Stocks rose Thursday, bouncing back from a sharp selloff in the prior session sparked by a shift in interest-rate expectations.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained about 370 points, or 1%, fully recovering from Wednesday’s decline. That marked a new all-time high for the Dow, its eighth record close of 2024.
Market Snapshot
The S&P 500 climbed 1.25% to end the session at 4,906.19 points. The Nasdaq gained 1.30% to 15,361.64 points, while Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.97% to 38,519.84 points.
Market Movers
Qualcomm, the mobile device chip maker, reported fiscal first-quarter earnings and revenue that were better than expected and provided an optimistic vision for artificial-intelligence features on phones this year. For the fiscal second quarter, Qualcomm said it expects revenue of $8.9 billion to $9.7 billion. At the midpoint, the company’s revenue forecast roughly was in line with analysts’ estimates of $9.3 billion. The stock fell 5%.
Peloton Interactive’s revenue forecast for the fiscal third quarter missed analysts’ estimates and the at-home fitness company said it would fall short of its goal for full-year cash flow. The stock closed down 24% to $4.21.
Corteva rose 19% after the agriculture company posted fourth-quarter adjusted earnings that beat estimates and forecast sales in 2024 of $17.4 billion to $17.7 billion, which at the midpoint would be growth of 2% from a year earlier.
Nextracker reported fiscal third-quarter adjusted earnings and sales that topped Wall Street estimates and the solar company raised guidance for the fiscal year. The stock jumped 25%.
Etsy was up 9.1% after the online marketplace appointed Marc Steinberg, a partner at activist investor Elliott Investment Management, to its board. Elliott has accumulated a 13% economic interest in Etsy in the form of stock and options, which makes the firm the company’s largest holders, Barron’s reported, citing a person familiar with the situation.
MaxLinear fell 11% after the integrated circuits provider issued a revenue forecast for the first quarter that missed analysts’ expectations.
Norfolk Southern rose 9.1% after The Wall Street Journal reported an investor group led by Ancora Holdings has built a roughly $1 billion stake and nominated a majority slate of directors to the railroad operator’s board in a bid to oust Chief Executive Alan Shaw.
Merck rose 4.6% after the drugmaker posted fourth-quarter adjusted earnings of 3 cents a share, down from $1.62 a year earlier but better than analysts’ estimates that called for a loss of 11 cents a share. Revenue of $14.63 also topped estimates.
Wolfspeed fell 14% after the semiconductor maker issued weak revenue guidance for the fiscal third quarter.
Market News
Facebook parent Meta declares first dividend, shares soar
Meta Platforms issued its first ever dividend days ahead of flagship social network Facebook's 20th anniversary, while reporting revenue that beat expectations as a result of robust ad and device sales in the holiday shopping period.
Shares soared more than 14% after the bell, extending a long recovery in which Meta hit record highs in recent weeks for the first time in over two years.
The company's stock market valuation surged by about $130 billion, pushing it to five times that of smaller rival Snap Inc.
Apple China sales lag overshadows quarterly profit, revenue beats
Apple on Thursday reported China sales that missed Wall Street targets, overshadowing overall sales and profit that beat analysts' targets, powered by iPhone growth.
Apple Chief Financial Officer Luca Maestri indicated that revenue in the current quarter would be less than a year ago, when the quarter benefited from a post-COVID boost of about $5 billion in sales. Excluding that gain last year, total and iPhone revenue in the March-ending quarter would be similar to a year earlier, he told analysts on a conference call.
Amazon beats estimates on AI-fueled cloud, ecommerce businesses, shares jump
Amazon.com beat fourth-quarter revenue expectations on Thursday as new generative AI features in its cloud and ecommerce businesses spurred robust growth during the critical holiday period, sending its shares up 8% after the market close.
The company forecast current-quarter revenue of $138 billion to $143.5 billion. Analysts polled by LSEG expect $142.13 billion.
Amazon Web Services (AWS), the world's largest cloud services provider, posted revenue of $24.2 billion in the fourth quarter, largely in line with analysts' expectations of $24.26 billion.