Biggest S&P 500 Movers on Friday
4 hr 45 min ago
Decliners:
Shares of Dell Technologies (DELL) tumbled 8.9%, suffering the heaviest daily loss of any stock in the S&P 500. Although strong demand related to artificial intelligence helped the maker of personal computers, servers, and other IT hardware topped second-quarter sales and profit estimates, Dell’s guidance for third-quarter earnings per share came in below consensus estimates.
Ulta Beauty (ULTA) shares dropped 7.1%. The decline reversed solid gains posted by the stock in the prior session. The cosmetics retailer late yesterday posted stronger-than-expected sales and profits for the second quarter and boosted its full-year revenue guidance. Ulta faces continued uncertainty related to potential tariff impacts.
Although many stocks with exposure to AI initially gained ground in the wake of the latest earnings report from AI semiconductor giant Nvidia (NVDA), the rally lost steam on Friday. Shares of Oracle (ORCL), the enterprise software firm that has recently announced major investments in AI and cloud infrastructure, slipped 5.9%, while shares of AI-focused server manufacturer Super Micro Computer (SMCI) ended 5.5% lower.
Advancers:
Autodesk (ADSK) shares bucked the downward pressure on the broader tech sector and software industries, jumping 9.1% to log the S&P 500’s top performance. The engineering and design software provider topped second-quarter sales and adjusted profit estimates and lifted its full-year forecasts. Demand for its design software for AI data centers helped underpin the performance.
Shares of Cooper Cos. (COO), a medical device maker focused vision care and surgical products, advanced 4.4%. With the move higher heading into the holiday weekend, Cooper stock clawed back a portion of the heavy losses posted Thursday after the company missed quarterly revenue estimates and lowered its full-year sales forecast.
J.M. Smucker (SJM) stock also staged a recovery on Friday from a post-earnings swoon suffered earlier in the week, adding 3.6%. The maker of its namesake fruit spreads as well as the Hostess snack cake brand reported a loss for its fiscal first quarter and noted that tariffs were having a negative impact on its coffee business. On its earnings call, the company said it anticipates additional price hikes as it navigates tariff-related cost pressure.
-Michael Bromberg
SentinelOne Earnings Point to Strong AI-Driven Cybersecurity Demand
5 hr 59 min ago
Shares of SentinelOne (S) rose nearly 6% Friday after the company became the latest cybersecurity firm whose results topped estimates as AI threats proliferate.
SentinelOne on Thursday evening reported fiscal 2026 second-quarter annualized recurring revenue grew 24% year-over-year to surpass $1 billion for the first time, and raised its full-year revenue guidance.
Jefferies analysts in a note on Friday attributed the strong results to “improved execution” and a broadening product portfolio, which will grow later this year when the company completes its acquisition of Prompt Security, “a pioneer in securing AI in runtime, preventing AI-related data leakage and protecting intelligent agents.”
SentinelOne is the latest cybersecurity company to report strong demand amid a proliferation of AI-related threats. Palo Alto Networks (PANW) earlier this month topped sales and earnings estimates and issued stronger-than-expected guidance, as did Okta (OKTA).
“As GenAI and agentic AI fundamentally reshape how businesses operate, new risks are emerging around visibility, compliance, data leakage and control,” SentinelOne CEO Tomer Weingarten said on the company’s earnings call, according to an AlphaSense transcript.
Morgan Stanley analysts in a note last month identified three distinct “core secular security drivers” sustaining strong demand for cybersecurity products: “growth of the attack surface area” with the expansion of cloud computing and AI; “severity of the threat environment,” referring to the increasing sophistication of AI-supported attacks; and “expanding regulatory/compliance requirements” stemming from the adoption of generative AI.
For that reason, cybersecurity remains a top priority for IT executives. According to Morgan Stanley’s second-quarter Chief Information Officer survey, companies expect to increase cybersecurity software by 9.8% this year, up from 9.2% in the fourth quarter of 2024. That far outpaces plans for overall software spending, which respondents recently forecast would grow by 3.6%, down from 3.8% in the 2025 first quarter.
-Colin Laidley
PepsiCo Leans Into Energy Drinks With $585M Celsius Stake
6 hr 40 min ago
PepsiCo (PEP) is leaning further into energy drinks, increasing its stake in Celsius Holdings (CELH) to 11% in a $585 million deal.
The news sent shares of Celsius up 4% in early trading Friday, bringing their year-to-date gains to 140%.
As part of a deal the two have struck, PepsiCo has bought $585 million in newly issued convertible preferred shares in Celsius and extended its existing preferred shares. PepsiCo will distribute Celsius’ “female-focused” Alani Nu brand in the U.S. and Canada, while Celsius has bought the Rockstar Energy brand in the U.S. and Canada from the maker of Doritos and Pepsi soda.
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PepsiCo will nominate an additional director to Celsius’s board and continue to own the Rockstar Energy brand internationally.
The deal “marks the next step in PepsiCo reshaping its brand portfolio,” PepsiCo CEO Ram Krishnan said. “Energy is an important growth category, and we believe this move with our partner Celsius creates a stronger multi-brand energy portfolio that is better positioned to serve different consumer cohorts.”
Shares in PepsiCo, whose other sports drinks include Gatorade, are little changed in early trading Friday and have lost 3% of their value so far this year.
-Nisha Gopalan
Alibaba Stock Jumps on Earnings, Chip News
7 hr 42 min ago
China intends to keep up with the Jensen Huangs of the world.
Recent moves out of the country’s tech sector illustrate the country’s ambitions to remain a contender in the race for AI dominance at a time when Nvidia (NVDA), its CEO Huang, and others hope to thwart its advance and battle for a big share of a multibillion-dollar Chinese market for AI technology.
The latest development: Chinese e-commerce juggernaut Alibaba Group Holdings’ (BABA) cloud-computing unit is said to have developed a new chip more advanced than its legacy products, according to a new report from the Wall Street Journal.
Other AI challengers are emerging from Shanghai to Beijing.
Alibaba did not respond to Investopedia’s request for comment on the report in time for publication. But investors took note: Its stock, aided by its latest quarterly results, was 13% higher in recent trading Friday. Meanwhile, the PHLX Semiconductor Index (SOX) fell nearly 3%, with Marvell Technology’s (MRVL) double-digit decline dragging on the overall index.
Shares of Nvidia (NVDA), Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSM) were also down as of Friday afternoon.
Though the U.S. has blocked China from accessing critical AI tools on national-security grounds and boosted domestic companies, Chinese companies are finding workarounds. China appears intent on eschewing U.S.-made products for its own; Nvidia reportedly suspended production of its H20 chips after Beijing asked local firms to avoid using them due to security concerns.
Jack Ma-founded Alibaba could be a formidable challenger if its AI business grows up to be anything like its online retail business, which in its latest fiscal year generated roughly $81 billion in revenue. CEO Eddie Wu said the firm “has ambitions beyond competing in a single category” and will invest to drive growth in its cloud and AI infrastructure businesses, during its quarterly earnings call, per a transcript made available by AlphaSense.
Alibaba had previously announced plans to spend 380 billion renminbi, or over $50 billion, to drive growth in those businesses over the next three years. The company has also rolled out an AI model it said could outperform models from fellow Chinese challenger DeepSeek, OpenAI, and Meta Platforms (META). Cloud revenue grew 26% in the June-ended quarter.
“Alibaba Group has two historic opportunities to build a technology platform centered on AI plus cloud and to create a comprehensive shopping and daily life services consumption platform,” Wu said Friday.
-Crystal Kim
Autodesk Stock Surges Amid Growing AI-Related Demand
9 hr 1 min ago
Autodesk (ADSK) shares surged Friday after the company posted better-than-expected results and raised its guidance on demand for its design software for artificial intelligence data centers.
Autodesk late Thursday reported fiscal 2026 second-quarter adjusted earnings per share (EPS) of $2.62, with revenue rising 17% year-over-year to $1.76 billion. Both exceeded forecasts. Billings jumped 36% to $1.68 billion, also more than estimates.
Design segment product sales increased 17% to $1.47 billion, and Make unit product sales were 20% higher to $194 million.
Sales of its Architecture, Engineering, Construction, and Operations (AECO) software grew 23% to $878 million, and its popular AutoCad and AutoCad LT software brought in $440 million, up 13%.
CFO Janesh Moorjani said the company “saw strength in AECO, where our customers are benefiting from sustained investment in data centers, infrastructure, and industrial buildings, which is more than offsetting softness in commercial.”
Autodesk now sees full-year adjusted EPS of $9.80 to $9.98, revenue of $7.025 billion to $7.075 billion, and billings of $7.355 billion to $7.445. Previously, the company’s guidance was for adjusted EPS of $9.50 to $9.73, revenue of $6.925 billion to $6.995 billion, and billings of $7.160 billion to $7.310 billion.
Autodesk shares were up 8% recently, pacing S&P 500 gainers. The stock has moved back into positive territory for 2025.
-Bill McColl
Caterpillar Leads Dow Decliners as Company Warns on Tariffs
9 hr 33 min ago
Caterpillar (CAT) shares slid Friday, a day after the maker of big farm and construction equipment warned tariffs would negatively impact its results by a greater amount the rest of the year.
The company wrote in a regulatory filing that it expects tariffs to cost about $500 million to $600 million in the third quarter and approximately $1.5 to $1.8 billion for 2025. Earlier this month, it said it expected 2025 net incremental tariffs around $1.3 billion to $1.5 billion.
In addition, Caterpillar sees full-year adjusted operating margin to be near the bottom of the target range. In its second-quarter earnings call Aug. 5, the company said that excluding tariffs, it anticipated adjusted operating margin to be in the top half of its target range. However, it doesn’t see any change in its 2025 sales and revenue outlook that was given then.
The company explained that it was providing this update as “several additional clarifications and additional tariffs have been announced” since the second quarter. It noted that further updates would come during the Q3 report and earnings call on Oct. 29.
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Caterpillar shares were down 4.5% recently, leading decliners in the Dow Jones Industrial Average. Despite the decline, the stock is up about 15% since the start of the year.
-Bill McColl
Marvell Levels to Watch as Stock Plunges After Earnings
10 hr 26 min ago
Marvell Technology (MRVL) shares plunged Friday after the chip designer issued a sales forecast below Wall Street’s expectations.
The company said it expects third-quarter revenue of $2.06 billion, give or take 5%, with that figure slightly below analysts’ estimates. CEO Matthew Murphy said in the company’s earnings call that he expects data center sales to be flat on a sequential basis, though he added that he anticipates stronger performance in the fourth quarter.
Shares of Marvell were down 17% at around $64 in recent trading, and have lost more than 40% of their value since the start of the year amid concerns the company could struggle to live up to investors’ high expectations of AI-driven upside. Uncertainty about U.S. chip restrictions on China sales, which represent a large portion of Marvell’s revenue, has also weighed on sentiment.
Marvell shares earlier this month broke down below an uptrend line extending back to the April low before staging a retest of the indicator leading into the company’s quarterly results. Although the recent move saw the relative strength index cross back into bullish territory, selling resumed Friday following the company’s light outlook.
The stock has also failed to reclaim the closely watched 200-day moving average after gapping below the indicator in March, indicating the bears remain in control of the longer-term price action.
Investors should watch critical support levels on Marvell’s chart around $62, $56 and $50, while also monitoring an overhead area near $78.
Read the full technical analysis piece here.
-Timothy Smith
Dell Shares Tumble on Soft Profit Outlook
11 hr 5 min ago
Dell Technologies (DELL) shares sank Friday, a day after it projected soft current-quarter profit.
The Round Rock, Texas-based maker of personal computers and servers sees third-quarter adjusted earnings per share (EPS) of $2.45 at the midpoint, below the $2.49 expected by analysts surveyed by Visible Alpha.
Dell shares, which entered Friday up 16% this year, were down 10% in recent trading.
Dell’s forecasts for Q3 revenue and full-year profit and revenue came in above Visible Alpha consensus. Its second-quarter adjusted EPS of $2.32 on revenue that surged 19% year-over-year to a record $29.78 billion also topped estimates, which the company attributed to strong AI demand.
“We’ve now shipped $10 billion of AI solutions in the first half of FY26, surpassing all shipments in FY25. This helped deliver another record revenue quarter in our Servers and Networking business, which grew 69%,” COO Jeff Clarke said. “Demand for our AI solutions continues to be exceptional, and we’re raising our AI server shipment guidance for FY26 to $20 billion” from $15 billion-plus.
Citi analysts said in a note Friday that Dell’s Q2 PC segment sales were below consensus forecasts “by 3% or roughly $357.0 million,” and that it “likely lost share in PCs.” It added that the increase in its AI server shipment guidance is good news for Nvidia (NVDA), which makes up 88% of its sales, and Micron Technology (MU), at 17%. “Dell expects the traditional server business to grow in the 2nd half but below their prior expectations from the beginning of the year,” the analysts wrote.
Affirm Stock Soars After Strong Earnings
12 hr 5 min ago
Affirm (AFRM) swung to a quarterly profit with better-than-estimated results, as the buy now, pay later provider posted surging gross merchandise volume.
The buoyant numbers boosted Affirm shares, which entered Friday up more than 30% this year. The stock jumped more than 20% in early trading.
The company reported fiscal fourth-quarter earnings per share of $0.20, up from a $0.14 loss per share the previous year, on revenue of $876.42 million. Analysts polled by Visible Alpha expected $0.11 per share earnings and $837.44 million in revenue, respectively. The BNPL firm reported fourth-quarter operating income of $58.06 million, versus an operating loss in the same period last year of $73.46 million.
Affirm CEO Max Levchin said in a letter to shareholders that during the 2025 fiscal year, the company expanded its merchant network, increased transaction frequency by direct-to-consumer products, and focused on “excellent credit performance.”
“This consistent execution led Affirm to achieve operating income profitability in FQ4’25 – right on the schedule we committed to a year ago,” Levchin said.=
Affirm forecast first-quarter fiscal 2026 revenue in the range of $855 million to $885 million, with the midpoint below Visible Alpha estimates of $882.38 million, and GMV between $10.10 billion and $10.40 billion. It said it expects full-year fiscal 2026 gross merchandise volume to exceed $46 billion.
-Nisha Gopalan
Major Index Futures Point to Lower Open
13 hr 32 min ago
Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average were down 0.3%.
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S&P 500 futures also fell 0.3%.
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Nasdaq 100 futures declined 0.5%.
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