Stocks rose Friday as investors digested the latest results from large technology companies and labor market data that reinforced expectations that the Federal Reserve will continue cutting interest rates.
The S&P 500 rose 0.4% Friday, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average and Nasdaq Composite added 0.7% and 0.8%, respectively. Stocks recovered somewhat from sharp losses on Thursday that were led by a sell-off in tech stocks after a busy few days of earnings releases.
Thursday’s downturn pushed the major indexes into negative territory for the month of October. It was the first time since July that the Nasdaq didn’t record a monthly gain. The S&P 500 and Dow, meanwhile, had five-month winning streaks snapped.
Even with Friday’s gains, all three indexes finished the week lower. The Nasdaq snapped a seven-week winning streak, while the S&P and Dow suffered a second consecutive week of losses.
The October jobs report, released early Friday, showed that U.S. employers added far fewer jobs than expected last month, while the unemployment rate held steady at 4.1%. The monthly report has taken on particular importance as the Fed has recently expressed concern about labor market weakening. The Fed, which cut its benchmark rate for the first time in four years in September, is scheduled to announce a decision on interest rates next Thursday.
The yield on 10-year Treasurys, which is sensitive to expectations around interest rates, was at 4.38% in recent trading, up from 4.28% on Thursday. The benchmark yield, which fell as low as 4.22% just after the labor market numbers were released Friday, has been rising in recent weeks as market participants have recalibrated their thinking about how aggressive the Fed will be in cutting rates in the months ahead.
Tech stocks spearheaded the move higher Friday, led by Amazon (AMZN), which gained more than 6% after the company reported strong results driven by growth in its cloud and advertising businesses. Shares of Intel (INTC) rose nearly 8% after the beleaguered chipmaker reported revenue that topped Wall Street expectations. AI investor favorite Nvidia (NVDA) advanced 2%, while Microsoft (MSFT) ticked higher.
Apple (AAPL) was bucking the tech sector recovery after its quarterly earnings came in shy of expectations. Apple shares slid 1.3% on Friday.
Outside the tech sector, Boeing (BA) shares climbed 3% after the plane maker reached a tentative deal with its machinists union on a new contract, potentially ending a crippling seven-week strike. ExxonMobil (XOM) slid 1.5% and Chevron (CVX) gained 3% after the oil majors released their quarterly results.
Gold futures were little changed at around $2,740 an ounce, after rising above $2,800 for the first time earlier this week. Bitcoin traded around $69,200, down from an earlier high around $71,500.
Biggest S&P 500 Movers on Friday
1 hr 11 min ago
Advancers
- Shares of Waters Corp. (WAT), a provider of analytical laboratory instruments and software, surged 19.8% on Friday to a 52-week high, delivering the top daily performance in the S&P 500. The gains for Waters stock came after the life, materials, food, and environmental sciences supplier reported better-than-expected third-quarter revenue and earnings per share (EPS).
- Cable TV, mobile, and internet service provider Charter Communications (CHTR) also topped sales and profit estimates with its third-quarter results, and its shares jumped 11.9%. The company posted a solid increase in mobile customers, and although Charter lost subscribers to its internet and video services, declines in those areas were less significant than analysts anticipated. Despite Friday’s rally, Charter shares remain in negative territory for 2024.
- Although semiconductor giant Intel (INTC) posted a third-quarter loss, reflecting the impact of impairment and restructuring charges, its sales for the period came in ahead of forecasts, and its shares gained 7.8%. Intel also struck a positive tone regarding the future of its server and PC businesses, issuing better-than-expected sales guidance for the current quarter. The company has benefitted from an uptick in PC demand driven by the launch of on-device AI features.
Decliners
- Super Micro Computer (SMCI) shares dropped 10.5%, the heaviest loss of any S&P 500 constituent. Friday’s plunge extended steep losses posted by the stock earlier this week as accounting firm EY resigned from its role as auditor for the server and data storage company. Questions about Supermicro’s accounting practices came to the forefront over the summer when short-seller Hindenburg Research published a report alleging manipulation by the company.
- Power generation company AES Corp. (AES) reported better-than-expected profits for the third quarter, boosted by increased utilities and renewables earnings, but its shares sank 9.9%. Although companies like AES are expected to benefit from increased power demand from AI data centers, the Virginia-based firm posted a year-over-year decline in revenue, dragged down by lower sales from its energy infrastructure unit.
- Amcor (AMCR) shares slipped 7.8% after the packaging provider missed quarterly sales estimates. Soft consumer demand weighed on Amcor’s sales of cartons and containers to consumer goods companies. Destocking in health care packaging represents another headwind for the company. Amcor also announced that it would sell its 50% stake in Bericap North America, a joint venture focused on plastic closures for various packaging applications.
Five Stocks To Watch in November—and What To Watch For
2 hr 55 min ago
The stock market kicked off November on a high note after slumping to close out last month, while uncertainty about the U.S. presidential election and the Federal Reserve’s next moves on interest rates hang over the market.
Third-quarter earnings season will wind down in November with some big names including Nvidia (NVDA) and Home Depot (HD). But the presidential election on Nov. 5 is likely to dominate headlines and move markets most profoundly this month.
See here for more on five stocks that are likely to be in the spotlight this month.
What to Expect from Berkshire Hathaway Earnings Saturday
3 hr 43 min ago
Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A) (BRK.B) is set to report its third-quarter earnings on Saturday morning.
Market watchers will also look out for how Buffett’s portfolio changed, given the very public trimming of Bank of America (BAC) shares.
Despite citing a lack of new investment opportunities, Buffett increased the firm’s stake in Sirius XM last quarter.
Operating income in the second quarter was driven by gains in the insurance business as claim costs eased. The health of the insurance business will be in focus for the third quarter.
Read the full preview here.
Atlassian Leads Nasdaq Gainers as AI Demand Boosts Results
4 hr 28 min ago
Atlassian (TEAM) shares skyrocketed Friday after the business-software company posted better-than-expected quarterly results and raised its guidance as demand for artificial intelligence technology sent subscriptions surging.
The company behind project-tracking tool Jira reported first-quarter fiscal 2025 earnings per share of $0.77, with revenue jumping 21.5% to $1.19 billion. Both exceeded estimates. Subscription revenue rose 33%.
Atlassian now projects full-year revenue growth of 16.5% to 17% and a cloud revenue rise of 24%. That’s up from its earlier projection of a revenue gain of 16% and cloud revenue rise of 23% for the year.
CFO Joe Binz added the company continues to focus its investment and execution “against our key strategic priorities of serving the enterprise, delivering AI innovation, and further bringing together technology and business teams.”
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Shares of Atlassian were up 20% in recent trading, leading Nasdaq gainers, at their highest level since February. The stock is still down 5% in 2024.
Spectrum Parent Charter Surges After Strong Earnings
5 hr 16 min ago
Charter Communications (CHTR) shares jumped Friday after the cable TV, mobile, and internet services provider reported better-than-anticipated results as it lost fewer subscribers than expected.
The Spectrum parent posted third-quarter earnings per share (EPS) of $8.82, with revenue up 1.6% to $13.8 billion. Both figures were above analysts’ forecasts compiled by Visible Alpha.
Charter’s internet customers declined by 110,000 to 30.3 million, and video customers slid 294,000 to 13.2 million. Analysts surveyed by Visible Alpha were looking for 30.1 million and 12.9 million, respectively.
The communications giant also posted a big jump in mobile customers, as those using Charter’s mobile lines jumped 26% to 9.4 million, more than anticipated.
Charter shares were up about 13% in intraday trading Friday, though even with Friday’s gains, they’ve lost close to 5% of their value since the start of the year.
Amazon Soars on Optimism About AI Growth
5 hr 55 min ago
Amazon (AMZN) shares jumped Friday as multiple analysts raised their price targets for the e-commerce giant following third-quarter results that topped expectations.
Wedbush upped its price target to $250 from $225, pointing to Amazon’s surging artificial intelligence (AI) business.
On the company’s earnings call, CEO Andy Jassy said Amazon’s AI business is growing three times faster than Amazon Web Services (AWS), its cloud computing division, did at the same stage in its development.
Cloud revenue jumped 19% year-over-year to more than $27 billion amid surging demand for AI. In terms of investment, Amazon said it expects to spend $75 billion in capital expenditures this year, the majority of which will go toward technology infrastructure to support AI demand, according to a transcript of the earnings call provided by AlphaSense.
JPMorgan analysts are “comfortable” with the increase in expenditures given Amazon’s “very clear path to AI monetization through AWS,” the firm said, raising its price target to $250 from $230.
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Shares of Amazon were up nearly 7% at around $200 in recent trading, not far from their all-time high. The stock has now gained than 31% year-to-date.
Abbott Shares Jump After Baby Formula Legal Ruling
7 hr 3 min ago
Shares of Abbott Laboratories (ABT) surged Friday, a day after a jury cleared infant formula makers of liability for a boy’s debilitating intestinal disease.
The ruling by a Missouri state court jury Thursday is a rare legal win for Abbott Laboratories, maker of the Similac formula, and British-Dutch company Reckitt Benckiser, which produces the Mead Johnson formula, following their losses in similar trials involving necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC), a life-threatening disease that affects the colon and intestine.
“The decision reinforces what we, the medical community and regulatory bodies have said: that preterm infant nutrition products are safe, and there is no reliable scientific evidence that they cause or contribute to cause NEC,” Abbott said in a statement to Investopedia.
“This is the first victory for the two companies in a NEC state case after Abbott was ordered to pay $495m in July in the Gill case and Reckitt’s Mead Johnson $60m in March in the Watson case,” UBS analysts wrote Friday.
Abbot shares were up more than 5% in recent trading.
It’s Been a Wild Week for Trump Media Stock
7 hr 57 min ago
Shares of Trump Media & Technology Group (DJT), majority owned by former President Donald Trump, were recently down slightly at around $35. This week the stock has risen as high as 40% above last Friday’s close near $39 and slid nearly 15% below it. That’s meant big swings in the market value of the Republican presidential nominee’s majority stake, which nevertheless is worth billions of dollars.
And that’s on little in the way of actual news about the company, which operates the Truth Social platform. Instead, traders have seized on the story as a way to wager the outcome of the presidential election, seen broadly as a race between Trump and Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris.
Polls generally point toward a close contest ahead of Election Day.
On some prediction markets, speculators seem to more strongly believe in the likelihood of a Trump win: On Polymarket, for example, traders have generally backed a more-than-60% likelihood of a Trump victory for most of this week; those odds were a bit lower on some other platforms. (Here’s Investopedia’s guide to elections betting,)
Meanwhile, Trump Media shares have moved dramatically, with trading in the stock subjected to volatility-based halts multiple times this week. At one point, the shares traded at levels not seen since the high-flying days after their debut on public markets earlier this year.
For now, they’re back around July levels after climbing off October lows.
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Boeing Shares Rise After New Deal With Union Reached
9 hr 9 min ago
Boeing (BA) shares were gaining ground in premarket trading Friday after the plane maker reached a tentative deal with its machinists union on a new contract, potentially ending a crippling seven-week strike.
The International Association of Machinists (IAM) is asking its members to approve the sweetened offer from Boeing in a vote on Monday. Their members have been on strike since Sept. 13.
“In every negotiation and strike, there is a point where we have extracted everything that we can in bargaining and by withholding our labor,” IAM District 751 said Thursday. “We are at that point now and risk a regressive or lesser offer in the future.”
M. Scott Brauer / Bloomberg via Getty Images
The new offer includes a 38% general wage increase over four years, higher than the previous offer of 35%. That “compounds to 43.65% over the life of the agreement,” the union said. The new offer will also give workers the option of a $12,000 one-time ratification bonus; 401(k) contribution; or “a combination of both,” the union said.
The strike has been painful for Boeing, which is raising billions of dollars to stem a cash drain. Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Kelly Ortberg, who stepped into the role in August, said in a memo to employees last month that the plane maker plans to lay off about 10% of its workforce, or 17,000 workers, “over the coming months” and is postponing the launch of its first 777x jetliner.
Boeing shares, which are up 2% in premarket trading, have lost more than 40% of their value this year through Thursday’s close.
Amazon Prices Levels to Watch After Post-Earnings Surge
10 hr 1 min ago
Amazon (AMZN) shares were up more than 7% in premarket trading after the company surpassed Wall Street’s third-quarter earnings estimates.
The stock sits poised to break out from a symmetrical triangle following the company’s better-than-expected quarterly report.
Investors should watch key overhead price levels on Amazon’s chart around $200, $242, and $273, while also monitoring an important support area during profit taking periods near $192.
Read the full technical analysis piece here.
Stock Futures Higher Ahead of Jobs Report
10 hr 22 min ago
Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average were up 0.4%.
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S&P 500 futures were also up 0.4%.
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Nasdaq 100 futures also gained 0.4%.
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