3/20/25

US stocks slip

The S&P 500 dipped 0.2%, the Nasdaq 100 fell 0.3%, and the Russell 2000 gave back 0.6% on Thursday.

Utilities, energy, financials, and healthcare were the S&P 500 sector ETFs that gained on the day; tech, materials, and industrials led the way down.

Accenture and Gartner were the two largest decliners in the benchmark US stock index as the federal government’s campaign to cut spending weighs on their sales outlooks.

Even as Nvidia rallied, the stock suffered from its first “dark cross” (the 50-day moving average falling below the 200-day) since 2022.

Darden, the parent company of Olive Garden, posted earnings and guidance in line with expectations. In an environment where consumer-oriented stocks have been delivering mostly bad news, it was enough to fuel a big rally for the stock.

Cava benefited from an upgrade to a buy rating from JPMorgan, which sees it as an attractive long-term holding.

Intel dipped after Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said the chip designer has not been part of any push to buy the US semi producer.

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1h

RH slips after missing Q2 estimates and trimming its outlook amid cost pressure

Restoration Hardware shares dropped Friday morning after the luxury furniture brand missed Q2 estimates and tightened its full-year outlook.

Adjusted earnings per share came in at $2.93, below the Street’s estimate of $3.21. Revenue was $899.2 million, also missing analysts’ forecast of $905 million.

RH now expects full-year revenue growth of 9% to 11%, down from prior guidance of 10% to 13%, as margins get squeezed by tariffs and weakness in the housing market. Wall Street had been looking for about 10% growth this year.

The retailer is taking steps to blunt cost pressures, including shifting sourcing away from China. RH expects receipts to fall from 16% in Q1 to 2% in Q4, with vendors absorbing a meaningful portion of the tariff impact. RH is also boosting US manufacturing capacity in North Carolina and pushing back a new concept launch to next spring.

RH shares are down about 43% year to date.

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3h

Super Micro rises as the company begins shipments of Nvidia Blackwell chips

Super Micro Computer jumped over 6% in premarket trading on Friday after the company announced it has started shipping “Plug-and-Play (PnP)-ready” racks powered by Nvidia’s new Blackwell Ultra chips, giving data center customers a ready-made option to scale up their AI infrastructure.

The rollout enables what SMCI calls “turn-key day-one” operations, with the entire racks preassembled and tested to work out of the box.

“Data center customers face many AI infrastructure challenges: complex network topology and cabling, power delivery, and thermal management,” CEO Charles Liang said. “Through Supermicro Data Center Building Block Solutions with our expertise in on-site deployment, we enable turn-key delivery of the highest-performance AI platform — critical for customers seeking to invest in cutting-edge technology.”

The company says the new system’s performance jumps up to 7.5x over Nvidia’s previous-generation chips. It’s also designed to run more efficiently, using less power and water while taking up less floor space, cutting the overall operating costs by 20%, according to the statement.

The launch comes after a rocky August, when SMCI’s shares plunged on weaker-than-expected quarterly results and management trimmed its annual revenue target.

Investors in Super Micro have endured much volatility this year, as the company has failed to deliver on multiple occasions. Even so, the shares are up nearly 50% year to date.

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S&P 500, Nasdaq 100 post record closing highs as nearly everything rallies

The benchmark US stock index ended up 0.9%, the Nasdaq 100 rose 0.6%, and the Russell 2000 outperformed with a 1.8% gain.

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