Major stock indexes closed slightly lower Thursday as the market took a breather from a recent rally, with little in the way of corporate or economic news to drive sentiment during the session.
The S&P 500 and tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite fell 0.2% and 0.3%, respectively, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down fractionally. The major indexes had gained ground in three of the previous four sessions, with Wednesday’s surge coming after the Federal Reserve held interest rates steady and delivered its updated assessment of the economy.
The S&P 500 has gained 0.4% this week and heads into Friday’s session on track to snap a four-week losing streak fueled by investor concerns about tariffs and the outlook for the economy. The Nasdaq, which has also lost ground for four consecutive weeks, is down 0.4% so far this week, while the Dow is up 1.1%.
The Fed said Wednesday that the economy continues to expand at a “solid pace” but that uncertainty about the outlook has increased. Members of the Fed’s policy committee scaled back their growth forecasts and raised their projections for inflation. While committee members maintained their expectations for two rate cuts in 2025, Chair Jerome Powell said the Fed is in no rush to adjust policy as it seeks clarity on the impact of Trump administration policies.
The yield on the 10-year Treasury note, which has fallen in recent months as concerns about the economy have grown, was at 4.24% in late trading, down from 4.26% at yesterday’s close. The yield, which affects borrowing costs on all sorts of loans, notably mortgages, is trading at its lowest level in more than a week.
Among the main stock movers today, Accenture (ACN) shares slid more than 7% to lead S&P 500 decliners after the professional services firm delivered a mixed earnings report and said the federal government’s drive to cut costs is hurting revenue. Shares of research and advisory firm Gartner (IT), which also faces headwinds related to government efficiency measures, fell nearly 7%.
Microchip Technology (MCHP) shares fell 6.5%, leading Nasdaq decliners, as the struggling semiconductor firm moved to sell a plant in Arizona and launched a $1.35 billion convertible stock offering. IBM (IBM) shares slipped 3.6%, posting the biggest losses among Dow components.
Mega-cap technology companies, which helped lead yesterday’s rally, were mixed on Thursday. Chipmaker Broadcom (AVGO) fell 2%, while Apple (AAPL), Microsoft (MSFT), Alphabet (GOOG) and Amazon (AMZN) also lost ground. AI chipmaker Nvidia (NVDA) was up about 1%, while Facebook parent Meta Platforms (META) and EV maker Tesla (TSLA) eked out small gains.
Investors were awaiting a handful of noteworthy earnings reports after the bell. Shares of Micron (MU) rose nearly 1% during the regular session and added another 1% in extended trading after the memory chip maker released better-than-expected results and a strong outlook. Nike (NKE) fell more than 5% in after-hours trading, despite a strong earnings report, as the sporting goods giant said that sales could take a hit under the company’s turnaround plan. FedEx (FDX) also tumbled more than 5% after the bell following a disappointing quarterly report.
Gold futures were up 0.3% at $3,050 an ounce, after touching a new record high this morning, while West Texas Intermediate futures, the U.S. crude oil benchmark, rose 1.7% to $68.30 per barrel. Bitcoin was at $84,100 in recent trading, down from an intraday high of $87,500
These Were The Big S&P 500 Movers on Thursday
4 hr 10 min ago
Decliners
- Accenture (ACN) stock tumbled 7.3%, falling the most of any S&P 500 stock, after the professional services firm missed sales and profit estimates for its fiscal second quarter. Julie Sweet, CEO of the consulting firm, noted a negative revenue impact from the Trump administration’s focus on reducing government spending. Heading into the earnings release, analysts at Jefferies and Morgan Stanley had cut their price targets on Accenture stock, citing a cautious outlook among the firm’s clients and softness in discretionary spending.
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- Research and advisory firm Gartner (IT) also faces headwinds related to government efficiency measures and spending cuts. On Wednesday, UBS analysts lowered their price target on Gartner stock, noting that a choppy business environment could weigh on revenue growth for the services provider, particularly in its government-facing business. Gartner shares dropped 6.8% today.
- Microchip Technology (MCHP) shares fell 6.5%. The semiconductor maker enlisted financial services firm Macquarie Group to help with the sale of a manufacturing facility in Tempe, Ariz. In addition, Microchip announced an offering of $1.35 billion in convertible stock, prompting the ratings agency Moody’s to downgrade its rating on the company’s senior unsecured debt.
Advancers
- Shares of Darden Restaurants (DRI) jumped 5.8%, marking the S&P 500’s top daily performance, after the parent company of LongHorn Steakhouse released results for its fiscal third quarter. Although quarterly sales fell shy of estimates, adjusted earnings matched forecasts, and Darden’s CEO said the company expects customers to continue spending on dining out despite the uncertain economic environment. The company also expanded its partnership with Uber (UBER), announcing a pilot program to offer Uber Eats deliveries from 10 Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen restaurants.
- Electronics manufacturer Jabil (JBL) posted better-than-expected quarterly sales and profits, and its shares rose 3.1%. The circuit board maker touted strength across various markets, including cloud and data center infrastructure. Jabil also lifted its full-year sales and profit guidance as robust artificial intelligence demand drives sales of its semiconductor fabrication and testing equipment.
- Allstate (ALL) shares gained 2.6%, notching a record high following the publication of the insurer’s monthly results for February. The company estimated its catastrophe losses for the month at $92 million, a sharp decline from more than $1 billion in estimated catastrophe losses in the previous month that reflected the impact of the devastating wildfires in California. The firm also reported a slight month-over-month uptick in Allstate Protection policies in force.
Markets Are Anxious, But in This Circle, Optimism Abounds
4 hr 30 min ago
Economists, consumers, and business leaders are antsy. Wall Street analysts are bullish.
Of the 12,320 analyst ratings on S&P 500 stocks, 55.7% of them are Buy ratings, according to a recent report from FactSet Research. If that holds through the end of the month, it will represent the highest month-end percentage of Buy ratings since August 2022.
Another read: The share of Buy ratings is currently above its 5-year average (55%), according to FactSet, while the shares of Hold and Sell ratings are below their 5-year averages (39.1% and 5.9%, respectively).
The S&P 500 fell into a correction last week amid growing concerns about the Trump administration’s tariff policies and the potential they’ll raise prices and slow economic growth.
Big tech stocks have been hit particularly hard this year: The Magnificent Seven, for example, fell into a correction weeks before the S&P 500. Yet they remain among the stocks analysts are the most bullish on.
Microsoft (MSFT), Amazon (AMZN), and Nvidia (NVDA) are the S&P 500’s fourth, fifth, and sixth highest-rated stocks, respectively. Ninety-five percent of the analyst ratings on Microsoft and Amazon stocks are Buys, just slightly higher than Nvidia’s share (93%). Not a single Wall Street analyst recommends selling those stocks, according to FactSet’s calculations.
The tech sector is the second-highest rated sector—63% of ratings are Buys—bested only by energy, with 65%. Meanwhile consumer staples, a traditionally defensive sector that tends to outperform when investors expect a recession, has the lowest share of Buy ratings (41%).
Cava Climbs After JPMorgan Upgrade
5 hr 52 min ago
Cava Group (CAVA) shares jumped Thursday after the fast-casual restaurant chain’s stock got an upgrade from JPMorgan analysts, expecting growth as Cava expands its locations.
The stock surged more than 4% Thursday to close at $84.66, though even with Thursday’s gains, they’ve lost over 40% of their value since closing at a record high of of $150.88 in December.
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JPMorgan analysts said they “recommend taking advantage of the significant pullback” in Cava’s stock and boosted their rating to “overweight” from “neutral” with a price target of $110, calling it a “buy now and own for the long-term” stock.
The analysts said they see “significant” space for Cava to continue expanding past its current 367 locations, potentially reaching “well beyond” its goal of 1,000 locations by 2032 that the company stated at the time of its initial public offering (IPO).
The consensus price target of analysts tracked by Visible Alpha is slightly higher than JPMorgan’s target at about $126, suggesting significant upside from Thursday’s level, though well below the stock’s December high.
Jabil Stock Jumps on Strong Earnings, Outlook
7 hr 16 min ago
Jabil shares surged to join the S&P 500’s top-performing stocks Thursday after the circuit board maker reported better-than-expected earnings and issued an upbeat outlook.
The St. Petersburg, Fla.-based firm posted adjusted earnings per share (EPS) of $1.94 on revenue of $6.73 billion for the fiscal second quarter. Analysts polled by Visible Alpha expected $1.81 and $6.40 billion, respectively.
“In Q2, we exceeded our expectations due to continued strength in our capital equipment, cloud and data center infrastructure, and digital commerce end-markets,” CEO Mike Dastoor said.
For the current quarter, Jabil sees adjusted EPS between $2.08 and $2.48, and revenue of $6.7 billion to $7.3 billion, ahead of estimates. For the full year, it projects EPS of $8.95 on revenue of $27.9 billion, also topping projections amid expectations Jabil could continue to benefit from strong demand for AI.
“AI associate business is now expected to represent approximately $7.5 billion in revenue this fiscal year as demand for servers, racks, photonics, advanced networking, gear, storage and testing equipment all continue to climb higher,” Dastoor said during the earning call, according to a transcript provided by AlphaSense.
Jabil shares were up 3% in Thursday afternoon trading and had inched back into positive territory for 2025.
Nvidia on Track for Worst Quarter Since 2022
7 hr 59 min ago
Mounting economic concerns have threatened to derail the AI trade, putting Nvidia (NVDA) stock on track to have its worst quarter since 2022.
Nvidia shares were down about 12.5% since the start of the quarter as of Wednesday’s close. That would represent the stock’s worst performance since the third quarter of 2022, when inflation was running at 8.2% and the Federal Reserve projected raising interest rates another 1.5 percentage points within the next year. (Ultimately, the central bank would lift rates even higher than forecast but, by the end of 2022, ChatGPT had sparked the AI craze that has turned Nvidia into one of the most important companies in the world.)
The third quarter of 2024 is the only quarter since 2022’s bear market in which Nvidia stock has fallen, and that was a modest decline below 2%. Much of that loss came in July—as Wall Street worried about geopolitical tensions and overspending on AI infrastructure—and early August—when one of Wall Street’s favorite leveraged trades backfired, causing a flash crash of U.S. tech stocks.
Read the full article here.
Microchip Technology Stock Slides
8 hr 41 min ago
Microchip Technology (MCHP) shares fell Thursday as the struggling semiconductor firm said it hired Macquarie Group to help sell its Fab 2 wafer fabrication plant in Arizona, and launched a $1.35 billion convertible stock offering.
Microchip Technology announced last December that it planned to offload the Tempe facility to restructure its manufacturing operations. At that time, newly installed interim CEO Steve Sanghi explained that the decision was made with “inventory levels high and having ample capacity in place.” The site produces installed and operational chip equipment, and its product manufacturing and technologies are being transferred to Fabs 4 and 5 in Oregon and Colorado, respectively.
Michael Finley, senior vice president of fab operations, called the closure and sale “the latest development in our ongoing restructuring, demonstrating our efforts to resize our manufacturing footprint.” The company said in December that it anticipated the shutdown would occur in the September quarter and create annual cash savings of about $90 million.
Microchip Technology has been hurt by falling demand. Last month, it reported that third-quarter fiscal 2025 net sales tumbled 42% year-over-year, with Sanghi noting that the performance reflected “the need for the decisive steps we are taking to realign our business.”
In response to Microchip Technology’s issuing the convertible stock, Moody’s Ratings on Thursday downgraded its senior unsecured rating to “Baa2” from “Baa1.” “The rating downgrade reflects Microchip’s weak financial profile resulting from a sharp erosion in earnings,” Moody’s said.
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Microchip Technology shares were down about 5% Thursday afternoon and have lost more than 40% of their value over the last year.
Wedbush Says Musk Must Balance DOGE and Tesla CEO Duties
9 hr 51 min ago
Long-time Tesla (TSLA) bull Dan Ives, an analyst at Wedbush Securities, says Elon Musk is the only one who can turn the EV maker’s reputation around and the billionaire needs to show he is balancing his role working with the Department of Government Efficiency and the U.S. car maker.
Ives, along with two other Wedbush analysts, stuck with an outperform rating and $550 price target for Tesla. However, the analysts said that the company is suffering a “brand tornado crisis” due to a political backlash from Musk’s work with DOGE—the Trump administration’s cost-cutting agency.
To “change the narrative” around the stock, Musk needs to “formally announce (he) is going to balance DOGE and being Tesla CEO,” the analysts said. A statement like this, the analysts said, could prevent permanent brand damage for the U.S. car maker.
Andrew Harnik / Getty Images
And another measure Musk needs to take, the analysts said, is provide investors with a “roadmap and timing” for the lower-cost EVs that Tesla is planning this year as well as details on the rollout of unsupervised full self-driving in Austin, set for June.
“Tesla is going through a crisis and there is one person who can fix it…Musk,” the analysts wrote.
Tesla shares have lost about half their value since hitting a record high in December, hammered by the backlash as well as investors’ perception that the DOGE role is distracting Musk from running the EV maker. Tesla has also seen its sales slow in the U.S., China, and in Europe.
Tesla shares were down about 1% in recent trading.
Darden Stock Jumps as CEO Says Consumers Still Spending
10 hr 29 min ago
Darden Restaurants (DRI) shares surged Thursday as its CEO said consumers are still spending at its establishments, outweighing news that fiscal 2025 third-quarter sales came in weaker than expected.
The parent of Olive Garden and LongHorn Steakhouse posted adjusted earnings per share (EPS) of $2.80 on net sales of $3.16 billion. Analysts polled by Visible Alpha had projected $2.80 and $3.21 billion, respectively. Darden said same-restaurant sales rose 0.7% overall, including up 0.6% at Oliver Garden and 2.6% at LongHorn.
Darden kept most of its full-year outlook intact, only narrowing its adjusted EPS projection to a range of $9.45 to $9.52 from the previous $9.40 to $9.60.
Despite the downbeat quarter of sales and worsening consumer sentiment, Darden CEO Rick Cardenas said the company continues to see consumers spending.
“People, even if they say they’re feeling less optimistic, we haven’t seen a huge correlation between that and dining out,” Cardenas said on Darden’s earnings call. “So changes in consumer sentiment haven’t necessarily translated to material changes in consumer spending. So I think as long as incomes are going up and outpacing inflation, I think they’re likely to keep spending.”
Also Thursday, the company said it is expanding its partnership with Uber (UBER), launching a pilot program of Uber Eats deliveries from 10 Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen locations.
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Darden shares were up about 5% in midday trading and were among the top gainers in the S&P 500. The stock is up 14% over the past 12 months, outpacing the performance of the S&P 500 index over that period.
Five Below Surges on Strong Results, Rosy Outlook
11 hr 15 min ago
Five Below (FIVE) shares surged Thursday, a day after the discount retailer posted better-than-expected results and issued a rosy outlook as its holiday sales strategy paid off and it looked to open more locations.
The company reported fourth-quarter adjusted earnings per share (EPS) of $3.48, with net sales up 4% year-over-year to $1.39 billion. Both exceeded Visible Alpha forecasts. Same-store sales fell 3%, a smaller decline than expected.
COO Ken Bull said that the company was successful in its plan to go into the holiday season “with the goal of showcasing more newness with key trend-right, value product, while also improving our operational execution and in-store experience.”
The company sees full-year sales from $4.21 billion to $4.33 billion, with a midpoint higher than forecasts. Five Below also looks to add about 150 new stores during the year.
Despite today’s roughly 7% gain, shares of Five Below have sunk more than 60% over the past year.
Accenture Slides Amid Concerns About Future Growth
12 hr 24 min ago
Accenture (ACN) shares fell sharply Thursday after the professional services firm reported higher revenue but lower profit than analysts expected for its fiscal 2025 second quarter.
The stock was down 8% in recent trading, leading S&P 500 decliners, amid concerns about the company’s growth prospects as the economy slows and the U.S. government reins in spending.
Accenture posted earnings per share (EPS) of $2.82 on revenue of $16.66 billion. Analysts polled by Visible Alpha had projected $2.85 and $16.61 billion, respectively.
The company lifted the bottom of its full-year revenue range projection to 5% growth from 4% previously. It also raised the lower end of its EPS forecast to $12.55 from $12.43.
Ahead of Thursday’s report, Morgan Stanley and Jefferies analysts cut their price targets for the stock, citing an uncertain environment among the firm’s clients. Jefferies said they see Accenture’s clients as having “become a bit more cautious in the past month.”
Morgan Stanley analysts called the post-earnings environment for Accenture “challenging” given the Trump administration’s focus on government spending cuts, along with a “discretionary spending pullback in response to restrictive trade measures” across the economy.
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Accenture shares have lost more than 20% over the past 12 months.
Boeing Stock Price Levels to Watch After Yesterday’s Surge
13 hr 21 min ago
Boeing (BA) shares turned in their best one-day performance in nearly two years on Wednesday following bullish remarks from the plane maker’s chief financial officer, news of a new aircraft order and a favorable deliveries outlook from analysts.
The stock gained nearly 7% yesterday, leading advancers on both the S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average. With the surge, Boeing shares narrowed their year-to-date decline to 2.5%, roughly in line with the performance of the S&P 500 over the stretch.
After a bullish engulfing pattern marked the end of a three-week pullback in Boeing shares earlier this month, the stock has continued to trend higher, closing above both the 50- and 200-day moving averages in Wednesday’s trading session. It’s also worth pointing out the moving averages formed a golden cross early last month, a chart pattern that signals the start of a new uptrend.
Importantly, Wednesday’s move was backed by the highest volume in more than two weeks, indicating buying activity by larger market participants, such as institutional investors and hedge funds. Moreover, the relative strength index (RSI) has climbed back above the 50 threshold to confirm bullish price momentum.
Investors should monitor major support levels on Boeing’s chart around $165 and $146, while also watching key resistance levels near $192 and $217.
Boeing shares were down slightly in premarket trading Thursday at around $172.
Read the full technical analysis piece here.
Major Stock Index Futures Point to Lower Open
14 hr 3 min ago
Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average were down 0.4% in recent trading.
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S&P 500 futures slipped 0.5%.
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Nasdaq 100 future were off 0.6%.
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