The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite rose slightly on Thursday as investors prepared for next week’s interest rate decision from the Federal Reserve.
Market Snapshot
Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.07% at 47,850.94; the S&P 500 was up 0.11% at 6,857.12; and the Nasdaq Composite closed up 0.22% at 23,505.14.
Market Movers
Meta Platforms gained 3.4%. The Facebook parent plans to cut up to 30% of its Metaverse budget, Bloomberg reported, citing people familiar with the matter. Separately, the company was hit by an antitrust investigation from the European Union on Thursday, though a Meta representative told Barron's that regulators' claims were "baseless."
Intel shares dropped 7%, losing the most of any S&P 500 stock Thursday, after reports indicated the chipmaker plans to hold onto its networking and communications unit following a strategic review. The company reportedly considered selling or spinning off the unit earlier this year as part of a plan to exit noncore businesses. With the downturn Thursday, Intel stock gave back some of the recent gains posted amid speculation about possible new business from Apple.
Salesforce gained 3.7%. The software company beat analysts' third-quarter earnings estimates, though revenue narrowly missed expectations. Salesforce highlighted its artificial-intelligence efforts, noting that annual recurring revenue from agentic products -- programs that have the ability to take simple directions and complete multistep tasks -- came in at $540 million, up $100 million from a quarter earlier.
Snowflake tumbled 11% as a third-quarter earnings beat was overshadowed by slowing product-revenue growth. The stock may well have been priced for perfection -- it was up 72% for the year as of Wednesday's close, meaning there was a high bar to clear.
UiPath surged 24% after the automation software maker beat Wall Street's third-quarter earnings and revenue estimates, and guided for stronger-than-expected revenue for the current quarter. The "solid execution" is a sign that UiPath is well-positioned for the rise in demand for AI at large organizations, William Blair analyst Jake Roberge wrote in a research note.
Micron Technology declined 3.2%. The chip company said it would stop selling Crucial-branded consumer memory products at the end of February 2026.
Dollar General climbed 14%. The budget retailer posted better-than-expected earnings in its third quarter and boosted its outlook for the fiscal year. Dollar General guided for fiscal-year comparable sales growth of between 2.5% and 2.7%, up from a previous range of 2.1% to 2.6% growth.
Hormel Foods gained 3.8%. The owner of Skippy and Spam posted fiscal fourth-quarter adjusted earnings that topped analysts' forecasts and logged higher sales, which slightly missed expectations. Hormel guided for fiscal-year adjusted earnings of $1.43 to $1.51 a share on sales of $12.2 billion to $12.5 billion. Analysts were looking for profit of $1.45 and sales of $12.43 billion.
Kroger declined 4.6%. The supermarket giant posted an operating loss of $1.5 billion in the third quarter, compared with a profit of $828 million in the same period last year. Sales came to $33.9 billion, missing Wall Street forecasts of $34.2 billion.
PVH Corp tumbled 12%. The owner of Tommy Hilfiger and Calvin Klein forecast fourth-quarter earnings in the range of $3.20 to $3.35 a share, sharply below the $3.64 analysts had projected. PVH said it expects revenue to increase slightly to up low-single digits, compared with analyst estimates of 3.7% growth.
C3.ai rose 2.1% as a narrower-than-expected loss for the second quarter appeared to outweigh a 20% drop in revenue from the year-ago period. The stock has taken a battering this year, sinking 55% amid a series of earnings disappointments.
Science Applications International jumped 16% after fiscal third-quarter earnings topped analysts' estimates and the company, which provides information technology, engineering and technical services to the U.S. government, raised fiscal 2026 profit guidance.
ulta beauty — Shares of the beauty retailer rose nearly 6% after outpacing Wall Street’s expectations for the fiscal third quarter and raising its forecasts for the full fiscal year. Ulta expects revenue for the year to be $12.3 billion, up from a prior range of $12 billion to $12.1 billion and higher than the consensus estimate of $12.13 billion. Same-store sales growth for the year will be between 4.4% to 4.7%, up from an earlier estimate of 2.5% to 3.5%.
$Hewlett Packard Enterprise(HPE)$ — The cloud services company missed Wall Street’s fourth-quarter revenue expectations, leading shares to drop about 8% in the after-hours session. Hewlett Packard Enterprise reported revenue of $9.68 billion for the period, falling short of the $9.94 billion expected by analysts polled by LSEG. Earnings for the quarter beat expectations.
SoFi Technologies Inc. — The fintech company’s stock moved more than 5% lower after SoFi announced an underwritten public offering of $1.5 billion of shares of its common stock.
Rubrik Inc. — Shares jumped more than 15% after the cloud data management company reported a beat on top and bottom lines. For its fiscal third quarter, Rubrik earned 10 cents per share on an adjusted basis on revenue of $350 million. Analysts polled by LSEG expected a loss of 17 cents per share on $320 million in revenue.
Docusign — Shares of the digital document signing company fell nearly 3% even as the company raised its full-year sales outlook after reporting third-quarter results. In the latest period, Docusign earned $1.01 per share on an adjusted basis, while revenue rose to $818.4 million. Analysts surveyed by FactSet, expected a profit of 92 cents and revenue of $806.2 million.
ServiceTitan — The software stock added 5% in extended trading. ServiceTitan reported a third-quarter revenue beat and gave fourth-quarter guidance that came out higher than analysts’ consensus estimate. The company’s operating income for its most recent quarter also exceeded estimates, according to FactSet.
SentinelOne — Shares of the cybersecurity provider dropped nearly 8% after SentinelOne said it sees fourth-quarter revenue coming out at $271 million, while analysts polled by LSEG estimated $273 million. The company forecasted full-year revenue of $1 billion, matching estimates. SentinelOne’s third-quarter results beat consensus estimates.
Market News
PepsiCo Nears Settlement With Activist Investor Elliott
Activist investor Elliott Investment Management is close to striking a settlement agreement with beverage and snacks giant PepsiCo, after taking a big stake in the company in September, according to people familiar with the matter.
Details of the settlement couldn't be learned. An announcement could come soon, the people added.
Elliott unveiled a roughly $4 billion stake in PepsiCo and sought engagement with the board to boost the company's flagging share price. Elliott pushed the company to refranchise its bottling operations and make other changes, such as divesting underperforming assets in its food business.
Netflix emerges as the highest bidder for Warner Bros Discovery, source says
Netflix has put in the highest bid among suitors for Warner Bros Discovery, a source told Reuters on Thursday, upping the ante in a deal that could reshape the media industry.
The streaming giant's proposed acquisition of Warner Bros Discovery's studios and streaming unit is expected to reduce streaming costs for consumers by bundling Netflix and HBO Max, Reuters had reported on Tuesday.
