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Two tech titans singlehandedly drag S&P 500 higher

Alphabet and Apple put the stock market on their broad, multitrillion-dollar shoulders.

Nia Warfield, Luke Kawa

The S&P 500 rose 0.5% and the Nasdaq 100 gained 0.8% while the Russell 2000 dipped 0.1% on Wednesday.

More than all of the daily returns in the SPDR S&P 500 ETF were attributable to just two companies: Alphabet and Apple.

Google was the day’s top performer, up 9.1% after the tech giant avoided some of the worst-case antitrust scenarios tied to its dominant position in search. The court decision helped Apple a ton, too: shares rose 3.8% after Bank of America boosted its price target, saying the company will keep pulling in about $20 billion a year from Google to preload its apps as the default setting on iPhones. Near the close, Bloomberg reported that Apple is developing an AI web search tool for the new Siri and reached an agreement with Google to test using its Gemini model to provide the underlying technology. Meanwhile, Dollar Tree led declines after the retailer handily beat Q2 expectations, but fresh sales guidance suggested weakening momentum in the second half of the year.

Macy’s shares soared 20.6% after the department store chain posted knockout Q2 results and raised its full-year guidance.

Hims & Hers spiked 7.2% after a judge dismissed a lawsuit from Eli Lilly against another rival telehealth firm selling knockoff versions of its GLP-1 drugs.

Campbell’s stock climbed 7.2% after the soup maker ladled out solid Q4 results as more cash-strapped consumers cooked at home, but warned that higher costs would weigh on margins.

Plug Power jumped in the premarket amid a surge of trading volume in the hydrogen fuel cell company before closing up 1.4%.

Oscar Health rose after it reiterated its annual guidance and offered positive commentary on cost trends at the Wells Fargo Healthcare Conference.

Oil names including ConocoPhillips, Phillips 66, APA Corporation, Diamondback Energy, Devon Energy, Halliburton, and EOG Resources all dipped after reports that OPEC+ is weighing another output hike of 1.65 million barrels per day.

Canopy Growth shares fell another 6.7%, extending Tuesday’s losses after the cannabis company filed for a $200 million equity raise on Friday.

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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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