Wall Street's main indexes closed higher after choppy trading on Thursday, with the blue-chip Dow and the S&P 500 hitting one-week tops.
Market Snapshot
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 461.88 points, or 1.06%, to 43,870.35, the S&P 500 gained 31.60 points, or 0.53%, to 5,948.71 and the Nasdaq Composite gained 6.28 points, or 0.03%, to 18,972.42.
Market Movers
MicroStrategy shares plummeted 16% on Thursday after Citron Research said it shorted the stock against a long position in Bitcoin. “Much respect to @saylor, but even he must know $MSTR is overheated,” Citron Research wrote in a post on X. The firm is referring to MicroStrategy chairman and controlling shareholder Michael Saylor, who has been the architect of the company’s Bitcoin accumulation strategy.
Nvidia, the leading maker of artificial-intelligence chips, reported third-quarter adjusted earnings of 81 cents a share, topping Wall Street estimates of 75 cents, as revenue soared 94% to $35.1 billion from $18.1 billion a year earlier. The stock was up 0.5%.
Nvidia said it expects fourth-quarter revenue of $37.5 billion at the midpoint, higher than consensus of $37.1 billion. The company also said demand for its next-generation AI chips, known as Blackwell, has been " staggering."
Tesla, a customer of Nvidia that uses AI computing to train its self-driving products and humanoid robots, was down 0.7%. Shares of Tesla rose 1.2% on Wednesday.
Super Micro Computer rose 15% after Nvidia listed the server maker as one of its reliable partners, alongside Dell, Micron Technology, and others, during its earnings conference call.
Alphabet dropped 4.7% after the Justice Department asked a federal judge on Wednesday to force Google to sell off its Chrome browser and be prevented from giving preferential access to its search engine on devices that use its Android mobile operating system. The department's request follows U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta's ruling in August that found Google had illegally monopolized internet search.
Snowflake soared 33% after the data-software company posted third-quarter adjusted earnings of 20 cents a share, topping estimates of 15 cents. Revenue was $942 billion, higher than forecasts of $899 million and better than $734 million in the year-ago quarter. Product revenue -- derived from the consumption of compute, storage, and data transfer resources by Snowflake customers -- in the period jumped 29% to $900 million, and Snowflake said it expects fiscal fourth-quarter product revenue of $906 million to $911 million, above estimates of $882 million.
Palo Alto Networks reported fiscal first-quarter earnings, when removing one-time items, of $1.56 a share, better than Wall Street estimates of $1.48, on a 14% revenue jump to $2.14 billion. Subscription and support revenue was $1.79 billion, up from $1.54 billion a year earlier. The stock was up 1.2% after the cybersecurity company raised its fiscal-year guidance, saying its expects revenue of between $9.12 billion to $9.17 billion, up from a previous forecast of $9.1 billion to $9.15 billion. Analysts had been expecting revenue of $9.13 billion. The company's board also approved a 2-for-1 stock split.
Target dipped 0.1% Thursday, the day after the retailer's third-quarter earnings widely missed estimates. The retailer said it expects fourth-quarter earnings of between $1.85 and $2.45 a share, compared with analysts' forecasts for $2.65. During the trading session Wednesday, Target shares sank to set a 52-week low of $120.21.
American depositary receipts of PDD Holdings fell 11% after the China based e-commerce company and Temu parent reported third-quarter earnings and revenue that rose from a year earlier but widely missed analysts' estimates.
U.S.-listed shares of Baidu, the Chinese search-engine company, were down 5.9% after third-quarter revenue fell 3% from a year earlier on continued weak advertising demand. Net profit in the quarter rose 14%.
Deere reported fiscal fourth-quarter earnings of $4.55 a share, down from $8.26 a year earlier but better than analysts' expectations of $3.87 a share. Revenue rose 28% to $11.14 billion. Deere said it expects fiscal 2025 earnings of $5 billion to $5.5 billion, below Wall Street forecasts of $5.8 billion. The stock rose 8.1%.
BJ's Wholesale rose 8.3% to $92.79 after the retailer beat analysts' expectations for third-quarter earnings and raised its guidance. The company also unveiled a membership fee hike, following in the footsteps of its rival, Costco.
Intuit — Shares of the financial software company fell almost 5% despite an earnings report that beat expectations. Intuit reported $2.50 in adjusted earnings per share on $3.28 billion of revenue for its fiscal first quarter. Analysts surveyed by LSEG had penciled in $2.35 per share on $3.14 billion, respectively. The company’s operating income did decline year over year.
SL Green Realty — The commercial real estate stock dipped more than 1% after SL Green announced a $400 million stock sale . The company said it planned to use the proceeds for general corporate purposes.
Gap — The retail stock climbed 13% after the company hiked its full-year guidance ahead of the holidays. The parent company of Old Navy and other brands said it expects sales to be up between 1.5% and 2% for the fiscal year, a change from previous wording of “up slightly.” Gap’s third-quarter results also beat estimates on the top and bottom lines.
Ross Stores — Shares of the retailer rose nearly 8%. Ross’ fiscal third-quarter earnings of $1.48 per share was eight cents ahead of analysts’ expectations, per LSEG. Sales for the period were weaker than expected, however. Ross reported $5.07 billion in revenue, below the $5.15 billion expected by Wall Street.
NetApp — The data technology stock popped 5% after a beat on the top and bottom lines for the latest quarter. NetApp reported adjusted earnings of $1.87 per share on $1.66 billion of revenue. Analysts surveyed by LSEG had projected $1.78 per share on $1.65 billion, respectively.
Elastic — Shares of the software firm rose 20% after fiscal second-quarter results beat estimates. Elastic reported adjusted earnings of 59 cents per share on $365 million of revenue. Analysts surveyed by LSEG were looking for earnings of 38 cents per share and revenue of $357 million.
Market News
OpenAI considers taking on Google with browser, the Information reports
ChatGPT-creator OpenAI has recently considered developing a web browser that would combine with its chatbot and separately discussed or struck deals to power search features, the Information reported on Thursday.
OpenAI has spoken about the search product with website and app developers such as Conde Nast, Redfin, Eventbrite and Priceline, the report said, citing people who have seen prototypes or designs of the products.
Bitcoin approaches $100,000 on optimism over Trump crypto plans
Bitcoin came within a whisker of closing above $100,000 for the first time on Thursday as the election of Republican Donald Trump as U.S. president spurred expectations that his administration will create a friendly regulatory environment for cryptocurrencies.
The world's largest cryptocurrency was trading between $98,000 and $99,000 in late afternoon trading in the U.S. on Thursday, after briefly touching $99,073. Bitcoin has more than doubled in value this year and is up about 40% in the two weeks since Trump was voted in as the next U.S. president and a slew of pro-crypto lawmakers were elected to Congress.
