Kim Kahn

Adjusted EPS came in at $5.16, easily topping the $4.71 expected.

Power and energy sales climbed 23% to $9.4 billion.

Within that segment, power generation revenue jumped 44% to $3.24 billion, driven by higher sales of large reciprocating engines that the company said were primarily tied to data center applications, as the AI build-out keeps echoing through demand.

Altria is under pressure after slightly missing profit estimates in Q4.

The tobacco giant said it's targeting mid-single-digit annual dividend per share growth through 2028.

And Joby Aviation is sinking after pricing and offering.

The electric vertical takeoff and landing company will issue $600 million of 0.75% convertible senior notes due 2032 and sell about 52.9 million shares of common stock at $11.35 per share.

And in other news of note, Barry Diller has expressed interest in buying CNN and approached Warner Bros.

Discovery about a deal last year.

The Wall Street Journal reports that Diller inquired about CNN before Warner announced this plan to split into two distinct businesses, and before WBD formally put itself up for sale.

Sources close to Warner told the Journal that no serious action was taken on Diller's approach and it wasn't brought to the board, but Diller is still said to be interested in CNN and is eyeing a deal in a personal capacity.

Welcome to Seeking Alpha's Wall Street Lunch, our afternoon update on today's market action, news, and analysis.

Good afternoon.

Today is Thursday, January 22nd, and I'm your host, Kim Kahn.

Our top story so far.

Rates are moving higher after a raft of morning economic data pointing to sticky inflation, solid growth, and a somewhat stable labor market.

The core PCE price index, the Fed's preferred inflation gauge, rose 2.8% year-over-year in November, unchanged from October, and in line with expectations.

Olu Sonola, whose head of U.S.

economic research at Fitch Ratings, says the data suggests inflation is stuck.

PCE isn't converging back to target, but it's also not re-accelerating on tariff-driven pressures, he said, adding that resilient consumers and higher income wage gains keep the Fed in a holding pattern and policy restrictive for longer.