U.S. stocks closed lower on Thursday, snapping the longest winning streaks for the Nasdaq and S&P 500 in two years, as Treasury yields climbed after a disappointing auction of 30-year bonds and comments from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell.
Market Snapshot
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 220.33 points, or 0.65%, to 33,891.94, the S&P 500 lost 35.43 points, or 0.81 %, to 4,347.35 and the Nasdaq Composite lost 128.97 points, or 0.94 %, to 13,521.45.
Market Movers
Walt Disney (DIS) reported fiscal fourth-quarter adjusted earnings of 82 cents a share, beating analysts’ estimates of 71 cents, as the entertainment giant’s streaming service, Disney +, added nearly seven million “core” subscribers in the period. Disney also announced a more ambitious cost-cutting plan, raising its annualized cost efficiencies target to $7.5 billion, up from a prior target of $5.5 billion. The stock rose 6.9%.
AMC Entertainment (AMC) tumbled 14% after the movie-theater chain filed to offer up to $350 million of stock.
Affirm Holdings (AFRM) reported a fiscal first-quarter loss that was narrower than expected and shares of the buy-now-pay-later company rose 14%. Revenue in the period of $497 million beat estimates of $444 million. Total merchandise volume rose 28% year over year to $5.6 billion.
Chip designer Arm Holdings (ARM) reported fiscal second-quarter adjusted earnings and revenue better than analysts’ expectations but its forecasts for the third quarter and fiscal year were shy of estimates. U.S.-listed shares of Arm, which went public in September, closed down 5.2%.
Tesla (TSLA) fell 5.5% to $209.98 after HSBC launched coverage on shares of the electric-vehicle maker with the equivalent of a Sell rating and price target of $146.
Topgolf Callaway Brands (MODG), the maker of golf equipment and operator of the Topgolf recreational driving-range chain, reduced its outlook for full-year profit and sales following what it said was a “challenging” third quarter. Shares dropped 17%.
Twilio (TWLO) rose 0.4% after the cloud-computing company beat Wall Street’s third-quarter earnings estimates and raised its outlook for adjusted income from operations to $475 million to $485 million, up from a previous forecast of between $350 million and $400 million.
Virgin Galactic (SPCE) rallied 19% after the space-tourism company said it expects fourth-quarter revenue of around $3 million, higher than estimates of $1.5 million.
Medical-device maker Becton Dickinson (BDX) issued a sales and adjusted earnings outlook for fiscal 2024 that was below analysts’ expectations. The stock fell 9.3% and was the S&P 500’s worst performer. TransDigm (TDG) was the index’s top stock Thursday, rising 8.7%, after it paid about $1.4 billion to acquire the microwave assets of private-equity-owned Communications & Power Industries.
Krispy Kreme (DNUT) declined 6.6% after the doughnut company’s third-quarter adjusted profit and revenue missed Wall Street expectations.
Grab(GRAB) rose 3.13% on Thursday as it reported an adjusted core profit for the third quarter, its first ever, driven by cost-reduction measures and strong demand for its food delivery and ride-share services.
The Trade Desk Inc . (NASDAQ: TTD) 30% LOWER; reported Q3 EPS of $0.33, $0.04 better than the analyst estimate of $0.29. Revenue for the quarter came in at $493 million versus the consensus estimate of $486.9 million. The Trade Desk Inc. sees Q4 2023 revenue of at least $580 million, versus the consensus of $610.2 million.
Doximity, Inc. (DOCS) 24% HIGHER; reported Q2 EPS of $0.22, $0.05 better than the analyst estimate of $0.17. Revenue for the quarter came in at $113.6 million versus the consensus estimate of $109.05 million. Doximity, Inc. sees FY2024 revenue of $460-472 million, versus the consensus of $458.7 million.
Unity Software Inc. (U) 14% LOWER; reported Q3 EPS of ($0.32), $0.49 worse than the analyst estimate of $0.17. Revenue for the quarter came in at $544.2 million versus the consensus estimate of $554.17 million. The company also said it is not providing guidance for the fourth quarter or full year 2023.
Iridium Communications Inc. (NASDAQ: IRDM) 9% LOWER; Qualcomm (NASDAQ: QCOM) notified Iridium that it has elected to terminate the agreements, effective December 3, 2023.
Illumina (NASDAQ: ILMN) 7% LOWER; reported Q3 EPS of $0.33, $0.20 better than the analyst estimate of $0.13. Revenue for the quarter came in at $1.12 billion versus the consensus estimate of $1.13 billion. Illumina sees FY2023 EPS of $0.60-$0.70, versus the consensus of $0.80.
TKO Group Holdings, Inc. (TKO) 5% LOWER; announced that one of its stockholders, Mr. Vincent K. McMahon, intends to offer for sale in an underwritten secondary offering 8,400,000 shares of the Company's Class A common stock.
Hologic (NASDAQ: HOLX) 3% HIGHER; reported Q4 EPS of $0.89, $0.05 better than the analyst estimate of $0.84. Revenue for the quarter came in at $945.3 million versus the consensus estimate of $940.03 million. Hologic sees Q1 2024 EPS of $0.92-$0.97, versus the consensus of $0.94. Hologic sees Q1 2024 revenue of $960-985 million, versus the consensus of $1017 million. Hologic sees FY2024 EPS of $3.90-$4.10, versus the consensus of $3.90. Hologic sees FY2024 revenue of $3.92-4.02 billion, versus the consensus of $4.023 billion.
Market News
Even If the Fed Stays on Hold, Jerome Powell Is Keeping His Options Open
Fed Chair Jerome Powell indicated the central bank wouldn't declare an end to its historic interest-rate increases until it had more evidence that inflation was cooling.
Price and wage pressures have eased recently, leading more investors to think the Fed is done raising rates. Powell disappointed those investors in a speech Thursday by explaining why he thinks the Fed is more likely to tighten policy than ease it if any change is warranted.
While Powell didn't build a case for lifting rates now, he pointed to earlier inflation "head fakes," past episodes in which price pressures ebbed for a while before surprising Fed officials by picking up again. He said they would monitor economic conditions closely to avoid both the risk of having been "misled by a few good months of data," as well as the risk of having raised rates too high, Powell said.
US Jobless Claims Fall in Latest Week in Still-Strong Labor Market
The number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits fell last week as the labor market continued to show few signs of a significant slowdown.
Initial claims for state unemployment benefits fell 3,000 to a seasonally adjusted 217,000 for the week ended Nov. 4 from an upwardly revised 220,000 in the prior week, the Labor Department said on Thursday. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast 218,000 claims for the latest week.
Data last week showed the job market is cooling, with the pace of hiring slowing and unemployment ticking higher, although joblessness - at 3.9% in October - remains historically low. A separate report showed that there were 1.5 job openings for every unemployed person in September, down from around 2-to-1 when the job market was the most tight last year.
