The stock market is trading higher. At last check, the S&P 500 added 0.51%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite gained 0.45%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.83% and the Russell 2000 index rose 0.26%.
The biggest stocks in the S&P 500 today
Five S&P 500 stocks making big midday moves are:
- Norwegian cruise line (NCLH) +10.5%
- Carnival (CCL) +7.7%
- super microcomputer (SMCI) +5.8%
- Amentum Holdings AMTM +5.8%
- royal caribbean (RCL) +4.8%
The five S&P 500 stocks with the worst performance and the biggest drop at midday are:
- constellation energy (CEG) -7.3%
- NRG Energy (NRG) -6.4%
- View (VST) -3.9%
- boeing (bachelor of arts) -2.7%
- AES (AES) -2.5%
Actions also worth highlighting include:
- NVIDIA (NVDA) -0.4%
- Apple (AAPL) +1.6%
- amazon (AMZN) +1.4%
- Alphabet (GOOGLE) -2.1%
- tesla (TSLA) -0.9%
Image source: Norwegian Cruise Line.
Cruise Lines Explode After Citi Raises Price Targets
Carnival (+7.8%), Royal Caribbean (+4.7%) and Norwegian Cruise Line (+10.1%) traded higher after Citigroup updated its stock price targets reflecting positive outlooks. The analyst is optimistic that the cruise sector's rebound will continue through 2025 and beyond.
Norwegian Cruise Line moves to Buy from Neutral and its price target at Citi is raised to $30 from $20. Citi projects annual earnings growth of 23% over three years, which could reach 30% if Norwegian maintains a 2.5% yield/cost spread. Both scenarios point to strong earnings growth and expanded multiples.
Related: Analysts navigate new stock price targets for Royal Caribbean and Norwegian
Citi also raised price targets on Carnival and Royal Caribbean, to $28 from $25 and $253 from $204, respectively, both with Buy ratings.
The analyst added a “positive 90-day catalyst watch” on Royal Caribbean stock. Citi expects Royal to reveal a new long-term plan in the next two quarters, likely with its third or fourth quarter earnings report.
The firm also says Royal Caribbean can achieve earnings of $20 per share.
“While this would be an audacious goal at first glance, we don't think the fundamentals are too optimistic,” the analyst tells investors.
Alphabet falls after Google monopoly ruling
Alphabet shares lost 2% as the Justice Department is still considering a possible breakup of Google.
The Justice Department is considering measures to restore competition, which could prevent Google from using products like Chrome, Play and Android to give its search engine an advantage.
Related: Analysts Reset Alphabet Stock Price Target Ahead of Key September Court Event
Proposed solutions include non-discrimination requirements in contracts and products, interoperability and data sharing rules, and structural changes, according to a document presented Tuesday.
“Fully remedying these harms requires not only ending Google's distribution control today, but also ensuring that Google cannot control distribution tomorrow,” the Justice Department said.
Google said the Justice Department's proposals could harm consumers and businesses.
“Not only is ai a new industry, but it is difficult to think of a technology more important to America's technological and economic leadership. Splitting up Chrome or Android would break them, and a lot of other things,” Lee-Anne Mulholland, Google's head of regulatory affairs, said in a blog post on Wednesday, thefly.com reported.
Boeing falls after union negotiations collapse
Boeing fell 2.6% after withdrawing a salary increase offer to 33,000 machinists who have been on strike since mid-September.
“The union made non-negotiable demands far in excess of what can be accepted if we are to remain competitive as a company. Given that position, further negotiations do not make sense at this time and our offer has been withdrawn,” CEO Stephanie Pope said. of Boeing Commercial Airplanes, in a statement on October 8.
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S&P Global Ratings said the shutdown would cost Boeing more than $1 billion a month, CNBC reported.
Wells Fargo expects increased pressure on Boeing to raise cash in the near term. “Assuming a similar breakout occurs this time, there may be one more opportunity to reach a deal before earnings on October 23,” the company notes, thefly.com reported. Wells Fargo has an Underweight rating on the stock with a $110 price target.
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