By Francesca Fontana
The Score is a weekly review of the biggest stock moves and the news that drove them.
JPMorgan Chase
Donald Trump's election victory powered a broad market rally Wednesday.
Big winners included banks, which rose on hopes for reduced regulation and higher interest income. JPMorgan Chase shares climbed 12% to a record high. Wells Fargo and Goldman Sachs both rose 13%.
The prospect of lighter regulation and protective tariffs drove gains in industrial stocks, including equipment makers, domestic steelmakers, and railroads. Bitcoin prices and crypto-linked stocks also rallied.
Sectors expected to benefit from Democratic policies declined sharply, including clean-energy and electric-car companies. Bucking the trend was Tesla, the EV maker helmed by Trump ally and donor Elon Musk. Its shares rose 15%.
Palantir Technologies
Insatiable AI appetite supercharged Palantir's latest quarterly report.
The software company reported strong sales and raised its revenue guidance, buoying investor confidence in the company's growth.
Palantir sells data-analytics software to governments and businesses worldwide. The company's technology has been used in the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East to assist with battlefield logistics and military decision-making.
The company also notched some larger contracts with the U.S. Defense Department this year, including an expanded role in Project Maven, the Pentagon's marquee AI program.
Palantir Technologies shares climbed 23% Tuesday, making them the best performer in the S&P 500.
Lyft
Lyft picked up more riders and more sales in the latest quarter.
The ride-hailing company raised its outlook after reporting double-digit percentage gains in ridership and revenue.
Lyft said gross bookings rose 16% to $4.12 billion as the app's number of active users rose to a record 24.4 million. For the full year, the company expects gross bookings growth of 17%.
During the quarter, Lyft also signed a strategic partnership with food-delivery app DoorDash that offers exclusive benefits to riders that link their DashPass accounts.
Lyft shares soared 23% Thursday.
Hershey
Hershey's latest quarter wasn't so sweet, as high cocoa prices ate into its sales.
The chocolate maker lowered its annual guidance and missed revenue and profit expectations.
Record-high cocoa prices remain a challenge for Hershey and candy-making rivals like Mondelez International. The Cadbury's owner said in October that it expects cocoa costs to eat into profitability next year, and that it will keep raising chocolate prices.
Cocoa-based candies have become more expensive than ever in 2024, with prices elevated by global inflation and adverse weather in areas where their key ingredient is grown.
Hershey shares lost 2.2% Thursday.
Warner Bros. Discovery swung to its first quarterly profit in more than two years.
The entertainment conglomerate posted a surprise profit of $135 million, thanks to better-than-expected growth in streaming subscribers.
Warner Bros. added 7.2 million direct-to-consumer subscribers globally in the third quarter, its largest growth since the Max streaming service launched.
Meanwhile, the company's legacy movie-studio and cable network business weighed on overall adjusted profit. Warner Bros. said lower box-office revenue from "Beetlejuice Beetlejuice" and "Twisters" didn't match the strong performance by "Barbie" a year earlier.
Warner Bros. shares soared 12% Thursday.
Sony
Sony's latest quarterly profit leveled up, thanks to strength in its games business.
The Japanese entertainment and electronics company said net profit climbed 69% from a year earlier and raised its annual revenue forecast.
During the week, Sony also rolled out its updated PlayStation 5 console in time for the holiday shopping season. The PS5 Pro offers faster rendering, enhanced details and other upgrades from the original, which made its debut in 2020.
Earlier in the week, rival Nintendo cut its annual forecasts for Switch sales and revenue after disappointing first-half results.
American depositary shares of Sony jumped 9% Friday.
Our weekly markets news roundup is now part of the WSJ's What's News podcast. Host Francesca Fontana discusses the biggest stock moves of the week and the news that drove them. Check out What's News in Markets at wsj.com/podcasts or wherever you listen.
Write to Francesca Fontana at francesca.fontana@wsj.com.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
November 08, 2024 17:30 ET (22:30 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2024 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
Comments