Stock market today: Nasdaq surges as AI trade reignites amid Big Tech earnings, Dow, S&P 500 rise for 8th day

Yahoo Finance’s Dan Howley reports:

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The Nasdaq rose on Thursday as investors put aside uncertainty over President Trump’s tariff policy and instead focused on optimism over Big Tech’s AI prospects.

The S&P 500 (^GSPC) rose roughly 0.6% to extend its longest win streak of the year, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) rose more than 1.5%, but off the highs of the session on the heels of better than expected earnings from Microsoft (MSFT) and Meta (META).

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) also extended its longest winning streak of the year to gain 0.2%

Investors awaited tech earnings from Apple (AAPL) and Amazon (AMZN) set to report right after the bell.

Yahoo Finance’s Dan Howley reports:

Amazon (AMZN) stock jumped 3% on Thursday ahead of its first quarter earnings report, where investors are expected to press the company on how upcoming tariffs might impact its business.

For the quarter, Amazon is expected to see earnings per share (EPS) of $1.36 and revenue of $155.1 billion, according to Bloomberg consensus estimates. That’s a jump from the EPS of $0.98 and revenue of $143.3 billion the company reported in Q1 last year.

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Eli Lilly (LLY) shares were down nearly 10% as investors reacted to CVS (CVS) naming Novo Nordisk’s (NVO) blockbuster GLP-1 drug Wegovy as a preferred drug on its formulary. But Eli Lily’s CEO isn’t as concerned.

Yahoo Finance’s Anjalee Khemlani reports:

Eli Lilly (LLY) has enjoyed a successful run the past several quarters as the company’s blockbuster GLP-1 weight-loss drug Wegovy gains steam in the obesity space.

But Wall Street wiped out more than $90 billion in the company’s market cap during trading Thursday after competitor Novo Nordisk (NVO) locked in a deal to have its GLP-1 listed on CVS’s (CVS) formulary as the preferred weight-loss drug for patients.

But Eli Lilly CEO David Ricks waved off the deal Thursday, telling Yahoo Finance in an interview that the company is focused more on upcoming obesity drugs in its pipeline and sees exclusive deals as an older way of doing business.

“We’re not interested in exclusive deals. We think innovation and choice is very important. And we’re well into the product replacement cycle, and there’s more coming,” Ricks said, referring to the highly anticipated oral form of Eli Lilly’s GLP-1 orforglipron, which is expected to hit the markets mid-next year.

“It’s in some ways a little disappointing to see this. It feels a little bit like last decade, these sort of lock-up deals,” Ricks added.

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Yahoo Finance’s Ines Ferre reports:

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Yahoo Finance’s Pras Subramanian reports:

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Yahoo Finance’s Claire Boston reports:

Mortgage rates fell this week amid a period of relative stability for the bond market.

The average 30-year mortgage rate was 6.76% this week through Wednesday, from 6.81% a week earlier, according to Freddie Mac data. 15-year mortgage rates averaged 5.92%, compared with 5.94% last week.

After several weeks of volatility, 10-year Treasury yields, which closely track mortgage rates, are starting to move lower once again. They’re around 4.2% as of Thursday morning, from 4.31% a week ago.

Mortgage rates have been on a bumpy path since President Trump announced sweeping tariffs in early April, but they’re settling now as markets await more information about the likely path of benchmark interest rates.

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The Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) was up as much as 2.4% on Thursday morning, and it is mainly megacap technology leading the index higher.

Microsoft (MSFT) was up over 8% while Meta (META) and Amazon (AMZN) were both more than 4% higher.

Qualcomm (QCOM) stock dropped more than 8% after the chipmaker gave a slightly softer-than-expected revenue outlook for the current quarter.

Qualcomm said it expected $10.3 billion in revenue at the midpoint for the current period (its fiscal third quarter), slightly lower than the $10.33 billion expected, according to Bloomberg data.

“There’s uncertainty around the impact of the global trade landscape on demand across our businesses,” said CFO Akash Palkhiwala in a call with analysts.

“Our guidance for the upcoming quarter is based on our current assessment of the financial impact of tariffs as they stand today.”

On the other hand, Qualcomm’s earnings and revenue for the March period (its fiscal second quarter) beat expectations.

Citi analyst Chris Danely removed the chipmaker from the investment firm’s “catalyst” list for stocks to watch, as the analyst said a smartphone upgrade cycle is “at least a year away.” Qualcomm’s chips are used in Android cell phones and Apple (AAPL) iPhones.

Qualcomm’s drop comes as other chip stocks such as Nvidia (NVDA) surged Thursday following Meta (META) and Microsoft’s (MSFT) reaffirmation of their billions in spending on AI infrastructure this year. Qualcomm makes ASIC accelerators (custom chips to run AI models faster, used in addition to GPUs such as Nvidia’s) for data centers.

Manufacturing activity fell further into contraction in April as the reality of President Trump’s tariffs set in.

The Institute for Supply Management’s manufacturing PMI fell to an index reading of 48.7 in April, below the 49 seen the month prior. However, the reading was above the 47.9 economists had expected. Readings below 50 indicate contraction in the sector.

The ISM’s prices paid index for the sector came in at 69.8, roughly flat compared to the prior month. Meanwhile, new orders increased to a reading of 47.2, above the 45.2 seen in March.

“In April, U.S. manufacturing activity slipped marginally further into contraction after expanding only marginally in February,” chair of the Institute for Supply Management Timothy Fiore said in the release. “Demand and output weakened while input strengthened further, conditions that are not considered positive for economic growth.”

Nvidia (NVDA) stock rose as much as 4.3% early Thursday, leading chip stocks higher after Big Tech leaders Meta (META) and Microsoft (MSFT) reaffirmed their aggressive AI investment plans.

Shares of fellow AI chipmakers Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) and Broadcom (AVGO) jumped 1.3% and 2.4%, respectively. Nvidia supplier Micron (MU), which makes advanced memory chips for its GPUs (graphics processing units), climbed 2.7%.

During its quarterly earnings presentations late Wednesday afternoon, Microsoft reiterated its $80 billion spending plan to build out AI data centers, with more than half of that spending going toward the US. Meta, meanwhile, raised its capital expenditure outlook for 2025, forecasting spending will now fall between $64 billion and $72 billion, up from its prior range of $60 billion to $65 billion.

Meta stock rose 6% Thursday morning, while Microsoft jumped 10%.

Read the full story here.

The largest stock in the world is ripping higher on Thursday morning.

Microsoft (MSFT) popped as much as 10% at the market open on Thursday morning after a blowout earnings report for the tech giant on Wednesday night. Zooming out to a yearly chart, its a rather large move for a stock that had been essentially flat over the past year prior to today’s session.

Read more on Microsoft’s earnings here.

Kohl’s (KSS) board of directors has ousted CEO Ashley Buchanan for cause, citing violations of company policies related to undisclosed conflicts of interest in vendor relationships.

According to Bloomberg, trading in Kohl’s shares was temporarily halted Thursday morning following the announcement. Shares later rose as much as 5%, signaling investor approval of the board’s decisive action.

An investigation found Buchanan violated company policies by directing vendor transactions involving undisclosed conflicts of interest. The board emphasized the termination was unrelated to company performance or financial reporting. As a result, Buchanan has also been removed from the board and withdrawn as a nominee for reelection at the 2025 shareholders meeting.

Buchanan, who assumed the CEO role in January, ​​was awarded a compensation package totaling approximately $20 million — more than double the $9 million received by his predecessor, Tom Kingsbury.

In response to the leadership change, the board has appointed Michael Bender as interim CEO, effective immediately. Bender has served on the board since July 2019 and was named board chair in May 2024.

Eli Lilly (LLY) shares slid about 5% before the bell after a double-whammy for its popular Zepbound treatment, despite better-than-expected first quarter results from the drugmaker.

Sales of Lilly’s popular weight-loss drug fell slightly short of Wall Street estimates. Separately, CVS Health (CVS) said its pharmacy business will list Novo Nordisk’s (NVO, NOVO-B.CO) rival GLP-1 drug Wegovy as its preferred obesity drug, to the exclusion of Zepbound.

“Now that there’s adequate supply of both of these GLP-1s, CVS Caremark was able to negotiate Wegovy against Zepbound to determine which manufacturer of these clinically similar products could deliver the greatest overall value and lowest net cost for our clients that choose to participate on our standard commercial formularies,” a CVS spokesperson told Yahoo Finance’s Anjalee Khemlani.

Reuters reports:

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Weekly claims for unemployment benefits hit their lowest level in two months during the final full week of April.

Data from the Department of Labor released Thursday morning showed 241,000 initial jobless claims were filed in the week ending April 26, up from 223,000 the week prior and well above economists expectations for another print of 223,000.

Meanwhile, 1.916 million continuing claims were filed, up from the 1.833 million seen the week prior, and the highest level seen since November 2021.

Big Tech stocks were the top trending tickers in premarket trading on Thursday as several of the “Magnificent Seven” names took center stage with first quarter earnings reports this week.

Microsoft (MSFT) stock surged 9% after the company posted an earnings beat and strong cloud performance Wednesday. AI contributed more than expected to Azure revenue growth, though Microsoft noted capacity constraints remain a headwind for AI growth.

Meta (META) stock popped 6% after Q1 results also beat on the top and bottom lines. Despite concerns of an advertising slowdown due to the heightened uncertainty around tariffs and the economy, Meta raised its capital expenditures estimates and held its revenue forecasts steady.

Amazon (AMZN) stock rose 3% ahead of its first quarter earnings report. Investors are closely watching for AI spending’s moment of truth as well as for any potential headwinds from President Trump’s tariff policies. Earlier this week, Amazon drew ire from the White House over a report that the company planned to display tariff price hikes next to products, which Amazon denied.

Nvidia (NVDA) gained 4% as Meta and Microsoft suggested that the AI buildouts haven’t slowed down, as my colleague Brian Sozzi wrote below. Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang made a trip to Washington, D.C., on Wednesday to advocate for changes to chip export policies.

Apple (AAPL) stock fell 1% ahead of its earnings report, where investors will get a look at how tariffs are affecting the iPhone maker and its supply chains. “We don’t think Apple is ‘out-of-the-woods’ yet,” KeyBanc analyst Brandon Nispel wrote in a note, as Yahoo Finance’s Dan Howley reported.

General Motors lowered its 2025 profit forecast on Thursday after getting more clarity on tariff risks in President Trump’s partial reprieve for automakers.

Two days earlier, the Big Three car giant pulled its previous forward guidance and suspended share buybacks while it waited for the White House to shed light on it trade plans.

In a letter to shareholders, GM said it now sees a potential impact from current tariffs of as much as $5 billion.

Shares in the auto giant rose almost 4% as investors assessed the news.

Reuters reports:

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Shares of CVS (CVS) jumped more than 10% in pre-market after the healthcare company raised its full-year 2025 profit guidance. Its first quarter earnings also out on Thursday handily beat Wall Street estimates.

Yahoo Finance’s Anjalee Khemlani reports:

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A drop in US sales and traffic weighed on McDonald’s (MCD) first quarter results on Thursday, dragging the stock down slightly.

Shares slipped less than 1% after the fast-food giant’s earnings missed Wall Street expectations.

Yahoo Finance’s Laura Bratton reports:

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Earnings: Apple (AAPL), Amazon (AMZN), Airbnb (ABNB), CVS (CVS), Eli Lilly (LLY), Mastercard (MA), McDonald’s (MCD), Reddit (RDDT), Roblox (RBLX), Shake Shack (SHAK), Sirius XM (SIRI)

Economic data: Challenger jobs cuts (April); Initial jobless claims (week ending April 26); S&P global US manufacturing (April final); ISM manufacturing (April); ISM prices paid (April); Construction spending, (March)

Here are some of the biggest stories you may have missed overnight and early this morning:

The month that Trump blinked on trade

CVS posts Q1 earnings beat, raises full-year guidance

Microsoft stock jumps as cloud drives earnings beat

Meta stock rises as upbeat outlook eases tariff concerns

China signals US reached out to kick off tariff talks

Downbeat GDP offers 2 views on the US economy

Trump barely defeats challenge to his tariff war in Senate

Starbucks seeks to cut its million-dollar store upgrade costs

Amazon to invest $4 billion to speed up deliveries in rural US