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Three stocks power S&P 500 to fresh record closing high

Eighty-three basis points of today’s return in the SPDR S&P 500 ETF, more than 2x its daily gain, were attributable to Oracle and the two leading US chip designers, Nvidia and Broadcom.

Nia Warfield, Luke Kawa

Another day, another record close for the S&P 500.

Gains on the day were led by, of course, Oracle, which soared 36% after the cloud giant missed Q1 estimates but reported a 359% surge in its key “booked” revenue, known as “remaining performance obligations” (RPO). Shares pared gains after the company said its revenue backlog was a function of a $300 billion deal with OpenAI. The news lifted most AI-adjacent companies, but Oracle’s fellow hyperscalers were notable underperformers, especially Amazon.

Eighty-three basis points of today’s return in the SPDR S&P 500 ETF, more than 2x its daily gain, were attributable to Oracle and the two leading US chip designers, Nvidia and Broadcom.

Tech, utilities, and energy were the top-performing S&P 500 sector ETFs, while consumer staples and healthcare were laggards.

The Nasdaq 100 (which doesn’t have Oracle as one of its members) barely broke even, while the Russell 2000 gave back 0.2%.

Synopsys shares dropped nearly 36% after the chip designer missed top- and bottom-line estimates for the third quarter, as US export curbs hurt its business in China.

Chewy fell nearly 17%, despite the online pet retailer posting stronger-than-expected Q2 results and hiking its sales guidance for the year.

US-listed ADRs of Chinese EV maker Nio sank 8.7% as investors braced for $1 billion in share dilution from a secondary offering.

GameStop jumped 3.4%, building on its post-earnings gains, after the video game and collectibles retailer posted an impressive set of second-quarter results, with continued strength in its collectibles business.

Joby Aviation shares were up as much as 7% in premarket trading before settling down 1.1% following news that Uber will add the company’s Blade helicopter and seaplane services to its app as soon as next year.

Hims & Hers was flat as the company announced it had expanded into testosterone treatments after teasing the new category earlier this year.

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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.

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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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