The stock market rally was tested during the week and came out strong. All the major indexes tested their 21-day moving averages but ultimately rallied back toward postelection highs with solid gains. A large number of leading stocks flashed buy signals or continued big moves. Nvidia beat views and made modest gains despite only guiding slightly higher on Q4. Walmart hit record highs on earnings while Target plunged. Snowflake and Williams-Sonoma were also big earnings winners. Google-parent Alphabet tumbled as the Justice Department sought antitrust penalties.
Tesla jumped on reports that President-elect Donald Trump's transition team is looking to set up national self-driving rules and to ease fuel-economy standards.
Stocks Show Resilience, Strength
The key indexes rebounded after finding support at their 21-day moving averages multiple times. Many leading stocks broke out or kept running from a variety of groups. Nvidia beat views and made modest gains despite only guiding slightly higher on Q4. Big earnings winners and losers continued. Bitcoin continued to skyrocket, closing in on $100,000. Treasury yields paused around five-month highs.
Nvidia Outlook Conservative
Nvidia beat estimates for its fiscal third quarter, with adjusted EPS soaring 103% as sales swelled 94% to $35.08 billion. For the current Q4, Nvidia forecast revenue of $37.5 billion, only slightly above expectations. Q4 will be the first to include sales of Nvidia's next-generation AI processor, called Blackwell. The AI giant said it is now in full production of Blackwell and expects to exceed its prior Blackwell shipment estimates for Q4. Nvidia stock whipsawed following earnings, but rose slightly for the week so far, holding a buy point. Astera Labs, a 2024 AI chip IPO, broke out to a new high.
DOJ Wants Alphabet To Sell Chrome
The Justice Department asked federal judge Amit Mehta to force Google-parent Alphabet to sell its Chrome browser and end payments to Apple, in the companies' internet search deal, as part of antitrust legal remedies. The DOJ request follows the judge's ruling in August that Alphabet illegally maintained a monopoly over online search services and prevented rivals from developing their own products. It's unclear if the incoming Trump administration could modify the Justice Department's antitrust remedy requests. In 2001, Microsoft reached an antitrust settlement with the U.S. government over similar issues. Judge Mehta will oversee a penalty phase trial starting in April with a decision by August. Alphabet is expected to appeal any decision.
Palo Alto Guides In Line
Palo Alto Networks said fiscal Q1 EPS rose 13%, slightly beating, with revenue up 14% to $2.13 billion, just topping. Annual recurring revenue from cloud computing products rose 40% to $4.5 billion, topping estimates. The cybersecurity giant guided in-line for fiscal Q2 revenue. Palo Alto also announced a 2-for-1 stock split. Shares rose within a buy zone.
Trump Buzz Boosts Tesla
President-elect Donald Trump's transition team reportedly is looking to set up national self-driving rules and to ease fuel-economy and emission standards. Tesla CEO Elon Musk, a big Trump advisor and huge election supporter, has urged national self-driving rules. Musk, as he has for nearly a decade, says Tesla is close to true self-driving. Reined-in fuel-economy and emission standards could discourage traditional automakers from ramping up EV production in the U.S. Tesla stock jumped. Uber Technologies and Lyft fell on robotaxi concerns, though Uber is working with several autonomous driving outfits, including Google's Waymo. Meanwhile, Tesla ramped up U.S. incentives to try to push full-year deliveries above 2023's total.
Discount Giants Diverge
Walmart reported a 14% EPS gain in Q3 while revenue rose 5% to $169.59 billion, with growth picking up for both vs. Q2. General merchandise sales grew for the first time in 11 quarters. The Dow Jones retail giant also guided up on the holiday quarter. But Target suffered its biggest earnings miss in two years and slashed holiday guidance. Q3 EPS fell 12% while revenue rose 1%, also missing. Several analysts said Walmart continues to take share from Target, Costco and Amazon amid inflation and the consumer hunt for value. The Dow giant's digital and store investments are also paying off. Walmart stock made a new high. Target shares dived to a 52-week low.
Off-Price Retail Earnings Top
Off-price apparel and home goods giant TJX delivered an overall Q3 beat with EPS up 11% and sales 6%. But holiday quarter guidance from the TJ Maxx, Marshall's and Home Goods parent was disappointing. TJX stock fell modestly from near a buy point despite several analyst price-target hikes. Ross Stores topped EPS targets but missed on sales and guided slightly lower on Q4 profit, but shares jumped.
BJ's Wholesale Club beat earnings estimates and raised membership fees. BJ's stock blew past an 88.79 buy point.
XPeng Tops Views, Nio Mixed
XPeng reported a Q3 adjusted loss that was slightly smaller than expected, while an 18% revenue gain slightly topped. The China EV maker sees a big jump in deliveries vs. Q3, fueled by the Mona M03 small sedan. Nio reported an in-line loss while a 2% revenue decline fell short. But shares tumbled as the EV maker guided low on Q4 revenue and deliveries, struggling to ramp up production of the Onvo L60, a Model Y rival. XPeng stock fell modestly, but found key support. Nio rose, but is below key levels.
China Travel Plays Top Views
Travel site Trip.com and hotel operator Atour Lifestyle Holdings beat headline quarterly figures. Trip.com earnings popped 25% while revenue grew 20%. Shares rebounded off the 50-day line within a base just above a larger consolidation. Atour EPS jumped 47% and revenue 53%, though certain metrics were a little light. Atour reversed lower on earnings, falling below the 10-week line within a base.
Intuit Falls On Outlook, DOGE News
Intuit fell after the financial software firm gave disappointing guidance for its current fiscal second quarter and full fiscal 2025. However, the maker of TurboTax and QuickBooks beat estimates for fiscal Q1, with sales and earnings rising 10% and 1% year over year, respectively. Earlier, Intuit dropped on a news report that the leaders of President-elect Donald Trump's "Department of Government Efficiency" have discussed overhauling the tax system to let people file their taxes for free through a mobile app. DOGE is run by Tesla billionaire Elon Musk and former pharmaceutical executive Vivek Ramaswamy.
In Brief
Medtronic slumped after a supplier issue impacted its cardiac ablation division. Sales in that business were flat, though total sales climbed 5.3% on a strict, as-reported basis to $8.4 billion, beating expectations. Adjusted profit rose 1%, also topping. The medical technology giant raised its full-year outlook.
Incyte tumbled after it scrapped development of one drug and paused enrollment in the study of another. Incyte said it discovered toxicity problems in laboratory testing, though they haven't shown up in clinical testing yet. Both drugs come from Incyte's $750 million takeover of Escient Pharmaceuticals in April.
Snowflake reported Q3 adjusted EPS of 20 cents, a nickel above views, while revenue climbed 28% to $942.1 million, also easily beating. The data analytics software firm guided higher on Q4 product revenue. Also, Snowflake announced a partnership with AI model maker Anthropic.
Super Micro Computer filed a plan with the Nasdaq stock exchange that will allow the data center specialist to avoid being delisted from the exchange while it resolves its financial reporting issues. Super Micro hired BDO USA as its new independent auditor. Shares skyrocketed after plunging in recent months to a 52-week low.
Vertiv jumped after impressing Wall Street with its long-term outlook at an investor event. The data center infrastructure provider reaffirmed its targets for 2024 and provided a sales outlook for 2025 that was above consensus estimates. It also raised its long-term sales growth and profit margin targets through 2029.
C3.ai surged on an expanded partnership with Microsoft Azure, targeting enterprise customers.
Viking Holdings on Tuesday reported earnings of 89 cents per share adjusted, beating estimates and reversing a year-earlier loss. Revenue increased 11.4% to $1.68 billion, just beating. The cruise line reported its operating capacity for 2024 is 5% higher than last season, with the 2025 season 12% higher than 2024. Viking said advanced bookings for 2025 are 26% higher than the 2024 season. VIK stock initially tumbled but slashed losses, near record highs.
