The S&P 500 and Nasdaq closed at record highs and the global equity index advanced on Thursday after a much anticipated U.S. inflation reading provided little surprise for relieved investors and helped push U.S. Treasury yields lower.
Market Snapshot
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 47.37 points, or 0.12%, to 38,996.39, the S&P 500 gained 26.51 points, or 0.52%, to a record closing high of 5,096.27. The Nasdaq Composite gained 144.18 points, or 0.90%, to end at a peak of 16,091.92. Its previous record close was 16,057.44, hit in November 2021.
Market Movers
Shares of New York Community Bancorp fell 20% in extended trading Thursday after the regional lender announced a leadership change and disclosed issues with its internal controls. The regional bank announced that Alessandro DiNello, its executive chairman, is taking on the roles of president and CEO, effective immediately. The bank also said that a recent assessment of the value of goodwill on its balance sheet will result in $2.4 billion impairment charge to its December quarter net income. The impairment won't impact its regulatory capital or credit agreements, said the bank in an 8-K filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
Snowflake tumbled 18% after the company’s revenue outlook for the fiscal first quarter and year came up short of expectations, and the cloud-data company announced that Frank Slootman was stepping down as chief executive “effective immediately.” He will be replaced by Sridhar Ramaswamy, senior vice president of AI at Snowflake. Ramaswamy told Barron’s in an interview that Snowflake provides guidance based on historical consumption patterns. He noted that unlike companies that sign long-term contracts, Snowflake starts every quarter with zero revenue. He said the forecast was conservative.
Okta, the identity-management company, said it expects fiscal first-quarter revenue of $603 million to $605 million and adjusted earnings of 54 cents to 55 cents a share. Analysts had been calling for revenue of $584 million and earnings of 41 cents. Revenue in the fourth quarter climbed to $605 million from $510 million and topped expectations of $587.2 million. The stock surged 23%.
Shares of C3.ai rose 25% after the maker of enterprise artificial-intelligence software posted a fiscal third-quarter adjusted loss of 13 cents a share, narrower than analysts’ expectations that called for a loss of 28 cents. Revenue at the company in the period was $78.4 million, up from $66.7 million a year earlier and better than analysts’ estimates of $76.1 million. Subscription revenue jumped 23% to $70.4 million.
Duolingo rose 22% after the language learning company posted fourth-quarter earnings and sales that beat analysts’ forecasts and guided for revenue in the fiscal first quarter and year ahead of estimates. The company said daily active users rose 65% from a year earlier and monthly active users rose 46%.
Chemours slid 32% after it placed three executives, including President and Chief Executive Mark Newman, on administrative leave as the chemicals company undergoes an internal review of its accounting practices.
Hormel Foods closed 15% higher after the owner of brands Skippy, Spam, and Planters posted fiscal first-quarter earnings that topped expectations. “We are especially encouraged by broad-based volume growth across our businesses, reflecting the strength of our leading brands, robust demand for our foodservice products and momentum in our Planters snack nuts business,” said CEO Jim Snee.
Fourth-quarter revenue at AMC Entertainment rose nearly 12% to $1.1 billion and topped expectations of $1.06 billion. CEO Adam Aron said the company benefited from deals to distribute the concert movies of Taylor Swift and Beyoncé despite a “diminished box office overall.” AMC shares fell 13%.
Marathon Digital, the crypto miner, earned 66 cents a share in the fourth quarter, a swing from a year-earlier loss of $3.13. Revenue rose to $156.8 million from $28.4 million a year earlier and topped analysts’ forecasts. The stock fell nearly 17%.
Shoals Technologies fell about 17% after the solar company reported fourth-quarter adjusted earnings of 12 cent a share, missing Wall Street estimates of 17 cents. Revenue in the period rose 38% to $130.4 million, below estimates of $132 million. The company said it expects a “softer first half of 2024 as sustained higher interest rates are resulting in project delays.”
Pure Storage, which provides systems based on flash memory technology to enterprise customers, posted better-than-expected adjusted profit and revenue in the fourth quarter and issued an upbeat outlook for fiscal 2025. Shares rose 25%.
Best Buy rose 1.5%. The electronics retailer reported fiscal fourth-quarter earnings and revenue that beat Wall Street estimates.
Monster Beverage closed up 5.8% after the maker of energy drinks said fourth-quarter revenue rose 14% to $1.73 billion as it saw “sound growth in the energy drink market globally.” The company said sales to customers outside the U.S. jumped 17%.
Market News
GM's Cruise valuation slashed by more than half, adding to woes
General Motors' Cruise saw its internal share price cut by more than half from a quarter ago as the fallout from an October accident continues to weigh on the self-driving car company.
Cruise employees were told the share price had been estimated by a third party at $11.80, according to an email viewed by Reuters. That's down from a prior estimate of $24.27 just one quarter ago.
AI Startup Making Humanoid Robots Raises $675 Million From Bezos, Nvidia
Jeff Bezos, Nvidia and Microsoft are betting a humanlike robot could be one of the hot new developments in artificial intelligence.
They are among a group of investors, including OpenAI, that invested $675 million in an AI robotics company called Figure, the startup said Thursday, valuing it at $2.6 billion.
Tech companies are pouring cash into AI at a breakneck pace, with investors and analysts increasingly believing the AI boom is sustainable. More than $29 billion was invested in generative AI companies last year, according to research firm PitchBook. Nvidia, the chip maker at the heart of the AI craze, has a market cap around $2 trillion, making it one of the biggest companies in the U.S.