Stock market news for May 8, 2024

Here is how the major indexes closed on Wednesday:

— Pia Singh

A bounce in equities, specifically the benchmark S&P 500, is showing signs of concentration and lackluster sentiment, according to Citi.

“The S&P bounce-back rally continues, but flows tell a story of limited enthusiasm with a trickle of new long positions and only marginal increase in risk appetite,” analyst Chris Montagu wrote Tuesday.

— Brian Evans

Crude oil futures rose Wednesday, recovering losses from earlier in the session as U.S. crude inventories fell.

The West Texas Intermediate contract for June rose 61 cents, or 0.78%, to settle at $78.99 a barrel. The Brent contract for July was last trading at $83.75 a barrel, up 59 cents, or 0.72%.

Oil was down more than 1% earlier in the session, after U.S. commercial crude stockpiles declined by 1.4 million barrels in the first week of May, according to official data from the Energy Information Administration. The decline was a surprise compared to industry data that indicated a 509,000 barrel buildup.

Oil prices have fallen nearly 7% since reaching their April highs when traders bid up prices on fears that Iran and Israel would go to war. Investors have largely sold off the war premium since then, with Morgan Stanley removing $4 per barrel of risk from its oil price forecast for the year.

— Spencer Kimball

The utilities sector is 2.2% higher for the week, leading the broad market index’s sector gains.

Constellation Energy has gained around 5% week to date, followed by NextEra Energy and Sempra, which are up around 3%.

Communication services is also having a successful week, with the overall sector rising 1.9%. Netflix and Meta are among the top gainers, rising 6% and 4.2%, respectively.

The only sector in the red for the week is consumer discretionary, which is down 0.1%.

— Hakyung Kim

Arista Networks‘ post-earnings rally made it the best performer in the S&P 500 during Wednesday trading.

Shares climbed more than 7% in afternoon trading. That is not only the biggest gain of all the names in the broad index on Wednesday, but it would also mark its best session since late October, when shares jumped 14% in one day.

Arista posted $1.99 in earnings per share on revenue of $1.57 billion for the first quarter, topping expectations of $1.74 in earnings per share and $1.55 billion in revenue from analysts polled by LSEG. The company also offered guidance for current-quarter revenue that was largely above analysts’ consensus forecast.

— Alex Harring

Shares of Shoals Technologies Group were more than 16% lower on Wednesday after the electrical balance of systems, or EBOS, company missed first-quarter revenue estimates.

Shoals reported revenue of $90.8 million in its most recent quarter, while analysts polled by FactSet forecast $94.3 million. The company also issued a lower-than-expected second-quarter revenue outlook that calls for $85 million to $95 million, while analysts had expected $110.2 million.

— Brian Evans

Check out the companies making headlines in midday trading:

• Uber Technologies — The ride-hailing giant fell more than 8% after posting mixed first-quarter results. The company’s overall revenue exceeded expectations, coming in at $10.13 billion versus analysts’ estimate of $10.11 billion, per LSEG. However, the company posted a loss of 32 cents per share. Analysts had forecast earnings of 23 cents per share.
• Reddit — Shares added roughly 3% after the social media platform reported stronger-than-expected revenue and robust daily active user growth in its debut report. Revenue came in at $243 million, topping the $212.8 million expected by analysts polled by LSEG.
• Intel — The chipmaker fell 2.8% after releasing revised second-quarter guidance. Intel said it now expects revenue below $13 billion for the quarter after the U.S. Department of Commerce revoked export licenses for China-based Huawei.

For the full list, read here.

— Hakyung Kim

Reddit shares moved 3.3% higher Wednesday after the company reported first-quarter revenue postmarket Tuesday that topped expectations. It was Reddit’s first quarterly results since its initial public offering in March.

Revenue came in at $243 million, up from $163.7 million a year earlier, and higher than the $212.8 million expected from analysts polled by LSEG. It lost $8.19 per share, which may not compare to the loss of $8.71 per share expected by LSEG.

“We see this as the beginning of a new chapter as we work towards building the next generation of Reddit,” CEO Steve Huffman said in a release Tuesday.

— Ashley Capoot, Michelle Fox

Boston Fed President Susan Collins said Wednesday that it is likely to take longer than expected to get inflation back down to the central bank’s goal, but noted that policymakers should be wary not to wait too long to start normalizing interest rates.

“The recent upward surprises to activity and inflation suggest the likely need to keep policy at its current level until we have greater confidence that inflation is moving sustainably toward 2 percent,” Collins said in remarks at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

As she examines the conditions that will need to fall into place before cutting, Collins said she is focused on inflation expectations, more signs of disinflation, signals from wages and moderation in the labor market.

“The current situation requires methodical perseverance, recognizing that progress will take time and continue to be uneven. Expecting all indicators to be well-aligned is too high a bar to start normalizing policy,” Collins added.

Current Fed policy is “well-positioned” as the various pieces of information develop, she said.

— Jeff Cox

Tripadvisor shares plummeted more than 28% and headed for their worst day on record after the company ruled out the likelihood of a buyout.

“The Special Committee has determined that at this time, there is no transaction with a third party that is in the best interests of the company and its stockholders,” the company said in a release.

The moves came even after the online travel company topped adjusted earnings expectations by 10 cents a share and reported in-line revenue for the recent quarter.

For the full year, Tripadvisor said it expects consolidated revenue to grow in the mid-single digits. The company also revised second-quarter guidance lower.

The stock is down 16% this year.

— Samantha Subin

Shopify was poised to see its worst session in the e-commerce stock’s history.

Shares tumbled more than 19% in morning trading, which would be its worst daily loss on record. Currently, March 16, 2020, holds that accolade after the stock fell around 17.6%.

Shopify beat expectations of analysts polled by LSEG on both lines in the first quarter. But the company said its revenue outlook would be affected by the sales of its logistics businesses, while also warning that the gross margin would decrease in the current quarter.

— Alex Harring, Gina Francolla

DoubleVerify Holdings, a digital advertising measurement company with a $5.5 billion market value, as of Tuesday, is down 38% premarket Wednesday after cutting its second-quarter and full-year revenue and adjusted EBITDA forecasts.

“We are adjusting our full-year 2024 guidance ranges to 17% revenue growth, and 31% adjusted EBITDA margins at the midpoints primarily due to uneven spending patterns among select large advertisers,” DoubleVerify said in reporting its latest quarter’s results postmarket Tuesday.

Wells, Keybanc and Capital One all downgraded DoubleVerify in reaction.

DoubleVerify is trading near $19 in premarket trading, down from $30.57 at Tuesday’s close, showing the greatest percentage decline of any stock in the S&P 1500 Index, comprised of the S&P 500, MidCap 400 and SmallCap 600.

— Scott Schnipper

Here are the stocks making headlines before the bell:

• Lyft — Shares of the ride-hailing company rose 5% after first-quarter results showed faster-than-expected growth. Lyft reported $1.28 billion in revenue, above the StreetAccount consensus of $1.16 billion. Total bookings also topped expectations.
• Uber Technologies — The ride-hailing giant slid 7% after reporting mixed first-quarter results. The company’s overall revenue exceeded expectations, coming in at $10.13 billion versus an LSEG estimate of $10.11 billion. Booking revenue, however, totaled $37.65 billion. That is below a StreetAccount forecast of $37.93 billion.
• Reddit — The social media company rose 11% after its first quarterly report beat expectations. Reddit reported a loss of $8.19 per share on $243 million of revenue, while FactSet analysts were expecting a loss of $8.75 per share on $214 million of revenue.

For the full list, read here.

— Jesse Pound

Shares of Intel slid 2.6% after the chipmaker updated its second-quarter outlook on a U.S. Commerce Department notice from Tuesday that said it was revoking certain licenses for exports of consumer-related items to a customer in China.

Intel said it expects revenue to come out below the midpoint of its original range of $12.5 billion to $13.5 billion, according to a regulatory filing. This is the second time the company has lowered its quarterly guidance in less than two weeks, as the company previously lowered its range on April 25, per Bespoke Investment Group.

For the full year, Intel still expects its revenue and earnings per share to grow year over year compared to 2023, according to FactSet.

— Pia Singh

Uber slid 6% after the ride-hailing giant reported mixed first-quarter results.

The company’s overall revenue exceeded expectations, coming in at $10.13 billion versus an LSEG estimate of $10.11 billion. Booking revenue, however, totaled $37.65 billion. That is below a StreetAccount forecast of $37.93 billion.

European markets were slightly higher in early deals Wednesday, with the pan-European Stoxx 600 index trading up 0.3%.

The U.K.’s FTSE 100 index was 0.4% higher at 8,346, Germany’s DAX was up 0.5% at 18,527, France’s CAC was 0.9% higher at 8,150 and Italy’s FTSE MIB was down 0.2% at 34,161.

Singapore’s United Overseas Bank posted a first-quarter net profit of 1.47 billion Singapore dollars ($1.08 billion), a 2% fall compared to the same period last year. This however, beat the mean estimate of SG$1.43 billion from analysts polled by LSEG.

Net interest income, a key profitability indicator, eased to 2%, mainly due to lower net interest margins compared with a year ago.

However, UOB highlighted that net fee income grew 5% year over year to SG$580 million, driven by loan-related, wealth management and credit card fees.

The bank, which is Southeast Asia’s third largest, also said its integration with Citigroup’s businesses was “progressing well,” and said it will complete the integration in Vietnam in 2025.

Last year, UOB acquired Citi’s consumer businesses in four ASEAN markets.

Shares of Japanese video game company Nintendo slipped almost 4% after the company announced its fourth-quarter results. The company will also announce the successor to its flagship Switch console this fiscal year, according to a Google-translated post on social media site X from the company that quotes Nintendo President Shuntaro Furukawa.

For the fiscal year ending March 2025, Nintendo forecast net sales of 1.35 trillion yen, or $8.72 billion, and net profit of 300 billion yen, representing a 39% year-on-year fall in net profit. That was much lower than what analysts had forecast, according to LSEG estimates.

Nintendo’s fourth-quarter results largely beat analysts’ expectations, except on revenue. It recorded 277.1 billion Japanese yen in sales versus the 280.6 billion yen expected.

Read the full results story here.

— Lim Hui Jie, Arjun Kharpal