Stocks are mixed midday, as investors continue to unpack this morning's upbeat inflation data. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) is down triple digits, while the S&P 500 Index's (SPX) modest rise pushes it into the black for 2025. The Nasdaq Composite (IXIC), meanwhile, is up 278 points with help from Nvidia (NVDA) and the rest of the tech sector. 

Options bulls are targeting aerospace & defense stock Archer Aviation Inc (NYSE: ACHR), after the company's upbeat first-quarter results. So far, the stock has seen 128,000 calls and 35,000 puts exchanged, which is 7 times the average daily options volume. The May 11 call is the most popular, with new positions being sold to open there. At last glance, ACHR was up 22.7% at $11.14, hitting its highest levels since mid February. The shares have been rallying since bouncing off the 320-day moving average in early April. Since the start of the year, the equity is up 14.2%. 

Homebuilding stock Landsea Homes Corp (Nasdaq: LSEA) was last seen up 60% at $11.22, heading for its highest single-day percentage gain ever, after news that New Home will acquire the company for roughly $1.2 billion in a deal backed by Apollo Global Management. LSEA saw a barrage of bear notes in response, however, including a downgrade from Oppenheimer to "perform" from "outperform." Year-to-date, the equity is currently up 32.3%. 

Pharmaceutical concern Halozyme Therapeutics Inc (Nasdaq: HALO) is down 26.3% at $49.07, on a new CMS Medicare approach that will price negotiations for drugs that use its additive product, hyaluronidase. In response, Leerink Partners downgraded the stock to "underperform." For 2025, HALO is hanging on to a 0.8% lead. 

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