All three major U.S. stock indexes lost ground on Thursday, weighed by technology shares, as Treasury yields rose on easing recession fears and global central bank officials convened at the Jackson Hole Economic Symposium.
Market Snapshot
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 177.71 points, or 0.43%, to 40,712.78. The S&P 500 lost 50.21 points, or 0.89%, at 5,570.64 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 299.63 points, or 1.67%, to 17,619.35. Nvidia falls 4%.
Market Movers
Second-quarter adjusted earnings at Snowflake beat analysts’ estimates and product revenue of $829 million also was higher than expected. The data-software company also raised its estimates for fiscal-year product revenue. Shares, however, fell 15%. Analysts at Evercore ISI said they “believe the risk/reward continues to skew to the positive when taking a long-term view given SNOW’s improving positioning in the AI space, the rapid pace of innovation, and broader macro stabilization; however, we believe the bears may control the narrative in the near-term.”
Peloton Interactive, Inc. rose 35% after the at-home fitness company reported better fiscal fourth-quarter earnings and revenue than expected as it works to turn itself around. The company also said the process to hire a new chief executive was “well underway.”
Wolfspeed Inc. was down 5% after rising in the premarket session. Its fiscal third-quarter adjusted loss was bigger than expected but Gregg Lowe, CEO of the silicon carbide technologies company, told analysts on a conference call that Wolfspeed's electric-vehicle revenue has grown for three straight quarters despite a weakening market for semiconductors used in cars “because some of the EV design-ins we've accumulated over the last five to seven years are just beginning to ramp."
Zoom posted better-than-expected fiscal second-quarter earnings and issued guidance for fiscal 2025 that also came in higher than forecasts. Zoom Video said during the second quarter it “saw strength in large accounts, with customers contributing more than $100,000 in trailing 12 months revenue increasing by 7.1% year over year.” Shares of the videoconferencing company rose 13%.
Urban Outfitters, the apparel and accessories retailer, declined 9.6% after second-quarter same-store sales missed expectations.
Trump Media & Technology, which operates the Truth Social media platform, fell 6.2% following a jump of 13% in the previous session. The shares hit a record low on Tuesday. Former President Donald Trump owns 60.4% of Trump Media.
Shares of Pfizer were down 0.9% while Moderna, Inc. dropped 6.5% and Novavax fell 7.6% following news that the Food and Drug Administration approved updated Covid-19 vaccinations from Pfizer and Moderna. Pfizer could have shipments for these new vaccines out within 24 hours, while Moderna says its will be available “in the coming days.” Novavax wasn’t included in the FDA’s statement.
Market News
Tesla Falls 6% as Investors Weigh Robotaxi Developments
Tesla ended the trading day on Thursday with a decline of 5.65% to $210.66 on Thursday.
Some traders are also pointing to a new investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board into an accident involving one of Tesla's (TSLA) electric semi trucks. The crash caused the EV semi's battery to catch fire, and causing a full closure of a freeway in California through the evening.
Robotaxi developments are also very much in the mix. Earlier in the week, Waymo confirmed that the autonomous vehicle specialist has surpassed 100,000 trips per week. The trip volume is double what Waymo reported in May. Chief Product Officer Saswat Panigrahi said Waymo hit the milestone by scaling deliberately, optimizing costs, and delivering a strong consumer experience. "We look forward to bringing the benefits of full autonomy to more people in the future," stated Panigrahi.
Workday Beats Revenue Estimates on Payroll Demand, Announces $1 Bln Buyback Plan
Workday beat Wall Street expectations for second-quarter revenue on Thursday and announced a $1 billion stock buyback plan, sending the shares of the human resource software provider up around 11% in extended trading.
Corporate spending on human resource and payroll has been rising especially in small-to-medium business segments, according to analysts, despite a cooling labor market.
GM's Cruise to Offer Robotaxis on Uber's Platform from Next Year
Cruise will offer its autonomous vehicles on ride-hailing platform Uber starting next year, the companies said on Thursday, as the General Motors-backed robotaxi firm attempts a comeback.
The multi-year partnership will allow Uber riders to choose a trip using a Cruise autonomous vehicle, they said. Shares of GM rose 1% in extended trading, while Uber fell 1.5%.
