Updated: July 1, 2024
The last day of June produced some surprises in the top performer list for the Standard & Poor's 500 Index for the month.
No, Nvidia (NVDA) didn't make it to the top 10. It was up just 12.7% for the month.
Nvidia shares struggled under the weight of worries the stock had become way too pricey. Indeed, the shares hit an intraday high of $140.76 on June 20 and fell 12.2% through June 28, the last trading day of month.
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But don't weep for Nvidia. The shares finished up 36.7% for the second quarter, and they still are up 149.5% in 2024.
And, of course, the shares are up 745.6% since the end of 2022.
The 5 big surprises
Here are the stocks that led the S&P 500 index in June.
Adobe, up 24.9% for the month. Adobe (ADBE) shares climbed in June after the creative software company crushed estimates for its second-quarter earnings. The stock had struggled into spring despite the robust Nvidia-driven tech rally. (The shares are still down 6.9% this year.) Analysts are now more bullish on Adobe and comfortable with how the company expects to work with artificial intelligence.
Carnival, up 24.1% for the month. Carnival (CCL) shares have not been stars for most of this year. But they have jumped more than 16% just since the cruise line giant reported a surprise profit for the fiscal second quarter on Tuesday. William Blair analyst Sharon Zackfia was just one of many analysts who raised forecasts. “Demand trends bode well for considerable pricing power in 2025,” she noted. Shares are still up only 0.4% this year.
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Autodesk, up 22.7% for the month. Analysts said the Autodesk (ADSK) demonstrated "improving growth" in the quarter ended on April 30. Operating cash flow is expected to "trend upwards" in the coming quarters. It's still arguing with activist shareholder Starboard Value over disclosure and governance issues. Shares are flat for the year.
Crowdstrike, up 22.2% for the month: Crowdstrike (CRWD) joined the S&P 500 just on June 24. Shares climbed steadily in June after the security software company reported a 34% gain in revenue to $921 million and guided higher for the rest of the year. Its focus on artificial intelligence has fueled huge growth in share value since the firm’s 2019 initial public offering. The shares have risen 52% in 2024.
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Broadcom, up 20.8% for the month. Shares jumped after its June 12 earnings report, jumping 26% in two days, then cooling off at the end of the month. The company supplies a boatload of infrastructure parts to make artificial intelligence products work. These include switches, server storage products and other connectivity parts.
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How the market looked at the quarter's end
The S&P 500 ended Friday down slightly to 5,460. The benchmark index was up 3.5% for the month, 3.9% for the second quarter, and nearly 14.5% for the first half of 2024.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index closed down 126 points to 17,733. The index was up 6% in June, 8.3% for the second quarter, and 18% year-to-date.
The Nasdaq-100 Index, which includes many of this year's hottest stocks, dropped 106 points to 19,683. It climbed 6.3% in June and 7.8% for the quarter. The index is up 17% for the year.
Amazon.com (AMZN) , Google-parent Alphabet (GOOGL) , and Microsoft (MSFT) , all index members, hit 52-week highs recently.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 26 points to 39,191. The venerable index was up 2.3% in June but down 1.5% for the second quarter. It is up 4% in 2024.
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