6:46 a.m. ET when a masked man fired repeatedly at Thompson soon after he arrived at a hotel ahead of an investor conference.

Salesforce ( CRM ) reported fiscal Q3 non-GAAP earnings late Tuesday of $2.41 per diluted share, up from $2.11 a year earlier but below the consensus estimate of analysts surveyed by FactSet of $2.44, excluding certain items. Fiscal Q3 revenue was $9.44 billion, up from $8.72 billion a year earlier and above the FactSet consensus of $9.35 billion. The company said it expects Q4 non-GAAP EPS of between $2.57 and $2.62 on revenue of $9.90 billion to $10.10 billion. Analysts polled by FactSet expect EPS of $2.66, excluding some items on revenue of $10.05 billion. For fiscal 2025, the company expects non-GAAP EPS of $9.98 to $10.03 and revenue of $37.8 billion to $38.0 billion. Previously, it guided for non-GAAP EPS of $10.03 to $10.11 on revenue between $37.7 billion and $38.0 billion. Analysts surveyed by FactSet expect $10.10 and $37.86 billion, respectively. Salesforce ( CRM ) shares were up 8.8% around midday.

Eli Lilly ( LLY ) said Wednesday its Surmount-5 phase 3b clinical study showed that Zepbound provided a 47% "greater relative weight loss" compared to Novo Nordisk's ( NVO ) Wegovy. Zepbound, Eli Lilly's ( LLY ) weight-loss drug, resulted in a "superior" weight reduction of 20.2% against Wegovy's 13.7%, the company said. Eli Lilly ( LLY ) shares were up 3.2%, while those of Novo Nordisk ( NVO ) were up 0.8%.

TotalEnergies (TTE) said Wednesday it signed an agreement to acquire VSB Group from Partners Group for a consideration of 1.57 billion euros ($1.65 billion). Separately, Apollo Global Management ( APO ) said Wednesday that funds managed by its affiliates have agreed to acquire a 50% stake in TotalEnergies' Texas solar and battery energy storage system portfolio. Shares of TotalEnergies were down 0.5%, while those of Apollo were up 0.2%.

The attorney general of Washington, D.C. filed a lawsuit against Amazon.com ( AMZN ) on Wednesday for allegedly excluding city residents in certain ZIP codes from Prime's expedited delivery, CNBC reported. Since 2022, Amazon ( AMZN ) has covertly denied residents in two D.C. ZIP codes access to its high-speed delivery service while charging Prime members living there the full subscription price, Attorney General Brian Schwalb said in the lawsuit, according to the report. Amazon ( AMZN ) shares were up 2.1%.

General Motors ( GM ) said Wednesday in a regulatory filing that it expects to report over $5 billion in impairment charges and write-downs related to its China business. The automaker said it anticipates incurring an impairment charge of between $2.6 billion and $2.9 billion for the quarter ended Dec. 31 on its Chinese joint ventures. GM also expects roughly $2.7 billion in additional equity losses by implementing SAIC General Motors' restructuring plan. Shares of General Motors ( GM ) were down 0.8%.

Ford Motor ( F ) said Wednesday it sold 166,373 vehicles in November, up 14.3% from the year-ago period's 145,559. Electric vehicle sales increased by 20.8% year over year in November to 10,821, while hybrid sales gained 18.5% to 14,351 and internal combustion sales grew by 13.4% to 141,201. Ford shares were down 1.2%.

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