U.S. stocks pared their losses Friday, putting the major indexes on track to snap their recent losing streak.
The S&P 500 traded 0.2% lower Friday afternoon, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average was off 0.1% and the Nasdaq Composite had recovered all of its losses to trade flat. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq have declined in each of the last four weeks, while the Dow is on a two-week losing streak. The Nasdaq will need to rise Friday to snap its losing streak, while the Dow and the S&P 500 can afford small losses.
Stocks rallied Wednesday when the Federal Reserve held interest rates steady and updated its economic outlook, which it noted had grown more uncertain despite growth remaining solid up to the present. With uncertainty about the economic impact of tariffs still high, the rally stalled yesterday, casting doubt on whether stocks could rebound out of their correction.
Shares of Nike (NKE) tumbled Friday morning after the athletic apparel giant warned its sales could take a hit from its turnaround plan and President Trump’s tariffs. FedEx (FDX) also slumped after disappointing investors with its quarterly results and earnings outlook. Micron (MU) stock dropped despite the analog chipmaker’s better-than-expected quarterly report, illustrating the uphill battle tech investors face in today’s antsy, risk-off market.
Big tech stocks were mixed, with Microsoft (MSFT) and Nvidia (NVDA) each down less than 1%, while Apple (AAPL), Amazon (AMZN), and Alphabet (GOOG) all ticked up slightly. Meta (META) shares rose more than 1%, while Tesla (TSLA) advanced more than 4% to lead the Magnificent Seven.
Treasury yields were also mixed on Friday, with long-term yields rising and short-term yields falling. The 10-year yield, sensitive to expectations for inflation and future monetary policy, ticked up to 4.25% after closing at 4.24% yesterday. Treasury yields have fallen dramatically in the last month as investors have grown concerned tariffs could slow economic growth.
Bitcoin (BTCUSD) remained under pressure and was recently trading at $83,700, down significantly from its highs above $100,000 earlier this year. West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures were also little changed at about $68.25/barrel, and gold tumbled to $3,020/oz from $3,050 overnight.
Supermicro Leads S&P 500 Gainers Friday as JPMorgan Boosts Rating
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Super Micro Computer (SMCI) shares surged to lead gains on the S&P 500 Friday, as JPMorgan analysts lifted their rating and price target for the server maker’s stock.
The analysts boosted their rating to “neutral” from “underweight,” and raised their price target to $45 from $35, saying the company is “cycling past filing challenges” after meeting a key deadline to stay listed, and could see growth from strong demand for its servers based on Nvidia’s (NVDA) Blackwell chips.
Supermicro is “on the cusp of benefitting from ramp in Blackwell-based server shipments, which are experiencing significantly higher demand than previous generations,” the analysts wrote in a note Friday.
Shares were up nearly 8% in recent trading, bringing year-to-date gains close to 40%, though they’ve still lost more than half their value over the past 12 months.
The server maker’s stock has been volatile in the past year, as it faced accusations of accounting manipulation last August that led to the resignation of the company’s auditor. It narrowly avoided a possible delisting last month after filing belated financial disclosures with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
The analysts at JPMorgan cautioned the company could still face some headwinds, among them an “increasingly competitive AI Servers landscape” that is leading to “aggressive pricing “ and putting pressure on its gross margins. Elevated costs and the prospect of higher interest expenses when the company raises more capital could also present challenges, they said.
Micron Stock Falls but Analysts Are Bullish Despite Gross Margin ‘Fly in the Ointment’
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Shares of Micron Technology (MU) turned lower Friday after the company’s fiscal second-quarter results a day earlier, but analysts have remained bullish on the memory chip company.
Micron “has established technology leadership in [high-bandwidth memory],” UBS analysts said after the results, and its DRAM chip business “should operate with more sustained supply/demand dynamics as long as AI continues to grow.” The bank maintained its “buy” rating and $130 price target.
Despite initially rising after the results were released, Micron shares dropped around 8% intraday Friday. The chipmaker’s revenue and profit forecast came in above Wall Street’s expectations, but UBS said the company’s commentary on gross margins was “a bit of a fly in the ointment.”
Citi analysts also reiterated a “buy” rating but trimmed their price target from $150 to $120 “given Micron’s persistent gross margin issues.” The bank raised its full-year sales and earnings per share estimates, driven by expected improvements in the DRAM market. Meanwhile, Wedbush raised its price target to $130 from $125, and Bank of America stood pat at $110.
Nike Stock Slides as Analyst Says Turnaround Will ‘Take Time’
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Shares of Nike (NKE) tumbled Friday after the company delivered disappointing revenue guidance the day before, with several analysts opting to lower their price targets.
The sneaker giant’s turnaround effort under new CEO Elliott Hill is going to “take time,” JPMorgan analysts said, dropping their price target to $64 from $73. “We continue to anticipate a ‘crawl, walk, run’ setup,” the analysts added, with investors likely having to wait until the back half of fiscal 2026 for Nike to start walking.
On the company’s earnings call, CFO Matt Friend said Nike’s fiscal 2025 fourth-quarter sales are expected to fall in the low end of “mid-teens” year-over-year, while analysts had projected a roughly 12% decline, according to Visible Alpha. Nike’s third-quarter revenue decline was not as severe as Wall Street expected, but JPMorgan noted this year’s sales were lifted by Cyber Monday, which did not fall within Nike’s third quarter last year.
Meanwhile, UBS analysts said they “don’t believe Nike has improved its product assortment or marketing enough yet to ensure trends won’t get worse,” lowering their target to $66 from $73. Deutsche Bank trimmed its target to $77 from $80.
Nike shares fell about 6% intraday Friday and have lost about a third of their value over the past 12 months.
Quantum Computing Stock Falls as Firm’s Loss Soars
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Quantum Computing (QUBT) stock fell Friday, a day after the high-tech firm that produces photonic and quantum optics products reported a widening fourth-quarter loss.
Shares had soared earlier this week when another company in the sector, D-Wave Quantum (QBTS), announced its quantum machine outperformed current supercomputers on certain tasks.
After the bell Thursday, Quantum Computing posted a Q4 net loss of $0.47 per share, more than five times its per-share loss last year. Revenue fell 17% year-over-year to $62,000.
The company said the larger loss was mainly because of costs related to the merger with QPhoton in June 2022. In addition, operating expenses grew 35% to $8.9 million on “higher non-cash employee-based expenses, including stock-based compensation, and increased depreciation expense for production equipment installed at the Company’s TFLN chip foundry in Tempe, AZ.”
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Quantum Computing shares sank 14% as markets opened Friday but pared losses and were down about 2% in recent trading. They have lost about three-quarters of their value since hitting an all-time high in December.
FedEx Stock Falls as Shipping Giant Cuts Its Outlook for the Third Quarter in a Row
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FedEx (FDX) reported quarterly earnings that missed analysts’ expectations and cut its full-year outlook, sending shares lower in extended trading Thursday.
The shipping giant said it expects full-year revenue to come in flat to slightly lower year-over-year, worse than its prior forecast of “approximately flat.” The company also dropped its outlook for earnings per share to between $15.15 and $15.75, from $16.45 to $17.45, marking the third quarter FedEx has lowered its forecasts in a row.
In its fiscal third quarter, FedEx saw revenue grow 2% year-over-year to $22.2 billion, above the analyst consensus from Visible Alpha. Adjusted earnings of $1.09 billion, or $4.51 per share, improved from $970 million, or $3.86 per share, a year earlier, but missed Wall Street estimates.
FedEx CEO Raj Subramaniam said the company faced “a very challenging operating environment, including a compressed peak season and severe weather events.”
The results also come after FedEx in December announced plans to spin off its Freight business as a standalone company.
Shares of FedEx tumbled more than 10% Friday morning, putting the stock down more than 22% so far this year.
Stock Futures Point To Lower Open For Major Indexes
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Futures contracts connected to the Dow Jones Industrial Average were down 0.4% in premarket trading on Friday.
S&P 500 futures were also off 0.4%.
Nasdaq 100 futures fell 0.5%.
