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Luke Kawa

Levi’s surges as the jean maker shrugs off tariffs with strong earnings and boosted guidance

As the broad market wobbles a little on renewed tariff threats, Levi’s is taking a denim-clad leg higher.

Shares of the jean maker are surging after it reported better-than-expected quarterly results and boosted its full-year earnings guidance. That’s prompting Bank of America to boost its price target on the stock from $21 to $24 while upgrading its profit estimates.

“We think LEVI is still in the early innings of a positive EPS revision cycle and see a combination of mid-single digits sales growth and margin expansion ahead,” analyst Christopher Nardone wrote. “We are encouraged that the beats to gross margin can continue (similar to 1H25 results) as long as the tariff environment doesn’t materially worsen from here (a big question mark).”

That being said, Levi’s guidance assumes tariffs on Chinese imports stay at 30% while the rest of the world is tariffed at a 10% rate. Needless to say, that situation remains fluid.

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SpaceX gets a wave of bullish ratings from Wall Street analysts

SpaceX received more than a dozen positive analyst calls on Tuesday — including from major Wall Street banks — as they initiate coverage on Elon Musk’s space and AI company.

SpaceX went public on June 12 at a $2.2 trillion valuation, the largest debut in history. While the company hasn’t yet posted a profit, it seems to have convinced Wall Street that it will get there and grow its valuation on the way.

Of the at least 17 analysts that gave a rating on Tuesday, all but one gave it a “buy” or “outperform” rating. MoffettNathanson was "neutral."

The ratings come as SpaceX joined the Nasdaq 100 index, a benchmark tech-heavy basket of companies that underpins millions of portfolios. The inclusion adds built-in demand for the stock from index funds and ETFs.

Still, SpaceX fell more than 5% on Tuesday amid a broader sell-off, and is currently effectively flat from its opening price of $150 a share.

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Nike sinks to lowest level since 2014 after warning of “challenged” sales environment in Q4 report

Did Nike do it?

Investors had a mixed reaction after the global sports apparel company reported its fourth quarter earnings on Tuesday after the bell. Shares initially rose 5% as Nike beat out Wall Street expectations amid a hefty tariff refund bonus. However, the stock then sank to its lowest level since August 2014 in postmarket trading.

Here are the Q4 numbers:

  • Revenue of $11.0 billion (estimate: $10.8 billion).

  • Adjusted earnings per share of $0.20 (estimate: $0.12).

Ahead of this report, Nike warned that results would be flattered by a one-time tariff refund (now estimated at roughly $0.52 per share for the bottom line). That gave the company an extra cushion in snapping its streak of seven quarters of year-over-year profit declines.

Over the past year, the company had been punished by tariffs on imported goods, stagnant consumer spending, and increasing competition from other footwear brands like New Balance, Adidas, and Hoka.

Outgoing CFO Matthew Friend deemed it an “increasingly challenging operating environment, where sell-through remains challenged.”

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