Biggest S&P 500 Movers on Thursday
7 minutes ago
Decliners
- UnitedHealth Group (UNH) shares dropped 6.0%, posting the heaviest daily loss in the S&P 500, following the healthcare giant’s first earnings release since last month’s fatal shooting of insurance unit chief Brian Thompson. Although quarterly profits came in ahead of expectations, UnitedHealth reported lower-than-expected revenue. An increase in medical costs also contributed to a year-over-year uptick in the firm’s medical cost ratio, which compares medical expenses to total revenue.
- Shares of U.S. Bancorp (USB) plunged 5.6%. The move lower came after the financial services firm reported mixed quarterly results, topping adjusted profit estimates but falling short of forecasts for its net interest margin, a key measure of a bank’s effectiveness in lending its capital.
- Texas Instruments (TXN) shares sank 5.1% after reports that China’s Commerce Ministry is launching an investigation into the legality of U.S. subsidies for chipmakers that create competitive challenges for Chinese products. With a focus on lower-end semiconductors like power and analog chips, Texas Instruments could face repercussions if Chinese officials determine the company has violated anti-dumping regulations.
Advancers
- Shares of Dexcom (DXCM), a manufacturer of glucose-monitoring devices for patients with diabetes, gained the most of any S&P 500 stock on Thursday, jumping 5.5%. Analysts at Piper Sandler highlighted several bullish catalysts for Dexcom, including a stable outlook for its durable medical equipment (DME) channel and the approval of reimbursement for 5 million patients with type 2 diabetes who do not use insulin. In addition, Baird analysts boosted their price target on Dexcom stock, noting improvements in salesforce productivity and growth potential in U.S. markets.
- JPMorgan boosted its price target on Estee Lauder (EL) stock, and shares of the makeup and skin-care specialist jumped 4.8%. Analysts said they expect this earnings season to be consequential for makers of household and personal-care products, with discussions about consumer behaviors, tariff risks, currency impacts, and interest-rate expectations likely to influence the 2025 industry outlook.
Faris Hadziq / SOPA Images / LightRocket / Getty Images
- Semiconductor equipment stocks advanced after Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSM), issued strong fourth-quarter profit guidance. The world’s largest contract chipmaker highlighted an upbeat outlook for artificial intelligence (AI) demand, which bodes well for sales of chip manufacturing gear, even as the Netherlands announced tightened export rules that could affect the industry. Shares of Applied Materials (AMAT), KLA Corp. (KLAC), and Lam Research (LRCX) shares gained 4.5%, 4.3%, and 4.0%, respectively.
Intuitive Surgical Levels to Watch as Stock Hits New High
27 minutes ago
Intuitive Surgical (ISRG) shares hit another record high Thursday as investor sentiment runs high amid growing demand for the company’s surgical robotics equipment.
Intuitive Surgical shares have traded in an extended rising wedge since early February last year, keeping the price confined within the pattern’s two converging upward sloping trendlines.
More recently, the price consolidated near the formation’s lower trendline and 50-day moving average before gapping higher this week. Importantly, above-average volume backed Wednesday’s 8% pop, indicating institutional buying activity behind the move.
Intuitive Surgical shares gained 0.7% to close at just above $584 on Thursday. The stock has risen 60% over the past 12 months, handily outpacing the S&P 500‘s return of 25% during the period.
Investors can project an upside target by using the measuring principle, a technique that analyzes well-recognized chart patterns to forecasts future price moves. When applying the study to Intuitive Surgical’s chart, we calculate the distance of the rising wedge near its widest point and add that amount to the pattern’s top trendline. In this case, we add $70 to $580, which project a target at $650.
Investors should watch major support levels on Intuitive Surgical’s chart around $550 and $520.
Read the full technical analysis piece here.
Major Indexes on Pace to Snap Two-Week Losing Streaks
1 hr 38 min ago
Despite losing ground Thursday, the Dow, S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite are on track to finish the week with gains for the first time in three weeks.
Heading into Friday’s session, the Dow is up 2.9% for the week, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq have gained 1.9% and 0.9%, respectively.
TradingView
If the Dow and S&P 500 don’t lose ground, they would post their best performance since the week of Nov. 4, when U.S. equities rallied following the election of Donald Trump.
Southwest Stock Falls as DOT Sues Over Delayed Flights
2 hr 31 min ago
Shares of Southwest Airlines (LUV) fell Thursday after the Department of Transportation sued the airline over a pair of “chronically delayed flights.”
The federal agency said late Wednesday that Southwest operated two flights—from Chicago to Oakland and Baltimore to Cleveland—that qualified as “chronically delayed” for five straight months in 2022.
A flight is defined as “chronically delayed” when it is operated at least 10 times a month and arrives at least 30 minutes late for more than half the time, the agency said in its court filing Wednesday. The DOT considers taking action once a chronically delayed flight is advertised at its normal time for more than four months in a row, as “unrealistic scheduling” can give airlines a competitive advantage.
“Southwest is disappointed that DOT chose to file a lawsuit over two flights that occurred more than two years ago,” a Southwest spokesperson told Investopedia. “Since DOT issued its Chronically Delayed Flight (CDF) policy in 2009, Southwest has operated more than 20 million flights with no other CDF violations. Any claim that these two flights represent an unrealistic schedule is simply not credible when compared with our performance over the past 15 years.”
The DOT also fined Frontier Airlines (ULCC) $650,000 on Wednesday for operating “three chronically delayed flights between August 2022 and April 2023,” and fined JetBlue Airways (JBLU) $2 million earlier this month for operating “four chronically delayed flights at least 145 times between June 2022 through November 2023.”
Separately, analysts from Citi on Wednesday downgraded Southwest’s stock to “sell” from “neutral” and cut their price target by $2 to $29.50, citing concerns that Southwest stock trades at a higher premium than some of its U.S. airline rivals. They said they expect a “correcting” in Southwest’s valuation in coming months.
TradingView
Southwest shares were down 2% at $32.14 in late trading Thursday, after falling as low as $31.20 this morning. The stock has gained 12% over the past 12 months, lagging the performance of the S&P 500 during that stretch.
Target Lifts Q4 Sales Forecast on Strong Holiday Shopping
3 hr 47 min ago
Target (TGT) on Thursday lifted its projection for comparable store sales growth in the fourth quarter on the back of a stronger-than-expected holiday shopping season.
The retailer expects comparable sales to be up 1.5% in the fourth quarter compared to the same time a year ago, up from the previous projection of flat comparable sales that Target gave in its third-quarter earnings report.
Kamil Krzaczynski / AFP / Getty Images
Target saw comparable sales rise 2% in November and December, with a 3% bump in traffic across its stores and website, and record sales numbers during the Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales events.
Despite the lifted comp sales projection, Target kept its previous projected earnings per share (EPS) ranges at the same level. Comparing the holiday shopping data to its disappointing third-quarter results, Target said it has seen “meaningful acceleration” in some discretionary categories like apparel and toys.
Target shares were down 1.5% in mid-afternoon trading.
Tesla Stock Price Levels to Monitor
4 hr 34 min ago
Tesla (TSLA) shares lost ground Thursday after posting the top performance in the S&P 500 yesterday, extending a volatile run for the stock.
Tesla shares are 16% below their mid-December high but have surged 64% since the November presidential election, in part due to expectations that the EV maker’s self-driving robotaxi ambitions could be fast-tracked under the incoming Trump administration.
Tesla shares have generally trended sharply higher since breaking out from an ascending triangle in early November. More recently, the stock has consolidated within a flag pattern, indicating a continuation of the strong uptrend. However, it’s also worth pointing out that trading volumes have generally declined throughout the stock’s post-election rally, suggesting that some larger investors may remain on the sidelines.
Bars pattern analysis, which takes the stock’s strongly trending move from October 2019 to February 2020 and repositions it from November’s ascending triangle breakout, forecasts a bullish longer-term price target of around $775.
Investors should monitor key support levels on Tesla’s chart around $300 and $265.
The stock was down nearly 4% at around $412 in recent trading, giving back a good portion of yesterday’s 8% surge.
Read the full technical analysis piece here.
Morgan Stanley Hits Record High as Earnings Top Expectations
5 hr 42 min ago
Morgan Stanley (MS) shares rose Thursday after the bank posted better-than-anticipated results, as revenue from its equities trading unit soared and investors poured more money into initial public offerings (IPOs).
Morgan Stanley reported fourth-quarter earnings per share (EPS) of $2.22, nearly triple what it was a year ago. Revenue jumped 26% year-over-year to $16.22 billion. Both easily exceeded consensus forecasts of analysts polled by Visible Alpha.
Equity net revenue rose 51% to $3.33 billion on gains across all the company’s business lines and regions, with Morgan Stanley pointing to increased client activity, especially in its Prime Brokerage and Asia market. Equity underwriting revenue doubled to $455 million, which it said was driven by “higher follow-ons and IPOs as clients strategically raised capital in a more constructive environment.” Strong stock market gains lifted asset management and related fees 11% to $1.56 billion.
CEO Ted Pick called it “an excellent fourth quarter,” with a 20% return on tangible common equity (ROTCE) that “followed three quarters of consistent execution.”
TradingView
Shares of Morgan Stanley were up nearly 3% in recent trading after hitting an all-time high this morning.
Symbotic Stock Pops on Robotics Partnership With Walmart
7 hr 27 min ago
Shares of robotics company Symbotic (SYM) jumped about 20% Thursday morning after the company announced an expanded partnership with Walmart (WMT) that includes Symbotic buying Walmart’s robotics business, and Walmart funding development of new automation programs.
Symbotic is acquiring Walmart’s Advanced Systems and Robotics business for $200 million along with up to $350 million in potential future payments. In addition, Walmart will pay Symbotic $520 million over the course of the development of a new robotics platform.
The companies said Thursday that Symbotic will develop “an advanced solution leveraging Symbotic’s A.I.-enabled robotics platform to offer Walmart customers greater shopping convenience through accelerated online pickup and delivery options at stores.”
Assuming the project hits certain “performance criteria,” Walmart will buy Symbotic’s system for 400 “accelerated pickup and delivery centers” over the next several years.
“This is a highly strategic transaction for Symbotic as we expand upon our long-term relationship with Walmart and broaden our product offering beyond the traditional warehouse to eCommerce settings for last mile delivery,” Symbotic CEO Rick Cohen said.
The companies have worked together to automate parts of Walmart’s robotics projects and supply chain since 2017, and expect Symbotic’s acquisition of Walmart’s robotics business to close in the second quarter of this year.
TradingView
Even with the big surge Thursday morning, Symbotic shares are down 23% over the past 12 months.
UnitedHealth Stock Slides After Disappointing Results
9 hr 19 min ago
UnitedHealth Group (UNH) shares tumbled in premarket trading Thursday after the company reported fourth-quarter results that missed analysts’ expectations.
The healthcare giant’s revenue grew 7% year-over-year to $100.8 billion, below the Visible Alpha consensus. Its earnings of $5.54 billion, or $5.98 per share, also missed analysts’ estimates. Adjusted earnings per share (EPS) of $6.81 topped expectations.
The company affirmed its 2025 outlook of revenue between $450 billion and $455 billion, EPS of $28.15 to $28.65, and adjusted EPS of $29.50 to $30.00.
Thursday’s results are the company’s first since the CEO of its UnitedHealthcare unit, Brian Thompson, was fatally shot on Dec. 4.
UnitedHealth shares were down 4% in recent premarket trading. Through Wednesday’s close, the stock had gained 5% over the past 12 months, compared to the 25% increase for the S&P 500 over the period.
TradingView
Futures Point to Mixed Open for Major Indexes
9 hr 54 min ago
Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average were down 0.3%.
TradingView
S&P 500 futures were down fractionally.
TradingView
Nasdaq 100 futures were up 0.1%.
TradingView
