Stock market ends mostly up. Amazon drops after-hours on sales outlook. Jobs data due Fri
Wall Street mostly edged up as investors eyed an onslaught of earnings reports, with the big one - Amazon - coming after the close.
Amazon said after the bell earnings and revenues in the final few months of the year topped analysts' expectations, with its sales topping Walmart's for the first time. However, the company's sales outlook for the current three months is below forecasts. Shares declined almost 4% in after-hours trading.
Investors were also waiting to hear comments from the company about its artificial intelligence plans. China's DeepSeek competitive AI model built on a small budget ignited worries about the mega bucks U.S. companies were pouring into AI. Investors began to wonder if U.S. companies had to spend as much as they were on AI and if so, how they would turn those investments into profits. Investors will likely be looking for Amazon to comment on its AI spending and how the online retailer plans to use AI to make money, analysts said.
The broad S&P 500 closed up 0.36%, or 22.09 points, to 6,083.57 for a third straight winning session; the blue-chip Dow dipped 0.28%, or 125.65 points, to 44,747.63; and the tech-laden Nasdaq eked out a 0.51% gain, or 99.66 points, to 19,791.99.
The 10-year benchmark Treasury yield rose to 4.438% after Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the Trump administration is more focused on keeping Treasury yields low than on what the Fed does and that President Donald Trump would not be pushing the Federal Reserve to lower rates as he did during his first term.
Investors paid little attention to higher-than-expected weekly jobless claims. Initial weekly claims were 219,000, above Reuters' average prediction by economists of 213,000. The key monthly jobs report is due Friday morning.
Magnificent 7 loses some luster
Lately, the so-called Magnificent 7 stocks of Amazon, Tesla, Alphabet, Meta, Apple, Nvidia and Microsoft have seen some softness on doubts over whether mega spending on artificial intelligence will pay off. For the past few years, the world's seven biggest and most influential tech companies have been the biggest boost to the stock market. However, their influence has been waning as seen on Wednesday when Google-parent Alphabet's shares slumped but the overall market gained. This is seen as a positive for the stock market.
"Despite several high profile earnings disappointments, the S&P 500 has remained resilient thus far in 2025 as flows aggressively rotate within the market," said Mike O'Rourke, chief markets strategist at JonesTrading. "The Magnificent Seven is up less than 1% year to date, lagging the S&P 500's 3% gain. The strength within the benchmark has been the other 493 names."
Corporate news
Some of the biggest stock movers on Thursday include:
- Oualcomm topped earnings estimates on strong smartphone demand, but its licensing revenues missed forecasts. Shares shed 3.72%.
- Yum Brands topped earnings forecasts with help from strong sales at KFC’s international restaurants and Taco Bell. Shares gained 9.73%.
- Tapestry shares soared 12.02%, reaching a new 52-week high, after the company shrugged off an additional 10% tariff on Chinese goods and raised its sales growth forecast for the year.
- Bristol-Myers Squibb shares declined 3.84% on a surprisingly weak full-year outlook due to generics competition with some of the drugmaker's top selling medications.
- Eli Lilly topped quarterly estimates and was bullish on its outlook. The drugmaker's shares rose 3.28%.
- Skyworks Solutions shares tumbled 24.67% after the company warned its share of the business supplying Apple with radio-frequency components will fall by one-fifth to one-quarter. Apple is the company's largest customer.
- Hershey topped earnings expectations but warned soaring cocoa prices will be a headwind this year. Shares of the chocolate maker rose 4.4%.
- Ford said weakness in its EV business will weigh on its financial performance this year. The automaker's shares are off 7.39%, reaching the lowest level since 2020.
- Arm Holdings beat earnings forecasts, thanks to AI, but its outlook was weaker than expected. Shares of the semiconductor company fell 3.34%.
- Honeywell's full-year earnings guidance fell short of analysts' forecasts and the company is going to split into two companies: automation and aerospace. Shares fell 5.64%.
- Ralph Lauren beat earnings estimates and raised its full-year revenue guidance as wealthy consumers continue to spend. Shares of the designer clothes maker added 9.69%.
- Peloton stock jumped 12% after the exercise equipment company reported better-than-expected quarterly sales.
- Roblox shares plunged 11% after the gaming platform said it expects full-year bookings below analysts' forecasts.
Bitcoin
Bitcoin edged up, but remained below the key psychological $100,000 level. The cryptocurrency found early support from Microstrategy's rebrand to Strategy to emphasize its commitment to bitcoin. It changed its logo to a bitcoin symbol and called itself "the world’s first and largest Bitcoin Treasury Company."
Strategy also said it added to its bitcoin stash in the final few months of last year, even as bitcoin surged to new highs around the time Trump was elected president.
Separately, Trump Media and Technology Group said it applied for trademarks for Truth.Fi Made in America ETF, Truth.Fi Energy Independence ETF, and Truth.Fi Bitcoin Plus ETF, and managed account versions of all three. The company plans to begin launching them this year.
Bitcoin was last up 0.15% at $96,790.44.
(The story was updated with new information.)
Medora Lee is a money, markets, and personal finance reporter at Paste BN. You can reach her at mjlee@usatoday.com and subscribe to our free Daily Money newsletter for personal finance tips and business news every Monday through Friday.