Markets
Sunset Bull
(Getty Images)

Megacap tech and the AI trade power US stocks to fresh records

The S&P 500 rose 0.5%, the Nasdaq 100 was up 0.8%, and the Russell 2000 advanced 0.3% on Monday.

Nia Warfield, Luke Kawa

The Magnificent 7 and most stocks in the AI ecosystem (with the exception of Nvidia) did the lion’s work in propelling the S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 to another day of record closing highs.

The benchmark US stock index rose 0.5%, the tech-heavy gauge was up 0.8%, and the Russell 2000 advanced 0.3% on Monday.

Communications services, tech, and consumer discretionary (the sectors home to the Magnificent 7) were the top-performing S&P 500 sector ETFs, while defensive sectors like consumer staples and healthcare were at the bottom of the leaderboard.

Gains on the day were led by Seagate Technology, which jumped 7.8% after Bank of America boosted its price target on the stock to $215 from $170. Western Digital shares were also up 4.8%. Corteva and J.M. Smucker were among the biggest decliners, falling 5.7% and 5.1%, respectively. Elsewhere…

Alphabet popped 4.5% to become the fourth company to surpass a $3 trillion market cap, joining Nvidia, Microsoft, and Apple.

Tesla jumped 3.6% after CEO Elon Musk disclosed a purchase of 2.57 million shares, worth over $1 billion, according to a new SEC filing.

CoreWeave climbed 7.6% after striking an agreement with Nvidia, which will purchase all of CoreWeave’s unused cloud computing capacity through April 2032.

Intel rose 2.9% after the chip giant trimmed its full-year operating expense forecast to $16.8 billion from $17 billion.

IonQ shares gained 6.3% after a wave of analyst price target hikes followed its Analyst Day event at the New York Stock Exchange on Friday.

Chinese EV maker Nio leapt 4.2% after announcing that deliveries of its ES8 SUV — priced to compete with Tesla’s Model Y — will begin this weekend.

Joby Aviation and Archer Aviation rose 0.8% and 4.5%, respectively, after Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced a new FAA pilot program to speed up “advanced air mobility” development.

Novo Nordisk edged up 1.4% after European regulators approved its diabetes pill for cardiovascular benefits as well.

Snap and Meta shook off early declines to close higher after President Trump hinted on Truth Social that a TikTok deal had been reached, with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent later confirming the framework of an agreement had been achieved.

Alaska Air fell 6.7% after warning that Q3 profits will likely come in at the low end of its prior outlook.

Hims & Hers slipped 2.8% after FDA Commissioner Marty Makary called its February Super Bowl ad the “most overt” example of brazen online pharmacy marketing tactics.

More Markets

See all Markets
Dickens, Great Expectations, He said, Aha! would you?

Tech tumbles as momentum stocks run into a blowout jobs report and a wave of profit-taking

The AI trade is under some pressure, taking prices back like... a few days. President Donald Trump is not a fan of the price action.

Trump Administration Considers Reclassifying Marijuana As A Less Dangerous Drug

Trulieve to list on NYSE, a first for US cannabis sector

More may be on the way: several other US cannabis companies have announced reverse stock splits with the intention of listing on a major exchange.

markets

Lululemon’s stretch getting tested: Stock plunges after after outlook is cut

Lululemon shares are down double digits in premarket trading after the company cut its full-year sales and profit outlook, overshadowing a Q1 beat and raising fresh concerns about the brand’s turnaround efforts.

The company now expects fiscal 2026 revenue to be flat to down 1%, compared with its prior forecast for 2% to 4% growth. Guidance for full-year diluted earnings per share was dragged down to a range of $10.95 to $11.15, below the company’s previous guidance of $12.10 to $12.30 and well below Wall Street’s estimate of $13.26.

Key numbers for Q1:

  • EPS of $1.69 vs. the $1.68 expected.

  • Revenue of $2.47 billion vs. the $2.43 billion expected.

The modest top-line beat masked a widening divergence between Lululemons geographic markets. While international revenue rose 22% overall with a 30% increase in Mainland China, the bigger problem remains North America, where revenue fell 5%.

Interim co-CEO and CFO Meghan Frank acknowledged during the earnings call that recent product rollouts underperformed. A highly anticipated yoga campaign failed to generate its expected halo effect across broader product lines.

Profitability metrics took a major hit, with gross margins contracting by 410 basis points to 54.2% due to mounting tariff costs and promotional markdowns. Operating income consequently fell 37% year over year to $276.9 million.

“We experienced spikes of negative commentary in the media and on social channels with regard to our brand, which had an impact on traffic and overall top-line performance,” Frank said during the earnings call. “And second, not all of our product launches have met our expectations. While we have had several successful launches so far this year, we have seen others as we start Q2 not generate the anticipated guest response.”

Lululemons valuation has already been steadily compressing for years. While it was once one of retails richly valued stocks, investors have been questioning whether the company can return to the double-digit growth era.

The results also arrive during a leadership transition. Lululemon announced back in April that former Nike executive Heidi ONeill is set to take over as CEO in September, with investors looking to her to revive growth in North America and restore the brands growth.

As Lululemon faces both macroeconomic pressure and brand-specific challenges, its stock has dropped around 40% year to date.

markets

US job growth skyrocketed in May, blasting past expectations

The US economy added 172,000 jobs in the month of May, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday, sending 10-year Treasury yields higher.

The strong May job market surprised economists. Experts had predicted only 85,000 new jobs — just half the reported number. The unemployment rate held steady at 4.3%, as expected.

The job growth story is a hopeful spot for the economy as consumers continue to feel inflationary pressure from the Iran war.

Job gains were buoyed by the leisure and hospitality sector, which added 70,000 jobs, as well as local government, healthcare, and education.

Both the March and April jobs reports were revised upward, making them collectively 93,000 higher than previously reported.

Latest Stories

Sherwood Media, LLC and Chartr Limited produce fresh and unique perspectives on topical financial news and are fully owned subsidiaries of Robinhood Markets, Inc., and any views expressed here do not necessarily reflect the views of any other Robinhood affiliate, including Robinhood Markets, Inc., Robinhood Financial LLC, Robinhood Securities, LLC, Robinhood Crypto, LLC, Robinhood Money, LLC, Robinhood U.K. Ltd, Robinhood Derivatives, LLC, Robinhood Gold, LLC, Robinhood Asset Management, LLC, Robinhood Credit, Inc., Robinhood Ventures DE, LLC and, where applicable, its managed investment vehicles.