S&P 500, Nasdaq Fell Slightly Friday Amid Tariff Uncertainty But Post Biggest Monthly Gains Since 2023

Biggest S&P 500 Movers on Friday

May 30, 2025 06:35 PM EDT

Decliners

Shares of Regeneron Pharmaceuticals (REGN) plunged 19%, dropping the most of any stock in the S&P 500. The losses came after an experimental treatment for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in former smokers, developed by Regeneron in collaboration with Sanofi (SNY), failed to meet primary endpoints in a Phase 3 trial. The companies said they are reviewing the data and will work with regulators to outline potential next steps. U.S.-listed shares of Sanofi slid 5.7%.
Cooper Cos. (COO) shares dropped 15% after the contact lens manufacturer reduced its full-year outlook for organic growth while edging out consensus sales and adjusted profit estimates with its fiscal second-quarter results. Analysts at JPMorgan downgraded Cooper stock to “neutral” from “overweight,” citing the company’s uneven execution and the possibility of a sustained slowdown in market trends.
Shares of Eastman Chemical (EMN), known for its specialty plastics and adhesives, fell 3.8%. The company announced that its molecular recycling project in Longview, Texas, which was previously expected to receive $375 million in public funding, was among 24 awards revoked by the Department of Energy.

Advancers

Cosmetics retailer Ulta Beauty (ULTA) topped sales and profit estimates for its fiscal first quarter and lifted its outlook for the full year. CEO Kecia Steelman highlighted contributions from new and exclusive brands as well as strong sales of fragrance products, noting that consumers were turning to beauty products “as a comfort and escape from the stress of macro uncertainty.” Ulta shares skyrocketed 12%, scoring the S&P 500’s top daily performance.
Shares of Palantir Technologies (PLTR) jumped 7.7% as a New York Times report indicated that the Trump administration has expanded the data analytics software firm’s role in government data-sharing initiatives. The tech company, which has lucrative contracts with the federal government and Defense Department, is reportedly engaged in efforts to improve access to data across government agencies.

Enphase Energy (ENPH) stock advanced 5.5%. Shares of the solar microinverter manufacturer came under heavy pressure alongside other renewable energy players after the House of Representatives passed a tax and spending bill that would eliminate certain incentives for clean energy projects, including a federal tax credit for the installation of solar rooftop systems. Enphase Energy shares dropped to a 52-week low on May 22, the day the bill was passed, but have staged a partial recovery since.
Costco Wholesale (COST) stock added 3.1% after the bulk retailer’s quarterly revenue and net income edged out consensus forecasts. Same-store sales also grew more than expected. Analysts have suggested that high-margin membership revenue could provide Costco with some flexibility to navigate tariff-related cost pressure without raising prices.

-Michael Bromberg

Why Stocks Had Such a Strong May

May 30, 2025 06:09 PM EDT

Trade deals, strong earnings and economic resilience lifted stocks in May.

Investors entered the month cautiously optimistic. Employment data at the beginning of the month suggested the economy remained on solid footing. Meanwhile, White House officials were signaling a desire to ease tensions with China, whose imports at the time were subject to a minimum 145% tariff. 

Stocks surged mid-month when the U.S. and China agreed to slash their respective tariff rates for 90 days while officials negotiate a broader deal. Stocks got additional boosts from President Trump’s dealmaking tour of the Middle East and progress in Congress on Trump’s tax-cutting ‘One Big, Beautiful Bill.’

The AI trade came back into vogue in May, thanks to solid big tech earnings reports and the flurry of AI-focused deals coming out of Trump’s Middle East trip. AI favorites Constellation Energy Group (CEG) and Super Micro Computer (SMCI) were the S&P 500’s second and third-best performing stocks, rising 37% and 26%, respectively. 

Nvidia (NVDA) stock gained 24% in May. Much of those gains came on the U.S.-China trade reprieve, but a strong quarterly earnings report near the end of the month helped. 

Tesla (TSLA) stock advanced nearly 23% as CEO Elon Musk distanced himself from the Trump administration and reassured Wall Street he’s committed to leading the electric vehicle maker through a tumultuous time. Tesla is expected to take a major step toward refashioning itself as an AI company when it launches its robotaxi service in Austin, Texas, in June.

With its gains in May, the S&P 500 has inched back into positive territory for the year. The Dow and the Nasdaq remain down for the year, though only slightly. At their low point in early April, the Nasdaq was down more than 20% year-to-date and the S&P 500 had shed 15%.

-Colin Laidley

Cooper Stock Sinks as Company Trims Growth Forecast

May 30, 2025 05:05 PM EDT

The Cooper Companies (COO) shares dropped nearly 15% and were among the biggest decliners on the S&P 500 Friday, a day after the contact lens maker lowered its full-year organic growth outlook.

The San Ramon, Calif.-based firm now sees fiscal 2025 organic growth of 5% to 6%, down from last quarter’s forecast of 6% to 8% growth. However, Cooper raised its outlook for adjusted earnings per share to $4.05 to $4.11 from the prior range of $3.94 to $4.02.

JPMorgan downgraded the stock to “neutral” from “overweight,” and lowered its price target to $76 from $110, writing in a note that “it’s hard to come away feeling positive following several quarters of mixed execution and a potentially durable slowdown in market trends back to previous levels.” Wells Fargo also dropped its price target, to $93 from $118.4

With today’s sharp decline, Cooper shares have lost about a quarter of their value this year.

-Aaron Rennie

Palantir Shares Jump on Optimism About Government Business

May 30, 2025 04:22 PM EDT

Palantir (PLTR) shares climbed Friday amid optimism about the AI darling’s expanding work for the U.S. government. 

The stock surged nearly 8%, making it one of the day’s best-performing stocks in the S&P 500. The stock has surged nearly 75% this year, leading the Nasdaq 100’s constituents so far in 2025.

Palantir’s gains have come as its work for the federal government has grown in recent months. The government has integrated a Palantir product called Foundry into at least four agencies, including the Department of Homeland Security and the Health and Human Services Department, The New York Times reported Friday.

Officials at the Social Security Administration and Internal Revenue Service have also had discussions with Palantir about buying its technology, the report said. Palantir did not immediately respond to a request for comment, nor did the SSA or IRS.

Earlier this week, Fannie Mae, the government-sponsored mortgage backer, announced the launch of an AI-powered crime detection unit in partnership with Palantir. Fannie Mae claimed the unit would help prevent millions of dollars in fraud losses by helping detect fraud “with speed and precision never before seen in the U.S. housing market.”

-Andrew Kessel

Gap Levels to Watch as Stock Slides After Tariff Warning

May 30, 2025 03:32 PM EDT

Gap Inc. (GAP) shares plunged Friday after the apparel retailer cautioned that tariffs will weigh on profit this year, overshadowing quarterly results that topped Wall Street expectations.

The company behind brands including Old Navy, Banana Republic, Athletica and its namesake label said baseline import duties could dent operating income by between $100 million and $150 million this year.

Leading into the company’s earnings report, Gap shares had rallied 65% from their early-April low and gained 18% since the start of the year, boosted by the retailer’s recent efforts to reinvigorate its brands and drive sales growth. The stock was down 19% in afternoon trading Friday at around $22.50.

Since bottoming out in early April, Gap shares have trended sharply higher, reclaiming both the 50- and 200-day moving averages along the way.

More recently, however, the stock ran into selling pressure near prominent peaks that formed on the chart in March and June last year. Interestingly, the drop occurred on increasing trading volume, indicating that some larger market participants locked in profits ahead of the retailer’s quarterly results.

Selling accelerated Friday, pushing the relative strength index (RSI) below overbought territory for the first time since mid May.

Investors should watch crucial support levels on Gap’s chart around $22 and $19, while also monitoring a major overhead area near $29.

Read the full technical analysis piece here.

-Timothy Smith

Nvidia, Other Chip Stocks Slide on China Trade Tensions

May 30, 2025 02:30 PM EDT

Nvidia (NVDA) and other semiconductor stocks slid Friday amid worries about U.S.-China trade tensions.

Shares of Nvidia were down more than 3% in recent trading. Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), Broadcom (AVGO), Micron Technology (MU), and Applied Materials (AMAT) also lost ground, with the PHLX Semiconductor Index (SOX) dropping about 3%. 

Some of Nvidia’s partners, including server maker Super Micro Computer (SMCI), saw their stocks fall as well. (Read Investopedia’s full coverage of today’s trading here.)

President Trump on Friday said China has “totally violated its agreement with us,” dampening hopes the countries would soon come to a longer-term agreement after reaching a temporary truce earlier this month. 

Separately, Bloomberg reported Friday that Trump plans to expand U.S. companies’ licensing requirements to make deals with Chinese companies that have ties to sanctioned firms.

The development comes after the Trump administration moved earlier this month to rescind the Biden-era AI diffusion rule that would have further curbed sales of American AI hardware to a broader group of countries, but warned it’s looking to replace the rule with new restrictions. Analysts at Citi and Deutsche Bank warned at the time that they could turn out to be stricter than Biden’s. 

During Nvidia’s earnings call on Wednesday, CEO Jensen Huang said it’s “terrific” that Trump rescinded the Biden-era rule, but criticized the administration’s other moves to limit its sales to China, saying that “shielding Chinese chipmakers from U.S. competition only strengthens them abroad and weakens America’s position.”

The AI chipmaker took a $4.5 billion charge in its fiscal first quarter associated with new export curbs on the company’s H20 chips to China, and said it expects to take an $8 billion hit in the current quarter due to lost revenue. 

-Kara Greenberg

Some Analysts More Bullish on Dell Despite Mixed Results

May 30, 2025 01:24 PM EDT

Dell (DELL) delivered fiscal first-quarter profits that missed analysts’ estimates, but better-than-expected sales driven by growth in its AI server division prompted several analysts to lift their price targets.

JPMorgan analysts raised their price target to $125 from $111, pointing to Dell’s $14.4 billion AI server backlog, driven by record orders in the quarter. The bank cited the “combination of readiness from multiple customers as well as better supply visibility” as reasons for optimism, which Dell partner Nvidia’s (NVDA) quarterly results helped illustrate earlier this week.

Shares of Dell were down more than 3% at around $110 in recent trading, giving JPMorgan’s target about 15% upside. The stock has slid roughly 5% in 2025 so far.

Citi lifted its target to $135, similarly citing Dell’s “robust momentum [and] competitive positioning of [Dell’s] AI portfolio.” Dell expects to deploy $7 billion worth of AI servers in the current quarter and more than $15 billion in 2025, the bank noted.

Morgan Stanley also moved its target to $135, from $126 previously. Meanwhile, Bank of America raised its target to an even more bullish $155, up from $150.4

UBS, which trimmed its target, still expects the shares to rise, adjusting to $145 from $150. The bank cautioned clients that despite strong order numbers, the inconsistent timing of orders and when revenue from them is recognized could worry investors. 

-Andrew Kessel

Regeneron Leads S&P 500 Decliners After Failed Drug Test

May 30, 2025 12:01 PM EDT

Shares of Regeneron Pharmaceuticals (REGN) and Sanofi (SNY) sank Friday when a late-stage study of the drugmakers’ experimental treatment for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in former smokers failed to meet a key endpoint.

Regenron was down nearly 20% recently, trading at a four-year low and leading S&P 500 decliners, while Sanofi fell about 6%.

The companies reported that one of the Phase 3 trials of their itepekimab inhaler did meet its primary endpoint in “significantly reducing moderate or severe acute exacerbations by 27% compared to placebo at week 52, a clinically meaningful benefit.” However, a second test did not, even though that benefit was seen in an earlier phase of the research. 

Regeneron and Sanofi said that they are reviewing the data, “and will discuss with regulatory authorities to evaluate next steps.” Dr. George Yancopoulos, Chief Scientific Officer at Regeneron, said the companies were encouraged by the one successful trial, and that they “remain committed to our broader itepekimab development program.”

Regeneron and Sanofi have also collaborated on another COPD medicine, Dupixent, which received Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval last September.

-Bill McColl

Ulta Stock Jumps as Beauty Spending Continues

May 30, 2025 11:25 AM EDT

Ulta Beauty (ULTA) shares soared Friday, a day after the beauty products retailer reported better-than-expected results and raised its guidance as consumers continued to spend on personal care merchandise.

The company posted first-quarter earnings per share (EPS) of $6.70 on net sales that increased 4.5% year-over-year to $2.85 billion. Both exceeded Visible Alpha forecasts. Comparable store sales were up 2.9%, well above the 0.37% consensus estimate.

According to a transcript of the earnings call provided by AlphaSense, CEO Kecia Steelman said that the performance was driven by sales of fragrance products, which were higher by a double-digit percentage, along with new and exclusive brands. Steelman explained that many consumers said that they were “leaning into beauty as a comfort and escape from the stress of macro uncertainty.”

Steelman called the operating environment “fluid,” and said that Ulta Beauty’s “outlook reflects uncertainty around how consumer demand could evolve.” Still, the company boosted its full-year EPS guidance to $22.65 to $23.20, up from the previous $22.50 to $22.90. It also increased the top end of its sales guidance to $11.7 billion from $11.6 billion.

Ulta shares were up 12% recently, leading gainers in the S&P 500. With this morning’s surge, the stock is back into positive territory for 2025.

-Bill McColl

Boeing Levels to Watch After Stock Hits 15-Month High

May 30, 2025 10:38 AM EDT

Boeing (BA) shares were down slightly Friday morning after hitting their highest level since February 2025 yesterday on news that the company will resume delivering planes to China next month.

CEO Kelly Ortberg said that the country’s airlines had indicated they would begin taking first deliveries in June, with the development coming after China earlier this month reportedly reversed a ruling barring its airlines from taking deliveries of Boeing planes. Sentiment likely received an added boost after Ortberg said Boeing plans to increase production of its top selling 737 Max jets to 42 per month in the near-term and 47 per month by the end of the year.

Boeing shares have rebounded more than 60% from their early-April low and trade 17% higher since the start of the year, lifted by growing optimism that the jet maker could become a beneficiary of a broader U.S-China trade deal.

The stock was down 0.6% at $207 in early trading Friday.

Boeing shares broke out above the neckline of a double bottom earlier this month before consolidating in a flag, a chart pattern that signals a continuation of the stock’s strong uptrend that has been in play since early April.

The shares broke out from the flag in Thursday’s trading session, setting the stage for another move higher. However, it’s worth pointing out that, while the relative strength index confirms bullish price momentum, the indicator also cautions overbought condition with a reading above the 70 threshold.

Investors should watch key support levels on Boeing’s chart around $199 and $187, while also monitoring resistance levels near $234 and $265.

Read the full technical analysis piece here.

-Timothy Smith

Gap Stock Plunges 20% As Company Warns on Tariffs

May 30, 2025 09:40 AM EDT

Shares of Gap Inc. (GAP) tumbled Friday morning after the apparel retailer warned of the negative impact of tariffs on its full-year earnings.

The retailer topped first-quarter estimates with earnings per share of $0.51 on $3.46 billion in revenue, but the outlook regarding tariffs outweighed the solid results. The operator of its namesake Gap stores along with Banana Republic, Old Navy, and Athleta kept its full-year outlook the same as what it laid out last quarter with sales rising 1% to 2%, but noted that it does not include the impact of tariffs.

If the tariffs stay in place, which has been called into question by a pair of recent court rulings, Gap estimates the cost at $250 million to $300 million. The company said it has “strategies to mitigate” at least half of the impact, meaning Gap’s operating income could take a hit of $100 million to $150 million, largely in the back half of the year.

CEO Richard Dickson said during Thursday’s earnings call that the company does “not expect there to be meaningful price impacts to our consumer,” and said it is still approaching pricing like normal— evaluating competition, the consumer, and Gap’s desire to provide value, per an AlphaSense transcript of the call.

Gap said net sales for the second quarter are expected to be roughly flat year-over-year, compared to 2% growth in the first quarter. Comparable sales rose 2% in the quarter, as Gap’s retail revenue was flat while online sales grew 6% in the quarter and made up nearly 40% of its total sales.

Comparable sales rose 3% and 5% at its Old Navy and Gap brands, respectively, while Banana Republic’s comp sales were flat and Athleta’s fell by 8% year-over-year as the company works to “reset the brand.”

Gap shares were down 20% in in the opening minutes of trading. They entered the day up 18% in 2025.

-Aaron McDade

Futures Point to Lower Open for Major Indexes

May 30, 2025 09:00 AM EDT

Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average were down 0.4%.

S&P 500 futures were also off 0.4%.

Nasdaq 100 futures slipped 0.3%.