Here are five key things investors need to know to start the trading day:
1. Market meh-laise
Wednesday was a relatively flat day for the three major indexes. The S&P 500 closed little changed, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 139.53 points, or 0.32% and the Nasdaq Composite slipped 0.11%. Retailer Target slumped 21% after the company saw its biggest earnings miss in two years. Stocks were slightly lower in premarket trading Thursday after Nvidia reported earnings (more on that below). Follow live market updates.
2. Nvidia beats, but falls
Jensen Huang, co-founder and chief executive officer of Nvidia Corp., holds up the company’s AI accelerator chips for data centers as he speaks during the Nvidia AI Summit Japan in Tokyo, Japan, on Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2024.
Akio Kon | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Nvidia nearly doubled its revenue in the third quarter, rising 94% on an annual basis. Nonetheless, that’s a slowdown for the chipmaker, which has seen sales growth of 122%, 262%, and 265% in the previous three quarters, respectively, thanks to demand for its artificial intelligence chips. The company beat expectations for sales and earnings in the period, while delivering a better-than-expected forecast for the fourth quarter. Nvidia stock sank about 3% in premarket trading Thursday after the report.
3. The Chrome standard
Top Justice Department antitrust officials have decided to ask a judge to force Alphabet Inc.’s Google to sell off its Chrome browser in what would be a historic crackdown on one of the biggest tech companies in the world.
Gabby Jones | Bloomberg | Getty Images
The Department of Justice is pushing Google to divest its Chrome browser to create a more equal playing field with other search competitors. The move comes after an August ruling in which a U.S. judge ruled that Google holds a monopoly in the search market. Chrome gives the company data that it uses to sell targeted ads to consumers. The DOJ also said that Google should be prevented from giving its search service preference within its other products, among other things.
4. Adani indicted
Indian billionaire Gautam Adani speaks during an inauguration ceremony after the Adani Group completed the purchase of Haifa Port earlier in January 2023, in Haifa port, Israel January 31, 2023.
Amir Cohen | Reuters
Billionaire businessman Gautam Adani was indicted in New York in an alleged multi-billion-dollar fraud scheme, authorities said Wednesday. Adani is chair of India’s Adani Group and one of the world’s richest people. He’s accused along with seven others of paying more than $250 million in bribes to the Indian government to try to get solar energy supply contracts. The indictment accused the defendants of misleading U.S. investors when they were seeking capital to finance those solar energy contracts. Shares of Adani Group companies plunged after the indictment.
5. McValue
A McDonald’s restaurant is viewed on October 23, 2024 in Omaha, Nebraska.
Mario Tama | Getty Images
The value trend is sticking around into 2025. McDonald’s is working on a new “McValue” approach for next year after emphasizing lower-cost options in 2024. The plan would keep the $5 value meal deal the restaurant chain rolled out this summer on the menu for the first six months of the year. It will also launch a “buy one add one” option for $1, CNBC’s Kate Rogers reported. Operators are still voting on their value options for 2025, but the option looks likely to pass, according to two people familiar with the matter.
— CNBC’s Samantha Subin, Kif Leswing, Ryan Browne, Jennifer Elias, Dan Mangan, Lee Ying Shan, April Roach and Kate Rogers contributed to this report.
