US stocks mostly floated higher on Wednesday as techs drove the Nasdaq higher while Wall Street continued to debate the state of play on tariffs. The S&P 500 was up about 0.1%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell about 0.2%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite led the gains, popping about 0.7%, for its sixth straight day of gains.
Market Snapshot
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 89.37 points, or 0.21%, to 42,051.06 and The Nasdaq Composite gained 136.72 points, or 0.72%, to 19,146.81. The S&P 500 gained 6.03 points, or 0.10%, to 5,892.58.
Market Movers
NVIDIA gained 4.2% after the leading maker of artificial-intelligence chips jumped 5.6% on Tuesday following CEO Jensen Huang's announcement the company was joining with Saudi Arabia's state-backed Humain on a 500-megawatt data-center project.
Advanced Micro Devices rose 4.7% after its board approved a new $6 billion stock buyback program. Added to an existing plan, the chip maker has the authority to repurchase around $10 billion worth of shares. AMD gained 4% on Tuesday after it was announced the company also would be supplying semiconductors to Saudi Arabia's Humain in a $10 billion project.
Super Micro Computer extended gains, rising 16% to $45 on Wednesday after closing with a gain of 16% in the previous session. Analysts at Raymond James initiated coverage on shares of the server maker at Outperform with a price target of $41.
Foot Locker – Shares of the sports apparel retailer soared 63%. The Wall Street Journal reported, citing sources familiar with the matter, that Dick’s Sporting Goods is closing in on a deal to buy the company for roughly $2.3 billion or about $24 per share. Shares of Dick’s Sporting Goods slid about 4%.
Cisco Systems – Shares of the networking technology company added 2% after fiscal third-quarter results topped estimates. Cisco posted adjusted earnings of 96 cents per share on revenue of $14.15 billion, while analysts polled by LSEG expected 92 cents per share on revenue of $14.08 billion. Cisco’s finance chief Scott Herren will be leaving the company in July.
CoreWeave – The artificial intelligence infrastructure company saw shares fall 6%. CoreWeave posted a first-quarter loss of $1.49 per share, but beat the Street’s estimates on first-quarter revenue. Revenue surged 420% in the quarter against the same period a year ago. It was CoreWeave’s first quarterly report since it debuted on the public market.
Boot Barn – The retailer of cowboy boots and Western-themed apparel surged 16%. Boot Barn is forecasting fiscal first-quarter earnings of $1.44 to $1.52 per share on revenue of $483 million to $491 million. The upper band of those ranges exceeded FactSet consensus estimates of $1.44 per share and $486.5 million, respectively. Anticipated same-store sales for the period also beat expectations.
DXC Technology – Shares of the IT services company tumbled nearly 13%. Guidance for the fiscal first quarter fell short of expectations, with adjusted earnings expected to land between 55 cents to 65 cents a share, while analysts surveyed by FactSet had estimated 79 cents per share.
Steris — The medical equipment maker climbed 5% after fiscal fourth quarter earnings of $2.74 per share excluding one-time items beat analysts’ consensus estimate of $2.60, according to FactSet data. Revenue growth in the current fiscal year is forecast to meet or exceed what the Street was expecting, although higher tariffs are seen cutting pretax profit by about $30 million.
Hawkins — Shares in the chemical maker surged 7% after fiscal fourth quarter earnings and revenue surpassed analyst estimates. Hawkins earned 78 cents a share against a consensus estimate of 73 cents, and revenue of $245.3 million versus the $230.7 million analysts were looking for.
Palantir Technologies was up 1.6%, building on Tuesday's record close. The data analytics company rose 8.1% on Tuesday and finished the session with a market cap of $302.3 billion, the first time it has closed above $300 billion.
Boeing rose 0.6% following a deal for Qatar Airways to buy up to 210 Boeing 787 Dreamliner and 777X aircraft in a deal valued at $96 billion.
Stock and crypto trading platform eToro soared 29% from its $52 listing price to $67 in its public trading debut on Wednesday. "Part of being public is that it will allow us to look for more growth opportunities," eToro CEO Yoni Assia in an interview with Barron's.
$American Eagle Outfitters(AEO)$ slumped 6.4% after the apparel maker swung to a loss in its fiscal first quarter and withdrew its financial guidance for the rest of the fiscal year. "We are clearly disappointed with our execution in the first quarter. Merchandising strategies did not drive the results we anticipated, leading to higher promotions and excess inventory," said CEO Jay Schottenstein in a statement.
Clean-energy company Oklo reported a first-quarter loss of 7 cents a share, narrower than analysts' estimates that called for a loss of 10 cents and narrower than a year-earlier loss of 34 cents. The stock gained 16%. Oklo rose 11% on Tuesday after saying it had finished drilling to gather information about the proposed location of its first nuclear plant in what it called a " pivotal step" toward the production of commercial power.
Exelixis reported first-quarter earnings and revenue that beat analysts' estimates. The oncology company raised its fiscal-year revenue forecast to $2.25 billion to $2.35 billion, up from a prior forecast of $2.15 billion to $2.25 billion. The stock rose 21%.
Grail fell 23% after the biotechnology company reported a narrower first-quarter loss and revenue of $31.8 million. That rose from a year earlier but missed analysts' estimates of $35.2 million.
Market News
UnitedHealth Under Investigation for Medicare Fraud
UnitedHealth Group is under criminal investigation for possible Medicare fraud, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing unidentified people familiar with the matter.
The Justice Department has had a probe into the company’s Medicare Advantage business since at least last summer, according to the people.
US close to letting UAE import millions of Nvidia's AI chips, sources say
The U.S. has a preliminary agreement with the United Arab Emirates to allow it to import 500,000 of Nvidia's most advanced AI chips per year, starting in 2025, two sources familiar with the situation said, boosting the Emirates' construction of data centers vital to developing artificial intelligence models.
The sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the agreement was at least through 2027, but that there was a chance it could be in place until 2030.
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