U.S. stocks closed higher on Thursday as retail sales data declined more than expected, feeding hopes the Federal Reserve will soon start cutting interest rates in coming months.
Market Snapshot
The S&P 500 rose 29.11 points, or 0.58%, to end at 5,029.73 points, while the Nasdaq Composite rose 47.03 points, or 0.3%, to 15,906.17. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 348.85 points, or 0.91%, to 38,773.12.
Market Movers
Coinbase Global Inc. shares jumped 13% in the extended session Thursday after the crypto-trading platform swung to a quarterly profit and reported revenue well above Wall Street expectations, saying it benefited from “risk on” activity in the markets.
Alphabet dropped 2.17% after investment firm Third Point dissolved its stake in the megacap.
Apple shares were pressured as Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway BRKa.N trimmed its large stake in the iPhone-maker and Soros Fund Management entirely dissolved its stake. But the stock bounced in late trading and closed down just 0.1%.
Wells Fargo jumped 7.2% after the bank said the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency has terminated a 2016 consent order over the bank's sales practices misconduct.
Cisco Systems fell 2.43% as it announced plans to cut 5% of its global workforce and lowered its annual revenue target.
Deere & Co , the world's largest farm-equipment maker, lost 5.2% after cutting its 2024 profit forecast. West Pharmaceutical Services <WST.N> tumbled 14.1% after forecasting full-year results below estimates.
Fastly tumbled 31% after the cloud-computing company reported fourth-quarter revenue below Wall Street expectations and issued guidance that disappointed. For the first quarter, Fastly said it expects revenue ranging from $131 million to $135 million, with an adjusted loss of 5 cents to 9 cents a share. Wall Street had been calling for revenue of $135.5 million and a loss of 4 cents.
JFrog forecast a revenue increase of 21% to 22% in 2024 and shares of the software-development tools company closed up 28%. JFrog’s fourth-quarter adjusted earnings and revenue topped analysts’ expectations.
Shake Shack gained 26% after the burger chain swung to a fourth-quarter profit and beat analysts’ estimates. Revenue in the period jumped 20% to $286.2 million, better than estimates of $280.2 million.
Zebra Technologies was the best-performing stock in the S&P 500, up 12%, after the maker of printers, bar code scanners, and RFID readers, reported adjusted fourth-quarter earnings that beat analysts’ estimates. West Pharmaceutical Services fell the most in the S&P 500 with a decline of 14% after the contract manufacturer issued a weak outlook for 2024.
AppLovin, the app-monetization company, earned 49 cents a share on revenue of $953 million in the fourth quarter, beating estimates for profit of 35 cents a share on revenue of $929 million. AppLovin expects first-quarter revenue of $955 million to $975 million, better than Wall Street estimates of $912.1 million. The stock jumped 25%.
Super Micro Computer was up 14% to $1,004 after Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of the storage and server company with a Buy recommendation and a price target of $1,040.
Informatica, the provider of cloud-based data management software, reported fourth-quarter revenue of $445 million, up 12% from a year earlier and better than Wall Street estimates of $432 million. Cloud subscription annual recurring revenue rose 37% to $617 million, beating analysts’ consensus of $609 million. The stock rose 13%.
Twilio, the communications-software company, posted fourth-quarter adjusted earnings and revenue that beat estimates but first-quarter revenue guidance of $1.025 billion to $1.035 billion, an increase of 2% to 3% from a year earlier but below forecasts of $1.052 billion. Shares of Twilio declined 15%.
Albemarle, the lithium miner, said fourth-quarter revenue fell 10% to $2.36 billion on lower lithium market pricing. Analysts had expected revenue of $2.18 billion. The company posted a loss of $617.7 million, or $5.26 a share, a reversal from a year-earlier profit of $1.13 billion, or $9.60 a share. Shares were up 2.7%.
Yeti Holdings, the drinkware, coolers and outdoor products maker, declined 14% after reporting fourth-quarter adjusted earnings that missed analysts’ expectations and fiscal-year guidance that also was shy of forecasts.
Market News
OpenAI introduces AI model that turns text into video
Microsoft-backed OpenAI is working on a software that can generate minute-long videos based on text prompts, the company said on Thursday.
The software, called Sora, is currently available for red teaming, which helps identify flaws in the AI system, as well as for use by visual artists, designers and filmmakers to gain feedback on the model, the company said in a statement.
Lucid slashes prices of Air luxury EVs again to spur demand
Electric-vehicle maker Lucid Group lowered prices of its flagship Air luxury sedans by 1% to 10% on Thursday, in the latest bid to drive up demand in a soft market.
The EV industry has been grappling with a slowdown in demand for more than a year and manufacturers have responded by lowering prices and cutting back on production in some cases.
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