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S&P 500 posts fresh closing high as cyclicals shine

The first record close of the month for the benchmark US stock index.

11h

The S&P 500 set a new closing high with a 0.8% gain, the Nasdaq 100 rose 0.9%, and the Russell 2000 outperformed with a 1.3% advance.

Every S&P sector ETF outside of utilities ended positive on the session, with the cyclical sectors of consumer discretionary, industrials, and financials all up in excess of 1%.

Gains on the day were led by T. Rowe Price and Western Digital, which rose 5.8% and 5.4%, respectively. Centene led declines falling 4.7% after the healthcare company had its price target cut to $33 from $45 by Barclays analysts. Elsewhere...

Amazon rallied 4.3% as the tech titan readies itself to take another stab at the enterprise software market with a new agentic AI tool, according to a report from Business Insider.

Opendoor Technologies soared 16.3% after the company’s president outlined the launch of a community hub to “provide consistent and transparent updates” on the company’s business and source questions from its passionate investor base.

American Eagle shares leapt 38% after the retailer posted blowout Q2 earnings results and reinstated its full-year guidance.

Gap popped nearly 6% after the denim giant said it’s stepping into beauty and accessories, starting with select Old Navy stores this fall and expanding to Gap-branded locations in 2026.

HP Enterprise rose 1.4% as the market continued to digest the enterprise software company’s third-quarter earnings beat late Wednesday.

Meta shares ticked up 1.6% after the social media giant said its Threads app is adding a way for users to post up to 10,000 characters.

Salesforce shares dropped 4.8% after the CRM software company topped Q2 earnings but issued a soft outlook for the current quarter.

Figma shares sank nearly 20% after the design software company reported Q2 results and the likely early release of 25% of the eligible securities owned by certain Figma employees and service providers that are currently under lockup.

JetBlue dipped 6.6% despite the airline saying it now expects operating revenue per available seat mile to fall between 1.5% and 4% in Q3, an improvement from its previous forecast for a 2% to 6% drop.

Texas Instruments fell 4.3% after its chief financial officer reiterated that strength in the chipmaker’s sales through April included a rush to beat potential tariffs and that momentum has slowed since then.

Rivian shares sank 5.1% after the EV maker confirmed it’s laying off workers on its commercial team, with the cuts amounting to less than 1.5% of its workforce.

Nia Warfield

12h

Lululemon sinks after slashing full-year guidance as tariffs, sales weigh on margins

Lululemon shares sank 13% in after-hours trading Thursday after the yoga-wear retailer massively slashed its full-year outlook.

Adjusted earnings per share came in at $3.10 for the second quarter, versus Wall Street’s forecast of $2.86. Revenue landed at $2.5 billion, compared with analyst estimates of $2.54 billion.

The real problem: Lululemon heavily cut its full-year guidance, and is now projecting earnings of $12.77 to $12.97 per share, a steep drop from its prior forecast of $14.58 to $14.78, and well shy of Wall Street’s $14.40 estimate.

The retailer faced more margin pressure during the quarter, citing higher markdowns, tariffs, and other costs, though some of that was partially offset by higher pricing and lower product costs.

Lulu shares were down 45% year-to-date before the report.

Luke Kawa

12h

Broadcom rallies after CEO says 2026 AI revenue outlook will “improve significantly” as the chip designer adds a new major customer

Broadcom is booming. The chip designer posted a small top and bottom line beat in its fiscal Q3, and the details and its guidance are even more encouraging.

Revenues: $15.95 billion (estimate $15.84 billion)

Adjusted diluted earnings per share: $1.69 (estimate $1.67)

Shares initially whipsawed in reaction to these numbers, but then rallied strongly after CEO Hock Tan said the outlook was for AI revenues to improve “significantly” in fiscal 2026 during the conference call with analysts thanks to the addition of a new big buyer.

“Last quarter, one of these prospects released production orders to Broadcom, and we have accordingly characterized them as a qualified customer for XPUs, and in fact, have secured over $10 billion of orders,” he said. “And reflecting this, we now expect the outlook for fiscal 2026 AI revenue to improve significantly from what we had indicated last quarter.”

Unlike Nvidia, whose data center business came in slightly shy of estimates in its most recent quarter, Broadcom’s AI sales managed to come in ahead of expectations, with $5.2 billion in revenues versus the anticipated $5.1 billion.

For the current quarter, management expects sales of $17.4 billion and adjusted EBITDA of approximately $11.67 billion. That compares to the Street’s view of $17.05 billion and adjusted EBITDA of $11.3 billion.

And again, its AI business is besting the sell side’s view, with an outlook for $6.2 billion in AI semiconductor revenues versus an expected $5.84 billion.

Shares were up more than 30% year to date heading into this report, slightly trailing Advanced Micro Devices but ahead of industry leader Nvidia.

Matt Phillips

12h

Salesforce’s slump shows the market still thinks AI is coming for software. But what if it doesn’t?

There wasn’t much proof of disruption in Salesforce’s numbers. Meanwhile, it’s trading around its lowest price-to-earnings ratio ever.

Salesforce slump shows why the AI software trade remains interesting

Max Knoblauch

13h

Rivian lays off workers as it readies its cheaper SUV and braces for the end of the EV tax credit

With the $7,500 federal EV tax credit set to end on September 30 and a new, lower cost electric SUV due to launch next year, Rivian is on the hunt to cut costs.

That means layoffs.

The EV maker confirmed it’s laying off workers on its commercial team, with the cuts amounting to less than 1.5% of its workforce, according to Wall Street Journal reporting. The company had about 14,900 employees at the end of December.

Rivian lost $1.12 billion in its second quarter and downwardly revised its full-year loss forecast to between $2 billion and $2.25 billion. Its shares are up about 2% year to date.

It’s been a similarly bumpy trading day for Rivian rival Lucid, which continues to post fresh all-time lows on investor distaste for its 1-for-10 reverse stock split that took effect on Tuesday.

Exclusive | EV Maker Rivian Lays Off Workers as It Preps Launch of Cheaper SUV

Rivian lost $1.12 billion in its second quarter and downwardly revised its full-year loss forecast to between $2 billion and $2.25 billion. Its shares are up about 2% year to date.

It’s been a similarly bumpy trading day for Rivian rival Lucid, which continues to post fresh all-time lows on investor distaste for its 1-for-10 reverse stock split that took effect on Tuesday.

Nia Warfield

15h

HP Enterprise jumps after record Q3 revenue, even as caution creeps into outlook

HP Enterprise shares jumped nearly 4% Thursday afternoon as the market digested the company’s Q3 earnings beat late Wednesday.

The enterprise tech company posted adjusted earnings of $0.44 per share, ahead of the Street’s $0.42 estimate. Revenue came in at $9.1 billion, above analysts’ forecast of $8.8 billion. HPE highlighted strong demand for its AI systems and the company’s recent Juniper Networks acquisition.

For the current quarter, HPE forecast revenue of $9.7 billion to $10.1 billion, bracketing just below the $9.9 billion Street midpoint. The company also guided EPS of $0.56 to $0.60, effectively in line with analyst expectations of $0.58. Margin pressure added to the caution, but optimism is still strong.

“We have grown enterprise AI orders year over year every quarter since the beginning of fiscal 2024,” CEO Antonio Neri said. “From an innovation perspective, we continue to keep pace with new accelerators, technology, and time to market customer demands.”

HPE shares are up over 10% year to date.