Markets

S&P 500 extends winning streak to six on tariff relief and solid earnings

The S&P 500 gained for its sixth consecutive day, the longest such streak since September, as investors cheered a slate of mostly positive corporate earnings (even as companies were skittish to provide details on their outlooks) and welcomed fresh tariff relief on autos. The Nasdaq 100 even briefly erased all of its losses since the April 2 close, just before reciprocal tariffs were announced in the Rose Garden.

The S&P 500, Nasdaq 100, and Russell 2000 all gained 0.6%.

Energy was the lone S&P 500 sector ETF to finish in the red, while financials led the way higher.

The White House said that vehicles made with at least 85% domestic and USMCA-compliant content would be exempt from tariffs for the next year (a big boon for Tesla, in particular).

Hims & Hers shares soared after the telehealth company announced a partnership with Ozempic maker Novo Nordisk, boosting optimism around the company’s weight-loss push.

Meanwhile, a busy stretch of earnings continued to steer stock action on the day.

Coca-Cola shares ticked higher after the beverage and snacks giant topped earnings expectations by a penny and moved more volumes than analysts anticipated.

UPS reversed early gains after its Q2 revenue guidance missed estimates by about $100 million, with tariffs expected to squeeze margins by more than analysts had feared.

Royal Caribbean jumped as much as 5% after strong Q1 results and a surprisingly upbeat profit outlook, but the stock gave back most of those gains by the close as enthusiasm waned.

CoreWeave surged as much as 10% on a flurry of options demand for the recently IPO’d cloud computing company. The number of call options traded on the day was the highest in the company’s short history as a publicly traded firm.

SoFi snapped its losing streak, moving slightly higher after posting a Q1 beat and raise. The fintech stock had lagged before the report, after posting a blockbuster 2024.

JetBlue shares popped despite the airline pulling its full-year forecast and posting another Q1 loss — its sixth straight — though the $0.59 per-share loss still came in better than expected.

Brinker shares sank nearly 14%, even after the Chili’s and Maggiano’s Little Italy parent topped Q3 estimates and raised guidance, as enthusiasm waned on Wall Street.

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Nike craters after issuing weak revenue guidance

Sportswear kingpin Nike is tumbling on Wednesday morning after saying it doesn’t expect to grow sales this year.

On its fiscal Q3 earnings call, management said that revenue is expected to drop 2% to 4% in the current quarter, and that overall they “expect revenues to be down low-single-digits versus the prior year, with gains in North America offset by declines in Greater China.” That's a disappointment to analysts, who were anticipating 2% growth in Q4, and even more in the latter stages of the year, per Bloomberg.

Nike’s Q3 sales in China — where the company earns about 15% of its revenue — fell 7% to $1.62 billion. The company had issued weak guidance for this quarter considering continued softness in the region. That’s its seventh straight quarter of sales declines in the market. While this quarter’s was decline was less than feared, management warned that more pain is in the offing.

Nike’s turnaround effort “is complex work, and parts of it are taking longer than I'd like,” said CEO Elliott Hill.

Nike’s fiscal Q3 results (the three months ended February) were solid at the headline level:

  • Earnings of $0.35 per share, comfortably above the Wall Street consensus of $0.29 per share compiled by FactSet.

  • $11.28 billion in total revenue, roughly in line with the $11.26 billion estimate.

But the gloomy sales outlook has Wall Street analysts souring on the stock:

  • JPMorgan downgraded the shares to “neutral” from “overweight” and cut its price target to $52 from $86.

  • Citi reduced its target price to $53 from $65,

  • Stifel lowered its price target to $56 from $65,

  • Truist reduced its price target to $57 from $69, and

  • Barclays cut its target price to $67 from $73.

Nike shares are trading near decade lows this month, as tariffs continue to weigh on profits and shipping costs rise amid the war with Iran. As of Tuesday’s close, the stock was down 17% year to date.

Oil-sensitive travel stocks pop following Iran state media reporting on potential war resolution

Travel stocks are surging on Tuesday as oil prices fall following reports from Iranian state media that President Masoud Pezeshkian said the country has the necessary will to end this war, but would only do so with guarantees that prevent the recurrence of aggression.

The war has sent oil prices and refining margins surging this month, causing airlines and cruise lines to cut profit forecasts despite reported high demand.

Following Tuesday’s update, shares of the big four US airlines (Delta Air Lines, United Airlines, American Airlines, and Southwest Airlines) all climbed, along with smaller rivals including JetBlue. US airlines have stopped fuel hedging in recent years, increasing their exposure to upward swings in oil prices.

Cruise stocks also rallied, with Carnival and Norwegian up more than 6% and Royal Caribbean up about 5%.

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The FDA is expected to lift restrictions on certain peptides, the NYT reports

The Food and Drug Administration is expected to lift restrictions on certain peptides, allowing the experimental, often injectable substances to be sold by compounding pharmacies, The New York Times reported Tuesday.

The potential move was previously reported by The Wall Street Journal, and teased by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on the “Joe Rogan Experience” podcast in late February.

Peptides have boomed in popularity recently, with search interest for “peptides” surpassing “ozempic” this month. Many of them are currently understudied and not approved for human use, a rule consumers are able to bypass by purchasing them from suppliers that sell them for, ostensibly, research purposes only.

As reports of the FDA changing its stance of peptides mount, consumer health companies like Hims & Hers and Superpower have been getting ready to roll out their peptide offerings as soon as they get the FDA's blessing.

Peptides have boomed in popularity recently, with search interest for “peptides” surpassing “ozempic” this month. Many of them are currently understudied and not approved for human use, a rule consumers are able to bypass by purchasing them from suppliers that sell them for, ostensibly, research purposes only.

As reports of the FDA changing its stance of peptides mount, consumer health companies like Hims & Hers and Superpower have been getting ready to roll out their peptide offerings as soon as they get the FDA's blessing.

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