S&P 500, Nasdaq Close at Records as Stocks Inch Higher at the Start of a Big Week of Earnings Reports

Biggest S&P 500 Movers on Monday

1 hr 17 min ago

Advancers

Verizon Communications (VZ) shares jumped 4%, gaining the most of any stock in the S&P 500. The telecommunications giant topped second-quarter sales and profit estimates and lifted the low end of the range for its full-year profit forecast. Stronger-than-expected gains in broadband internet subscribers and an increase in wireless retail core prepaid customers helped drive Verizon’s strong quarterly performance.
Hershey (HSY) shares gained 3.2% on Monday, adding to gains posted late last week after U.S. Census Bureau data showed a stronger-than-expected uptick in retail sales in June. The indication of sustained consumer spending despite tariff concerns represents a welcome demand signal for the chocolate maker, which has been navigating challenges related to high cocoa prices.
Gold prices reached their highest level in more than a month, boosted by a weakening U.S. dollar, uncertainty ahead of President Trump’s Aug. 1 tariff deadline, and anticipation of the Fed potentially edging toward interest-rate cuts later in the year. Shares of Newmont (NEM), the world’s largest gold mining company, advanced 2.9%.
Shares of Google parent Alphabet (GOOGL) were up 2.7% ahead of the tech giant’s quarterly earnings release, set for Wednesday afternoon. Analysts at Morgan Stanley and Bank of America lifted their price targets on Alphabet stock ahead of the report, highlighting growth expectations driven by generative AI and ad spending in Google search.

Decliners

Natural gas futures prices dropped around 7%, pressured by elevated production levels and forecasts for cooler summer temperatures in parts of the U.S., reducing demand for natural gas to power air conditioners. Shares of natural gas companies dominated the list of the S&P 500’s weakest performers on Monday. EQT Corp. (EQT) stock tumbled 9.5%, falling the furthest of any constituent in the benchmark index. Expand Energy (EXE) shares were down 8.5%, while fellow natural gas players Coterra Energy (CTRA) and Targa Resources (TRGP) also lost ground.

Shares of Molina Healthcare (MOH) lost 3.6% after analysts at TD Cowen cut their price target on the insurer’s stock. Analysts also reduced their full-year earnings estimate for Molina, noting that high medical costs are pressuring the company’s medical loss ratio, or the percentage of premiums an insurer pays out on healthcare claims. The slide for Molina stock on Monday extended steep losses posted late last week after competitor Elevance Health (ELV) cut its full-year guidance, citing high Medicaid and Affordable Care Act costs.

-Michael Bromberg

Block Shares Jump Ahead of S&P 500 Inclusion

1 hr 31 min ago

Block (XYZ) shares surged more than 7% Monday as the digital payments provider prepares to join the S&P 500 Index starting Wednesday.

S&P Dow Jones Indices, the index compiler, announced Friday that Block would replace Hess (HES) after Chevron (CVX) completed its $53 billion takeover of its smaller oil rival.

Jefferies analysts Monday raised their price target on Block to $90 from $75, while sticking with their “buy” rating on the company formerly known as Square. The stock closed at around $78 on Monday.

“Despite the recent outperf. and having become a favored name across the group, we see plenty to drive the story forward,” the analysts wrote. They said they expect the share price to increase, reflecting Square’s U.S. growth in gross payment volume, which measures the total dollar amount of card payments processed by sellers in the company’s payment ecosystem.

Block’s continued guidance toward “progressive acceleration” through the year end and a potential return to growth in monthly active users on Cash App, its popular peer-to-peer (P2P) payment service, should be other catalysts for share price gains, the analysts wrote.

Deutsche Bank, which has a “buy” rating on Block, said it also expects “re-acceleration” at Cash App, noting that the company could see strong gross payment volume growth this coming quarter.

With Monday’s gain, Block shares narrowed their year-to-date decline to about 8%.

-Nisha Gopalan

Arm Stock Rises as Wells Fargo Raises Price Target

2 hr 7 min ago

Arm Holdings (ARM) shares climbed Monday as analysts at Wells Fargo raised their price target for the chip designer’s stock ahead of quarterly earnings due next week.

The analysts raised their target to $175 from $145, well above the mean of analysts tracked by Visible Alpha, which sits at about $143. Shares of Arm rose more than 3% to close near $162 Monday, and have added roughly a third of their value in 2025.

Arm, which develops CPU designs used in chips from companies like Nvidia (NVDA), Microsoft (MSFT) and Alphabet’s (GOOGL) Google, could be well-positioned to benefit from “expanding AI opportunities,” including growing data center demand, Wells Fargo told clients in a note Sunday. 

“We continue to estimate strong growth for Arm’s royalties business despite tariff-related uncertainty,” Wells Fargo said, adding that Arm’s ramp of AI and custom silicon designs could “drive meaningful royalty revenue growth” this fiscal year.

Arm is scheduled to report fiscal first-quarter earnings after the market closes on July 30.

-Andrew Kessel

Cleveland-Cliffs Jumps as Steelmaker Trims Losses

2 hr 24 min ago

Cleveland-Cliffs (CLF) shares soared Monday as the big steelmaker reported narrowing losses as cost cutting, along with new tariffs and the Trump administration’s push for more domestic manufacturing, boosted results.

Shares closed 12% higher. They had entered Monday’s session roughly flat for 2025.

The company posted a second-quarter adjusted loss of $0.50 per share, nearly half of what it was in the first quarter and lower than analysts surveyed by Visible Alpha expected. Revenue fell 3.1% to $4.93 billion, but that was also better than estimates. 

Steel shipments of 4.3 million net tons hit an all-time high. 

CEO Lourenco Goncalves said the results “demonstrate that the footprint optimization initiatives announced a few months ago are already generating a positive impact on both costs and revenues.” The company anticipates the second-quarter cost reductions will be “even further amplified” in the third and fourth quarters, he said.

Goncalves noted that Cleveland-Cliffs is a major supplier to the automotive industry, and that the Trump administration is a big supporter of both the steel and auto sectors. He said the company has “started to see the positive impact that tariffs have on domestic manufacturing,” and that Cleveland-Cliffs sees a continuation of that trend, “promoting the resurgence of the American automotive industry supported by a thriving domestic steel industry.”

-Bill McColl

Alphabet Levels to Watch Ahead of Earnings Wednesday

2 hr 47 min ago

Alphabet (GOOGL) shares moved higher to start the week ahead of the tech giant’s eagerly awaited quarterly report, due after Wednesday’s closing bell.

Investors will be focused on the company’s cloud and advertising revenue growth. Jefferies sees the company’s cloud business benefiting from strong enterprise demand and AI momentum, while analysts at Wedbush recently cautioned that the Magnificent Seven member’s advertising revenue could face challenges from a shift to generative AI search.

Alphabet shares rose nearly 3% Monday to close around $190, putting the stock back into positive territory for 2025. The stock has lagged the performance of several of its Big Tech peers amid concerns over the company’s significant AI spending, slower advertising growth, and an expected antitrust decision next month.

Since bottoming out in early April, Alphabet shares have trended higher within a rising wedge, a chart pattern that can signal a move lower upon a decisive breakdown. However, more recently, the price has rallied toward the formation’s upper trendline ahead of the tech giant’s upcoming earning’s report.

The advance has coincided with the relative strength index flashing its highest reading since December, though the indicator remains below overbought levels, providing ample room for the stock to test higher prices.

The first support level to watch sits around $175. This area may attract buying interest near the rising wedge pattern’s lower trendline and a horizontal line that connects a range of corresponding price action on the chart extending back to last year’s April breakaway gap.

Further downside could see the shares revisit lower support level near $168. Investors may look for entry points in this location around last year’s August and October peaks, which roughly line up with this year’s late March countertrend high.

Investors should watch key support levels on Alphabet’s chart around $175 and $168, while also monitoring major resistance levels near $192 and $201.

Read the full technical analysis piece here.

-Timothy Smith

Why Opendoor Stock is Soaring Today

3 hr 53 min ago

Opendoor Technologies (OPEN) shares soared on Monday as retail investors piled into the newest meme stock. 

Shares of the online home buying company were up about 50% in recent trading after nearly tripling in value last week. The stock surged as much as 120% today, to near $5, its highest point in nearly two years.

Opendoor stock took off last Monday after Eric Jackson, founder of EMJ Capital, announced his firm had taken a position in the company and said the stock “could be a 100-bagger over the next few years.” The term refers to stocks that return $100 for every $1 invested. 

Jackson compared Opendoor with Carvana (CVNA), which appeared on the brink of bankruptcy in 2023, “but they cut costs, stabilized, and the stock went up 100x.” Opendoor, he said, could be in the same position. Jackson forecast it will report positive EBITDA for the first time next month, which he says could revive Wall Street’s faith in the stock. 

Before Jackson’s post, Opendoor shares had lost nearly 98% of their value since closing at an all-time high of almost $36 in February 2021. If Opendoor regains the valuation it achieved four years ago, the stock should trade at $82, according to Jackson.

Shares rose 15% last Monday and another 15% on Tuesday. The stock’s gains accelerated on Wednesday as users of the Wallstreetbets subreddit—notorious for fueling the Gamestop meme stock frenzy in 2021—began sharing screenshots of their Opendoor trades. 

The rally has come at an opportune time for Opendoor. In late May, the company was notified by Nasdaq that its stock was at risk of being delisted because it traded below $1 for 30 consecutive business days. The company had 180 days to increase its share price to meet listing standards. In early June, Opendoor proposed a reverse stock split that would boost its share price by as much as 50x.

The recent rally has given Opendoor hope of meeting the Nasdaq’s listing standards, which require the stock’s closing bid price to exceed $1 for 10 consecutive business days within the 180-day grace period that started at the end of May. Shares have closed above $1 in each of the last four sessions.

-Colin Laidley

Schwab Expands 24-Hour Trading to 1,100 Securities

4 hr 18 min ago

The rush to attract the global investor at all hours of the day is on.

Charles Schwab (SCHW) said Monday it is adding more securities, primarily ETFs, for 24-hour trading, bringing the total to 1,100 stocks and funds that retail investors can access outside normal U.S. business hours.

The online broker extended trading access to its clients for stocks in the S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100, as well as a range of exchange-traded funds, in February. Its rivals Robinhood (HOOD) and Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), have extended trading hours that go beyond both the regular session, during which volumes are highest, and the traditional premarket and after-hours sessions.

“As the pace of interconnected global markets activity increases and market-moving news and events happen outside of regular U.S. market hours, 24-hour trading gives investors flexibility and access that can be critical to take advantage of potential opportunities – as well as helping to manage risk,” Charles Schwab Managing Director James Kostulias said.

The most-traded stocks that Charles Schwab said it has seen since launching 24-hour trading earlier this year are shares of Tesla (TSLA), AI darling Nvidia (NVDA), and Chinese EV maker NIO (NIO), the company said. 

Trump Media, Strategy Add to Bitcoin Holdings

4 hr 38 min ago

Trump Media & Technology Group (DJT) has amassed roughly $2 billion in bitcoin and bitcoin-related securities, as its founder, President Donald Trump, has worked to reshape American crypto policy.

The Truth Social parent said it plans to keep buying bitcoin, and allocated $300 million to an options acquisition strategy for bitcoin-related securities. The company’s bitcoin and related holdings make up about two-thirds of its $3 billion in liquid assets. 

Trump Media has also filed in recent weeks to launch a trio of crypto exchange-traded funds that invest in bitcoin and other digital assets. The ETFs are expected to launch later this year in partnership with Crypto.com.

Meanwhile, Strategy (MSTR), formerly MicroStrategy, bought 6,220 bitcoin last week in its latest round of crypto purchases, according to a regulatory filing. The company’s holdings have climbed to a whopping 607,770 bitcoin, worth $72.32 billion at Bitcoin’s current price. 

Shares of Trump Media and Strategy were up 5% and 2.5%, respectively, as the price of bitcoin was up from its late-Friday levels.

-Andrew Kessel

Sarepta Falls as Company Rejects FDA Call to Withdraw Drug

6 hr 7 min ago

Sarepta Therapeutics (SRPT) shares continued to slide Monday after the biopharmaceutical firm refused a Food and Drug Administration (FDA) request to stop distributing its Elevidys treatment for muscular dystrophy.

The FDA called for the halt after a third patient suffering from a form of muscular dystrophy taking a similar gene therapy to Elevidys in a Phase 1 study died of liver failure, possibly related to the drug. The news of the patient death sent shares of Sarepta plunging Friday. 

Elevidys has already been approved to treat both ambulatory and non-ambulatory patients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy. Sarepta voluntarily stopped shipments for non-ambulatory patients last month following a second death during the study to gauge the efficacy of the drug for Limb-Girdle muscular dystrophy. The company noted the third patient who died suffered from non-ambulant Limb-Girdle muscular dystrophy.

However, Sarepta said that because its comprehensive scientific interpretation of the data “shows no new or changed safety signals in the ambulant patient population, we will continue to ship ELEVIDYS to the ambulant population.”

Sarepta said it’s looking to “continued discussions and sharing of information with FDA in order to advance our shared purpose of protecting patient safety and informed access to care.”

Shares of Sarepta were down about 4% in recent trading. They’ve lost nearly 90% of their value since the start of the year.

-Bill McColl

Tariffs Take a Bite Out of Stellantis Earnings

6 hr 31 min ago

Stellantis (STLA) swung to a net loss in the first half of the year, as the Big Three automaker was hit by tariffs as well as restructuring costs and a sales slump.

In preliminary results released Monday, the owner of brands including Jeep and Chrysler reported a 2.3 billion euro ($2.7 billion) net loss for the first half, compared to a net profit of 5.6 billion euros in the same period last year. First-half revenue of 74.3 billion euros was down from 85 billion euros a year earlier.

Stellantis said it booked 300 million euros ($349 million) in net costs from “the early effects of US tariffs,” which included the loss of planned production. The carmaker said in April it would suspend its full-year outlook, pointing to “tariff-related uncertainties.”

During the second quarter, Stellantis said North American shipments fell 25% year-over-year to around 109,000 units, while total sales dropped 10% year-over-year. U.S. retail sales were “relatively flat” however, with Jeep and Ram sales combined delivering a 13% increase in sales.

The preliminary results are the first under new CEO Antonio Filosa, who replaced Carlos Tavares, who abruptly left last December. The company said it will post its final results for the first half on July 29 as scheduled.

UBS analysts Monday morning said “there is a high chance” Stellantis’ 2025 free cash flow will stay in negative territory, since the second half free cash flow is unlikely to “fully offset the H1 cash burn.”

Stellantis shares were up nearly 2% in early-afternoon trading. The stock entered Monday down almost 30% so far this year.

-Nisha Gopalan

Domino’s Same-Store Sales Top Estimates

7 hr 39 min ago

Domino’s Pizza (DPZ) shares moved higher Monday morning after the pizza chain reported better same-store sales growth than expected for the second quarter.

The stock was up 0.5% recently, after rising more than 6% earlier in the session. Domino’s shares entered the day up about 11% since the start of this year.

Domino’s said its same-store sales grew 3.4% year-over-year in the U.S., and 2.4% at its international operations, with both above analysts’ projections compiled by Visible Alpha.

The pizza maker’s second-quarter revenue was in line with estimates at $1.15 billion, up 4% from the same time a year ago, while earnings per share declined 5.5% to $3.81, just shy of the analyst consensus.

“With what we believe are best-in-class unit economics, the largest advertising budget, a robust supply chain, and a rewards program that is bigger than ever, our business is well-positioned,” Domino’s CEO Russell Weiner said in Monday’s press release.

He also said that Domino’s is now “fully rolled out on the two largest aggregators,” as the chain announced a partnership with DoorDash (DASH) earlier this year, adding its stores to the app once an exclusivity agreement with Uber (UBER) Eats expired in May.

Profits had topped estimates while revenue and same-store sales growth both disappointed in Domino’s first-quarter report in April, as its CEO pointed to a “challenging global macroeconomic environment.”

-Aaron McDade

Verizon Rises on Strong Earnings, Boosted Outlook

7 hr 51 min ago

Verizon (VZ) shares surged Monday after the telecommunications giant’s quarterly earnings topped analysts’ estimates, and the company lifted the lower end of its full-year outlook.

Verizon reported adjusted earnings per share of $1.22 for the second quarter on revenue that rose 5.2% year-over-year to $34.5 billion, above analysts’ projections compiled by Visible Alpha.

The cell service and internet provider said it now expects adjusted EPS to grow by 1% to 3% in 2025, lifting the bottom end of the range from flat previously.

Verizon said it added 293,000 broadband internet subscribers in the quarter, more than the 224,100 analysts had anticipated. Meanwhile, Verizon lost about 51,000 wireless retail postpaid phone subscribers, fewer than it lost in the year-ago quarter. It added 50,000 wireless retail core prepaid customers compared to a decline a year ago.

Verizon opens a busy week for earnings in the industry, with rivals AT&T (T) and T-Mobile (TMUS) each scheduled to post their second-quarter results on Wednesday.

Shares of Verizon were up more than 4% in recent trading, leading gainers in the Dow Jones Industrial Average.

-Aaron McDade

Intel Levels to Watch Ahead of Earnings This Week

9 hr 18 min ago

Intel (INTC) Intel shares will be in the spotlight this week as the embattled chipmaker gets set to release its second-quarter results on Thursday.

Investors will be looking for updates about the company’s foundry business after reports surfaced earlier this month that recently installed CEO Lip-Bu Tan is considering a shift in the company’s contract chipmaking business. The possible changes could lead Intel to write off hundreds of millions or even billions of dollars’ worth of chipmaking technology as a loss, according to reports.

Coming into Monday, Intel shares had gained 20% since last month’s low and were up 15% since the start of the year, boosted by hopes that the chipmaker can navigate a successful turnaround under Tan’s leadership after months of deal speculation and strategic restructuring.

After attracting buying interest around the floor of a multi-month trading range, Intel shares have trended higher within an ascending channel. More recently, the stock has retraced toward the pattern’s lower trendline on declining trading volume, indicating apprehension ahead of the highly anticipated earnings report.

However, in a win for the bulls, the relative strength index remains above neutral territory, signaling positive price momentum.

Investors should watch crucial support levels on Intel’s chart around $22 and $19, while also monitoring resistance levels near $26 and $30.

The stock was up nearly 2% at $23.50 in early trading Monday.

Read the full technical analysis piece here.

-Timothy Smith

Stock Index Futures Slightly Higher

10 hr 27 min ago

Futures tied to the three major U.S. stock indexes were each up 0.2% in recent trading.

Dow Jones Industrial Average futures

S&P 500 futures

Nasdaq 100 futures