Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange during morning trading on Oct. 8, 2024.
The Nasdaq Composite declined Thursday, weighed down by a post-earnings slump in shares of market bellwether Nvidia.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 80 points, or 0.2%. The S&P 500 dipped 0.4%, and the Nasdaq pulled back 1.2%.
Nvidia weighed on the major indexes. Shares of the AI-chip juggernaut, up 190% this year, dipped around 2% despite reporting better-than-expected third-quarter earnings and issuing strong guidance after the bell Wednesday.
Some traders cited the chipmaker's slowing revenue growth from previous quarters as cause for concern — or that the chipmaker didn't exceed the most optimistic estimate in its forecast for the next quarter. Shares gyrated between gains and losses despite, even as Wall Street analysts gave bullish reports on the earnings and raised their price targets.
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"Any weakness will likely be bought for investors but traders who require beats and raises every quarter could lighten their exposure if no big beats happen for a few quarters," Eric Clark, portfolio manager of the Rational Dynamic Brands Fund, said about Nvidia. "When growth & momentum investors leave a stock, they generally leave skid marks."
In other news, Snowflake popped nearly 30% after topping Wall Street's estimates and lifting its product revenue guidance for the fiscal year. Alphabet slumped shares shed 6%, falling for a second session on antitrust fears.
Bitcoin also hit a fresh milestone, crossing the $98,000 level for the first time late Wednesday as investors maintained their hopes that a second Donald Trump presidency will bring in supportive regulation for the industry. It was last trading around $96,566.
Money Report
Alphabet falls for a second day
Alphabet shares shed more than 6% as antitrust worries batter the tech giant for a second day.
This week, the Justice Department called for Google to divest its Chrome browser after a court ruled in August that the company has monopolized the search market.
"To remedy these harms, the [Initial Proposed Final Judgment] requires Google to divest Chrome, which will permanently stop Google's control of this critical search access point and allow rival search engines the ability to access the browser that for many users is a gateway to the internet," the filing said.
Shares were on track Thursday for their biggest one-day drop since Jan. 31, when the shed 7.5%.
— Fred Imbert, Jennifer Elias
Snowflake heads for best day ever, pops nearly 31%
Snowflake shares surged 31% and headed for their best day ever on the heels of a strong earnings report and product revenue outlook.
The data analytics software company topped Wall Street estimates, posting adjusted earnings of 20 cents per share on $942 million in revenue. That topped the 15 cents per share and $897 million in revenue expected by analysts polled by LSEG.
Snowflake said its expects product revenue for the 2025 fiscal year to reach $3.43 billion, up from a previous forecast calling for $3.36 billion.
— Samantha Subin
Leverage in crypto will result in correction for bitcoin, Novogratz says
Galaxy Digital CEO Michael Novogratz told CNBC's "Squawk Box" on Thursday that the bitcoin rally will eventually give way to a correction.
"There's a ton of leverage in the system right now. ... The crypto community is levered to the gills, and so there will be a correction," Novogratz said.
The veteran crypto investor did say that he expected bitcoin to break through the $100,000 level, and it the rally could continue beyond that point before the correction comes.
Bitcoin was trading at around $97,000 on Thursday morning.
— Jesse Pound
Stocks open higher on Thursday
Stocks opened in the green on Thursday, led by a turnaround in Nvidia's stock price.
The S&P 500 opened more than 0.3% higher, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed about 96 points, or 0.2%, shortly after the market open. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite gained nearly 0.5%, meanwhile.
— Pia Singh
Weekly initial jobless claims fall below forecast, signaling labor market is holding up
Initial weekly applications for unemployment insurance came in at 213,000 for the week ended Nov. 16, down from last week's revised 219,000 claims, the Dept. of Labor said. Wall Street economists' consensus estimate had been 220,000.
While the latest jobless claims numbers showed the labor market at least holding steady, if not strengthening, two other measures out Thursday may signal nascent economic weakness.
Continuing claims for jobless insurance climbed to 1.908 million from 1.872 million last week and 25,000 more than the Street's estimate of 1.883 million. And the Philadelphia Federal Reserve manufacturing index of activity in the region slowed to -5.5 in November against economists' estimate of +6.9 and October's +10.3.
— Scott Schnipper
Snowflake, Nvidia among the names making moves before the bell
Some stocks are making moves in the premarket:
- Snowflake – Shares surged more than 21% following the company's better-than-expected third-quarter results and strong guidance. Snowflake posted adjusted earnings of 20 cents per share on revenue of $942 million. Analysts surveyed by LSEG were looking for 15 cents in earnings per share on revenue of $897 million.
- Palo Alto Networks – The cybersecurity stock fell 2% after the company issued fiscal second-quarter guidance largely in-line with expectations. Palo Alto Networks guided for adjusted earnings of $1.54 to $1.56 per share on revenue of $2.22 billion to $2.25 billion. That was roughly in line with the Street's forecast of $1.55 per share in earnings and $2.23 billion in revenue, per FactSet. Palo Alto also announced a 2-for-1 stock split.
- Nvidia – Shares of the chipmaker fell around 1% despite its third-quarter earnings results topping Wall Street's expectations. The company posted 81 cents in adjusted earnings per share on revenue of $35.08 billion, while analysts had penciled in 75 cents in earnings per share on revenue of $33.16 billion, according to LSEG.
Read here for the full list.
— Sean Conlon
William Blair downgrades Ulta Beauty
Ulta Beauty could have a long road to a full recovery in the cosmetics segment after management issued a "hard reset" of expectations last month, according to William Blair.
The firm downgraded the cosmetics stock to market perform from outperform in a Wednesday note.
"We also maintain that there is a longer-term risk embedded in the beauty category migration online, which is potentially in the most damning phase as it relates to retail cannibalization and drives heightened, more dynamic competition," analyst Dylan Carden said.
"At current valuation against what we believe is our more likely earnings outcome, we believe shares are relatively fairly valued ahead of several quarters of uncertainty with risk of more sustained category deceleration and longer-term online cannibalization risk," the analyst added.
— Brian Evans
Bitcoin hits a fresh record above $98,000
Bitcoin breached the $98,000 level for the first time Thursday as investors continued pricing in a second Donald Trump presidency.
The price of the flagship cryptocurrency rose as high as $98,367.00 in early morning trading. Crypto exchange Coinbase advanced 3% premarket, while MicroStrategy, which trades as a bitcoin proxy, jumped 11%. Mining stocks rose as well, with Mara Holdings up 9%.
This move was triggered by a spike in funding rates and open interest on the futures market during Asia trading. Around the same time, premiums in spot markets fell, according to data from CryptoQuant. Bitcoin's recent climb has also triggered a wave of short liquidations – more than $88 million in the past 24 hours, according to CoinGlass – sending the price further up overnight.
— Tanaya Macheel
Nvidia shares drop 3% after earnings
Nvidia shares were down 3% in the premarket after the chipmaker reported fiscal third-quarter results.
The company earned an adjusted 81 cents per share on revenue of $35.08 billion. Analysts polled by LSEG expected a profit of 75 cents per share on revenue of $33.16 billion. To be sure, revenue growth slowed from previous quarters.
— Fred Imbert
European markets open flat
European stocks opened flat Thursday as global market sentiment dipped.
The pan-European Stoxx 600 was marginally higher at 0.02% in opening trade, as major bourses and sectors diverged. Insurance stocks led gains, up 0.69%, while household goods dipped 0.62%.
The U.K.'s FTSE 100 index was 0.22% higher at 8,103, Germany's DAX up 0.16% at 19,034, France's CAC down 0.19% at 7,185 and Italy's FTSE MIB 0.13% lower at 33,202.
— Karen Gilchrist
Asia markets fall, with Adani Group companies plunging as investors assess Adani charges
Asia-Pacific markets fell Thursday, with investors watching tech shares in the region after chipmaker Nvidia reported better-than-expected results.
All eyes were also on Indian stocks related to billionaire Gautam Adani, after the chair of India's Adani Group was indicted with others in New York federal court on charges related to a massive bribery and fraud scheme.
Shares of Adani Group companies plunged, with flagship Adani Enterprises down 19%, while the company in the eye of the storm Adani Green Energy tanked 18.09%.
Most other markets in the region slipped, with Japan's Nikkei 225 falling 0.85% and leading losses in the region.
— Lim Hui Jie
Dow lags this week
With more than half of the trading week now in the rearview mirror, the Dow is on track to underperform.
The blue-chip index has shed 0.1% since Monday. On the other hand, the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite have risen 0.8% and 1.5%, respectively, week to date.
— Alex Harring
See the stocks making big moves after hours
These are some of the stocks making moves after hours:
- Nvidia — The artificial intelligence darling slid nearly 2% despite exceeding expectations for the third quarter and providing strong guidance.
- Snowflake — The cloud stock soared 18% after beating earnings expectations for the third quarter and issuing strong guidance.
- Jack in the Box — The restaurant chain tumbled 5.6% after revenue for the fiscal fourth quarter came in below expectations.
— Alex Harring
Stock futures are little changed
Futures tied to the Dow, S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 were all near flat shortly after 6 p.m. ET.
— Alex Harring
