The stock market is trading flat at midday, heading toward a modest winning week. The S&P 500 is steady, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite fell 0.18%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.51%. The Russell 2000 index rose 0.8%.
The biggest stocks in the S&P 500 today
Five S&P 500 stocks making big midday moves are:
- Walgreens Boot Alliance (AMB) +7%
- Hotels in Wynn (WYNN) +6.4%
- Las Vegas Arenas (LVS) +5.1%
- Lululemon Athletica (lulu) +4.3%
- WHAT (WE) (THAT) +4.6%
The five S&P 500 stocks with the worst performance and the biggest drop at midday are:
- Globe of life (G.L.) -5.2%
- Universal health services (UHS) -3.5%
- Eli Lilly (LYLY) -3.3%
- HP Inc. (HPQ) -3.1%
- Dell Technologies (DELL) -3%
Actions also worth highlighting include:
- NVIDIA (NVDA) -2.6%
- tesla (TSLA) +2%
- Apple (AAPL) +0.4
- costco (COST) -2%
- Best buy (BBY) +2.1%
Costco is trading down after revenue loss
Costco lost 2% after the retailer posted a revenue loss in its fiscal fourth quarter.
The company earned $5.29 per share during the quarter ended Sept. 1, beating analyst estimates of $5.08 per share. Revenue of $79.7 billion missed the consensus forecast of $79.9 billion.
Related: Analysts Reset Costco Stock Price Targets Ahead of Earnings
Same-store sales, a key measure of sales at existing stores that have operated for more than a year, rose 5.4% from a year ago, below the estimate of a 5.7% increase. .
“We've seen inflation dissipate and our members have started spending more on non-food items,” Chief Financial Officer Gary Millerchip said during the company's earnings conference call.
The company increased its membership dues effective September 1, its first increase since 2017.
HP Inc. Falls After Analysts Downgrade to B of A
Shares of HP Inc. fell 3% and were among the top five losers in the S&P 500 on Friday.
B of A analyst Wamsi Mohan downgraded the personal computer maker to neutral from buy with an unchanged price target of $37.
Related: Hewlett Packard Enterprise Share Price Up 5% Today, Here's Why
The analyst said earnings-per-share growth would come exclusively from share buybacks, as the upside potential of PCs, including ai-enabled PCs, should be offset by lower printing profit margins given the company's ” gaining too much in printing,” according to a note obtained by thefly. com.
The analyst further suggests that HP will struggle to drive “material positive estimate revisions.”
Best Buy gains after analyst upgrade
Best Buy rose 2% after JP Morgan analyst Christopher Horvers added the stock to the company's analyst focus list.
Horvers maintained an Overweight rating on the stock and a $111 price target. The update came after a meeting with management, according to thefly.com.
More Wall Street analysts:
- Analysts Revisit Corning Stock Price Targets After Investor Meeting
- Analysts Revise Carnival Stock Price Targets Ahead of Earnings
- Analyst Reviews Costco Stock Price Target, Rates Ahead of Earnings
Horvers expects growing replacement demand, continued advances in computing and the opportunity for Best Buy's key categories to perform well in an environment supporting existing home sales.
The analyst also believes that Best Buy “is in investors' blind spot” and that replacement demand will increase in 2025.
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