The stock market is trading higher after Fed Chairman Jerome Powell signaled the strongest hint of an interest rate cut yet, citing confidence in inflation control and concern about the cooling job market.
At last check the Dow industrials and the S&P 500 were both up 0.8%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite added 1.1%. The Russell 2000 Index rose 3.1%.
Related: Fed Chair Powell gives clearest signal yet on path of interest rates
Trending stocks:
Cruise lines surged — Carnival and Norwegian Cruise each added more than 6%. Restaurant chain Cava soared more than 20% after a rosy outlook. TurboTax and Credit Karma parent Intuit lost 7% despite earnings beats.
Nvidia and Tesla gained about 4%.
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S&P 500 big stock movers today
Five S&P 500 stocks making big midday moves are:
- Builders FirstSource Inc (BLDR) +7.1%
- Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd (NCLH) +6.6%
- Warner Bros Discovery Inc (WBD) +6.4%
- Carnival Corp (CCL) +6.3%
- Enphase Energy Inc (ENPH) +7.3%
The worst-performing five S&P 500 stocks with the largest midday drop are:
- Intuit Inc (INTU) -7.3%
- Micron Technology Inc (MU) -2.2%
- Intuitive Surgical Inc (ISRG) -1.2%
- GE Vernova Inc (GEV) -1.9%
- Las Vegas Sands Corp (LVS) -1.5%
Stocks also worth noting with significant moves include:
- Cava Group (CAVA) +23%
- Workday (WDAY) +12%
- Peloton Interactive (PTON) +6.3%
- Nvidia (NVDA) +3.8%
- Tesla (TSLA) +4.2%
Cava surged after bright earnings and guidance update
Cava stock soared 23% after the company posted upbeat earnings and raised its full-year outlook.
The restaurant chain earned 17 cents for the quarter ended July 14, topping the 13 cents estimated by analysts. Revenue of $233 million increased by 35% and beat the $220 million forecast.
The company’s same-store sales rose 14.4%, topping the 7.9% expected by analysts.
Cava also raised its full-year outlook, now expecting same-store growth to fall between 8.5% and 9.5%, up from the previous guidance of 4.5% to 6.5%.
Related: Analysts revise Chipotle stock price targets after CEO's startling exit
Cava added 18 new locations during the quarter. It now has 341 restaurants and plans to open 54 to 57 new locations this year, an increase from its earlier projection of 50 to 54 restaurants.
Intuit drops despite earnings beat
Intuit stock lost 7.3% even after the company posted upbeat fiscal Q4 earnings.
The fintech company, whose famous brands include TurboTax and Credit Karma, earned $1.99 a share during the quarter ended July 31, surpassing the $1.85 forecast. Its quarterly revenue, which came in at $3.18 billion, also beat the $3.08 billion estimate.
The company earned $16.3 billion for the full year, up 13% year over year. However, its guidance for the first quarter missed analysts’ expectations. Intuit expects revenue growth of "approximately 5 to 6 percent" in Q1 and EPS of $2.33 to $2.38, both lower than Wall Street's estimates.
In July Intuit announced plans to lay off 10% of staff.
Workday pops on rosy financial results
Workday stock surged 12% after the company released another earnings beat. The company has beaten earnings estimates for nine consecutive quarters, according to Tipranks.
For the fiscal second quarter ended July 31, the company earned $1.75 per share, beating the $1.65 expected. Revenue for the quarter was $2.09 billion, up 16.7% and topping the $ 2.07 billion estimate.
CEO Carl Eschenbach highlighted the company’s AI move. "Through the power of our unified, AI-powered platform and our expanding partner ecosystem, we're reimagining HR and Finance to consistently increase the value we deliver to our customers."
More AI Stocks:
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Workday now has more than 70 million users under contract and over 2,000 Workday Financial Management customers.
In the second quarter, Workday made its first appearance on the Fortune 500 list.
Related: Veteran fund manager sees world of pain coming for stocks
