Wall Street's three major stock averages closed higher on Monday with Nasdaq's 1% rally leading the charge as heavyweight Microsoft hit a record high after it hired prominent artificial intelligence executives.
The Nasdaq boasted its highest closing level since July 31 while the S&P 500 registered its highest close since Aug. 1.
Market Snapshot
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 203.76 points, or 0.58%, to 35,151.04, the S&P 500 gained 33.36 points, or 0.74%, at 4,547.38 and the Nasdaq Composite added 159.05 points, or 1.13%, at 14,284.53.
Market Movers
Microsoft (MSFT) - Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said Sam Altman, the ousted chief executive at OpenAI, would be joining the technology company to lead a new advanced AI research team. Greg Brockman, OpenAI’s president who resigned Friday following Altman’s dismissal, also will be hired as part of the Microsoft team, Nadella said. Microsoft shares rose 2.1%. Microsoft is the largest investor in OpenAI.
Boeing (BA) - Boeing rose 4.7% to $217.71 after shares of the airplane maker were upgraded to Buy from Hold at Deutsche Bank, and the price target was raised to $270 from $204.
Bristol Myers Squibb (BMY), 2seventy bio (TSVT) - Bristol Myers Squibb fell 3.8% and 2seventy bio was down 18.3% after the Food and Drug Administration pushed back a decision on the approval of earlier use of the Abecma gene therapy.
Penn Entertainment (PENN) - Penn Entertainment was upgraded to Buy from Neutral at BofA Global Research and the price target was raised to $30 from $27. Analyst Shaun Kelley cited positive download data for sports-gambling service ESPN Bet. The stock rose 6.8% to $26.25.
Arm Holdings (ARM) - Arm was rising 6.7% to $58.68. Wells Fargo analyst Gary Mobley initiated coverage of Arm with an Overweight rating and $70 price target.
YPF (YPF) - U.S.-listed shares of YPF, Argentina’s main oil company, surged 40% after Javier Milei won the country’s presidency.
General Motors (GM) - General Motors shares were up 1.8% after the United Auto Workers announced the ratification of new labor deals at GM, Ford (F), and Stellantis (STLA). Separately, Kyle Vogt, CEO of Cruise, GM’s self-driving technology and taxi business, resigned. Vogt’s resignation follows a Cruise accident in early October that ultimately ended with the suspension of the company’s license to operate self-driving taxis in California.
Zoom Video Communications (ZM) - Zoom stock was up 2.9% ahead of its latest earnings report. The stock surged 6.1% in after-hours trading when the firm reported third-quarter non-GAAP earnings of $1.29 a share and revenue of $1.14 billion.
Nvidia (NVDA) - The earnings highlight this week will be the fiscal third-quarter earnings report from Nvidia. The stock rose 2.3%.
Iovance Biotherapeutics (IOVA) - Iovance Biotherapeutics rose 8.7% to $5.49 after Goldman Sachs initiated coverage on shares of the biotech cancer-treatment developer with a Buy rating and price target of $12.
Chegg (CHGG) - Chegg was downgraded to Underweight from Equal Weight at Morgan Stanley, and the stock fell 6.2%.
Dutch Bros (BROS) - Dutch Bros rose 3.5% after shares of the coffee chain were upgraded to Overweight from Neutral at J.P. Morgan. Krispy Kreme (DNUT) fell 1.3% as the doughnut company was downgraded to Neutral from Overweight at J.P. Morgan.
Market News
Nearly All of OpenAI Staff Threaten to Go to Microsoft If Board Doesn’t Quit
Nearly all of OpenAI’s employees have threatened to quit and follow ousted leader Sam Altman to work at the company’s biggest investor, Microsoft Corp., unless the current board resigns, leaving the future of the high-profile artificial intelligence startup increasingly uncertain.
More than 700 of the AI firm’s roughly 770 employees signed a letter on Monday addressed to OpenAI’s board stating that the signatories are “unable to work for or with people that lack competence, judgment and care for our mission and employees.” The letter called for every member of the board to resign and for Altman to be reinstated, or else employees might jump to Microsoft. The software giant “has assured us there are positions for all OpenAI employees,” the letter said.
Citigroup Cuts Over 300 Senior Manager Roles in Latest Restructuring
Citigroup Inc. is eliminating more than 300 senior manager roles as part of Chief Executive Officer Jane Fraser’s efforts to simplify the Wall Street giant.
The company started announcing the cuts — which affect staffers two levels below Fraser’s executive management team — on Monday, according to a person familiar with the matter. They amount to roughly 10% of the workers at that level, according to the person, who asked not to be identified discussing personnel information.