The stock market is seeing moderate growth midday, maintaining the momentum from the previous session on encouraging economic indicators.
The S&P 500, the Nasdaq Composite and the Dow Jones Industrial Average all gained about 0.5% at midday. The Russell 2000 Index rose 0.7%.
Trending stocks: Nvidia popped for the sixth consecutive day, up 2%, and traded around $127 midday. Tesla gained 2%, and Alphabet added 1.6%. Apple lost 1%.
In the retail sector, Ulta Beauty continued to rally after Berkshire Hathaway announced a stake last week, up 2%. Estée Lauder is up 0.6% after earnings beat and disappointing outlooks. Starbucks and Domino’s Pizza lost 2%.
S&P 500 big stock movers today
Five S&P 500 stocks making big midday moves are:
- EQT Corp (EQT) +4.5%
- Albemarle Corp (ALB) +4.3%
- Match Group Inc (MTCH) +3.8%
- Darden Restaurants Inc (DRI) +3.7%
- Moderna Inc (MRNA) +3.6%
The worst-performing five S&P 500 stocks with the largest midday drop are:
- HP Inc (HPQ) -3.5%
- Starbucks Corp (SBUX) -2.2%
- Domino’s Pizza Inc (DPZ) -2.2%
- Monolithic Power Systems Inc (MPWR) -1.8%
- CDW Corp (CDW) -1.6%
Additional stocks making significant moves worth noting include:
- Nvidia (NVDA) +2.3%
- Tesla (TSLA) +2.3%
- Apple (AAPL) -0.9%
- Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) +2.4%
- Snowflake (SNOW) +3.3%
HP falls after Morgan Stanley's downgrade
Morgan Stanley analyst Erik Woodring downgraded HP Inc. to equal weight from overweight, affirming his price target at $37. HP stock lost 3.5% midday.
The analyst was optimistic based on HP's growth in personal-systems revenue, steady print margins, and rising capital returns but says these factors are now priced into the shares. Morgan Stanley sees a balanced risk/reward for HP shares.
The computing device maker is set to post its fiscal-third-quarter financial results on Aug. 28. The company estimated its non-GAAP earnings per share at 78 cents to 92 cents for the quarter.
At last check HP shares were off 3.3%.
Estée Lauder ticks higher on Q4 report, outlook
Estée Lauder stock added 0.6% after the cosmetics giant posted a fiscal-Q4 and full-year earnings beat and a disappointing outlook. Its shares dropped as much as 4% in the morning but have turned higher.
Adjusted earnings per share were 64 cents, more than double the 26-cent forecast. The company posted revenue of $3.87 billion for the quarter ended June 30, surpassing the $3.81 billion consensus estimate from Wall Street analysts. For the fiscal year, the company reported net sales of $15.61 billion, a decrease of 2% from $15.91 billion in the year earlier.
For the next fiscal year's revenue it expects between a drop of 1% and a rise of 2%. Either way, it misses analysts’ consensus outlook of a 4% rise.
“For fiscal 2025, we anticipate continued declines in the prestige beauty segment in China, mainly reflecting persistent weak sentiment among Chinese consumers,” said Chief Executive Fabrizio Freda, who plans to retire next summer.
AMD pops on plan to buy server maker ZT Systems
Advanced Micro Devices stock surged after the chipmaker definitively agreed to acquire ZT Systems, a producer of servers designed for artificial-intelligence use, for $4.9 billion.
TheStreet's Martin Baccardax reports that analysts view the move as expanding AMD's AI capabilities and bolstering its nascent challenge to Nvidia's AI-market dominance.
AMD expects the deal to boost its non-GAAP earnings by the end of 2025.
More AI Stocks:
- Nvidia stock tumbles in tech slump amid questions over key chip
- Microsoft exec warns of an ongoing problem
- Apple earnings top forecasts, iPhone sales slip ahead of AI launch
Ben Bajarin, CEO of the San Jose, Calif., tech-market researcher Creative Strategies, told Reuters that the acquisition is “a net positive for long-term revenue strategy.”
"This gives them much stronger lock-in with their data center customers,” Bajarin said.
Related: Veteran fund manager sees world of pain coming for stocks
