Wall Street surged to a higher close on Friday as a softer-than-expected employment report bolstered the case for rate cuts from the Federal Reserve while also providing evidence of U.S. economic resilience.
All three major U.S. stock posted robust gains. The tech-heavy Nasdaq led the pack, rising 2% with an assist from Apple shares following the iPhone maker's record share buyback announcement.
Market Snapshot
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 450.02 points, or 1.18%, to 38,675.68. The S&P 500 gained 63.59 points, or 1.26%, at 5,127.79 and the Nasdaq Composite added 315.37 points, or 1.99%, at 16,156.33.
Market Movers
Apple — The tech giant jumped around 6% after announcing it would repurchase $110 billion in shares. Apple also posted beats on the top and bottom lines, reporting fiscal second-quarter earnings of $1.53 per share on $90.75 billion in revenue. That topped analysts’ estimates for earnings of $1.50 per share on revenue of $90.01 billion, per LSEG.
Block — The payment services provider slipped more than 1% despite posting first-quarter results that beat analysts’ expectations. Block reported adjusted earnings of 85 cents per share on revenue of $5.96 billion, which exceeded the earnings of 72 cents per share on revenue of $5.82 billion that analysts polled by LSEG had expected.
Live Nation Entertainment — Shares jumped 7.2% on the back of better-than-expected first-quarter revenue. Management said it expects a strong stadium year in 2025 and continued growth in concert attendance.
Expedia — Shares tumbled 15.3% after the online travel booking company lowered its full-year guidance, pointing to weakness in its vacation rentals segment, Vrbo. Wall Street firms, including Piper Sandler and BMO Capital Markets, downgraded Expedia following the report.
DaVita — Shares of the health-care provider dropped 5.5% despite posting a beat on top- and bottom-line estimates and slightly raising its earnings guidance for the year. The stock on Thursday had posted first-quarter adjusted earnings of $2.38 per share on $3.07 billion in revenue, while analysts polled by FactSet had called for earnings of $1.95 per share on revenue of $3.03 billion.
Booking Holdings — The online travel booking company advanced 1.6% after reporting first-quarter results that topped analysts’ expectations, bolstered by the earlier Easter vacation cycle this year. The company said consumer demand remains strong overall, but noted risks from geopolitical tensions.
Avidity Biosciences — Shares popped more than 8% on the back of a bullish Bank of America call. The firm initiated coverage at a buy rating and called for potential upside of 56% from Thursday’s close, citing Avidity’s strong pipeline for rare muscle disorder treatments.
Amgen — The biotech company rallied 11.8% after reporting a beat on both top and bottom lines in the first quarter. The company also announced it would proceed with its injectable obesity drug into a phase 3 trial. Simultaneously, shares of Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly traded down roughly 1% and 2% each, respectively.
Cloudflare — The stock plunged 16.4% on the back of issuing weak full-year guidance, despite posting a first-quarter adjusted earnings and revenue beat.
Arista Networks — The cloud networking company rallied more than 3% after Jefferies upgraded the stock to a buy rating from hold. The bank forecasts Arista becoming a “prime AI beneficiary.”
Fortinet — The security stock lost more than 8% after the midpoint of its second-quarter billings forecast came in lighter than analysts had expected. However, the company beat analysts’ expectations for the first quarter.
Market News
U.S. Job Growth Totaled 175,000 in April, Much Less Than Expected
U.S. job growth slowed more than expected in April and annual wage gains cooled, but it is probably too early to expect that the Federal Reserve will start cutting interest rates before September as the labor market remains fairly tight.
Nonfarm payrolls increased by 175,000 jobs last month, the Labor Department's Bureau of Statistics said in its closely watched employment report on Friday. Data for March was revised up to show payrolls rising by 315,000 jobs instead of 303,000 as previously reported.
Economists polled by Reuters had forecast payrolls advancing by 243,000. Estimates ranged from 150,000 to 280,000. The unemployment rate rose to 3.9% from 3.8%, still staying below 4% for the 27th straight month.
Comments