S&P 500, Dow Hit Record Highs as Nvidia and Other Tech Stocks Surge

Biggest S&P 500 Movers on Monday

30 minutes ago

Advancers

• Shares of power generator Vistra (VST) jumped 5.6% on Monday to notch the best daily performance of any S&P 500 constituent after BNP Paribas initiated coverage on the stock with an “outperform” rating. BNP also established a price target of $230 on Vistra shares, representing upside potential of around 74% from Monday’s close. Vistra surpassed Nvidia (NVDA) last month as the S&P 500’s top performer for 2024, riding a wave of enthusiasm around the company’s opportunity to provide nuclear-generated power for artificial intelligence (AI) data centers.
• It was also a strong day for semiconductor stocks, with shares of AI darling Nvidia reaching an all-time high after several bullish comments from Wall Street analysts. Citi analysts said yesterday Nvidia is “still king” when it comes to its client base in the AI accelerator market, and that its GPU sales to hyperscalers like Alphabet’s (GOOGL) Google and Microsoft (MSFT) could double this year.

• Shares of Amentum (AMTM), which began trading last month following a spinoff from the engineering and construction firm Jacobs Solutions (J), were up 5.5%. The gains on Monday came after Truist initiated coverage of Amentum shares with a “buy” rating and $31 price target, suggesting over 9% upside as the company could outperform cost-savings forecasts.

Decliners

• Shares of discount retailer Dollar General (DG) dropped 3.3%, marking the heaviest losses in the S&P 500 on Monday. Investment management firm Heartland Advisors published a report pinpointing Dollar General as one of the weakest-performing stocks in its midcap value fund during the third quarter. Shares of competitor Dollar Tree (DLTR) ended the session 3.1% lower.
• CrowdStrike Holdings (CRWD) shares sank 3%. The downturn reversed a portion of the strong gains posted by the stock last week after RBC Capital analysts included CrowdStrike stock among their top picks in the software space, contending that the cybersecurity firm is successfully navigating the fallout from an incident in July when a malfunctioning software update caused extensive tech outages. However, CrowdStrike still faces potential repercussions from the incident. In its earnings report released last week, Delta Air Lines (DAL) cited the negative impact of the outage and said the carrier continues to seek compensation from the cybersecurity firm.
• Arch Capital Group (ACGL) shares slipped 2.9% after the specialty insurer announced a shakeup of its executive team. The company tapped Nicolas Papadopoulo to step into the chief executive officer (CEO) role and join the board of directors, effective immediately. Papadopoulo takes the reins from retiring CEO Marc Grandisson, who held the position since 2018.

–Michael Bromberg

Nvidia Hits Record Closing High on Growing AI Demand

57 minutes ago

Nvidia (NVDA) shares climbed to a record closing high Monday in the wake of bullish comments from Wall Street analysts.

Citi analysts said Nvidia is “still king” when it comes to its client base in the AI accelerator market, and projected the chipmaker’s GPU sales to hyperscalers such as Alphabet’s (GOOGL) Google and Microsoft (MSFT) will double this year.

Citi and all but one of the other 22 analysts covering Nvidia tracked by Visible Alpha held a “buy” or equivalent rating on the stock as of Monday, with a consensus price target of $152.41, implying about 10% upside from Monday’s closing price. 

The chipmaker’s stock price has nearly tripled this year as demand for the company’s AI chips has surged. 

Nvidia surpassed Microsoft last week as the world’s second-largest company by market capitalization and is getting close to passing up Apple for the top spot.

Read the full article here.

–Kara Greenberg

SiriusXM Surges as Buffett’s Berkshire Boosts Stake

2 hr 47 min ago

SiriusXM (SIRI) shares rallied Monday after Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A, BRK.B) raised its stake in the satellite radio company. 

Berkshire Hathaway bought 3.6 million shares for roughly $97 million across four purchases from Wednesday to Friday, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing. The purchases bring Berkshire’s stake to nearly one-third of SiriusXM.

SiriusXM shares were nearly 9% higher in afternoon trading Monday, though even with Monday’s gains, they’ve lost about half of their value so far in 2024. 

In August, SiriusXM signed a multi-year agreement with Alex Cooper to bring her popular “Call Her Daddy” show to its platform starting in 2025. The deal is reportedly for three years and worth $125 million, double her current arrangement with Spotify (SPOT).

The move is part of a “comprehensive programming development strategy for exclusive content with SiriusXM, expected to begin rolling out in 2025,” the company said.

–Andrew Kessel

Uber Levels to Watch as Stock Trades Near Record Highs

3 hr 40 min ago

Shares in Uber Technologies (UBER) lost ground Monday but were still near record highs after investors saw little threat to rideshare companies from Tesla’s (TSLA) highly anticipated robotaxi unveiling last week.

Uber stock was down 1.6% at $85 in mid-afternoon trading Monday. The stock hit an all-time high of $87 on Friday and finished the session 11% higher.

A chart-based price target using the measuring principle projects a potential move up to $93, an area where investors may decide to lock in profits.

Investors should watch important support levels on Uber’s chart around $81, $74, and $68.

Read the full technical analysis piece here.

–Timothy Smith

Crypto Stocks Rise as Bitcoin Jumps to Near $66K

4 hr 53 min ago

Bitcoin (BTCUSD) rose Monday, lifting shares of Coinbase Global (COIN) and other stocks linked to the cryptocurrency. 

The price of bitcoin was recently near $66,000, rising more than 5% over the past 24 hours according to CoinDesk data. That helped shares of companies like crypto exchange Coinbase and crypto mining company Marathon Digital (MARA). Coinbase stock was recently up about 8%.

The moves came as broader markets, including the tech-focused Nasdaq Composite, rose to start the week. They have bitcoin trading at its highest level of the month, though a bit below their highest points of 2024.

They also follow a policy statement from Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee, citing support for “a regulatory framework for cryptocurrency and other digital assets.” The statement, along with previous comments from former President Donald Trump, her Republican opponent, could signal Washington may move toward a more crypto-friendly outlook regardless of who wins the election.

 Trump in recent days has used social media to promote the coming sale of a crypto token

–David Marino-Nachison

SoFi Gets a Lift From $2B Fortress Capital Loan Deal

6 hr 28 min ago

Shares of SoFi Technologies (SOFI) rose Monday morning after the digital financial services company announced a $2 billion deal with Fortress Capital to grow its personal loans business. 

CEO Anthony Noto in a joint statement said the business, in which it refers pre-qualified borrowers to loan origination partners and originates loans for other companies, can help SoFI “diversify toward less capital-intensive and more fee-based sources of revenue.”

Fortress said that SoFi’s personal loans platform creates a “compelling investment opportunity” for its funds.

SoFi’s stock price was up over 7% in late-morning trading, with the shares in recent months moving off August lows back toward breakeven for the year. 

The company in July said second-quarter lending services revenue rose 3% year-over-year to about $340 million, a bit more than half of SoFi’s total revenue for the quarter. Third-quarter results are due later this month

–David Marino-Nachison

Boeing Slides After News of Cost Cuts, Charges

6 hr 45 min ago

Boeing (BA) shares fell Monday morning after the troubled plane maker announced a slew of cost-cutting measures and billions of dollars of upcoming charges, among the most radical measures by CEO Kelly Ortberg, who took the reins in August. 

Ortberg said in a memo to employees late Friday that the company is cutting around 10% of its workforce, or 17,000 people, “over the coming months,” and postponing the launch of its first 777x jetliner.

“Our business is in a difficult position, and it is hard to overstate the challenges we face together,” Ortberg said. “We need to be clear-eyed about the work we face and realistic about the time it will take to achieve key milestones.” 

Boeing also said it expects to take a total of $5 billion in pre-tax earnings charges at its commercial airplanes and defense divisions in the third quarter.

The company said it may report a loss of around $10 per share for the period.The plane maker, which has faced a number of challenges since a door plug detached during an Alaska Airlines flight in January, was hit with a downgrade warning on its debt by ratings agency S&P Global last week after it withdrew its contract offer to its striking machinists.

In a note Monday morning, UBS analysts lowered their price target for Boeing stock to $215 from $220 per share to reflect the lower cash flow in Boeing’s 2027 fiscal year from the charges and the delayed 777x jefliner. Still, UBS maintained its “buy” rating.

Boeing shares were down 1.3% at around $149 in recent trading, after falling as low as $146 earlier in the session.

–Nisha Gopalan

S&P 500, Dow Start the Week at Record Highs

8 hr 23 min ago

The Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 kicked off the week at record-high levels, while the Nasdaq started trading Monday 1.7% away from its all-time high set in July.

Coming into the week, the S&P 500 and Nasdaq have each gained 22% in 2024.

Futures Point to Mixed Open for Major Indexes

9 hr 32 min ago

Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average were down 0.2%.

S&P 500 futures were up 0.2%.

Nasdaq 100 futures were up 0.3%.