The Nasdaq and S&P 500 scored record closing highs on Monday, boosted by tech-related shares following the market's strong November gains, as investors awaited this week's economic data including the key monthly jobs report on Friday.
Market Snapshot
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 128.65 points, or 0.29%, to 44,782.00. The S&P 500 rose 14.77 points, or 0.24%, to 6,047.15 and the Nasdaq Composite climbed 185.78 points, or 0.97%, to 19,403.95.
Market Movers
Super Micro Computer - Super Micro Computer stock soared 28.7% after the server maker said aninternal probeinto why its auditor quit, forcing it to delay earnings, found no evidence of fraud or misconduct. The company also said it would appoint a new chief financial officer. The stock fell 6.9% on Friday but finished November with a gain of more than 20%. Separately, Bridgewater Associates, the world’s largest hedge fund by assets,added to its holdings of Super Microin the third quarter, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Tesla - Tesla rose 3.5% to $357.09. The electric-vehicle maker over the weekend began rolling out version 13 of itshighest-level driver assistance software, Full Self-Driving. The new version “upgrades every part of the end-to-end driving network,” wrote Ashok Elluswamy, Tesla’s vice president of AI software, in a tweet on Saturday. FSD updates are closely watched by investors. Tesla believes it’s the product that ultimately will transform the millions of Tesla vehicles on roads into true self-driving cars. Stifel analyst Stephen Gengaroraised his price targeton the stock to $411 from $287 and maintained his Buy rating, while Roth MKM analyst Craig Irwin upgraded shares to Buy from Hold and boosted his price target to $380 from $85.
Intel - Intel was down 0.5% after the chip maker announced CEO Pat Gelsinger retired and stepped down from the board, effective Dec. 1. “While we have made significant progress in regaining manufacturing competitiveness and building the capabilities to be a world-class foundry, we know that we have much more work to do at the company and are committed to restoring investor confidence,” said Frank Yeary, independent chairman. Intel stock fell 61% under Gelsinger’s tenure as CEO.
NIO, XPeng, Li Auto - U.S-listed shares of XPeng rose 5.3% after the Chinese EV makerreported 30,895 vehicle deliveriesin November, down 21% from a year earlier. Li Auto was down 3.7% after posting deliveries last month of 48,740 vehicles, down 37% from a year earlier. It was Li Auto’s second straight sequential deliveries decline. NIO was down 1.8%. The company reported 20,575 deliveries in November, up 29% from a year earlier but down 1.9% from October.
Stellantis - Stellantis declined 6.3% after CEO Carlos Tavares resigned, effective immediately. Shares of the Jeep maker have declined 47% this year. Wall Street has lowered earnings estimates for 2024 several times as the auto company had dealt with lower sales and bloated dealer inventories.
Nvidia - Nvidia rose 0.3%. Bridgewater sold 1.8 million shares to end the third quarter with 4.8 million shares in the leading maker of chips for artificial-intelligence applications. Meanwhile, the U.S. government announced fresh measures torestrict China’s accessto advanced semiconductor technology. Coming into Monday, Nvidia shares had risen 179% this year.
Upstart - Upstart Holdings declined 14.5% to $67.39 after shares of the artificial-intelligence lending platform were downgraded to Underweight from Neutral at J.P. Morgan. Analysts raised the price target on the stock to $57 from $45. “We expect the third-party funding environment to improve in 2025, which appears to be more than priced in at current levels, with shares trading nine times forward sales,” J.P. Morgan said in a research report.
Gap - Gap rose 6.4% after J.P. Morgan upgraded shares of the retailer toOverweight from Neutral. Earlier this month, Gap reportedthird-quarter earningsthat topped analysts’ expectations and raised guidance for the fiscal year.
First Solar - First Solar rose 4.3% to $207.92. Analysts at Piper Sandler raised their price target on shares of the solar technology company to $250 from $210 and kept an Overweight rating on the stock.
Norwegian Cruise Line, Carnival - Shares of Norwegian Cruise Line rose 5.4% to $28.35 and Carnival was up 2.2% to $25.99 after Truist Securities analystsraised their price targetson the cruise operators. Truist increased its price target on Norwegian to $35 from $25, and Carnival to $29 from $20. “Despite our attempts to find negatives, it’s all looking very good,” the analysts said.
Market News
Musk Record Tesla Pay Plan Rejected Again by Delaware Judge
Elon Musk’s record-setting Tesla Inc. pay package was again rejected by a Delaware judge even after shareholders supported reinstating it.
Despite the June 13 shareholder vote at the company’s annual meeting, Delaware Chancery Court Judge Kathaleen St. J. McCormick decided to stick with her original finding in January that the company’s board was too much under the influence of the billionaire entrepreneur when it adopted the plan in 2018.
The stock options package was initially worth $2.6 billion and spiked to $56 billion by the time the judge canceled it. The package was worth $101.5 billion at Monday’s closing price.
Intel CEO Forced Out by Board Frustrated With Slow Progress
Intel Corp. Chief Executive Officer Pat Gelsinger was forced out after the board lost confidence in his plans to turn around the iconic chipmaker, adding to turmoil at one of the pioneers of the technology industry.
The clash came to a head last week when Gelsinger met with the board about the company’s progress on winning back market share and narrowing the gap with Nvidia Corp., according to people familiar with the matter. He was given the option to retire or be removed, and chose to announce the end of his career at Intel, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the proceedings weren’t made public.
Intel Chief Financial Officer David Zinsner and Executive Vice President Michelle Johnston Holthaus are serving as interim co-CEOs while the board searches for Gelsinger’s replacement, the company said in a statement. Frank Yeary, independent chair of the board of Intel, will serve as interim executive chair.
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