Luke Kawa12/4/24

Another day of record closes for US stocks on tech-fueled rally

The S&P 500 rose 0.6%, the Nasdaq 100 advanced 1.2%, and the Russell 2000 gained 0.5% on Wednesday.

For the third consecutive session, the S&P 500 rose despite having more constituents that were down than up, the first time that’s happened in 2024.

Tech was far and away the top of the S&P 500 sector ETF leaderboard; energy stocks, on the other hand, fell 2.5% as West Texas Intermediate crude-oil futures declined more than 1%.

Salesforce was the best-performing S&P 500 constituent, up 11% after reporting better-than-expected revenue figures that suggest the company’s AI strategy is bearing fruit.

Amazon was up 2.2% after an event showcasing its AI capabilities impressed analysts and investors.

Chipotle gained 4.8% after confirming a 2% price hike.

JPMorgan fell 0.6% for its sixth straight down day, its longest losing streak since October 2023.

GM also declined after announcing it would take a $5 billion hit in its upcoming quarterly report linked to a joint venture in China.

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Toby Bochan, Luke Kawa

Double dose of long-delayed jobs data weighs on US stocks

The markets continued to slide on Tuesday, with the S&P 500 and Russell 2000 finishing lower, while the Nasdaq 100 managed a last-hour rally to finish slightly up.

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IonQ and D-Wave Quantum spike as Jefferies initiates coverage with “buy” ratings

Shares of IonQ and D-Wave Quantum are soaring on Tuesday after Jefferies initated coverage on the stocks with “buy” ratings and price targets of $100 and $45, respectively.

Rigetti Computing, which Jefferies started with a “hold” rating and $30 price target, is modestly lower. These three quantum computing companies are all down between 40% and 60% from their October all-time highs.

All 13 analysts who cover D-Wave have a “buy” (or equivalent) rating, while 75% of the dozen on Wall Street who have a rating on IonQ recommend the stock.

While the speculative AI-linked stocks continue to largely get crushed, this pocket of the market also favored by retail traders is showing some signs of life.

Chip Stocks Bubble

Chip stocks are in a bubble, at least by this definition, says analyst

The definition of a “bubble” is notoriously difficult to pin down. But these analysts applied a Harvard academic’s rubric and found the shoe fits for some popular tech stocks.

Matt Phillips14h

RadNet tumbles after Hunterbrook Media calls it “the AI story that doesn’t add up” and investment arm announces short position

In investigating the company, “what emerged was a gap between story and substance: a Digital Health business that generates much of its growth by invoicing a different RadNet business line; a same-center sales metric seemingly juiced by undisclosed consolidations; financial disclosures that don’t add up; and insiders using the stock run-up to cash out,” wrote Hunterbrook authors led by Bethany McLean.

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Max Knoblauch15h

Frontier sinks as longtime CEO, who regularly feuded with United, suddenly departs

Shares of ultra-budget airline Frontier are down more than 10% on Tuesday morning following the carrier’s announcement that it would replace its longtime CEO, Barry Biffle. Frontier President James Dempsey will fill in as interim CEO.

Biffle, who has been Frontier’s CEO since early 2016, will remain at the airline in an “advisory capacity” until December 31. The move is “not the result of any disagreement with the Company on any matter relating to the Company’s operations, policies or practices,” per a company filing.

Under Biffle, Frontier attempted to acquire rival Spirit twice since 2022 — both unsuccessful. Last week, the carrier’s shares dropped after Spirit’s pilots ratified a lower-paying contract in an effort to keep it afloat through its latest bankruptcy.

Biffle was a staunch defender of the ultra-budget model, which has been falling out of fashion in the US market in recent years. He’s regularly feuded with United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby over comments about budget airlines.

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