Luke Kawa1/16/25

Most US stocks rise, but megacap tech drags major indexes down

The S&P 500 inched lower on Thursday, the Nasdaq 100 had an ugly close to end down 0.7% at its low of the day, and the Russell 2000 eked out a small advance.

Today was the first time the S&P 500’s advance-decline line was above 250, but the benchmark index suffered a drop of 0.2% since July 11, which marked the start of a meaningful drawdown for megacap tech stocks.

Most S&P 500 sectors moved higher, but tech, communication services, and consumer discretionary — the sectors home to the Magnificent 7 cohort — all retreated. Every member of that group fell.

Apple had an awful day amid reports that it’s losing market share in China, its worst underperformance of the broad market since March. Tesla also stumbled, giving back a chunk of yesterday’s big gains.

UnitedHealth was the worst performer in the S&P 500 after posting disappointing earnings that saw net income drop significantly year on year.

Southwest Airlines slumped on the heels of a lawsuit from the Department of Transportation alleging that it “chronically delayed” flights.

On the bright side, TSMC jumped after posting robust earnings and a bright outlook for the year ahead.

Rivian jumped following a report that the electric-vehicle maker is set to receive billions in financing from the Biden administration. Uber also had a strong showing following some positive commentary from Wall Street analysts.

More Markets

See all Markets

markets

Max Knoblauch & Claire Yubin Oh8m

Nintendo’s Switch 2 sales are outpacing the original Switch by ~2x

After a booming first month in which it sold 5.82 million Switch 2s, Nintendo on Tuesday reported that it has now sold 10.36 million units of the handhelds through September.

That’s well ahead of the original Switch’s pace at the same period in its lifetime — the first Switch model sold 4.7 million units through its first four months, though it went on to become the company’s all-time console sales leader.

Nintendo appears to be growing more confident in the Switch 2, despite US tariffs. Last month, the company boosted its annual production target to 25 million units by the end of March 2026, according to reporting by Bloomberg.

The new data came as the Japanese gaming giant reported its first-half earnings on Tuesday. Nintendo posted ~$3.6 billion in sales for the three months ending September, topping the $3.04 billion expected by analysts polled by Bloomberg.

The company also hiked its full-year guidance to a revenue of ~$14.6 billion, as well as its expectations for Switch 2 sales. The company now anticipates selling 19 million units compared with 15 million units projected previously. Despite the news, Nintendo’s US-traded ADRs were relatively flat in after hours trading on Monday, suggesting elevated expectations into the print.

J. Edward Moreno

Hims rises on revenue beat, discloses it’s again in partnership talks with Novo

Hims also disclosed on Monday that it’s in talks with Novo Nordisk to make the drugmaker’s weight-loss drugs available on its platform. Last time, that didn’t go so well.

Palantir reports Q3 numbers

Palantir posts ninth straight earnings beat, boosts guidance

Here’s how the numbers look.

Matt Phillips14h

Tasha Matsumoto

Amazon and the AI trade sustain stock gains

Stocks kicked off what is historically their best month of the year on a positive note, with help from Amazon and AI.

PAMPLONA, NAVARRA, SPAIN - 2025/07/09: Morante de la Puebla, a bullfighter from Seville fights a bull from the Alvaro Nunez ranch in Pamplona's Plaza Monumental during the 2025 San FermÌn festival

markets

Trump’s “impossible trinity” on AI and energy

Everyone loves a good trilemma.

In economics, the most famous of the genre was developed by Fleming and Mundell, which posits that you can only successfully achieve two of the following three objectives: the free flow of capital, a fixed exchange rate, and independent sovereign monetary policy.

George Pollack, senior US policy analyst at Signum Global Advisors, proposed a trilemma of his own to describe the Trump administration’s competing policy aims as a red-hot AI boom devours power and leaves households miffed by rising electricity bills.

He wrote:

“This note flags what we believe to be a simple reality whose salience will continue growing in US politics in coming months: the Trump administration, in its remaining three years will face a trilemma as the nation waits for its energy bet to play out — proving able to achieve two, but not all three, of the following objectives:

-Fulfill AI’s energy-appetite.
-Keep repressing renewable sources of energy.
-Appease American electricity consumers.”

Trump AI trilemma

As for evidence that the Trump administration is taking a fossil fuels-first approach while stunting renewables, Pollack pointed to the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which shrinks access to tax credits for green energy, as well as the end to the federal pause on liquefied natural gas export permits. However, it would be “inaccurate and unfair” to blame President Trump’s policies for surging electricity prices in recent months, he added.

While the government has pursued the expansion of nuclear power as a way to solve this trilemma, the long lead times involved are incongruent with a short-term fix.

Latest Stories

Sherwood Media, LLC produces fresh and unique perspectives on topical financial news and is a fully owned subsidiary of Robinhood Markets, Inc., and any views expressed here do not necessarily reflect the views of any other Robinhood affiliate, including Robinhood Markets, Inc., Robinhood Financial LLC, Robinhood Securities, LLC, Robinhood Crypto, LLC, or Robinhood Money, LLC.

©2025 Sherwood Media, LLC