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Major U.S. equities indexes rallied after jobless claims data released Thursday helped ease worries about the economy. The S&P 500 jumped 2.3%, marking the strongest daily performance for the benchmark index since November 2022. The technology sector spearheaded the broader market recovery, helping the Nasdaq soar 2.9%. The Dow closed 1.8% higher.
Monolithic Power Systems (MPWR) shares led the S&P 500 higher on Thursday, jumping 11.4%. The semiconductor firm specializing in power management technology posted strong quarterly financial results earlier in the week, beating revenue and earnings per share (EPS) expectations amid growing demand for artificial intelligence (AI) power solutions.
Shares of electronic technology manufacturer Parker-Hannifin (PH) soared 10.8%. The provider of motion and control technologies also topped quarterly sales and profit estimates, benefitting from robust demand in its aerospace services segment, despite headwinds in diversified industrials. Aftermarket strength helped boost sales and margins in Parker-Hannifin's aviation business.
Eli Lilly (LLY) shares popped 9.5% after the drugmaker reported better-than-expected sales and profits for the second quarter. Sales of Lilly's diabetes and weight-loss treatments Mounjaro and Zepbound underpinned the strong performance. The company also raised its full-year revenue and earnings outlook, citing production expansions to improve its supply of the popular drugs.
Shares of McKesson (MCK) sank 11.3% on Thursday, marking the steepest drop of any stock in the S&P 500, after the distributor of health care supplies missed quarterly sales estimates. McKesson said fewer product launches, slumping demand for COVID test kits, and a key customer shifting from arthritis treatment Humira to a biosimilar as factors behind the revenue shortfall.
Monster Beverage (MNST) shares lost 10.9% following weaker-than-expected financial results. The company said slower foot traffic at convenience stores has pressured sales of energy drinks.
Shares of Warner Bros Discovery (WBD) dropped 8.9% after the entertainment giant posted a loss of nearly $10 billion for the second quarter, steeper than expected by analysts. The results included a $9.1 billion non-cash goodwill impairment charge reflecting a write-down in value of the company's cable networks, which have been disrupted by streaming services.
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Zillow Group (Z) shares jumped as the real estate services company reported better-than-expected results for the second quarter and named a new chief executive officer.
The company posted a second-quarter loss of $0.07, less than half of what it was a year ago and just one-third of the average estimate of analysts surveyed by Visible Alpha. Revenue was up 13% to $572 million, also beating forecasts.
Residential revenue increased 8% to $409 million, as the company improved connections between high-intent customers and its Premier Agent partners. Rentals revenue gained 29% to $117 million, primarily driven by a 44% increase in multi-family revenue. Mortgages revenue grew 42% to $34 million as purchase loan origination volume soared.
Zillow’s mobile apps and sites had 231 million average monthly unique users, little changed from 2023, although visits rose 4% to 2.5 billion.
Along with the earnings news, the company said COO Jeremy Wacksman has taken over as CEO, replacing Zillow co-founder Rich Barton. Barton will be Co-Executive Chair with fellow co-founder Lloyd Frink.
Zillow shares were up 20% in late trading Thursday. Despite the gain, the stock is still down 14% since the begging of the year.
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Palantir Technologies (PLTR) shares surged 10% in intraday trading Thursday after the company announced an agreement with Microsoft (MSFT) to provide the U.S. government with secure cloud, artificial intelligence (AI), and analytics capabilities for national security. Microsoft shares also gained.
The companies said the U.S. defense and intelligence community, which includes government organizations like the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and military intelligence agencies, will have access to Palantir and Microsoft's AI and cloud tech for national security missions.
The agreement provides the U.S. government agencies with large language models (LLMs) through Azure OpenAI Services, Microsoft's cloud offerings through its partnership with OpenAI, and Palantir's AI Platform (AIP).
Palantir has existing contracts with the U.S. government, including a contract with the U.S. Army focused on AI and machine learning.
“Bringing Palantir and Microsoft capabilities to our national security apparatus is a step change in how we can support the defense and intelligence communities,” Palantir CTO Shyam Sankar said.
The new government offering could strengthen the relationship between Palantir and Microsoft. The companies didn't disclose financial terms of the agreement.
Palantir shares were up 10% to $28.96 around 3 p.m. ET Thursday following the news, while Microsoft shares were up close to 1% at $402.12.
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Beleaguered homebuyers saw a bit of relief this week when mortgage rates slipped to their lowest levels in more than a year.
Data from government mortgage backer Freddie Mac showed that the average 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage was 6.47% as of Aug. 8, a drop of more than a quarter-percentage point from the prior week.
This week's decline was the steepest one-week drop since December, and it lowered home borrowing costs to levels not seen since May 2023. The 15-year, fixed-rate mortgage showed similar declines, falling nearly four-tenths of a percentage point to hit 5.63%, the lowest rate since April 2023.
The sudden drop in mortgage rates followed a disappointing jobs report that shook financial markets, sparking a major selloff and igniting speculation about when and how aggressively the Federal Reserve will begin cutting interest rates.
“Mortgage rates plunged this week to their lowest level in over a year following the likely overreaction to a less than favorable employment report and financial market turbulence for an economy that remains on solid footing," said Sam Khater, Freddie Mac chief economist.
However, the slump may not last long. Mortgage rates are influenced by the 10-year Treasury yield, which tumbled on Monday to its lowest level in more than a year but has since rebounded. According to Zillow data analyzed by , 30-year rates inched up in recent days to 6.49%.
The data comes as economists and real estate professionals have been searching for good news about the housing market. High mortgage rates have not only priced many buyers out of the market, but also kept many homeowners from moving, giving homebuyers fewer options and keeping prices elevated.
"The decline in mortgage rates does increase prospective homebuyers’ purchasing power and should begin to pique their interest in making a move,” Khater said.
The data from Freddie Mac squared with a recent report from the Mortgage Brokers Association, which showed that refinancing surged last week as rates dropped. Freddie Mac’s data also showed homeowners were acting to refinance on the lower rates.
“This drop in rates is already providing some existing homeowners the opportunity to refinance, with the refinance share of market mortgage applications reaching nearly 42 percent, the highest since March 2022,” Khater said.
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