S&P 500 Falls for 4th Consecutive Day as Tech Stock Slump Continues; Investors Bracing for Fed Chair Powell Speech

Biggest S&P 500 Movers on Wednesday

1 hr 55 min ago

Decliners

Intel (INTC) stock gave back some of its recent gains, dropping 7% to log the S&P 500’s weakest performance on Wednesday as discussions about the U.S. government possibly acquiring an equity stake remained in focus. The drop reversed the stock’s jump yesterday after the announcement of a major investment by Japanese investment firm SoftBank (SFTBY).

Shares of Micron Technology (MU) and other chipmakers with CHIPS Act grants also fell, following reports the Trump administration could look to strike similar deals with them as the one it’s weighing with Intel. Micron shares lost 4%.
Shares of Target (TGT) slipped 6.3% after the retailer said that CEO Brian Cornell would step down. Target tapped Michael Fiddelke—its current chief operating officer and a company veteran who has played a key role in plans to reshape operations—to take over the CEO role effective early next year. The announcement of the leadership change came as Target reported a decline in sales, though they topped analysts’ expectations, and profits that matched estimates.

Advancers

Analog Devices (ADI) shares avoided the downward pressure on the broader semiconductor industry, surging 6.3% to notch the S&P 500’s strongest daily gain. The manufacturer of sensor and power management chips topped quarterly earnings estimates, and provided a better-than-expected outlook. The company highlighted resilient demand trends despite trade-related uncertainty.
Medtronic (MDT) shares added 3.7% after the medical device maker announced that it would add two new members to its board of directors following the accumulation of a significant position by activist investor Elliott Management. UBS and Wells Fargo lifted their price targets on Medtronic stock following the news.
Shares of agribusiness and food products giant Bunge (BG) gained 3.1% as JPMorgan kicked off coverage of the stock with an “overweight” rating. Analysts indicated that the company could be set to benefit from policies related to biofuels in the U.S. potentially boosting demand for soybean oil. The firm also suggested efficiencies stemming from the acquisition of Netherlands-based Viterra could help drive Bunge’s earnings growth.

-Michael Bromberg

Palantir Price Levels to Watch as Stock Continues Sliding

2 hr 33 min ago

Palantir (PLTR) shares slid Wednesday to log their sixth straight day of declines, after a short seller raised concerns about the stock’s elevated valuation.

The stock lost 1% to finish Wednesday’s session around $156, roughly 16% off their record close on Tuesday last week. At one point during Wednesday session, the stock dropped nearly 10% to $142, almost 24% from last week’s highs.

Short seller Andrew Left of Citron Research, who expressed concerns about the stock’s valuation in a Fox Business interview last week, said in a report Monday that he believes the stock has become “detached from fundamentals” and should be worth closer to $40.

While Wall Street analysts have applauded the data analytics software maker’s record revenue growth fueled by robust demand for its AI-powered platform, there is growing consensus that it’s fully priced into the shares. Even after their steep pullback, Palantir shares have more than doubled in value this year.

After hitting the all-time high last week, Palantir shares have continued to retrace toward the 50-day moving average (MA), with selling intensifying in Tuesday’s trading session. Moreover, the move lower coincided with the relative strength index falling into bearish territory, signaling an acceleration in selling momentum.

It’s also worth pointing out that Tuesday’s decline occurred on the highest trading volume since late June, indicating larger market participants drove the sell-off.

Investors should watch crucial support levels on Palantir’s chart around $148, $125 and $98. while also monitoring a key overhead area just below the stock’s record high near $188.

Read the full technical analysis piece here.

-Timothy Smith

A Make or Break Moment for Markets Coming Friday?

3 hr 46 min ago

Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell is scheduled to speak at the central bank’s annual Jackson Hole Symposium on Friday, an event that could be a major test of the stock market’s post-“Liberation Day” rally. 

Investors are likely to read into Powell’s comments for signs of what Fed officials will do at their next policy meeting in September. The Fed cut rates three times last year—by 50 basis points in September, 25 bps in November, and another 25 bps in December—but has stood pat this year as policymakers have waited to see how President Trump’s tariffs and immigration crackdown rippled through the economy.

Market participants are confident the Fed is poised to resume rate cuts next month after big downward revisions to jobs growth in July’s employment report and mostly better-than-feared consumer price data. Federal funds futures trading data on Wednesday put the odds of a rate cut at about 83%, down from 100% a week ago but well above last month’s 60%, according to CME Group’s FedWatch Tool.

Nonetheless, Wall Street’s jitters about Friday’s speech have been apparent this week. 

Read the full article here.

-Colin Laidley

La-Z-Boy Stock Plunges After Earnings

5 hr 47 min ago

La-Z-Boy (LZB) shares sank Wednesday, a day after the furniture maker’s profit declined as it dealt with fewer buyers in its stores and weak demand for its Joybird brand.

The company known for its reclining chairs reported fiscal 2026 first-quarter adjusted earnings per share that slumped 24% year-over-year to $0.47, while analysts surveyed by Visible Alpha were looking for $0.53. Revenue fell 1% to $492.2 million, but that was better than forecasts.

Same-store sales slid 4%, which La-Z-Boy blamed on “an increasingly challenged consumer.” Joybird sales tumbled 14%, although in-store sales exceeded those online. 

CEO Melinda Whittington noted that while the company remained positive about its strategy, “we are balancing our optimism in the long-term industry fundamentals and our competitive positioning with a pragmatic approach to current uneven consumer demand.” Whittington added that La-Z-Boy was “evaluating all alternatives to address financial pressure from non-core parts of our enterprise.”

CFO Taylor Luebke said the company expects current-quarter revenue in the range of $510 million to $530 million. The Visible Alpha estimate was for $528 million. Luebke explained La-Z-Boy was “navigating a continued challenging consumer and macroeconomic environment.”

Shares of La-Z-Boy were down 12% recently, trading at their lowest level since mid-2024.

-Bill McColl

Why Some Analysts Think Tech Sell-Off Won’t Last

6 hr 53 min ago

Tech stocks are having a rough day, extending their recent slump amid a sector rotation away from big tech leaders. 

However, some Wall Street analysts said they don’t expect that to last long. 

“While some near-term tech volatility is not surprising given the run-up in valuations, we advise investors against becoming overly defensive,” UBS said Wednesday.

“While we think some caution may be warranted in the more cyclical parts of tech, we remain confident in the broader AI sector’s long-term growth and resilience. We recommend investors seek balanced exposure across the AI value chain (infrastructure, semis, and applications), with a preference for laggards offering a more attractive risk-reward balance,” UBS said. 

“We view tech sell-offs like yesterday as opportunities,” bullish analysts at Wedbush told clients in a note Wednesday, suggesting the slump could be short-lived, and pointed to earnings from AI chipmaker Nvidia next week as a potential positive catalyst.

 “When Nvidia reports earnings next week on August 27th the tech world and Wall Street will be listening closely,” they said, adding that they believe the “tech bull cycle will be well intact at least for another 2-3 years given the trillions being spent on AI.”

-Kara Greenberg

Estée Lauder Shares Slide on Weak Results, Outlook

7 hr 52 min ago

Estée Lauder (EL) shares fell Wednesday after the cosmetics company posted a wider-than-forecast quarterly loss and a disappointing outlook for the upcoming year.

The New York-based company, whose brands include MAC, La Mer, and Jo Malone, posted a fourth-quarter loss per share of $1.51, wider than the $0.79 loss per share it reported the same period last year. Its net sales for the three months to June 30 was $3.42 billion, down 12% year-over-year, dragged lower by declines in the sale of skin care products from its own brand and La Mer in the Asian travel market. The company said that Chinese consumer demand remained “subdued.”

Analysts polled by Visible Alpha had projected a $0.07 fourth-quarter loss per share and $3.41 billion in net sales, respectively.

The company’s guidance also fell on the short end of estimates: Estée Lauder projected a 0%-3% growth in fiscal 2026 net sales, versus estimates from Visible Alpha of $14.78 billion, translating to a 3% increase from the $14.33 billion the company posted in fiscal 2025.

Estée Lauder had struggled for years as it fell behind trends and was overly focused on Chinese consumers. The company sharpened its focus this year, boosting its stock price.

Shares of the company were down 5% in recent trading, trimming their year-to-date gain to around 14% 

-Nisha Gopalan

Lowe’s Boosts Outlook as Earnings Top Expectations

8 hr 41 min ago

Lowe’s (LOW) shares edged higher Wednesday after the home-improvement retailer beat profit estimates as both contractors and do-it-yourself (DIY) customers spent more for its products. In addition, the company boosted its guidance following the closing of its acquisition of interior finishes provider Artisan Design Group (ADG).

Lowe’s reported second-quarter adjusted earnings per share (EPS) of $4.33, while analysts surveyed by Visible Alpha were looking for $4.24. Revenue rose 1.6% year-over-year to $23.96 billion, a tick short of forecasts.

Comparable store sales were up 1.1%, in line with expectations. CEO Marvin Ellison said those were driven by a “solid performance” from both its construction professional and DIY businesses. 

Lowe’s said that with the addition of ADG, it was raising its full-year outlook for sales to $84.5 billion to $85.5 billion from the earlier prediction of $83.5 billion to $84.5 billion. Yesterday, rival Home Depot (HD) affirmed its guidance as it saw demand growing.

The company also announced it moved to increase sales to construction pros by purchasing Foundation Building Materials (FBM) for $8.8 billion. Lowe’s called FBM “a leading North American distributor of interior building products” that serves “large residential and commercial professionals in both new construction and repair and remodel applications.”

Shares of Lowe’s were up 1% recently, after rising as much as 4% early in the session.

-Bill McColl

Target Stock Slides as Retailer Replaces CEO

9 hr 53 min ago

Target (TGT) shares sank in early trading Wednesday as the struggling retailer replaced its CEO with a company veteran even as its business showed signs of improvement in the second quarter.

Target announced that long-time employee Michael Fiddelke would be taking over for Brian Cornell on Feb. 1, 2026. Cornell, who has held the post for 11 years, will become executive chair of the board.

Fiddelke has been with the company for 20 years, and recently launched and began leading the Enterprise Acceleration Office, which Target explained was aimed at reshaping how the firm operates, “removing complexity, expanding technology and enabling more flexibility so the team can move faster to improve performance and drive long-term growth.”

Independent board member Christine Leahy said the board has been considering a succession plan for several years, and that it was clear “Michael is the right leader to return Target to growth, refocus and accelerate the company’s strategy, and reestablish Target’s position as a leader in the highly dynamic and fast-moving retail environment.”

Along with the CEO change, Target announced solid financial results. Sales were down 0.9% year-over-year to $25.21 billion, but that was above the estimate of analysts surveyed by Visible Alpha. Comparable store sales declined 1.9%, while the Visible Alpha forecast was for a drop of 3.06%. Adjusted earnings per share (EPS) of $2.05 was in line with expectations.

Cornell said the performance “showed encouraging signs of recovery, including improved traffic and sales trends—particularly in our stores—and disciplined cost management in a challenging retail environment.”

Target reiterated its full-year guidance of adjusted EPS of $7.00 to $9.00, and sales falling by a low-single-digit percentage. 

Target shares were down 8% in recent trading, pacing S&P 500 decliners. The stock has lost nearly 30% of its value since the start of the year.

-Bill McColl

Major Index Futures Point to Slightly Lower Open

11 hr 39 min ago

Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average were down fractionally.

S&P 500 futures slipped 0.1%.

Nasdaq 100 futures were down 0.2%.