markets

9/4/25

Salesforce drops despite Q2 beat as guidance disappoints and AI investments are yet to bear fruit

Salesforce fell more than 6% in early trading on Thursday after issuing a soft third-quarter outlook.

Second-quarter revenue rose 10% to $10.24 billion, higher than the $10.14 billion forecast, while adjusted earnings per share of $2.91 also topped the Bloomberg-compiled consensus estimates for $2.78.

But what seems to have disappointed investors was its underwhelming Q3 revenue guidance of $10.24 billion to $10.29 billion, which, at the midpoint ($10.265 billion), is just below consensus expectations of $10.28 billion.

Salesforce’s revenue growth has slowed to single digits since mid-2024, lagging other large-cap tech giants, as the company’s AI push has yet to deliver meaningful returns. The company says that its AI assistant, Agentforce, launched last October, has closed over 12,500 deals. Still, AI remains a small revenue driver: data cloud and AI annual recurring revenue jumped 120% year over year to $1.2 billion — about 3% of the ~$41 billion revenue Salesforce expects for FY 2026.

“It is early days in the adoption cycle, but we are really confident in our strategy to monetize AI,” Chief Operating and Financial Officer Robin Washington told analysts yesterday. In an interview with CNBC, the company’s CEO, Marc Benioff, said, “Our results are absolutely fantastic and our guidance is also, you know, is always appropriately conservative.”

With the latest drop, shares are down nearly 30% so far this year.

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23h

Robinhood, AppLovin, and Emcor pop on announcement of addition to S&P 500

Shares of Robinhood Markets, AppLovin, and Emcor are all rallying in post-market trading on Friday upon news that they’re being added to the S&P 500.

Shares of the brokerage popped 7.2%, the adtech company rose 7.8%, and the construction company was up a more modest 2.7% in the minutes following the announcement.

(Robinhood Markets, Inc. is the parent company of Sherwood Media, an independently operated media company subject to certain legal and regulatory restrictions.)

Strategy, another stock rumored to be in the running for inclusion in the benchmark US stock index that has been passed over, sank 2.5% in postmarket trading.

Nia Warfield, Luke Kawa

S&P 500 falls as rate-cut optimism fizzles

The S&P 500 gave up early gains to close down 0.3%, while the Nasdaq 100 eked out a 0.1% advance and the Russell 2000 outperformed, rising 0.5%.

Brown bear on a rock

markets

9/5/25

Kenvue plunges after reports suggest RFK Jr. may try to link prenatal Tylenol use to autism

Kenvue sank 15% Friday after a WSJ report said Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. may attempt to link prenatal Tylenol use to autism in an upcoming government report.

Kenvue, the maker of Tylenol and formerly a division of Johnson & Johnson prior to a 2023 spin-out, pushed back, saying the science shows “no causal link” between acetaminophen use during pregnancy and autism, and pointed to FDA and medical groups that agree on the drug’s safety.

The FDA itself has found no “clear evidence” of harm but advises pregnant women to consult providers before taking OTC meds.

The report is also expected to float a folate-derived therapy as a potential treatment.

Tylenol is just the latest well-established medication to face scrutiny under Kennedy, who has already stirred controversy by reshaping vaccine policy and amplifying doubts about mRNA shots.

Kenvue shares are now down over 18% year-to-date.

RFK Jr., HHS to Link Autism to Tylenol Use in Pregnancy and Folate Deficiencies

RFK Jr.

The FDA itself has found no “clear evidence” of harm but advises pregnant women to consult providers before taking OTC meds.

The report is also expected to float a folate-derived therapy as a potential treatment.

Tylenol is just the latest well-established medication to face scrutiny under Kennedy, who has already stirred controversy by reshaping vaccine policy and amplifying doubts about mRNA shots.

Kenvue shares are now down over 18% year-to-date.

markets

9/5/25

Lucid surges following 6 days of losses after headlines misidentify Cantor Fitzgerald’s lower split-adjusted price target as a good thing

It’s been a shortened week, but still a rough one for Lucid. Investor blowback to the luxury EV maker’s 1-for-10 reverse stock split has sent shares to all time lows this week.

After six straight days of closing lower, Wall Street appears to have decided enough is enough and is loading up on Lucid shares on Friday, sending them up 13% in recent trading. As of 2:10pm eastern, Lucid trading volumes were at more than 240% of their 30 day average.

Some of the move could be attributed to traders reading headlines that don’t take into consideration Lucid’s reverse split. Cantor Fitzgerald on Friday slapped a new price target on Lucid of $20, compared to its previous target of $3. Some news outlets (not us!) presented that as an increase. The problem: With the 1-for-10 reverse split in effect, a comparable price target would have been $30. The new $20 target is actually... a cut.

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