Markets
Nia Warfield, Luke Kawa

US stocks climb on trade optimism

Trade optimism fueled another day of gains for US stocks as President Donald Trump trumpeted a trade deal with the UK and raised the prospect of lower tariffs on China.

The S&P 500 rose 0.6%, the Nasdaq 100 rose 1%, and the Russell 2000 led the way with a 1.9% advance.

It was a clear risk-on day: industrials, materials, and energy were the best-performing S&P 500 sector ETFs, while defensive sectors real estate, utilities, consumer staples, and healthcare all fell.

The day’s gains were led by Axon Enterprise, Palantir, and Delta Air Lines. Match Group led the declines, falling 9% after the Tinder parent reported a drop in paid users and announced plans to cut 13% of its workforce.

Boeing climbed 3% following comments made by Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick that the UK would soon announce a $10 billion order.

Coinbase rose 5% after the crypto trading platform signed a $2.9 billion deal to acquire Deribit, the largest bitcoin options platform, just hours before dropping earnings.

Speaking of earnings...

Quantum computing company D-Wave soared more than 50% after announcing record revenues, with CEO Dr. Alan Baratz optimistic on the outlook for future system sales.

Krispy Kreme shares plunged over 24% after the popular donut chain posted mixed Q1 results, scrapped its quarterly dividend, and hit pause on its McDonald’s partnership.

Nintendo shares sank after the Switch maker wrapped up a rough year on Thursday, reporting a 43% plunge in net profit and a 30% drop in revenue.

Peloton shares felt the burn, dipping nearly 7% after the fitness tech company reported its third straight year-over-year decline in sales in its Q3 results.

Crocs shares jumped nearly double digits after the quirky shoe brand posted a strong first-quarter beat but withdrew its full-year guidance as global trade pressures loom.

Tapestry shares popped almost 4% after the fashion conglomerate posted knockout Q3 results, seeing strong demand for its legacy leather handbag line, Coach.

Warner Bros. Discovery shares jumped nearly 5% after a report from CNBC said the company may split its traditional cable business from its popular streaming platforms.

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Toby Bochan
Market wrap
10h
Markets close out 2025’s last full week of trading on a cheerful note

Stocks rallied for the second day in a row, with the S&P 500, Nasdaq 100, and Russell 2000 all closing higher, giving traders the early Christmas gift they desired.

Man is happy about his saw
markets
Nate Becker

Health insurance stocks lose steam as Trump says he’ll lobby insurers for lower prices

Shares of health insurance companies dropped Friday afternoon, as President Trump said he would ask insurers to meet with him in the coming weeks to seek lower prices.

Stocks including Humana, UnitedHealthcare, Cigna, CVS Health, and Elevance Health all either pared gains or went further into the red after Trump’s remarks, which came at the end of a press event to announce pricing deals with nine drugmakers.

“I’m going to call a meeting of the big insurance companies that have gotten so rich,” Trump said, noting that he would lobby them for lower prices.

“I would say that maybe with one talk, they would be willing to cut their prices by 50, 60, or 70%. They’ve made a fortune.”

markets
Max Knoblauch

Rivian’s surge continues as stock reaches highest level since December 2023 on analyst upgrades

Shares of EV maker Rivian are on pace to close up double digits for the second day in a row on Friday as bullish investors pour into the stock following analyst upgrades.

Rivian shares were up more than 10% on Friday afternoon, with the stock climbing to its highest level since December 2023.

Webush’s Dan Ives boosted his Rivian price target by 56% to $25 in a note on Friday morning. The analyst wrote that 2026 is a “prove-me” year for the automaker, with its lower-cost R2 model set to launch in the first half.

Ives’s note follows a separate optimistic bit of analysis from Baird, which also boosted its Rivian price target to $25 in a note on Thursday.

If today's gains hold, Friday will mark the third day of double-digit gains for Rivian in the past six trading days. An “AI Day” event that saw the automaker detail autonomous updates and tease a robotaxi plan started the recent run.

markets
Luke Kawa

The neoclouds are shooting back up into the stratosphere

Investors’ faith in tech CEOs’ pursuit of digital God has seemingly been restored for now, sparking an intense rally in the speculative AI players that had been in full-on meltdown mode over concerns that the boom had passed its best-before date.

The data center companies colloquially known as the “neoclouds” — CoreWeave, Nebius, IREN, and Cipher Mining — are up more than double digits over the past two sessions, as of 10:40 a.m. ET.

The past 48 hours have brought a steady drumbeat of positive news for the AI theme.

CoreWeave received a vote of confidence from Wall Street as Citi resumed coverage with a buy rating and price target of $135. Oracle, the epicenter of AI credit concerns, has seen a reversal in its fortunes as it nears an acquisition of TikTok’s US operations. And OpenAI’s fundraising efforts appear be going so well that its reported valuation has gone up in back-to-back days.

Before that, Micron’s earnings reaffirmed the intense demand for AI compute, which continues to outstrip supply — a positive sign for the neoclouds. The macro backdrop is also turning perhaps a bit more in favor of lower interest rates, as CPI inflation came in well below expectations.

Snoop Dogg Performs At OVO Hydro Glasgow

Marijuana rescheduling could mean more investment in US weed stocks. There aren’t many ways in.

“Yes, institutional capital will go into the underlying names. The question is: How fast?" one weed company chairman said.

J. Edward Moreno15h

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