The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite closed the first trading session of 2024 lower, weighed by a fall in Apple shares after a broker downgrade and declines among other big-tech names triggered by a move higher by Treasury yields.
Market Snapshot
The S&P 500 (.SPX) lost 27 points, or 0.57%, to end at 4,742.83 points, while the Nasdaq Composite (.IXIC) lost 245.41 points, or 1.63%, to 14,765.94. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI) rose 25.5 points, or 0.07%, to 37,715.04.
Market Movers
Apple fell 3.6% to $185.64 after analysts at Barclays downgraded shares of the iPhone maker to Underweight from Equal Weight and lowered their price target to $160 from $161. The analysts noted that the latest sales checks showed softness in iPhone 15 sales in China and in developed markets. There was more strength in emerging markets but not enough to compensate. Barclays also said growth in services such as the App Store will slow this year.
Moderna rose 13% to $112.50 after shares of the vaccine maker were upgraded to Outperform from Perform at Oppenheimer with a price target of $142. The analysts said catalysts in 2024 and 2025 lead them “to believe that MRNA could be a five-product commercial company by 2026.” The stock was the leading performer in the S&P 500 on Tuesday.
Tesla reported fourth-quarter deliveries of 484,507, higher than expectations by analysts of between 475,000 and 480,000 units, topping the electric-vehicle maker’s record of 466,000 delivered in the second quarter of 2023 and a rebound from the 435,000 delivered in the third quarter of 2023. The stock closed flat, but has been volatile following previous deliveries reports, with the shares moving an average of about 7%, up or down, following the last eight reports, noted Barron’s Al Root.
Rivian Automotive declined 10%. The EV maker announced Tuesday it produced 17,541 vehicles in the fourth quarter and delivered nearly 14,000. Deliveries in the third quarter were 15,600.
BYD, the Chinese EV giant, meanwhile, reported Monday fourth-quarter deliveries of about 526,000 all-electric vehicles, up from about 432,000 delivered in the third quarter of 2023. BYD’s numbers make it the largest seller of all-battery electric vehicles on the planet. BYD shares fell 2.3% in Hong Kong trading and were down 2.9% in the U.S.
U.S.-listed shares of fellow Chinese EV makers Li Auto, NIO, and XPeng traded lower after issuing deliveries numbers for December. Li Auto was down 7.6% even after reporting it delivered 50,353 vehicles in December, a jump of 137.1% from a year earlier. NIO declined 7.2% after reporting 18,012 EV deliveries, while XPeng fell 3.8% following deliveries of 20,115 units, a new record.
ASML fell 5.3% after the Dutch government blocked the chip-equipment manufacturer from exporting to China certain lithography systems, which are essential to making advanced microprocessors. The Wall Street Journal reported the rule came after officials from the Netherlands, Japan, and the U.S. reached an agreement to start restricting such exports. “We do not expect the current revocation of our export license or the latest U.S. export control restrictions to have a material impact on our financial outlook for 2023,” ASML said in a statement.
MicroStrategy rose 8.5% and Marathon Digital was up 2.4% as the crypto-related stocks received a boost from Bitcoin’s move above $45,000 for the first time in more than a year on expectations that approval of Bitcoin exchange-traded funds could come as soon as this week.
PNM Resources dropped 6% after Avangrid said it wouldn’t complete a deal to buy PNM for $4.2 billion that was reached in 2020. Avangrid is majority-owned by Spain’s Iberdrola.
Unity Software was downgraded to Underweight from Neutral at Piper Sandler but the price target was raised to $35 from $20. The stock’s rally in December and its gain in 2023 of 43% leaves “little margin for error,” the analysts said. Shares declined 5.1% to $38.79.
Arcutis Biotherapeutics Inc . (NASDAQ: ARQT) 6% HIGHER; Mizuho Securities upgrades to Buy with an $8.00 price target.
PGT Innovations, Inc. (NYSE: PGTI) 4% HIGHER; received an unsolicited proposal from Miter Brands to acquire all outstanding shares of PGT Innovations’ common stock for $41.50 per share in cash. The company is currently in an agreement to be acquired by Masonite International Corp . (NYSE:DOOR) for $41 per share.
Bloomin’ Brands, Inc. (Nasdaq: BLMN) 3% HIGHER; named Dave George, former Chief Operating Officer of Darden Restaurants, and Jon Sagal, Partner at Starboard Value LP, to the board.
Market News
Tesla Beats Fourth-Quarter Delivery Estimates, Surpasses 2023 Target
Tesla on Tuesday reported fourth-quarter deliveries ahead of analysts' estimates after a push to deliver more Model 3 electric cars before some variants of the compact sedan lose federal tax credits in the New Year under the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA).
Tesla, the world's most valuable automaker, delivered a record number of vehicles in the fourth quarter, helping the company hit its 2023 target of 1.8 million.
The company handed 484,507 vehicles in the last three months of the year, compared with estimates of 473,253 units, according to 14 analysts polled by LSEG.
Alibaba Purchased $9.5B Worth of Shares in 2023
Alibaba Group Holding (NYSE: BABA) said on Tuesday that during the 12 months ending Dec. 31, 2023, the company purchased 897.9M shares totaling $9.5B.
This includes 292.67M shares, or $2.9B, purchased in Q4.
At the end of 2023, 20B ordinary shares remained outstanding versus 20.7B shares at the end of 2022, resulting in a net reduction of 3% in outstanding shares.