Yiwen Lu9/19/24

Stocks close at fresh record highs for first time since July

The S&P 500 closed at a record high on Thursday, up 1.7% to 5713.6, the session following the Federal Reserve’s half-point rate cut. The Nasdaq 100 advanced 2.6%. The Russell 2000 Index of small cap stocks also added 2.1%.

Thursday’s jobless claims data showed fewer claims for unemployment benefits than expected, buoying bets on a soft landing for the US economy.

Technology stocks led the market rally. All Magnificent Seven stocks climbed more than 1%. Tesla gained 7.4%, among the top S&P 500 performers of the day. Meta’s stock was up 3.9% and closed at $559.1, the highest closing price on the record. The Technology Select Sector SPDR Fund gained 2.9%, while the VanEck Semiconductor ETF was up 4.3%.

Among other sectors, utilities, consumer staples, and real estate were the only ones that declined.

Gold reached another all-time high, as spot gold rose 1.2% to $2,588.6 per ounce. Oil futures also gained, as WTI crude futures for October settled up 1.5% at $72 per barrel, while Brent for November was up 1.7%.

The yields on 10-year Treasuries advanced 3 basis points, while the yields on two-year Treasuries fell by about 2 basis points.

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SpaceX gets a wave of bullish ratings from Wall Street analysts

SpaceX received more than a dozen positive analyst calls on Tuesday — including from major Wall Street banks — as they initiate coverage on Elon Musk’s space and AI company.

SpaceX went public on June 12 at a $2.2 trillion valuation, the largest debut in history. While the company hasn’t yet posted a profit, it seems to have convinced Wall Street that it will get there and grow its valuation on the way.

Of the at least 17 analysts that gave a rating on Tuesday, all but one gave it a “buy” or “outperform” rating. MoffettNathanson was "neutral."

The ratings come as SpaceX joined the Nasdaq 100 index, a benchmark tech-heavy basket of companies that underpins millions of portfolios. The inclusion adds built-in demand for the stock from index funds and ETFs.

Still, SpaceX fell more than 5% on Tuesday amid a broader sell-off, and is currently effectively flat from its opening price of $150 a share.

US job growth falls far short of estimates in June; unemployment rate unexpectedly dips to 4.2%

Job growth was 57,000. Analysts foresaw job growth of 113,000; prediction markets were more optimistic, looking for job growth above 125,000 but below 150,000.

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Meta surges on report it’s starting a cloud business to sell excess AI compute

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Nike sinks to lowest level since 2014 after warning of “challenged” sales environment in Q4 report

Did Nike do it?

Investors had a mixed reaction after the global sports apparel company reported its fourth quarter earnings on Tuesday after the bell. Shares initially rose 5% as Nike beat out Wall Street expectations amid a hefty tariff refund bonus. However, the stock then sank to its lowest level since August 2014 in postmarket trading.

Here are the Q4 numbers:

Revenue of $11.0 billion (estimate: $10.8 billion).
Adjusted earnings per share of $0.20 (estimate: $0.12).

Ahead of this report, Nike warned that results would be flattered by a one-time tariff refund (now estimated at roughly $0.52 per share for the bottom line). That gave the company an extra cushion in snapping its streak of seven quarters of year-over-year profit declines.

Over the past year, the company had been punished by tariffs on imported goods, stagnant consumer spending, and increasing competition from other footwear brands like New Balance, Adidas, and Hoka.

Outgoing CFO Matthew Friend deemed it an “increasingly challenging operating environment, where sell-through remains challenged.”

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