The stock market trades flat midday, heading toward a modest winning week. The S&P 500 is flat while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite fell 0.18%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.51%. The Russell 2000 Index rose 0.8%.
S&P 500 big stock movers today
Five S&P 500 stocks making big midday moves are:
- Walgreens Boots Alliance (WBA) +7%
- Wynn Resorts (WYNN) +6.4%
- Las Vegas Sands (LVS) +5.1%
- Lululemon Athletica (LULU) +4.3%
- APA (US) (APA) +4.6%
The worst-performing five S&P 500 stocks with the largest midday drop are:
- Globe Life (GL) -5.2%
- Universal Health Services (UHS) -3.5%
- Eli Lilly (LLY) -3.3%
- HP Inc (HPQ) -3.1%
- Dell Technologies (DELL) -3%
Stocks also worth noting include:
Costco trades lower after revenue miss
Costco lost 2% after the retailer posted a revenue miss for its fiscal fourth quarter.
The company earned $5.29 a share for the quarter ended Sept. 1, topping analysts’ estimates of $5.08 a share. Revenue of $79.7 billion fell short of the consensus forecast of $79.9 billion.
Related: Analysts reset Costco stock price targets ahead of earnings
Same-store sales, a key measure of the sales of existing stores that have operated for more than one year, increased 5.4% from a year ago, missing the estimate of a 5.7% increase.
“We have seen inflation dissipate, and our members have started to spend more on nonfood,” Chief Financial Officer Gary Millerchip said during the company’s earnings call.
The company raised its membership fees starting Sept. 1, its first hike since 2017.
HP Inc. falls after B of A analyst downgrade
HP Inc. stock dropped 3% and became among the top five S&P 500 losers Friday.
B of A analyst Wamsi Mohan downgraded the personal computer maker to neutral from buy with an unchanged price target of $37.
Related: Hewlett Packard Enterprise stock price jumped 5% today, here’s why
The analyst said EPS growth would come purely from share buybacks, as potential upside from PCs, including AI PCs, should be offset by lower print profit margins given that the company has been "overearning in printing," according to a note pulled by thefly.com.
The analyst further suggests that HP will struggle to drive "material positive estimate revisions."
Best Buy gains after analyst’s update
Best Buy climbed 2% after JP Morgan analyst Christopher Horvers added the stock to the firm's Analyst Focus List.
Horvers maintained an overweight rating on the shares and a $111 price target. The update came after a meeting with management, according to thefly.com.
More Wall Street Analysts:
- Analysts revise Corning stock price targets after investor meeting
- Analysts retool Carnival stock price targets ahead of earnings
- Analyst revisits Costco stock price target, rating ahead of earnings
Horvers expects replacement demand to grow, ongoing advancements in computing, and the opportunity for Best Buy's key categories to perform well in a supportive existing-home-sales environment.
The analyst also believes Best Buy "sits in investors' blind spot" with replacement demand rising in 2025.
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