The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed higher on Thursday, the seventh straight daily advance for the benchmark, as all three major U.S. indexes gained after weekly jobless claims data offered fresh hope for interest-rate cuts.
Market Snapshot
The S&P 500 gained 26.41 points, or 0.51%, to 5,214.08 points, while the Nasdaq Composite gained 43.51 points, or 0.27%, to 16,346.27. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 331.37 points, or 0.85%, to 39,387.76.
Market Movers
Roblox tumbled 22% after the videogame platform dialed back a financial forecast but saw bookings rise sharply from the year-ago quarter.
Duolingo, the language-learning app, said revenue rose 45% in the first quarter to $167.6 million, and raised its forecast for full-year revenue to $726.5 million to $735.5 million from previous revenue guidance of $729.5 million. The company’s second-quarter forecast, however, was a bit shy of estimates. The stock fell 18%.
AppLovin jumped 15%. The app-monetization company reported first-quarter revenue and adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization that topped Wall Street forecasts. Revenue was $1.06 billion, up 48% from a year earlier and better than estimates of $974 million. The company’s forecast for the second quarter also beat expectations.
Klaviyo was up 12%. The marketing-automation company raised its fiscal-year revenue outlook to $899 million to $907 million from previous guidance for $889 million to $897 million.
Beyond Meat declined 14% after the plant-based meat company said first-quarter revenue dropped 18% to $75.6 million, “primarily driven by a 16.1% decrease in volume of products sold and a 2.3% decrease in net revenue per pound.” The company’s second-quarter revenue guidance also was below Wall Street’s expectations.
Yeti Holdings gained 13% after the maker of high-end coolers, steel tumblers, and other outdoor gear beat quarterly estimates and increased guidance.
Exact Sciences was down 9% after the cancer-screening and diagnostics company posted a wider-than-expected quarterly loss but topped sales estimates.
Bumble rose 11% after the online dating company swung to a profit in the first quarter and said total paying users rose 14% to 4 million from 3.5 million a year earlier.
SolarEdge Technologies fell 8.5% after the solar-equipment maker posted a wider-than-expected loss in the first quarter. It said it expects second-quarter revenue of between $250 million and $280 million, which was below analysts’ estimates for $307 million.
AMC Entertainment reported a first-quarter loss that narrowed from a year earlier. CEO Adam Aron said the movie-theater chain “had expected for some time the Hollywood actor and writer strikes of 2023 would impact the first-quarter box office,” but was “heartened by the strength of moviegoing in March, which reminded us that better times are ahead.” Shares fell 4.4%.
Market News
SoundHound's Losses Exceed Revenue, but Stock Gains 16% as Voice-AI Demand Picks up
SoundHound AI Inc. continued to lose more money than it hauled in as revenue during the latest quarter, but the artificial-intelligence company beat estimates on the top line Thursday.
The company, which makes technology for conversational artificial intelligence, reported a first-quarter net loss of $19.9 million, or 12 cents a share, compared with $17.1 million, or 14 cents a share, in the year-before quarter. On an adjusted basis, SoundHound earned 7 cents a share in earnings. FactSet doesn’t list estimates for adjusted EPS, but analysts were expecting a 9 cent loss per share on a GAAP basis.
The stock was up 16% in Thursday’s extended session.
OpenAI Plans to Announce Google Search Competitor on Monday, Sources Say
OpenAI plans to announce its artificial intelligence-powered search product on Monday, according to two sources familiar with the matter, raising the stakes in its competition with search king Google.
The announcement date, though subject to change, has not been previously reported. Bloomberg and the Information have reported that Microsoft-backed OpenAI is working on a search product to potentially compete with Alphabet's Google and with Perplexity, a well-funded AI search startup.
Apple to Power AI Tools With In-House Server Chips This Year
Apple Inc. will deliver some of its upcoming artificial intelligence features this year via data centers equipped with its own in-house processors, part of a sweeping effort to infuse its devices with AI capabilities.
The company is placing high-end chips — similar to ones it designed for the Mac — in cloud-computing servers designed to process the most advanced AI tasks coming to Apple devices, according to people familiar with the matter. Simpler AI-related features will be processed directly on iPhones, iPads and Macs, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the plan is still under wraps.
The move is part of Apple’s much-anticipated push into generative artificial intelligence — the technology behind ChatGPT and other popular tools. The company is playing catch-up with Big Tech rivals in the area but is poised to lay out an ambitious AI strategy at its Worldwide Developers Conference on June 10.
