Stocks were slightly lower Friday afternoon, putting the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite on track to snap their three-week winning streaks.
The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite were down 0.3% in recent trading while the Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 0.2%. Stocks closed lower on Thursday as the market took a breather from a post-election rally that has pushed major indexes to a series of record highs.
The major indexes had risen early in Friday’s session as chip stocks surged after Broadcom (AVGO) reported better-than-expected earnings and projected significant AI-fueled sales growth in the coming years. Broadcom shares were up 20% in recent trading, though down from earlier highs. With today’s surge, Broadcom joined the small list of companies that have a market capitalization of more than $1 trillion.
Other chip stocks were also higher, though gains had moderated. The iShares Semiconductor ETF (SOXX) was up nearly 2% recently as Marvell Technology (MRVL) rose 9%, Arm Holdings (ARM) added 3.5% and Micron Technology (MU) advanced 3%.
Chipmaker and AI investor favorite Nvidia (NVDA) was down 3% after rising early in Friday’s session. Other large-cap technology stocks were mostly lower. Apple (AAPL), Microsoft (MSFT), Alphabet (GOOGL), Amazon (AMZN) and Meta Platforms (META) were all losing ground, while Tesla (TSLA) shares were up nearly 2% after hitting a new all-time high.
The economic data calendar was light on Friday ahead of next week’s highly anticipated Federal Reserve policy meeting. Key inflation indicators released this week have shown that price pressures persist, but market participants still fully expect that the Fed will cut its benchmark rate on Wednesday,
The yield on 10-year Treasurys, which is sensitive to expectations about where interest rates are headed, was at 4.39% recently, up from yesterday’s close of 4.32%.
Bitcoin was at $101,700, up from an earlier low of $99,500, while gold futures were down 1% at around $2,680 an ounce and crude oil futures gained 1.5%.
Here’s How Much Wall Street Expects Stocks to Rise in 2025
17 minutes ago
After two years of double-digit stock returns, Wall Street thinks the S&P 500 is capable of a threepeat.
The average analyst estimate points to the S&P 500 finishing 2025 at just a bit over 6,679, suggesting that the index will rise about 10% in the next calendar year based on Thursday’s close, according to a report from FactSet Research analyst John Butters.
Since its inception in 1957, the S&P 500 has returned 10.23% a year on average.
Butters also found that Wall Street analysts dramatically underestimated the market entering 2024. The consensus at the end of 2023 was that the S&P 500 would end this year at near 5,132, more than 15% below its current level. Analysts have underestimated stocks in four of the past five years.
However, over the long term, that streak of underestimation hasn’t been the norm. Wall Street has overestimated the S&P 500’s annual return in 13 of the last 20 years; on average, over the past two decades, the consensus has been too high by about 7%.
The report underscores the optimism on Wall Street about the strength of the U.S. economy and corporate profits. Morgan Stanley (MS) and Goldman Sachs (GS) have forecast the S&P 500 will rise to 6,500 next year as earnings growth accelerates for a broad swath of the index.
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The S&P 500 is on track to gain more than 20% for a second consecutive year, which hasn’t happened since the 1990s. As of Thursday’s close, the index was up 26.9% since the start of the year. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 16.5% in the same period and the Nasdaq Composite has surged about 32.6%.
Broadcom Joins $1 Trillion Market Cap Club
1 hr 38 min ago
Shares of Broadcom (AVGO) soared on Friday, launching the chipmaker into the small club of public companies worth more than $1 trillion.
Broadcom shares were up 19% in recent trading at about $215, putting the company’s market capitalization at just over $1 trillion. Broadcom is just the ninth U.S. company to reach the milestone, and is the second semiconductor company to do so. Nvidia (NVDA) became the first when it hit $1 trillion last year, and its market cap has since surpassed $3 trillion.
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With Friday’s jump, Broadcom stock has nearly doubled in value this year. The advanced chip maker has seen its sales and profit soar as tech companies have rushed to develop and deploy custom AI infrastructure. The company on Thursday reported revenue from artificial intelligence more than tripled this fiscal year to $12.2 billion.
Chief executive Hock Tan said he sees a “massive” opportunity in AI for Broadcom. The company, he said, is already working with three tech giants on custom AI infrastructure, and could see that revenue stream grow to between $60 billion and $90 billion a year by 2027.
With approximately 4.67 billion shares outstanding, Broadcom stock would need to close above $214.11 to keep its $1 trillion market cap.
Costco Rises After Earnings Top Expectations
2 hr 57 min ago
Costco Wholesale (COST) late Thursday reported earnings that beat analysts’ expectations, in its first quarterly results reflecting the impact of its hike in membership fees.
The membership-based retailer saw revenue grow 7.5% to $62.15 billion in its fiscal 2025 first quarter, just above the analyst consensus from Visible Alpha. Net income of $1.8 billion or $4.04 per share was up from $1.59 billion or $3.58 per share a year earlier and exceeded expectations.
Costco’s e-commerce sales increased 13%, while same-store sales were up 5.2% in the U.S. and 5.8% in Canada.
The quarter marks the first reflecting Costco’s increased membership fees that went into effect in September. However, executives said last quarter that the impact will likely be weighted to the back half of fiscal 2025.
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Costco shares recently were up 1.5% at just above $1,000, near an all-time high. The stock is up 52% since the start of the year, far outpacing the S&P 500’s gain of around 27%.
RH Stock Jumps on Outlook Boost, Swing to Profit
3 hr 57 min ago
RH (RH) shares jumped in premarket trading after the luxury home furnishings retailer boosted its full-year outlook and swung to a profit in its fiscal third quarter.
The company is forecasting revenue growth of 6.8% to 7.2% for the full year, up from its previous forecast of growth in the range of 5% to 7% .
For the third quarter, RH posted $811.7 million in revenue, up from $751.3 million in the same period last year. Earnings per share (EPS) at the company formerly known as Restoration Hardware was $1.66, a turnaround from an $0.12 loss a year earlier.
“The positive inflection of our business continued to gain momentum with third quarter demand increasing 13% despite operating in the worst housing market in 30 years,” Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Gary Friedman said in a statement.
Friedman said he doesn’t expect the company’s margins to be hurt by President-elect Donald Trump’s plan to hike tariffs on the U.S.’s key trading partners.
RH shares were 16% shortly before Friday’s opening bell.
Broadcom Levels to Watch as Stock Soars After Earnings
4 hr 37 min ago
Broadcom (AVGO) shares are sharply higher in premarket trading Friday after the chipmaker reported better-than-expected earnings and issued a rosy outlook amid robust AI-driven sales growth.
The company last Thursday said its fiscal 2024 AI revenue more than tripled, driven by its AI XPUs and Ethernet networking portfolio. CEO Hock Tan told analysts on the company’s earnings call that he anticipates significant AI opportunities over the next three years, adding that he sees accelerators and networking sales in fiscal 2027 ranging between $60 billion and $90 billion.
The stock sits poised to break out from a ascending triangle on Friday, setting the stage for a continuation of the stock’s longer-term uptrend.
The bars pattern tool, which extracts the stock’s trend higher from December 2023 to June this year and repositions it from the ascending triangle’s top trendline, forecasts an upside target of around $315.
Investors should watch key support levels on Broadcom’s chart during pullbacks near $185 and $140.
Broadcom shares were up 17% at $212 in recent premarket trading.
Read the full technical analysis piece here.
Stock Futures Point to Higher Open for Major Indexes
5 hr 2 min ago
Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average were up 0.1%.
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S&P 500 futures were up 0.4%.
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Nasdaq 100 futures were up 0.8%.
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