Markets
Nia Warfield, Luke Kawa

S&P 500 extends winning streak to six on tariff relief and solid earnings

The S&P 500 gained for its sixth consecutive day, the longest such streak since September, as investors cheered a slate of mostly positive corporate earnings (even as companies were skittish to provide details on their outlooks) and welcomed fresh tariff relief on autos. The Nasdaq 100 even briefly erased all of its losses since the April 2 close, just before reciprocal tariffs were announced in the Rose Garden.

The S&P 500, Nasdaq 100, and Russell 2000 all gained 0.6%.

Energy was the lone S&P 500 sector ETF to finish in the red, while financials led the way higher.

The White House said that vehicles made with at least 85% domestic and USMCA-compliant content would be exempt from tariffs for the next year (a big boon for Tesla, in particular).

Hims & Hers shares soared after the telehealth company announced a partnership with Ozempic maker Novo Nordisk, boosting optimism around the company’s weight-loss push.

Meanwhile, a busy stretch of earnings continued to steer stock action on the day.

Coca-Cola shares ticked higher after the beverage and snacks giant topped earnings expectations by a penny and moved more volumes than analysts anticipated.

UPS reversed early gains after its Q2 revenue guidance missed estimates by about $100 million, with tariffs expected to squeeze margins by more than analysts had feared.

Royal Caribbean jumped as much as 5% after strong Q1 results and a surprisingly upbeat profit outlook, but the stock gave back most of those gains by the close as enthusiasm waned.

CoreWeave surged as much as 10% on a flurry of options demand for the recently IPO’d cloud computing company. The number of call options traded on the day was the highest in the company’s short history as a publicly traded firm.

SoFi snapped its losing streak, moving slightly higher after posting a Q1 beat and raise. The fintech stock had lagged before the report, after posting a blockbuster 2024.

JetBlue shares popped despite the airline pulling its full-year forecast and posting another Q1 loss — its sixth straight — though the $0.59 per-share loss still came in better than expected.

Brinker shares sank nearly 14%, even after the Chili’s and Maggiano’s Little Italy parent topped Q3 estimates and raised guidance, as enthusiasm waned on Wall Street.

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Intel Logo In front of Building

Intel slumps after Q1 guidance disappoints

The bad outlook offset strong Q4 results.

Matt Phillips21m
markets
Luke Kawa

Plug Power jumps amid surge in call activity as CEO Andy Marsh hosts AMA

Plug Power surged on Thursday, jumping nearly 17% amid elevated call activity as outgoing CEO Andy Marsh hosted an “ask me anything” on the r/plugpowerstock subreddit.

192,581 call options changed hands, more than four times the 20-day average — call options with a strike price of $4 that expire in mid June were the most active contract.

Marsh’s appearance was aimed at building support for the board’s recommendations that their investors vote in favor of three proposals at a special meeting of shareholders slated for next week. These proposals include: allowing votes to be decided by a majority of voters rather than a majority of shareholders, enabling an increase in the company’s share count, and a third measure to delay this special meeting in the event that there aren’t enough votes for either of those two proposals to pass.

During the session, Marsh made the following points:

  • Management really doesn’t want to have to do a reverse stock split, but would feel forced to do so if proposal two fails to pass. Per a recent filing from Plug, “Without additional authorized shares, the Company will not be able to: meet its contractual obligations to increase authorized shares of common stock by February 28, 2026; raise capital necessary for operations and growth; and execute on its business plans and strategy.”

  • Plug plans to lean even more into opportunities to offer power to AI data center customers, with Marsh writing that incoming CEO Jose Luis Crespo will offer more details on this at a follow-up AMA scheduled for March.

Tasha Matsumoto
39m
Stocks continue to recover from Greenland threats

Megacap tech helped drive gains.

Chicago Bulls Dennis Rodman (91) and Michael Jordan (23) in action, rebounding vs Charlotte Hornets
markets
Jon Keegan

Meta shares rally as Jefferies says it’s a bargain relative to Mag 7 peers

Shares of Meta rallied over 5% on Thursday, as Jefferies analyst Brent Thill doubled down on his “buy” rating for the company, calling the stock a relative bargain compared to its Magnificent 7 peers. The analyst set a price target of $910, well above the $645 where the stock is trading today.

News out of the World Economic Forum this week that Meta’s first models from its revamped AI teams are “very good” aligns with Thill’s argument that the company is well positioned to get back in the AI race with the “all-star model,” which is expected to be released in the first half of the year.

Recent cuts to Meta’s Reality Labs also signal that the company is focusing its spending where it matters. The Jefferies note added that the recent monetization of Threads via ads will help boost revenue.

Next week, Meta reports its fourth-quarter earnings, and Thill expects that even if the company raises its 2026 capital expenditure outlook, investors won’t be spooked, as the company has been clear that spending may continue to be high.

Recent cuts to Meta’s Reality Labs also signal that the company is focusing its spending where it matters. The Jefferies note added that the recent monetization of Threads via ads will help boost revenue.

Next week, Meta reports its fourth-quarter earnings, and Thill expects that even if the company raises its 2026 capital expenditure outlook, investors won’t be spooked, as the company has been clear that spending may continue to be high.

markets
Matt Phillips

Arista Networks rips higher amid jump in call buying

Arista Networks, a maker of switches and other networking equipment used in AI data centers, was on track for its best day of the new year on Thursday as options traders went bullish on the stock.

As of around 11 a.m. ET, there was nearly twice as much call buying in Arista than its 10-day moving average for a full day of activity. Buying call options to make leveraged bets on price increases has been a favorite trading tactic of retail traders in recent years.

Otherwise, there weren’t clear headlines tied to today’s outsized move, but the stock has been getting attention lately: in a note published earlier this month, Goldman Sachs analysts spotlighted Arista as a top tactical trade for earnings season, saying the shares — which they rate a “buy” — could rise 20% over the next year.

“ANET is well positioned amidst ongoing data center spending growth, where its position as a best of breed provider of networking equipment should advantage the company, particularly as data center networks become increasingly complex,” Goldman analysts wrote in the January 8 report.

And recent reports also say Microsoft — which accounted for 20% of Arista’s revenue in 2024, according to Goldman Sachs — is planning a massive expansion of its Wisconsin data center project.

Arista stock did get a lift following the release of solid US economic numbers at 8:30 a.m. that seemed fairly specific to Arista itself. (There was no similar bounce from competitors like Cisco or Hewlett-Packard.)

Microsoft receives preliminary approval for $13.3B data center expansion in Mount Pleasant - Milwaukee Business Journal

Microsoft receives preliminary approval for $13.3B data center expansion in Mount Pleasant - Milwaukee Business Journal

Otherwise, there weren’t clear headlines tied to today’s outsized move, but the stock has been getting attention lately: in a note published earlier this month, Goldman Sachs analysts spotlighted Arista as a top tactical trade for earnings season, saying the shares — which they rate a “buy” — could rise 20% over the next year.

“ANET is well positioned amidst ongoing data center spending growth, where its position as a best of breed provider of networking equipment should advantage the company, particularly as data center networks become increasingly complex,” Goldman analysts wrote in the January 8 report.

And recent reports also say Microsoft — which accounted for 20% of Arista’s revenue in 2024, according to Goldman Sachs — is planning a massive expansion of its Wisconsin data center project.

Arista stock did get a lift following the release of solid US economic numbers at 8:30 a.m. that seemed fairly specific to Arista itself. (There was no similar bounce from competitors like Cisco or Hewlett-Packard.)

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