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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.

Nia Warfield, Luke Kawa

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 next year.

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 include up to 10,000 characters per post.

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, which 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.

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Lululemon’s stretch getting tested: Stock plunges after after outlook is cut

Lululemon shares are down double digits in premarket trading after the company cut its full-year sales and profit outlook, overshadowing a Q1 beat and raising fresh concerns about the brand’s turnaround efforts.

The company now expects fiscal 2026 revenue to be flat to down 1%, compared with its prior forecast for 2% to 4% growth. Guidance for full-year diluted earnings per share was dragged down to a range of $10.95 to $11.15, below the company’s previous guidance of $12.10 to $12.30 and well below Wall Street’s estimate of $13.26.

Key numbers for Q1:

  • EPS of $1.69 vs. the $1.68 expected.

  • Revenue of $2.47 billion vs. the $2.43 billion expected.

The modest top-line beat masked a widening divergence between Lululemons geographic markets. While international revenue rose 22% overall with a 30% increase in Mainland China, the bigger problem remains North America, where revenue fell 5%.

Interim co-CEO and CFO Meghan Frank acknowledged during the earnings call that recent product rollouts underperformed. A highly anticipated yoga campaign failed to generate its expected halo effect across broader product lines.

Profitability metrics took a major hit, with gross margins contracting by 410 basis points to 54.2% due to mounting tariff costs and promotional markdowns. Operating income consequently fell 37% year over year to $276.9 million.

“We experienced spikes of negative commentary in the media and on social channels with regard to our brand, which had an impact on traffic and overall top-line performance,” Frank said during the earnings call. “And second, not all of our product launches have met our expectations. While we have had several successful launches so far this year, we have seen others as we start Q2 not generate the anticipated guest response.”

Lululemons valuation has already been steadily compressing for years. While it was once one of retails richly valued stocks, investors have been questioning whether the company can return to the double-digit growth era.

The results also arrive during a leadership transition. Lululemon announced back in April that former Nike executive Heidi ONeill is set to take over as CEO in September, with investors looking to her to revive growth in North America and restore the brands growth.

As Lululemon faces both macroeconomic pressure and brand-specific challenges, its stock has dropped around 40% year to date.

markets

US job growth skyrocketed in May, blasting past expectations

The US economy added 172,000 jobs in the month of May, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday, sending 10-year Treasury yields higher.

The strong May job market surprised economists. Experts had predicted only 85,000 new jobs — just half the reported number. The unemployment rate held steady at 4.3%, as expected.

The job growth story is a hopeful spot for the economy as consumers continue to feel inflationary pressure from the Iran war.

Job gains were buoyed by the leisure and hospitality sector, which added 70,000 jobs, as well as local government, healthcare, and education.

Both the March and April jobs reports were revised upward, making them collectively 93,000 higher than previously reported.

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