Markets
Yiwen Lu

US stocks gain momentum in a four-day winning streak

The S&P 500 was up 0.8% on Thursday, while the Nasdaq 100 added 1%. It was the fourth straight session where both indices gained. Small caps led major indices, as the Russell 2000 advanced 1.2%. 

All major S&P sector ETFs rose. Communications services gained the most, up 1.9%. Mega cap stocks outperformed the market, with all Magnificent Seven stocks closed higher. Both Meta and Googleclimbed more than 2%.

Warner Bros. Discovery was the best-performing S&P 500 stock, up 10.4%. This came after Warner Bros. announced a multi-year distribution partnership with Charter Communications. Kroger rose 7.2%, after signaling confidence about its merger with Albertsons.

Conversely, Moderna dropped a whopping 12.4%, making it the worst performer within the S&P 500. The pandemic darling earlier slashed its research and development budget and cut its sales outlook.

The US producer index was up slightly in August, in line with expectations. Traders now bet on a 67% chance that the Fed would cut rate by 25 basis points next week, according to CME’s FedWatch Tool.

Gold hit another all-time high. Oil continued its recovery after a sell-off earlier this week.

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SpaceX gets a wave of bullish ratings from Wall Street analysts

SpaceX received more than a dozen positive analyst calls on Tuesday — including from major Wall Street banks — as they initiate coverage on Elon Musk’s space and AI company.

SpaceX went public on June 12 at a $2.2 trillion valuation, the largest debut in history. While the company hasn’t yet posted a profit, it seems to have convinced Wall Street that it will get there and grow its valuation on the way.

Of the at least 17 analysts that gave a rating on Tuesday, all but one gave it a “buy” or “outperform” rating. MoffettNathanson was "neutral."

The ratings come as SpaceX joined the Nasdaq 100 index, a benchmark tech-heavy basket of companies that underpins millions of portfolios. The inclusion adds built-in demand for the stock from index funds and ETFs.

Still, SpaceX fell more than 5% on Tuesday amid a broader sell-off, and is currently effectively flat from its opening price of $150 a share.

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Nike sinks to lowest level since 2014 after warning of “challenged” sales environment in Q4 report

Did Nike do it?

Investors had a mixed reaction after the global sports apparel company reported its fourth quarter earnings on Tuesday after the bell. Shares initially rose 5% as Nike beat out Wall Street expectations amid a hefty tariff refund bonus. However, the stock then sank to its lowest level since August 2014 in postmarket trading.

Here are the Q4 numbers:

  • Revenue of $11.0 billion (estimate: $10.8 billion).

  • Adjusted earnings per share of $0.20 (estimate: $0.12).

Ahead of this report, Nike warned that results would be flattered by a one-time tariff refund (now estimated at roughly $0.52 per share for the bottom line). That gave the company an extra cushion in snapping its streak of seven quarters of year-over-year profit declines.

Over the past year, the company had been punished by tariffs on imported goods, stagnant consumer spending, and increasing competition from other footwear brands like New Balance, Adidas, and Hoka.

Outgoing CFO Matthew Friend deemed it an “increasingly challenging operating environment, where sell-through remains challenged.”

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