U.S. stocks closed higher on Friday, buoyed by a rally in megacap growth stocks following robust quarterly results from technology heavyweights Alphabet and Microsoft in addition to moderate inflation data.
Market Snapshot
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 153.86 points, or 0.40%, to 38,239.66, the S&P 500 rose 51.54 points, or 1.02%, to 5,099.96 and the Nasdaq Composite rose 316.14 points, or 2.03%, to 15,972.90.
Market Movers
Alphabet posted better-than-expected first-quarter earnings and revenue and the parent company of Google announced it would be paying its first dividend of 20 cents a share. Alphabet also said its board board authorized the repurchase of up to $70 billion in stock. Alphabet shares gained 10%. The company’s market cap crossed $2 trillion, making Alphabet the fourth U.S. company to reach that milestone, joining Apple, Nvidia, and Microsoft.
Software giant Microsoft, meanwhile, reported fiscal third-quarter earnings of $2.94 a share, beating analysts’ expectations of $2.82, while revenue rose to $61.9 billion from $52.9 billion and topped consensus of $60.9 billion. Revenue from Azure and other cloud services jumped 31%, higher than estimates that called for growth of 28.8%. The growth included seven percentage points of growth related to artificial intelligence, up from six percentage points the previous quarter. Microsoft shares climbed 1.8%.
Intel fell 9.2% after the chip maker posted first-quarter revenue of $12.7 billion, below analysts’ estimates of $12.8 billion, and issued a second-quarter earnings and revenue forecast that missed expectations. Intel said it expects second-quarter adjusted earnings of 10 cents a share, below forecasts of 26 cents, while revenue was projected of $12.5 billion to $13.5 billion, below estimates of $13.7 billion. Chief Executive Pat Gelsinger said Intel was “making steady progress against our priorities.”
Snap surged 28% after the social-media platform posted better-than-estimated first-quarter earnings and revenue and issued a forecast for second-quarter sales that was better than expected. The parent company of video-messaging app Snapchat sees sales in the second quarter of between $1.23 billion to $1.26 billion, higher than Wall Street expectations of $1.22 billion. Snap expects daily active users of 431 million in the second quarter, more than forecasts of 430.5 million.
Exxon Mobil’s first-quarter earnings of $2.06 a share fell from a year earlier and missed analysts’ estimates on lower industry refining margins and natural-gas prices. The stock fell 2.8%.
Chevron reported first-quarter adjusted earnings of $2.93 a share, 1 cent higher than analysts’ estimates, while revenue of $48.72 billion beat consensus of $48.42 billion. Chevron earned $3.55 a share a year earlier on revenue of $50.8 billion. The stock rose 0.4%.
Roku, the video-streaming company, said revenue in the first quarter rose 19% to $881.5 million, beating Wall Street forecasts of $843.5 million, as streaming households rose 14% from a year earlier and streaming hours jumped 23%. Roku posted a loss in the period of 35 cents a share, narrower than Wall Street expectations that called for a loss of 61 cents. But commentary about challenges in the second half of the year spooked Wall Street. The stock declined 10%.
Skechers rose 11% as the athletic footwear company reported first-quarter earnings and sales that topped analysts’ estimates and raised its outlook for the year.
ResMed jumped 19% higher after the medical devices company reported fiscal third-quarter adjusted earnings of $2.13 a share, topping Wall Street estimates of $1.93. Revenue of $1.2 billion beat forecasts of $1.17 billion.
Atlassian, the productivity software company, reported fiscal third-quarter earnings that beat analysts’ estimates and said co-founder Scott Farquhar would step down as a head of the company after 23 years. The stock fell 9.6%.
AbbVie fell 4.6% after first-quarter adjusted earnings beat estimates and the drug maker boosted its full-year profit guidance. Sales of autoimmune drug Humira, however, declined 36% from a year earlier to $2.27 billion.
Market News
Fed’s Preferred Core Inflation Gauge Rose at Brisk Pace in March
The Federal Reserve’s preferred gauge of underlying US inflation rose at a brisk pace in March, reinforcing concerns of persistent price pressures that are likely to delay any interest-rate cuts.
The so-called core personal consumption expenditures price index, which strips out the volatile food and energy components, increased 0.3% from the prior month, data out Friday showed. From a year ago, it advanced 2.8%.
Apple Intensifies Talks With OpenAI for iPhone Generative AI Features
Apple Inc. has renewed discussions with OpenAI about using the startup’s technology to power some new features coming to the iPhone later this year. The two companies have begun discussing terms of a possible agreement and how the OpenAI features would be integrated into Apple’s iOS 18, the next iPhone operating system.
The move marks a reopening of dialogue between the companies. Apple had talked to OpenAI about a deal earlier this year, though work between the two parties had been minimal since then. Apple also remains in discussions with Alphabet Inc.’s Google about licensing that company’s Gemini chatbot.