Yiwen Lu8/15/24

US stocks surge as consumer spending surprises to upside

The S&P 500 was up 1.6% on Thursday, while both the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 and the Russell 2000 jumped 2.5%.

The S&P 500 extended its winning streak to six sessions on data that underscored the resilience of consumers. Retail sales rose by 1% in July, much more than anticipated, and Walmart posted earnings that beat estimates. The weekly jobless claims also declined compared to last week and were below expectations, allaying fears of a weakening labor market.

Bond prices tumbled, and policy-sensitive two-year Treasury yields jumped more than 14 basis points to 4.09%, the highest closing level since the beginning of August. Traders now see less than 100 basis points of rate cuts in store through year-end.

Consumer discretionary was the best-performing S&P sector ETF, gaining 3.2% as it benefits from the retail sales relief. The real estate sector was the worst-performing, with a 0.3% retreat, followed by the utilities sector as the only other S&P ETF in negative territory.

Ulta Beauty was the biggest gainer among all S&P stocks on Thursday, up 11.2% at closing. Public filings released on Wednesday evening showed that Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway bought a small position in the company, which was worth $266 million in total at the end of June.

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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.

US job growth falls far short of estimates in June; unemployment rate unexpectedly dips to 4.2%

Job growth was 57,000. Analysts foresaw job growth of 113,000; prediction markets were more optimistic, looking for job growth above 125,000 but below 150,000.

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Paige Oamek6/30/26

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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