The S&P 500 posted a record high close on Friday for the first time in two years, fueled by a rally in chipmakers and other heavyweight technology stocks on optimism around artificial intelligence.
Market Snapshot
The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 1.05 percent, hitting fresh records to 37,863.80, while the broad-based S&P 500 ended 1.23 percent higher at 4,839.81. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index also climbed 1.70 percent to 15,310.97.
Market Movers
Shares of iRobot plunged 27% after The Wall Street Journal reported the European Commission intends to block Amazon.com’s acquisition of the Roomba maker. The Journal, citing people familiar with the matter, said Amazon was told Thursday in a meeting with competition officials from the European Commission that the deal likely would be rejected. Amazon agreed to buy iRobot for $1.7 billion in August 2022. Amazon shares finished up 1.2%.
Spirit Airlines rose 17% after the beleaguered budget carrier said it expects fourth-quarter revenue at the high end of its initial guidance and that bookings over the holiday period were strong. The stock had closed down 7.5% on Thursday following a Journal report that said Spirit was planning to explore restructuring options with advisors following the collapse of its merger with JetBlue Airways. In a statement sent to Barron’s after markets closed Thursday, a Spirit spokesperson said that the company “is not pursuing nor involved in a statutory restructuring.” Spirit shares fell 47% on Tuesday and 22% on Wednesday.
Super Micro Computer gained 36% after the server and computer products maker said it expects fiscal second-quarter adjusted earnings of $5.40 to $5.55 a share, higher than analysts’ estimates of $4.51 and better than the company’s previous forecast of $4.40 to $4.88. It expects sales of $3.6 billion to $3.65 billion, also above Wall Street estimates. Super Micro cited “a strong market and end customer demand for our rack-scale, AI and Total IT Solutions.”
Advanced Micro Devices rose 7.1% to $174.23 and Nvidia climbed 4.2% to $594.91 after shares of both chip makers closed at all-time highs on Thursday. AMD has risen 26% this year while Nvidia has soared 24%. The stocks have received a boost from investors’ appetite for everything related to artificial intelligence. On Thursday, AMD and Nvidia got a lift from Taiwan Semiconductor’s better-than-expected forecast.
Texas Instruments finished up 4.1% to $173.65. UBS upgraded the stock to Buy from Neutral and raised the price target on shares of the chip maker to $195 from $170.
Travelers rose 6.7% after the property casualty insurer reported fourth-quarter core profit of $7.01 a share, easily topping analysts’ estimates of $5.10. The company said the quarter saw higher underwriting gains and lower catastrophe losses.
Wayfair said it would be cutting 1,650 jobs after acknowledging that it “went overboard in hiring during a strong economic period.” Shares of the online home furnishings retailer rose 10%.
Ally Financial rose 11%. The bank reported better-than-expected fourth-quarter adjusted earnings and said its point-of-sale financing business was acquired by Synchrony Financial.
Schlumberger gained 2.2% after the oil services provider’s fourth-quarter revenue topped estimates on strong international growth. SLB also raised its quarterly dividend.
International Business Machines climbed 2.8% to $171.48 after Evercore raised its rating on the stock to Outperform from In Line and increased the price target to $200 from $165.
AT&T gained 1.7% to $16.67 after shares of the telecommunications company were upgraded to Outperform from Perform at Oppenheimer and the price target was set at $21. Oppenheimer raised its forecasts for revenue and earnings at AT&T.
Chegg was downgraded to Sell from Neutral at Goldman Sachs and the price target was cut to $8 a share from $10. Shares of the education technology company fell 2.2% to $9.84 after the analysts said the emergence of generative artificial intelligence software tools posed a major risk to providers on online courseware.
Market News
Apple Vision Pro Deliveries Delayed to March in Sign of Early Demand
Apple Inc.’s long-awaited Vision Pro mixed-reality headset finally became available for preorders on Friday, giving the company its first real taste of consumer demand for the $3,499 device.
With the launch, the company disclosed two additional configurations: a version with 512 gigabytes of storage for $3,699, and a top-end model with 1 terabyte of space for $3,899. The base model includes 256 gigabytes of storage. The company also said it would sell a carrying case for $199 and additional batteries for $199, while extra bands will cost $99 a piece.
Ford Cuts F-150 Lightning Production As EV Demand Softens
Ford Motor said on Friday it would reduce production of its F-150 Lightning pickup truck, as demand for electric vehicles (EVs) has been lower than expected.
The No. 2 U.S. automaker said it would cut production at its Michigan Rouge Electric Vehicle Center to one shift starting April 1. In October, the automaker said it would temporarily cut one of three shifts at the Michigan plant that builds the electric F-150 Lightning pickup truck.