Markets
Yiwen Lu

US stocks lose traction before election

The S&P 500 finished Monday down 0.3%. The Nasdaq 100 fell 0.4%. The Russell 2000, which opened the day in negative territory, climbed 0.4%. 

Bonds rose. The 10-year Treasury yields fell eight basis points to 4.29% after a rebound last week. Dollar lost some ground ahead of the election. Bitcoin also fell.

Position squaring ahead of Tuesday’s vote was a clear theme of the day. Clean-energy stocks like First Solar and Enphase Energy were among the biggest gainers of the day, as poll numbers indicated rising odds of a Harris presidency. A basket of stocks highlighted by Goldman Sachs as benefiting from Democrats gaining political power outperformed their Republican counterparts by the most since the session following the presidential debate between Trump and Harris.

The energy sector ETF advanced 1.8%. It joined the rise in crude-oil futures, which hit its highest point in a week, after members of OPEC+ oil-producing nations formally extended their current oil-production curbs. Both the US and global benchmark crude rose more than 2%.

The utilities sector was the biggest laggard on the day, down 1.2%. Constellation Energy, a utility stock that soared this year on its plan to restart Three Mile Island, fell 12.5% after regulators blocked another electric-power producer’s nuclear power deal with Amazon. 

Among other single stocks, Fox rose 2.8% after reporting a political-advertising-led revenue surge.

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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.

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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.

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