Wall Street three major indexes all retreated more than 1% on Tuesday, with weakness in megacap growth companies such as Apple Inc and the chip sector weighing most on the Nasdaq ahead of this week's crop of economic data and remarks from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell.
Market Snapshot
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 404.64 points, or 1.04%, to 38,585.19. The S&P 500 lost 52.3 points, or 1.02%, at 5,078.65 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 267.92 points, or 1.65%, to 15,939.59.
Market Movers
Tesla (TSLA) - Tesla was down 3.9% after shares of the electric-vehicle maker tumbled 7.2% on Monday. Production at its Berlin factory has been halted because of a power outage. There was a fire in an area close to the factory, which was thought to be arson, according to reports. Tesla shares have declined 27% this year.
Apple (AAPL) - Apple fell 2.8% following research from Counterpoint Research that said the tech giant sold 24% fewer iPhones in China, the world’s second-largest economy, in the first six weeks of 2024 than a year earlier. Overall smartphone sales declined 7% in the period, though sales for rival company Huawei jumped 64%, the report said.
NIO (NIO) - NIO on Tuesday said its loss narrowed slightly in the fourth quarter as the company said sales may decrease in the current quarter. The electric vehicle maker said its net loss was 5.37 billion renminbi, vs. 5.79 billion renminbi in the year-earlier period, while revenue rose 6.5% to 17.1 billion renminbi, or $2.41 billion. The shares rose 2.8%.
Target (TGT) - Target rose 12% after the retailer reported fourth-quarter adjusted earnings of $2.98 a share, beating analysts’ estimates of $2.42. Revenue rose 1.7% from a year earlier to $31.9 billion. The company also announced plans to open 300 stores and launch a new paid membership program.
SoFi Technologies (SOFI) - SoFi Technologies declined 15.3% after the financial-technology company said it planned to offer $750 million of convertible senior notes due 2029 in a private offering.
MicroStrategy (MSTR) - MicroStrategy dropped 21.2% after the company, a business intelligence group with vast holdings of Bitcoin, closed with a gain of 24% on Monday. The stock has been getting a lift from surging Bitcoin prices. After the close of trading Monday, MicroStrategy disclosed a proposed offering of $600 million of convertible debt, with plans to use the money to buy more Bitcoin and for general corporate purposes.
GitLab (GTLB) - GitLab reported fourth-quarter adjusted earnings of 15 cents a share, topping analysts’ estimates of 8 cents, but the stock fell 21% after the software company issued weaker-than-expected fiscal-year guidance. GitLab said it expects adjusted earnings for fiscal 2025 of 19 cents to 23 cents a share, below analysts’ expectations of 35 cents a share.
AeroVironment (AVAV) - Fiscal third-quarter adjusted earnings at AeroVironment topped Wall Street forecasts and the defense supplier and drone maker raised its forecasts for fiscal 2024 profit and revenue. AeroVironment said it expects revenue of between $700 million and $710 million in the fiscal year, higher than its previous guidance for revenue of between $685 million and $705 million. The stock jumped 27.9%.
Paymentus (PAY) - Shares of Paymentus surged 20.2% after cloud-based payment technology company posted fourth-quarter profit and revenue that topped Wall Street estimates. Earnings in the quarter rose to $9.4 million, or 7 cents a share, from $957,000, or 1 cent a share, a year earlier, and revenue jumped 25% to $164.8 million.
Albemarle (ALB) - Albemarle was down 17.9% after the lithium miner said it was raising more capital. The company plans to sell up to $2 billion in depositary shares.
Market News
Apple iPhone Sales Plunge 24% in China’s Troubled Mobile Market
Apple Inc.’s iPhone sales in China declined by 24% over the first six weeks of this year, pushing it to fourth among smartphone vendors in the country, according to Counterpoint Research data.
The Cupertino, California company lost the title of China’s best-selling smartphone maker to Vivo, a Dongguan-based manufacturer that did a better job of targeting the budget segment of the market, according to Counterpoint. Both companies registered declines in sales, however, as the overall market in the country was down 7%, casting doubt over hopes for an imminent rebound.
Huawei Technologies Co., driven by the momentum of its homegrown Mate 60 Pro devices and a wave of patriotic buying, grew its market share to 16.5% from 9.4%. The company that split from Huawei in 2020, Honor Device Co., was the only other major maker to show unit sales growth, at 2%. Apple had 15.7% market share, falling from 19% a year ago, according to the researchers.
Tesla Germany Halts Work As Musk Calls Suspected Arson "Extremely Dumb"
Tesla's European Gigafactory near Berlin has halted work until further notice after what CEO Elon Musk called an "extremely dumb" suspected arson attack nearby left it without power on Tuesday.
The attack southeast of the German capital set an electricity pylon close to the site ablaze, but the fire did not spread to the Tesla facility - the U.S. electric vehicle maker's first manufacturing plant in Europe.
It has however shuttered production at least until early next week, the company said.
The outage will cost Tesla estimated losses in the high hundred of millions of euros, with 1,000 vehicles left unfinished on Tuesday alone.