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Market Moves Yesterday

S&P 500 @ 5,916.98 ( ⬆️ 0.40%)

Nasdaq Composite @ 18,987.47 ( ⬆️ 1.04%)

Bitcoin @ $93,324.66 ( ⬆️ 1.72%)

Hey Scoopers,

Happy Wednesday! Are you ready to tackle the midweek mania?

👉 Walmart beats estimates

👉 Housing starts under pressure?

👉 Analyst downgrades Apple

So, let’s go 🚀

Market Wrap

Equity indices moved higher on Tuesday, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq gaining over 1%, powered by Nvidia shares, as investors shrugged off concerns regarding mounting geopolitical tensions between Ukraine and Russia.

Nvidia rose 5% ahead of its closely watched earnings report, which is scheduled to be released today. Tesla gained 2%, bringing its month-to-date rally to 38%, while Amazon and Alphabet added more than 1% each. 

In addition to Nvidia’s revenue and earnings numbers for fiscal Q3 (which ended in October), Wall Street would want details on demand for Nvidia’s Blackwell AI chips, which CEO Jensen Huang recently characterized as “insane.”

The AI darling’s Q3 results could set the tone for the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite for the rest of the week. Retailers like Target and TJX will also report their quarterly results today.

Elsewhere, Russian President Vladimir Putin warned the U.S. that the threshold for the use of nuclear weapons had lowered after President Joe Biden allowed Ukraine to use U.S. weapons to strike inside Russia.

Treasury prices and gold futures rose as investors moved into safe-haven assets.

Trending Stocks 🔥

Comcast - Shares of the telecom giant are up 2.4% in pre-market after it is expected to announce a spin-off of its cable networks, including CNBC and MSNBC.

Keysight Technologies - The stock added over 10% after the electronics test and measure equipment company forecast earnings between $1.65 and $1.71 per share for the current quarter, ahead of consensus estimates of $1.57 per share.

Dolby Laboratories - The audio technology company advanced 14% after it reported fiscal Q4 earnings of $0.61 per share vs. estimates of $0.45 per share. It also raised dividends by 10% to $0.33 a share.

Walmart Benefits from Customer Spending

Walmart raised its forecast on Tuesday and expects net sales for fiscal 2025 (ending in January) to grow between 4.8% and 5.1% year over year, ahead of its previous forecast of growth between 3.75% and 4.75%.

In fiscal Q3 of 2025, the big-box discount retailer reported:

👉 Revenue of $169.59 billion vs. estimates of $167.72 billion

👉 Earnings per share of $0.58 vs. estimates of $0.53

Here are some key Q3 numbers for Walmart:

• Comparable sales rose 5.3% for Walmart and 7% at Sam’s Club, excluding fuel.

• Transactions in the U.S. rose 3.1%, while average ticket size increased by 2.1% year over year.

• E-commerce sales rose 22% in the U.S. due to growth in Walmart’s ad and third-party marketplace businesses.

Walmart emphasized that its e-commerce business is getting close to profitability. It has managed to offset the delivery cost with incremental fees that customers are willing to pay for convenience and faster delivery. 

The upcoming holiday spending will be crucial for Walmart and other retailers. A report from the National Retail Federation projects holiday spending in November and December to range between $979.5 billion and $989 billion, up 2.5% to 3.5% YoY.

Walmart stock is up 65% in 2024, crushing the S&P 500 index returns of 24%.

Housing Data Falls Short

The Census Bureau reported that new housing data in October missed expectations, as surging mortgage rates coincided with a decline in activity.

Privately owned new construction totaled a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.31 million units, down 3.1% from September and below the Dow Jones estimate of 1.34 million. The total was also 4% below October 2023.

The total of 1.42 million building permits represented a 0.6% monthly decline and missed the forecast of 1.43 million. Permits declined 7.7% from the year-ago period.

Meanwhile, shares of Lowe’s, a home improvement retailer, fell 4.6% after estimating sales would decline year over year.

Apple, Google, Reddit, and Kraft Heinz

An analyst downgrade

MoffettNathanson analyst Carif Moffett lowered his price target on Apple by $9 to $202.2, suggesting a fall of roughly 12% from current levels.

Moffett maintained a neutral rating on the iPhone maker and noted, “As we enter 2025, the prevailing narrative is still a broadly optimistic one. The cycle might be delayed, but it’s still coming, and when we’re through it, Apple can sell Apple Intelligence to 1B+ users.”

Apple stock has added 19% in 2024, which suggests it has underperformed the broad S&P 500.

Piper Sandler is Cautious on Kraft Heinz

Piper Sandler says President-Elect Donald Trump’s selection of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as House and Human Services secretary may lower Kraft Heinz stock.

Shares were down more than 1.5% Tuesday after analyst Michael Lavery downgraded Kraft Heinz to “neutral” from “overweight” and cut his price target, which is still 12% higher than current prices.

Kennedy Jr. has indicated an interest in fighting ‘ultra-processed’ foods, targeting several products part of Heinz’s portfolio.

Lavery also explained he does not expect retail momentum to improve in the near term. Kraft-Heinz stock is down 16% in 2024 and over 13% in the last month. 

and is Bullish on Reddit

Meanwhile, Piper Sandler thinks Google's apparent attempt to monetize Reddit searches could mean more gains for the social media platform.

Reddit stock rose close to 6% after the investment firm, which has an overweight rating on the stock, increased its price target.

“Our October Ad Metrics posits Google is starting to monetize searches with ‘Reddit’ in the title by posting paid links / products ads above organic results,” the analyst told clients in a recent note. “While debate remains on the sustainability of user growth, our data gives us more confidence in the organic top of funnel for Reddit growth.”

Reddit has been seeing significant gains in recent months. Shares have soared more than 108% over the past six months and around 138% over the past three months.

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Headlines You Can't Miss!

UK inflation rises over BoE’s 2% target

Japan’s October exports beat estimates

China keeps benchmark lending rates steady

Trump tariffs to push down U.S. growth, warns Morgan Stanley

Bitcoin ETF options all set to go live

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DISCLAIMER: None of this is financial advice. The newsletter is strictly educational and is not investment advice or a solicitation to buy or sell assets or make financial decisions. Please be careful and do your own research.