It was a good week for the stock market heading into Labor Day as August ended in strong fashion and Friday’s jobs report ensured a solid start to September.
Investors probably don’t need to be reminded that September is historically the worst month for stocks—the S&P 500 has fallen an average 1.1% during that month since 1928.
But enough of that. Several stocks had a great week heading into the typically terrible month, and investors will be hoping the momentum can continue.
Nvidia (ticker: NVDA) stock had another impressive week, climbing 5.4% to 485.09 and reaching a record closing high of $493.55 Thursday. The chip maker’s stock rallied into its hotly anticipated earnings on Aug. 23 but fell 2.3% in the two trading days after.
But normal service resumed last week for the stock, which is now up 232% so far in 2023. Wall Street thinks the shares can keep moving higher into uncharted territory—analysts have an average price target of $645.29, implying a 31% upside to Friday’s closing price, according to FactSet data.
Alongside Nvidia, the other members of the so-called ‘Magnificent 7’ also performed well. Apple (AAPL) rose 6.1% over the week, Netflix (NFLX) jumped 5.7%, and Google’s Alphabet (GOOGL) was 4.5% higher. Meta Platforms (META) gained 3.8%, Amazon (AMZN) climbed 3.6%, while Tesla (TSLA) stock rose 2.7%.
Chip stocks in general had a strong week as Micron Technology (MU) jumped 10.5% and Intel Corp (INTC) rose 10.1%. The best-performing stock in the S&P 500 was disk-drive and flash-memory chip company Western Digital (WDC), which rose 16.4%, followed by data storage company Seagate Technology’s (STX) 14.4% jump.
It was a bad week for retailers, particularly of the discount variety. Dollar General (DG) was the sharpest faller, tumbling 16% after its earnings disappointed and it cut guidance. Dollar Tree also fell 3.7%. Walgreens Boots Alliance was the second-worst performer, dropping 7.2% as the healthcare giant announced its CEO Rosalind Brewer is stepping down.
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