Markets
Luke Kawa

S&P 500 slides as chip stocks crumble

The S&P 500 sank 1.3% amid a rout in chip stocks. The benchmark US stock index suffered its worst weekly loss since September, closing near the level it opened the morning after President-elect Donald Trump’s election win.

The Nasdaq 100 fared worse with a 2.4% drop, and the Russell 2000 gave back 1.4% for a 4% retreat on the week.

Utilities were the best-performing S&P 500 sector ETF, gaining 1.5% on the day. Financials and real estate were the only two other sectors in the green.

Megacap tech, and in particular semiconductor stocks, fared poorly on Friday. Tesla was the only member of the Magnificent 7 to advance, posting a 3.1% gain. All others in the group finished down at least 1.4%, punctuated by Amazon’s 4.2% decline.

The VanEck Semiconductor ETF tumbled 3.3%, with an underwhelming sales forecast from Applied Materials weighing on the industry.

Palantir Technologies was a standout on the upside, gaining double digits after announcing plans to shift its listing to the Nasdaq, which could spur buying from passive funds. The company is now the year’s top-performing S&P 500 stock.

More Markets

See all Markets
markets

Corning spikes after Nvidia invests $500 million in the fiber-optics company

Corning is spiking after Nvidia dropped $500 million for the right to buy up to 18 million of its shares.

The deal comes as part of a multiyear partnership that will see Corning “increase its U.S.-based optical connectivity manufacturing capacity by 10x and expand its U.S. fiber production capacity by more than 50% to meet the accelerating demand driven by AI factory buildouts,” per the press release.

The deal is structured around Corning issuing Nvidia two types of warrants:

  • “Pre-funded” warrants for 3 million Corning shares (which account for the bulk of the $500 million to the fiber-optics company).

  • “Traditional” warrants that enable Nvidia to buy 15 million shares at $180, thereby benefiting from Corning’s share price trading above that level within three years’ time (unless this partnership is terminated or Corning makes a “fundamental transaction” before that). If and when Nvidia exercises those warrants in full, CEO Jensen Huang will be cutting a much heftier check to Corning.

So while on the surface this deal may not look as big as Nvidia’s recent $2 billion investments in Marvell Technology, Coherent, and Lumentum, once all the dust settles, it could turn out to be considerably more!

markets

AMC gains as strong Q1 results give breathing room for balance sheet improvements

AMC shares are rising in early Wednesday trading after the theater chain reported Q1 earnings results with revenue exceeding estimates after the bell Tuesday.

Key numbers:

  • Revenue of $1.05 billion (compared to analyst estimates of $972.6 million).

  • Adjusted EBITDA of $38.3 million (estimate: $7.7 million).

Attendance reached 30.7 million in the US and 16.9 million internationally, with improving demand thanks to recently released movies like Project Hail Mary, The Super Mario Galaxy Movie, and Michael.

A prolonged string of positive operating results like these will be needed to improve AMC’s balance sheet over time. AMC is still carrying around $4 billion in debt, which management is aiming to refinance and pay down over time.

Refinancing has bought time to delever amid the stop-and-go box-office rebound as film supply is set to improve, Bloomberg Intelligence analysts Kevin Near and Geetha Ranganathan wrote in the wake of this release. AMC expects to close more underperforming theaters this year and hinted that positive free cash flow may hinge on a strong 2027 movie slate.

Analysts at Benchmark upgraded the stock to buyfrom hold following these Q1 results.

Mickey Goofy Donald baseball

Disney rises after quarterly revenue beat, boosted by streaming and theme park growth

Disney reported its second-quarter results before markets opened on Wednesday.

Latest Stories

Sherwood Media, LLC produces fresh and unique perspectives on topical financial news and is a fully owned subsidiary of Robinhood Markets, Inc., and any views expressed here do not necessarily reflect the views of any other Robinhood affiliate, including Robinhood Markets, Inc., Robinhood Financial LLC, Robinhood Securities, LLC, Robinhood Crypto, LLC, Robinhood Derivatives, LLC, or Robinhood Money, LLC. Futures and event contracts are offered through Robinhood Derivatives, LLC.