Top Midday Stories: Goldman Reportedly in Talks to Acquire $37 Billion Credit Firm Palmer Square; Viking Obesity Drug Candidate Showed 'Superior' Results in Study

11:46 AM EDT, 09/22/2026 (MT Newswires) -- The Nasdaq Composite was up, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down, and the S&P 500 Index was roughly flat in late-morning trading Tuesday, as Iran reportedly offered to reopen the Strait of Hormuz within seven days if the US meets certain requirements. In company news, Goldman Sachs Group (GS) has emerged as the leading bidder to acquire Palmer Square Capital Management, a credit manager that oversees $37 billion, Bloomberg reported Tuesday, citing people familiar with the matter. The two sides are in talks, but no final decision has been made and the talks could fall through, the report said, citing the people. Goldman shares were down 1.9% around midday. Viking Therapeutics (VKTX) said Tuesday its subcutaneous VK2735 showed "superior weight maintenance" under less frequent dosing regiments compared to a placebo over a 12-week period in a clinical study. Participants randomized to monthly dosing regimens preserved up to 90% of mean weight loss achieved during the induction period, the company said. Viking shares were up 25%. Alibaba's (BABA) Zhenwu V900 AI training and inference processor offers three times the performance of its predecessor, the company said Tuesday. The chip is scheduled for mass production and commercial release in Q1, the company said. Alibaba shares were up 0.7%. Southern Company (SO) unit Georgia Power said late Monday it entered into a partnership with Alphabet's (GOOG, GOOGL) Google to advance nuclear energy in the state and provide around $900 million in benefits to consumers. Southern shares were up 0.1%, while Alphabet's Class C and Class A shares were up 0.3% and 0.5%, respectively. AutoZone (AZO) reported fiscal Q4 net income Tuesday of $56.05 per diluted share, up from $48.71 a year earlier and above the FactSet consensus analyst estimate of $54.18. Fiscal Q4 net sales were $6.59 billion, up from $6.24 billion a year ago but below the FactSet consensus of $6.70 billion. AutoZone shares were up 5.6%. Price: 941.42, Change: -17.97, Percent Change: -1.87