Buffett’s Berkshire Buys; Fair Isaac Soars, Equifax Falls

Shares of a data analytics firm took off after the company said it would provide its consumer credit scores directly to firms that give credit reports to mortgage lenders. The move pressured the credit bureaus that also evaluate potential borrowers.

Major U.S. equities indexes ticked higher Thursday. Outperformance from materials and technology stocks offset declines in most sectors as investors continued to weigh the implications of a government shutdown. The S&P 500 added less than 0.1%, while the Dow and the Nasdaq were up 0.2% and 0.4%, respectively. See here to read Investopedia’s full coverage of the day’s trading. 

Warren Buffet’s Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A, BRK.B) confirmed a nearly $10 billion deal to acquire the petrochemical division of Occidental Petroleum (OXY). The transaction marks Berkshire’s largest deal since 2022. Shares of Occidental Petroleum fell 7.3%, while Berkshire Hathaway shares posted fractional losses.

Fair Isaac (FICO) shares surged 18%, notching the top performance in the S&P 500, after the data analytics company said it would offer its FICO consumer credit scores directly to firms that sell consolidated credit reports to mortgage providers. The data provider said the move would reduce the reliance on the three nationwide credit bureaus, and shares of the credit bureaus moved lower. Equifax (EFX) shares were down 8.5%, falling the most of any S&P 500 stock, while TransUnion (TRU) shares dropped nearly 11%.

The prices of bitcoin (BTCUSD) and other major cryptocurrencies extended their recent revival. Shares of Coinbase Global (COIN), operator of the largest U.S. crypto exchange, jumped 7.5%, while of online brokerage Robinhood Markets (HOOD), which also offers crypto trading, added 4.1%. Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev at a conference predicted that the “tokenization” of real-world assets, including stocks, would have a major impact on global financial markets.

Intel (INTC) shares gained 3.8% in the wake of recent reports that Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) is in early talks to become a customer of Intel’s foundry business. Intel stock has doubled in value since reaching its year-to-date low in April, boosted by a series of high-profile investments from Nvidia (NVDA), SoftBank (SFTBY), and the U.S. government.

Shares of the renewable energy provider AES Corp. (AES) sank 7%. The downturn reversed some of the gains posted in the previous session amid reports that Global Infrastructure Partners, owned by BlackRock (BLK), was in advanced negotiations about a potential acquisition of AES, which has signed deals with several tech firms to power artificial intelligence data centers.