Major U.S. stock averages closed Thursday's seesaw session lower, as investors sifted through several high-profile quarterly reports and a slew of economic data following a rally in the previous session.
Market Snapshot
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 68.42 points, or 0.16%, to 43,153.13, the S&P 500 lost 12.57 points, or 0.21%, to 5,937.34 and the Nasdaq Composite lost 172.94 points, or 0.89%, to 19,338.29.
Market Movers
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing, the primary manufacturer of advanced semiconductors, including those designed by Nvidia that are used for artificial-intelligence applications, reported fourth-quarter net profit rose 57% from a year earlier on demand for AI hardware. Revenue rose 39% from a year earlier to $26.35 billion. The company said it expects first-quarter revenue of between $25 billion and $25.8 billion, up from $18.87 billion a year earlier. U.S.-listed shares of the chip maker were up 3.9%.
Taiwan Semiconductor's report was boosting shares of other semiconductor companies. Applied Materials gained 4.5%, KLA Corp. rose 4.3%, and Lam Research rose 4%. Nvidia, however, was down 1.9%, while Advanced Micro Devices fell 1.3% after the stock was downgraded at Wolfe Research.
Tesla declined 3.4% after shares of the electric-vehicle company rose 8% on Wednesday and finished as the top stock in the S&P 500 during the session. The shares rallied after core consumer prices, excluding food and energy, rose at a slower pace than expected. The reading could keep the Federal Reserve on a path to lower interest rates and help make new cars more affordable.
Bank of America posted fourth-quarter earnings of 82 cents a share, beating estimates of 77 cents. Profit at the bank was $6.7 billion, more than doubling from a year earlier and beating analysts' estimates of $6 billion. The stock declined 1%.
Shares of Morgan Stanley rose 4%. The investment bank reported fourth-quarter earnings of $2.22 a share, beating estimates of $1.70 and rising from 85 cents a share a year earlier.
U.S. Bancorp fell 5.6%. The bank reported earnings of $1.07 a share and revenue of $7.01 billion, narrowly beating Wall Street projections for earnings of $1.05 and revenue of $7 billion. U.S. Bancorp said it expects net interest income in the first quarter of 2025 to remain roughly flat with the previous period.
UnitedHealth, the nation's largest health insurance company, posted fourth-quarter adjusted earnings of $6.81 a share, beating analysts' estimates of $6.73. Revenue in the period of $100.8 billion missed expectations of $101.6 billion. The company's full-year medical loss ratio, a closely tracked metric that calculates the proportion of premiums that insurers pay out to cover medical expenses, was 85.5% compared with 83.2% in 2023. The stock fell 6%.
Target was down 1% even after the retailer said it expects fourth-quarter comparable-store sales to rise 1.5%, up from previous guidance that called for flat sales.
Southwest Airlines declined 2% to $32.16 after the Transportation Department sued the carrier for operating flights that were plagued by routine delays. Analysts at Citi downgraded Southwest to Sell from Neutral and reduced their price target to $29.50 from $31.50.
Symbotic surged 19% after the AI-enabled robotics technology company said it was expanding its partnership with Walmart by acquiring the retailer's advance systems and robotics business.
Shares of Sezzle rose 1.1% after the fintech said it expects to exceed its previous revenue guidance for 2024 of 55% growth.
BigBear.ai rose 22% after President Kevin McAleenan was named as chief executive. McAleenan founded Pangiam, which was purchased by BigBear.ai last year. He previously served as commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection, and as acting secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security during the first Trump administration.
D-Wave Quantum, Rigetti Computing, and IonQ were up 0.4%, 2.7%, and 5.5%, respectively, as quantum-computing stocks continued their recovery. The stocks tumbled last week after Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said "very useful" quantum computers were decades away. Nvidia is the largest volume producer of accelerators for AI, a sector that is expected to be disrupted by quantum technology.
Market News
Rio Tinto, Glencore Discuss Potential Combination
Rio Tinto Group and Glencore Plc have been discussing combining their businesses, which if successful would rank as the largest-ever mining deal and create a behemoth to rival longstanding leader BHP Group.
Rio and Glencore have recently held early-stage talks about a deal, according to people familiar with the matter, who asked not to be identified discussing confidential information. It’s unclear whether the talks are still live.
SpaceX loses Starship mid-flight, but catches booster again after launch
SpaceX launched the seventh test flight of its Starship rocket on Thursday, but lost communication with the upper stage of the rocket that continues on into space.
“We can confirm that we did lose the ship,” SpaceX senior manager of quality systems engineering Kate Tice said.
However the rocket’s “Super Heavy” booster returned to land back at the launch tower, in SpaceX’s second successful “catch” during a flight.
