Equities Wrap: Mega Caps Lag as Bea♓ten Down Banks and Entertainment Stock Surge

All three major stock indexes rose on Friday to close their fifth consecutive week of gains. 

The Dow

Walgreens Boots Alliance (WBA) shares rose 4.3% after the pharmacy chain la꧑unched its Rx Savings Finder, a digital tool to help patients find prescr👍iption medication discounts. 

Salesforce (CRM) rose 3.2%, adding to yesterday’s 9% gain. The enterprise software company on Wednesday reported 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:betterꦫ-th♓an-expected quarterly earnings amid cost🌠 cuts and interest in artificial intelligence products.

Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) rose 2.4% after UBS upgraded the stock to buy from neutral and raised its price target ahead of J🧸&J’s analyst day next week.🐠 

Shares of Intel (INTC) fell 2.2% after computer maker Dell’s quarterly earnings fell short of Wall Street estimates amid continued softness in the personal computer market. Intel is a leading provider of 🦩PC chips🥀.

Walmart (WMT) lost 0.9% the same day it suspended advertising on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, after owner Elon Musk agreed with a post claiming Jewish people were promoting hatred against white people. The company’s decision follows similar moves by fellow Dow components Apple (AAPL) and Disney (DIS). 

The S&P 500

Ulta Beauty (ULTA) jumped 10.8% after the beauty retailerܫ’s quarterly report beat Wall Street estimates on𝔍 the top and bottom lines.

Paramount Global (PARA) and Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) jumped 9.8% and 8.4%, respectively, following reports that the former was in talks with tech giant Apple to bundle the two companies’ streaming platforms. Apple stock gained 0.6%. Streaming leader Netflix (NFLX) fell 1.8% today. 

Regional banks, beaten down most of the year, shined Friday. Zions Bancorp (ZION) gained 7.6%, while peer Keycorp (KEY) jumped 6.8% to its highest since March’s regional banking crisis. Comerica (CMA) and Fifth Third Bancorp (FITB) rose 6.6% and 5.6%, respectively.

Pfizer (PFE) was the 🍨index’s biggest loser, falling 5.1% after it suspended a weight loss drug trial as patients reported high rates of adverse side effects. 

Arista Networks (ANET) fell 1.4%, retreating from yesterday’s all-time high closing price of more than $219. 

The Nasdaq 100

Some of th♛e ye꧋ar’s most notable underperforms were some of Friday’s biggest winners in the Nasdaq 100. 

Life sciences firm Illumina (ILMN), down 46% year-to-date, jumped 7.7% today. Enphase Energy (ENPH) rose 5.4% but is still down 60% this year. SiriusXM Holdings () is down 16% year-to-date after rising 4.3% Friday. And PayPal (PYPL), w𒅌hich has lost about a fifth of its value this year, r🐟ose 3.5%.

Marvell Technology (MRVL) led the i💃ndex’s losers, falling 5.2% after its current-quarter sales guidance disappointed Wall Street.

Pinduoduo (PDD) investors took profits after the 22% increase in the stock’s price th💯is week. Shares fell 1.7%🐟 today. 

Microsoft (MSFT) fell 1.2%. It was joined by fellow tech mega caps Meta Platforms (META), down 0.7%, and Alphabet (GOOGL), down 0.5%. 

Small Caps Jump to 2-Month High as Yields Fall

The 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:Russell 2000, an index of U.S. small-cap stocks, rose nearly 2.5% to its highest since September on Friday, leaving large-cap peers in the dust as Treasury yields fell on hopeಞs of lower in♛terest rates next year.

The 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:yield on the benchmark 10-yea🦩r Treasury declined 10 basis poi♛nts to about 4.23%—its lowest since mid-September—after two surveys showed U.S. manufacturing activity slowing as demand for goods eases. Yields continued to slide after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said the Fed’s policy rate was “well into restrictive territory.” 

“The full effect꧙s of our tightening,” he added, “have likely not yet been f🐠elt.”

Treasury yields, especially that of the 10-year note, affect interest rates across the economy. Small-cap stocks are 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:pa✱rticularly sensitiv🐽e to interest rates since t🍨hey’re more likely to be smaller companies in the early stages of growth. That growth often depends on borrowing, which becomes more costly when interest rates rise.

Marvell Shares Tumble as Revenue Forecast Misses Estimates, Citing 'Weak Environment'

Marvell Technology Inc. (MRVL) 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:shares fell over 5% Friday after the chip maker's revenue declined and its forecasꦑt for the fourth quarter came in lower than expectedဣ amid a "weak environment."

While Marvell's year-over-year revenue decline of 8% was slightly better than analysts anticipated, its fourth-quarter forecast of $1.42 billion missed estimates. An adjusted per-share loss of 19 cents was an improvement over the second quarter's 24-cent per-share loss and narrowed from the year-ago loss of 63 cents.

Marvell Technology CEO Matthew Murphy blamed the recent lackluster performance on the broader market, telling Reuters, "You've seen it in announcements from the big enterprise companies and you've also seen it from the carrier companies. It's a very weak environment."

Despite Friday's decline, Marvell shares were up over 46% year-to-date.

-Vivian Medithi

Tesla Falls Again After Cybertruck Roll-Out

Shares of electric vehicle leader Tesla (TSLA) fell again Friday after falling more than 1.5% yesterday🧸 as it delivered its first Cybertrucks, an event four years in the making.

In 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:an event live-streamed from the company’s Austin, TX, headquarters yesterday, Musk c💛alled the unconventional, stainless-steel-encased truck Tesla’s “best product,” boasting it has “more utility than a truck” and is “faster than a sports car.” To prove it, The event included a video of a Cybertruck beating a Porsche 911 in a quarter-mile race while towing a Porsche 911.

The Cybertruck was first unveiled in 2019 and was slated to be rolled out in 2021, but the company model faced several delays amid production difficulties. Musk said in 2019 the truck would start at about $40,000, but a lot has changed since then and interested buyers will have to shell out $61,000 for the basic model.

Pfizer Shares Drop as It♈ Ends Study of Weight-Loss Pill Due to Patien꧋t Side Effects

Pfizer (PFE) was the worst-performing stock in the 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:S&P 500 Friday as shares dropped over 4% after the drug maker announc๊ed it was ending development of a twice-a-day weight-loss pill because t꧅oo many patients experienced negative side effects.

The company ind🍸icated that a Phase 2b study of the drug, danuglipro🌠n, was effective, “demonstrating statistically significant change in body weight.” 

However, Pfizer added that while the most common adverse effects were mild and gastrointestinal, half of those in the study chose to stop taking it, as compared to 40% who were given a placebo. The company said it would not move ahead with a Phase 3 study.

The news sent Pfizer shares to their lowest level since the onset of the COVID-19 pꦑandemic in 2020.

-Bill McColl

Midday Movers

VF Corp. (VFC): Shares of the apparel company gained 6% after it laid off 500 employees amid a slowdown in consumer spending and 澳洲幸运5官方🎃开奖结果体彩网:pressure from activist investor Engaged Caওpital to cut costs. 

Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (FCX): Shares rose 5% after Chinese copper smelter Jiangxi Copper agreed to lower its copper🌊 concentrate treatment and refining charges in 2024, the first decrease in costs in three year🌄s. 

Paramount Global (PARA): Shares of the entertainment company jumped 8% on reports it is in talks to bundle its streaming service with Apple’s (AAPL) AppleTV+. 

Marvell Technology Inc. (MRVL): Shares of the chipmaker lost more than 5% after its curren🉐t-quarter guidance fell short of Wall Street estimates. 

Microsoft Corp. (MSFT): Shares of the tech giant fell nearly 2% alongside other tech stocks that have led 2022’s rally. Intel (INTC), up 61% this year, fell more than 2%, while Alphabet (GOOGL), 46% higher year-to-date, slipped 1%.

Man𝓰ufacturing Activity Fell in November Amid Waning De𝐆mand

Economic activity in the manufacturing sector contracted for the 13th straight month in November, according to the Manufacturing ISM Report on Business.

Meanwhile, the S&P U.S. Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) was 49.4 in November, signaling deteriorating business conditions in the manufacturing sector. Manufacturing business was hurt by a decline in new orders amid “weak client demand, economic uncertainty, and customers continuing to run down stock levels.”

On the plus side, manufacturers reported lower input costs as fuel and material price pressures♌ abated. That translated into lower inflation for 💃customers—the pace of price increases for finished goods fell to its slowest since July.

Ultra Beauty Shares Soar on Earnings Beat

Shares of Ulta Beauty (ULTA) jumped 12% in early trading❀ Friday after the beauty retaꦺiler reported better-than-expected third-quarter sales and earnings, as shoppers continued to splurge on little luxuries like makeup and fragrances. 

Net sales rose 6% to $2.5 billion, slightly ahead of Wall Street estimates. 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:Comparable sales, a measure of sales that controls for new and closed re𒊎tail locations, increased by 4.5%. 

Ulta also raised its full-year guidance. It now projects net sales to total at least $11.1 billion, up from a prior minimum estimate of $11.05 billꩲion. Comparable sales🤡 are expected to rise at least 5% when previously the company forecast at least a 4.5% increase.

Ulta, , expressed confidence about the coming holiday season. “As we look to the future, the outlook for the Beauty category is bright,” said CEO Dave Kimball in a company press release.

Ulta could be benefiting from the 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:lipstick effect, an economic theory that holds that spending on small indulgences, such as lipstick, increases during recessions. While the U.S. is not officially in a recession, retailers have noted that consumers are putting off 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:big-ticket purchases amid higher prices, shrinking savings, and substantial econ♎omic uncertainty.

Stocks Making the Biggest Moves Premarket

Gains:

• UiPath Inc. (PATH): Shares of the automation software maker jumped 17% after its quarterly earnings topped Wall Street estimates. The company said revenue grew 24% year-over-year to $326 million, while adjusted earnings came in at 12 cents per share.
• Ulta Beauty Inc. (ULTA): Shares of the cosmetics company gained 11% after it reported revenue grew 6% last quarter and raised the lower end of its full-year sales and earnings guidance range. 
• Paramount Global (PARA): The entertainment company gained more than 4% following a Wall Street Journal report it is in talks with Apple (AAPL) to bundle its streaming service Paramount+ with AppleTV+.
  

Losses:

• Dell Technologies Inc. (DELL): Shares of the computing hardware maker fell 4% after its quarterly sales fell short of analysts’ estimates amid continued softness in demand for personal computers. 
• Marvell Technology Inc. (MRVL): Shares of the semiconductor company fell nearly 5% after it forecast fourth-quarter sales would be little changed from last year. The forecast fell short of Wall Street’s expectations. 
• Pfizer Inc. (PFE): Shares of the drugmaker fell more than 4% after it said it would halt the development of a twice-daily version of its experimental weight loss pill after patients in a mid-stage trial reported high rates of adverse side effects. 

Stock Future Slip To Start the Last Month of 2023

Futures contracts connected to the Dow Jones Industrial Average were little chan😼ged a little over an hour before markets opened Friday.

S&P 500 futures gave up earlier gཧains to trade 0.2% lower.

Nasdaq 100 futures💖 al⛄so lost their footing and fell 0.3%.