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Paramount Global's (PARA) special committee said Edgar Bronfman Jr. has withdrawn from bidding for Shari Redstone's media empire, setting the stage for the entertainment giant to be sold to David Ellison's Skydance Media.

The special committee handling the twists and turns of the monthslong bidding process for Paramount said that it is closing the door on the company's "go-shop" period and plans to move forward with the Skydance Media deal.

The committee said that it had "contacted more than 50 third parties" to see if they were interested in bidding for Paramount, whose shares are falling almost 5% in premarket trading Tuesday.

Last month, Paramount announced it had agreed to a deal that would see Skydance and private-equity backer RedBird Capital Partners invest over $8 billion, including debt, to acquire controlling shareholder National Amusements and form "New Paramount." Skydance and Paramount subsequently would merge.

Paramount shares, which were down 23% year-to-date through Monday's close, are a further 4.7% lower at $10.80 about 30 minutes before the opening bell.

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Paramount Global (PARA) shares are falling as its special committee confirms a retreat by Edgar Bronfman Jr. for Shari Redstone's media empire; Apple (AAPL) shares are in focus as it replaces its longtime CFO ahead of its artificial intelligence (AI)-powered iPhone 16 unveiling; nationwide home prices are expected to have risen in June but with slowing growth; Eli Lilly (LLY) unveils Zepbound single-dose vials at half the cost of other obesity drugs; and Sony Group (SONY) is hiking its PlayStation 5 prices in Japan even though the console is aging and has seen slowing sales. U.S. stock futures are little changed after indexes closed mixed yesterday. Here's what investors need to know today.

Paramount Global's (PARA) special committee said Edgar Bronfman Jr. has withdrawn from bidding for Shari Redstone's media empire, setting the stage for the entertainment giant to be sold to David Ellison's Skydance Media. The special committee handling the twists and turns of the monthslong bidding process for Paramount said that it is closing the door on the company's "go-shop" period and plans to move forward with the Skydance Media deal. The committee said that it had "contacted more than 50 third parties" to see if they were interested in bidding for Paramount, whose shares are falling 5% in premarket trading.

Apple (AAPL) shares are likely to remain in focus ahead of a Sept. 9 event at which the tech giant is expected to unveil the iPhone 16 with artificial intelligence (AI) capability, as well as new versions of the Apple Watch and AirPods. Investors are also digesting news late Monday that the company will replace long-time Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Luca Maestri on Jan. 1 with Kevan Parekh, Apple's current vice president of financial planning and analysis. Apple shares are little changed in premarket trading but are up almost 20% this year on the promise of new AI features on its devices.

Investors will get a read on how expensive house prices are getting with the release of new S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller National Home Price Index data this morning. Nationwide home prices are expected to have risen 6.3% year-over-year in June versus 6.8% in May, according to a survey of economists by and . Lower interest rates and builder incentives have been causing new home sales to pick up, with recent data showing that the sale of new single-family houses increased by 10.6% in July from the revised June numbers, rising to an annual rate of 739,000 homes, more than economists expected. 

Eli Lilly (LLY) said it is selling single-dose vials for Zepbound in the U.S. at half the cost of other obesity treatments, a move the pharma giant said will "significantly" expand supply and access of the hit weight-loss drug. A four-week supply of the 2.5 mg Zepbound single-dose vial is $399 and a four-week supply of the 5 mg dose is $549, which Lilly said is "less than half the list price of other incretin medicines for obesity." Shares of Lilly, which also sells diabetes drug Mounjaro, are edging lower in premarket trading but—like those of Ozempic and Wegovy maker Novo Nordisk (NVO)—have surged this year on high demand for GLP-1 drugs.

Sony Group (SONY) said it is increasing the price of its PlayStation 5 in Japan by 19% to around 80,000 yen ($550), in an unexpected move by the tech and entertainment giant. The price hike comes even though the console is four years old and has seen slowing sales, and a revamped console is expected in coming months. "This decision takes into consideration the business impact of the severe external environment, including recent global economic fluctuations," Sony said in a Japanese blog post, according to a translation. Sony's American depositary receipts (ADRs) are rising 2.5% in premarket trading.

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Major U.S. equities indexes were mixed to open a new trading week that includes a busy calendar of corporate and economic data releases.

The latest earnings report from artificial intelligence (AI) semiconductor powerhouse Nvidia (NVDA) is set for release on Wednesday afternoon, while investors will get a look at important inflation and economic growth figures later in the week.

The S&P 500 slipped 0.3% on Monday, while the Nasdaq was down 0.9%. The Dow touched an all-time intraday high in the morning but lost steam later in the session to close with a daily gain of 0.2%.

Technology was the weakest-performing sector, with stocks in the semiconductor industry posting significant losses ahead of Nvidia's report. Shares of storage and server provider Super Micro Computer (SMCI) posted the heaviest losses of any stock in the S&P 500, tumbling 8.3%. In its most recent quarterly report, released in early August, Supermicro missed earnings expectations as lower margins weighed on profits. The firm also announced a 10-for-1 stock split.

Chipmaker Broadcom (AVGO) said it partnered with Hitachi Vantara, a data storage subsidiary of the Japanese conglomerate Hitachi, to collaborate on hybrid cloud solutions designed to help companies scale up AI-related processes. However, Broadcom shares could not escape the downward pressure in the chip industry, falling 4.1% on Monday.

Meanwhile, shares of memory chip designer Micron Technology (MU) sank 3.8% after Needham trimmed its price target on the stock to $140 from $150. Analysts cited a flat outlook for shipments of Micron's DRAM and NAND memory products.

Shares of human resources software provider Dayforce (DAY) notched Monday's top performance in the S&P 500, jumping 4.0%. Last week, Dayforce announced the launch of a new employee training tool with AI capabilities designed to optimize the learning process. In its most recent quarterly report, the firm exceeded sales and profit forecasts, boosted by strong demand for its payroll and human capital management (HCM) services.

Jack Henry & Associates (JKHY) shares gained 2.6% after the financial technology company declared a regular quarterly dividend of 55 cents per share. Based on Monday's closing price, the payout equates to a forward dividend yield of 1.3%.

Shares of oil and gas exploration firm EOG Resources (EOG) added 2.5% on Monday. Analysts at Zacks Equities Research recently highlighted EOG as a strong value stock, noting the company's solid earnings metrics and suggesting that unexploited premium locations could boost EOG's production outlook.

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Apple (AAPL) is likely to unveil its newest phones and the next generations of the Apple Watch and AirPods at an event on Sept. 9.

The iPhone maker is expected to officially announce the long-anticipated iPhone 16, supercharged with artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities.

The event is reportedly called "It’s Glowtime," with the company's announcement displaying the company's logo in the style of the glowing aura of Apple's Siri interface. The virtual assistant with new AI-powered capabilities is likely to be a focus of the event.

Apple in June announced its newest operating system, iOS 18, and its personal intelligence system, Apple Intelligence. The coming event will land roughly a year after Apple's iPhone 15 launch.

The company also unveiled a partnership with Microsoft-backed (MSFT) OpenAI to integrate ChatGPT into iOS 18 later this year. Apple Intelligence is expected to roll out after the initial iOS 18 launch.

Apple's event comes shortly after Alphabet's (GOOGL) Made By Google launch event, at which the company unveiled the Pixel 9, along with the latest versions of its smartwatches and wireless earbuds.

That event, held in mid-August, showcased how the company is integrating AI into its devices, including its AI voice assistant, Gemini Live.

Apple shares were little changed in Monday trading. The stock has gained nearly 18% year-to-date.

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Dell Technologies (DELL) is set to report second-quarter results for its fiscal 2025 after the bell on Thursday, with investors likely watching for margin improvements and any updates on the company's position in the artificial intelligence (AI) server market.

Analysts project revenue to grow to $24.18 billion from $22.93 billion reported the year prior, according toestimates compiled by Visible Alpha. Net income is expected to be $871.01 million, or $1.15 per share, gaining from the year-ago period, but falling sequentially.

Investors likely will be monitoring Dell's margins after the company's first-quarter results showed a double-digit decline in operating income, despite strong demand for AI servers.

Analysts expect operating income to be $1.27 billion, derived from an estimated $24.18 in revenue.

Dell could provide investors with updates Thursday about the company's efforts to support margin improvement to ease their worries about margin pressures. The company could accelerate cost-cutting efforts to improve margins, similar to its peers like Intel (INTC) and Cisco (CSCO).

Despite concerns about margin pressure affecting the legacy computing company, some analysts have highlighted Dell's potential to gain from increased demand for AI server hardware.

Bank of America analysts said last week that "although AI server deals remain lumpy (size & timing)," Dell's management "remains confident in the pipeline and focused on balancing orders, backlog, and shipments growth," a positive indicator for the company's AI opportunity.

The analysts said they "remain confident" in the Dell story despite recent volatility in the stock, writing, "the fundamentals of the stock are strong."

Dell shares were down about 0.6% at $111.35 around 3:30 p.m. ET Monday. The stock has gained 46% year-to-date.

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