Markets News, July 25, 2024: S&P 500, Nasdaq End Lower As Big Tech Stocks Come Under Renewed Pressure

S&P 500 Top Movers on Thursday

4 hr 20 min ago

Decliners

• Shares of Edwards Lifesciences (EW) plummeted 31.3%, marking the heaviest losses among S&P 500 components, after the medical technology provider missed second-quarter revenue estimates. Although EPS came in slightly ahead of forecasts, Edwards cut its full-year sales forecasts for its transcatheter aortic heart-valve replacements (TAVR), one of its key revenue generators. The company also announced plans to acquire JenaValve Technology and Endotronix as it aims to expand its position in the cardiac health market.
• Ford Motor (F) shares also came under pressure after a mixed earnings report, sinking 18.4% after the carmaker’s quarterly EPS fell short of expectations despite better-than-expected revenue. Revenue for Ford’s electric vehicle (EV) division declined 37% from the prior year, and the company recently announced that it would scrap plans to convert a plant in Canada to EV production, focusing instead on ramping up manufacturing of its Super Duty pickups.

• Ford was not the only company in the auto industry facing a post-earnings decline on Thursday. Shares of LKQ Corp. (LKQ) dropped 12.4% after the car parts recycler missed second-quarter sales and profit estimates. The company also reduced its outlook for the remainder of the year, citing macroeconomic challenges in Europe and decreasing volumes.

Advancers

• ServiceNow (NOW) shares soared 13.4% to reach a record high and notch the top daily performance of any S&P 500 stock. The provider of cloud-based workflow management software exceeded analysts’ estimates with its second-quarter sales and profits, with robust demand for artificial intelligence (AI) products helping to drive a 23% year-over-year increase in subscription revenue.
• A strong earnings report also helped lift shares of California-based insurer Molina Healthcare (MOH), which jumped 12.3%. The company beat second-quarter sales and profit forecasts, with 19% year-over-year revenue gains driven by securing new Medicaid contracts and growing existing businesses. Earlier in the week, Molina announced it would acquire ConnectiCare, a health plan serving Marketplace and Medicare members in Connecticut, expanding the company’s footprint in government-managed care.
• Hospital and health care service provider Universal Health Services (UHS) topped sales and profit estimates with its second-quarter results, and its shares gained 10.2%. Despite underperformance from the company’s behavioral health services, growth in acute care helped drive the strong performance and prompted UHS to boost its full-year guidance.

–Michael Bromberg

Lululemon Hits Lowest Level Since 2020

5 hr 13 min ago

Lululemon Athletica (LULU) shares tumbled to their lowest level since the spring of 2020 as analysts raised concerns about the fashion athletic wear maker’s financial performance in a slowing retail environment.

JPMorgan lowered its price target for the stock and took the company off its Analyst Focus List. Citi also reportedly reduced the price target, and cut its rating.

The company’s shares fell 9.1% to finish Thursday’s session at $247.32. The stock was the biggest decliner on the Nasdaq Composite.

–Bill McColl

Edwards Lifesciences Plunges 30% After Cutting Guidance

5 hr 39 min ago

Edwards Lifesciences (EW) shares swooned Thursday, dropping after the company sliced expectations for heart valve replacement sales, its biggest source of revenue.

The company said Wednesday it expects full-year sales growth of 5% to 7% for its transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) treatment, down from the 8% to 10% forecast earlier. TAVR involves replacing a diseased heart valve using a catheter rather than through open-heart surgery.

Shares of Edwards plunged 31% to finish at $59.76 Thursday, leaving them down about 22% this year. The stock, which fell to a four-year low, was the day’s worst performer in the S&P 500.

–Andrew Kessel

ServiceNow Soars as AI Demand Boost Subscription Revenue

6 hr 47 min ago

Shares of ServiceNow (NOW) soared to an all-time high after the IT services firm posted a big jump in subscriptions revenue as it benefited from soaring demand for artificial intelligence (AI) products.

ServiceNow reported second-quarter subscription revenue jumped 23% year-over-year to $2.54 billion. Overall revenue increased 22% to $2.63 billion, and adjusted earnings per share (EPS) came in at $3.13. All three exceeded estimates.

Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Bill McDermott explained that the company’s “relevance as the AI platform for business transformation remains stronger than ever as CEOs are looking for new vectors of growth, simplification, and digitization.”

ServiceNow predicted current-quarter subscriptions revenue would be up about 20%.

The stock was the top S&P 500 gainer on Thursday, up 15% in late trading.

–Bill McColl

Investors Rescue Nvidia from Another Rout

7 hr 53 min ago

Shares of Nvidia (NVDA) rebounded from an early-morning dive on Thursday as investors ‘bought the dip‘ amid an extension of yesterday’s tech stock sell-off.

Nvidia shares slumped as much as 6.8% Thursday morning, extending Wednesday’s 6.6% decline.

Nvidia was the poster child of last year’s bull market. Shares rose 239% in 2023 as booming demand for its AI chips sent sales and profit soaring. The stock gained another 172% this year before the equity market was turned on its head earlier this month.

A soft inflation report on July 11 boosted optimism that the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates soon, sparking an investor exodus from cash-rich big tech companies to the smaller companies that are likely to benefit the most from lower rates. Since then, Nvidia shares have slumped more than 15% while the small-cap Russell 2000 has risen 10%. 

Despite its recent declines, Nvidia remains the second-best performing stock in the S&P 500 this year, having returned about 130%. The stock was up about 0.3% on heavy volume in recent trading.

–Colin Laidley

Viking’s Gain is Lilly’s Loss

8 hr 29 min ago

Eli Lilly (LLY) and Novo Nordisk (NVO) shares fell Thursday following news of advances in trials of weight-loss drugs manufactured by Viking Therapeutics (VKTX), whose shares soared more than 30%.

The progress reported by Viking led to investor concerns that the new drugs could challenge the dominance of Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy and Eli Lilly’s Mounjaro. 

Viking Therapeutics said in its second-quarter earnings report Wednesday that the injectable and oral versions of its weight-loss drugs are expected to progress to further stages of trials in the second half of the year.

Surging demand for weight-loss drugs has boosted both the revenue and stock prices of Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk in recent quarters, with both working to increase production to be able to meet the demand.

Eli Lilly shares were down 4.7% recently, while Novo Nordisk was off 1.7%.

–Aaron McDade

Honeywell Leads Dow Decliners After Guidance Cut

10 hr 6 min ago

Shares of Honeywell International (HON) fell over 4% Thursday morning after the maker of a vast array of commercial products lowered its full-year profit guidance based on management’s outlook for the rest of the year, including the impact of recently announced acquisitions.

Honeywell now anticipates fiscal 2024 adjusted earnings per share (EPS) of $10.05 to $10.25, down from its previous outlook of $10.15 to $10.45. However, it raised its revenue guidance to a range of $39.1 billion to $39.7 billion from its earlier guidance of $38.5 billion to $39.3 billion.

The news offset strong second-quarter results, with Honeywell reporting adjusted EPS of $2.49, with revenue rising 4.7% from a year ago to $9.58 billion. Both were above estimates. 

Honeywell was the biggest decliner among Dow Jones Industrial Average components.

–Bill McColl

Unilever Soars on Earnings, Ben & Jerry’s Spinoff Plan

11 hr 28 min ago

Unilever (UL) shares jumped Thursday as the consumer-goods giant posted an earnings beat, showing it is weathering the inflation pain hitting consumers better than rival Nestle.

Investors also were encouraged by its lofty operating margin target for the year and its announcement that the spinoff of Ben & Jerry’s and the rest of its ice cream division was on track to be completed by the end of 2025.

Unilever shares were up more than 6% at a three-year high in early trading.

–Nisha Gopalan

Ford Shares Plunge After Earnings

12 hr 12 min ago

Ford shares were down about 16% in early trading Thursday after the automaker reported quarterly earnings that came in below expectations and kept its full-year bottom-line outlook unchanged, as warranty costs continued to weigh on the company’s profitability.

Since breaking out from a descending channel in late June, Ford shares continued trending higher for several weeks but have undergone a retracement in recent trading sessions leading into the carmaker’s quarterly results.

Ford shares could attract buying interest at key chart levels including $12, $11.20, and $9.70.

Read our full technical analysis here.

–Timothy Smith

Major Stock Index Futures Down Slightly

14 hr 10 min ago

Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average were down 0.1%.

S&P 500 futures were off 0.2%.

Nasdaq 100 futures were also off 0.2%.