The Biggest S&P 500 Movers on Friday
4 hr 8 min ago
Advancers:
- DexCom (DXCM) shares surged 16.2%, gaining the most of any S&P 500 stock, after the maker of glucose monitoring devices for patients with diabetes topped first-quarter revenue estimates. Although profits came in slightly below expectations and the company said that incremental costs could pressure its 2025 gross profit margins, DexCom highlighted strong demand and announced a $750 million stock buyback program.
- The strong jobs report, which helped alleviate concerns about the potential for a sustained economic downturn driven by trade tensions, helped boost the outlook for U.S. travel demand. Shares of numerous companies in the travel industry moved higher. United Airlines Holdings (UAL) shares lifted 7.1%, while Delta Air Lines (DAL) shares advanced 6.6%. Shares of cruise operator Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings (NCLH) were up 6.8%.
- Franklin Resources (BEN) stock added 7.2% following the investment management holding company’s quarterly earnings report. While profits came in below estimates, they grew on a year-over-year basis, and revenue in the period exceeded forecasts. Franklin also touted strong inflows for its exchange-traded fund business, which achieved a record high in assets under management.
Decliners:
- Although internet domain and web hosting provider GoDaddy (GDDY) exceeded earnings per share and revenue expectations for the first quarter of 2025, analysts at RBC and Barclays reduced their price target on the stock, citing valuation concerns. GoDaddy shares slipped 8.4% on Friday, suffering the heaviest decline in the S&P 500.
- Shares of public safety, enterprise security, and critical communications company Motorola Solutions (MSI) sank 7.5%. Although the provider of land mobile radio and video security systems exceeded first-quarter sales and profit expectations, it provided relatively muted guidance for sales growth in the second quarter. The company also indicated that potential tariffs could generate cost pressure throughout 2025.
- Take-Two Interactive Software (TTWO) shares fell 6.7% after the video game maker’s subsidiary Rockstar Games announced that the release of its highly anticipated Grand Theft Auto VI title would be delayed until May 2026. However, Take-Two indicated that despite the postponed launch, it still anticipates record net bookings in fiscal 2026 and 2027.
What You Need To Know Ahead of Berkshire Hathaway’s Annual Meeting Saturday
4 hr 48 min ago
Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A, BRK.B) is slated to hold its annual shareholder meeting and release its first-quarter financial results on Saturday.
The event, dubbed the “Woodstock for Capitalists,” draws tens of thousands of visitors each year, and amid economic uncertainty in the face of President Trump’s shifting tariff policies, many investors will be watching closely to see what the “Oracle of Omaha” has to say.
Investopedia / Photo Illustration by Alice Morgan / Alison Czinkota / Getty Images
While the S&P 500 is down about 3% year-to-date amid heightened market volatility, Berkshire’s shares have added close to 19%.
UBS analysts recently boosted their earnings and stock price targets for Berkshire Hathaway, calling it a “safe haven in a turbulent environment.”
“While BRK’s shares have meaningfully outperformed YTD and are trading near historical high valuations, given its substantial cash position and generally defensive business mix, we believe its shares deserve a premium in the current uncertain economic environment,” they said.
CFRA analysts, however, warned that a weakening economy “would likely dampen demand for many of BRK’s products.” They issued a “hold” rating for Berkshire, in contrast to UBS’ “buy” rating.
CFRA also pointed to Buffett’s age, at 94, as a risk factor. While Berkshire has not formally announced a successor yet, Buffett said in his annual letter to shareholders in February that “it won’t be long before Greg Abel replaces me as CEO.”
Investors will also focus their attention on Berkshire’s cash pile, which swelled to a record $334.2 billion at the end of 2024, and how Buffett might deploy it—or keep adding to it. Buffett said last year that “things aren’t attractive,” with a dearth of options that would satisfy Berkshire’s criteria.
In the fourth quarter, Berkshire had entered a new position in Modelo maker Constellation Brands (STZ), while raising its stakes in SiriusXM (SIRI), Occidental Petroleum (OXY), Domino’s Pizza (DPZ), Verisign (VRSN), and Pool Corp. (POOL). Berkshire also trimmed its stakes in Bank of America (BAC), Capital One (COF), and Citigroup (C), while exiting Ulta Beauty (ULTA).
Duolingo Stock Soars To All-Time High on Strong Q1 Results
5 hr 29 min ago
Duolingo (DUOL) shares soared to an all-time high on Friday, a day after the language education platform topped expectations for the first quarter.
After the bell Thursday, Duolingo reported earnings per share of $0.72 on revenue that soared 38% year-over-year to $230.7 million, both topping Visible Alpha consensus estimates.
The company saw a 40% jump in paid subscribers to 10.3 million and a nearly 50% annual jump to 46.6 million daily active users (DAUs). Both metrics also topped projections.
Duolingo also lifted its full-year revenue projections to a range of $987 million to $996 million, up from the previous range of $962.5 million to $978.5 million.
Duolingo shares were up 19% to more than $477 in recent trading, and set an intraday record of $480 earlier in the session.
In a note following Thursday’s report, JPMorgan analysts maintained their “overweight” rating and lifted their price target to $500 from $360, above the Visible Alpha consensus of roughly $446. The analysts said they see room for Duolingo’s DAUs to continue growing from wider adoption of its English lessons, and its non-language-focused material like a chess course, which Duolingo is expected to launch in the coming weeks.
The analysts also said Duolingo’s recently announced effort to more than double its language library with 148 new language courses, with an increasing amount of educational content created by generative AI, “will support strong user & paid subscriber growth.”
DexCom Stock Rockets Higher to Lead S&P 500 Gainers
6 hr 8 min ago
Shares of DexCom (DXCM) jumped more than 15% to pace the S&P 500‘s advancers Friday, a day after the maker of glucose monitoring devices for people with diabetes reported better-than-expected quarterly revenue and announced a $750 million stock buyback program.
After the closing bell Thursday, San Diego-based DexCom reported first-quarter revenue that grew 12% year-over-year to $1.04 billion. Analysts surveyed by Visible Alpha expected $1.02 billion. Adjusted earnings per share of 32 cents missed estimates by a penny.
Dexcom affirmed its full-year outlook for revenue of $4.6 billion, adjusted operating margin of approximately 21%, and adjusted EBITDA margin of about 30%.
However, it lowered its 2025 projection for adjusted gross profit margin to approximately 62% because of “incremental costs related to near-term supply dynamics.”
Friday’s surge moved DexCom shares into positive territory for 2025. At around $81, they’re still a bit off Visible Alpha’s average analyst price target, which is currently a bit above $98.
Watch These Amazon Stock Price Levels After Company Issues Soft Outlook
6 hr 41 min ago
Amazon (AMZN) wavered between gains and losses Friday after the e-commerce and cloud computing giant issued a cautious outlook amid uncertainty about the economy, offsetting strong quarterly results.
Amazon shares had lost 13% since the start of the year through Thursday’s close and dropped 22% from their record high established in early February, weighed down by concerns that the company could get caught in the crosshairs of a protracted U.S.- China trade war. The stock was up about 1% at $192 in afternoon trading Friday, recovering from losses earlier in the session.
Since bottoming out last month, Amazon shares have consolidated within a rising wedge. More recently, the price has rallied toward the wedge’s top trendline and 50-day moving average (MA), a move that has coincided with the relative strength index (RSI) crossing back into bullish territory.
Let’s identify several key support and resistance levels on Amazon’s chart that will likely gain investors’ attention.
A decisive breakdown below the rising wedge pattern’s lower trendline could see the shares drop to around $170. This area on the chart would likely provide support near the late-April low and the trough of a minor pullback to the 200-day MA last August.
Selling below this level brings lower support at $152 into play. Bargain hunters could seek buying opportunities at a location near last year’s early August sell-off low. This region also roughly aligns with a projected bars pattern downside target that extracts the trend lower that preceded the rising wedge and repositions it from the pattern’s top trendline, speculating where the shares may be headed if a continuation move lower plays out.
A breakout above the rising wedge pattern’s top trendline would likely see the stock test overhead resistance near $199. The shares may run into selling pressure in this area near a horizontal line that connects a range of corresponding trading activity on the chart extending back to early July last year.
Finally, a more bullish move higher in Amazon shares could propel a move up to $216. Investors who bought at lower levels may see this as high probability area to place sell orders near the stock’s November peak and January trough.
Five Below Stock Jumps on Strong First Quarter Results
7 hr 23 min ago
Five Below stock jumped Friday after the retailer said its stores have been performing better than expected.
Five Below (FIVE), a chain known for toys and other inexpensive merchandise, will likely report about $967 million in sales for the current quarter—about 4.5% above the upper end of its prior guidance, the company said Friday. Five Below also anticipates first-quarter comparable sales rising 6.7% year over year, rather than the 2% previously expected. Five Below’s fiscal first quarter ends Saturday.
The update comes as analysts and investors try to suss out whether consumers, who have a dimmer economic outlook because of tariffs, will increasingly turn to discount retailers. Walmart (WMT), which has seen its business of upper-income shoppers rise while discount chains have seen shoppers trading down, is slated to release earnings on May 15.
Five Below, which has 1,800 stores, will release its final quarterly figures in early June, according to the company. The company also expects to elevate director Mike Devine to chair in June, it said, a position that has been held by founder Tom Vellios, who plans to stay on in an advisory capacity until the end of 2025.
Five Below has also moved quicker on its expansion than anticipated. The company believes it will have added 55, rather than 50, locations when the quarter ends, the release said.
Shares of Five Below were recently up nearly 12%, though they’ve still lost more than 40% of their value in the past year.
Wall Street Worried About Tariff Impact on Apple
8 hr 19 min ago
Apple (AAPL) shares slid Friday amid worries about tariffs after CEO Tim Cook warned they could cost the company $900 million this quarter.
“The elephant in the room continues to be the tariff tornado with Apple and Cook caught in the eye of the storm,” Wedbush analysts said after the company released its fiscal second-quarter earnings, which topped analysts’ estimates. Still, the analysts remain bullish on the stock and raised their price target to $270 from $250, based in part on Cook’s assertion during Apple’s earnings call that most iPhones sold in the U.S. this quarter will come from India, rather than China.
Cook’s comments come amid concerns Apple could be particularly hurt by trade tensions with China, where Apple manufactured an estimated 90% of its products until recently. Most Apple products are exempt from President Trump’s 125% “reciprocal” tariffs on Chinese goods, but still affected by the 20% import tax the White House put in place earlier in the year to combat fentanyl trafficking, Cook noted during Thursday’s call.
Liu Bin / Xinhua / Getty Images
JPMorgan analysts on Friday cut their price target for Apple to $240 from $250, and Bank of America moved to $235 from $240. JPMorgan warned Apple may be able to get ahead of the impact of tariffs by building up inventory, but that benefit will fade the longer the levies are in place.
Apple shares were down 4% recently at $205. The stock has lost nearly a fifth of its value since the start of the year.
Last week, Trump said he expects tariffs on China “will come down substantially” in trade negotiations but not drop to zero. This week, a spokesman for China’s Commerce Ministry said Beijing is “currently evaluating” U.S. proposals to start trade talks.
Analysts Remain Bullish on Amazon Despite Tariff Uncertainty
9 hr 30 min ago
Analysts are staying bullish on Amazon (AMZN) stock even though the online retail and tech giant issued a relatively conservative second-quarter outlook after the bell Thursday.
Analysts from Wedbush, UBS, Bank of America, and JPMorgan all maintained their “buy” ratings following the report. All 26 analysts tracked by Visible Alpha who cover the stock call it a “buy.”
Wedbush, Bank of America, and JPMorgan analysts lifted their price targets to $235, $230 and $225, respectively, from $225, $225 and $220, bringing each closer to the Visible Alpha consensus of $233.64. UBS analysts, however, reduced their bullish target to $249 from $253.
Amazon shares were down slightly at $189 in recent trading. The stock, a Dow component, has lost about 14% of its value since the start of the year.
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Amazon executives said in Thursday’s earnings call that the company has not yet seen any weakness in online shopping, and if anything they have seen increased levels of buying as consumers look to get ahead of the impact of tariffs.
“While we hesitate to call this earnings report an inflection point as we are still in the dark about further tariff/policy moves, we believe we are seeing a tactical buy signal for AMZN shares,” UBS analysts wrote.
Wedbush analysts said Amazon has “multiple levers of sustainable margin improvement,” including increasing optimization and automation in its retail supply chain.
All four analysts said that the company’s Amazon Web Services platform could see strong growth in the second half of this year as it increases compute capacity, as Amazon has said its AWS sales have been limited by supply so far this year. JPMorgan analysts said that “while AWS is bringing on more capacity, that incremental supply is being consumed quickly.”
S&P 500 on Track for Longest Winning Streak in Two Decades
9 hr 49 min ago
The benchmark U.S. stock index is on track to notch its longest winning streak in two decades.
The S&P 500 was up more than 1% in recent trading, putting the index on course to close higher for the ninth consecutive session, which would be its longest streak since November 2004.
Friday’s rally also put the S&P 500 on track to erase all of its post-“Liberation Day” losses. The index, which in mid-April was down more than 15% from the start of the year, is now down less than 4% year-to-date.
Investors have slowly regained their appetite for risk after President Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariff announcement in early April prompted one of the worst stock sell-offs in decades. A slew of solid earnings reports and hope for tariff relief have helped the S&P 500 rise nearly 9% in the last eight sessions, its biggest rally of that length since November 2020 when stocks were buoyed by the completion of Covid-19 vaccines.
Block Stock Tumbles on Weak Results, ‘Cautious’ Guidance
10 hr 35 min ago
Shares of Block (XYZ) lost more than a fifth of their value in early trading Friday, a day after the payments technology provider posted worse-than-expected results and guidance as it warned about economic conditions ahead.
The operator of Square and Cash App reported first quarter adjusted earnings per share of $0.56, well short of the $0.92 analysts surveyed by Visible Alpha were looking for. Revenue declined 3% year-over-year to $5.77 billion, also missing forecasts.
Gross profit rose 9% to $2.29 billion, and payment volume increased 4.4% to $56.80 billion. However, they were below expectations as well.
The results were dragged by falling bitcoin revenue, which slid 16% to $2.30 billion, and CEO Jack Dorsey explained that Cash App didn’t perform as anticipated as the company “saw changes to consumer spending as the quarter progressed that we believe drove the majority of our forecast miss.”
COO and CFO Amrita Ahuja added that “we’re operating in a more dynamic macro environment, so we’ve reflected a more cautious stance on the macro backdrop into our guidance.”
Block sees current-quarter gross profit of $2.45 billion and full-year gross profit of $9.96 billion. The Visible Alpha estimates were for $2.54 billion and $10.18 billion, respectively.
Block shares were down 21% recently, trading at their lowest levels since late 2023.
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Apple Sees Tariffs Taking a Bite Out of Results This Quarter
11 hr 9 min ago
Apple (AAPL) CEO Tim Cook said the Trump administration’s tariffs, if they remain at their current levels, will cost Apple about $900 million in the current quarter that runs through June.
During the company’s quarterly earnings call Thursday, Cook said a majority of iPhones sold in the U.S. this quarter will come from India, rather than China, with iPad, Mac, Apple Watch and other products coming mostly from Vietnam.
The comments come amid concerns the company could be particularly hurt by trade tensions with China, where Apple manufactured an estimated 90% of its products until recently. Most Apple products are exempt from President Trump’s 125% “reciprocal” tariffs on Chinese goods, but still affected by the 20% import tax the White House put in place earlier in the year to combat fentanyl trafficking, Cook noted.
Cook also warned the impact of tariffs to Apple’s results could change, given the company is “uncertain of potential future actions” the administration could take. Trump has said he expects tariffs on China “will come down substantially” in trade negotiations but not drop to zero.
Apple reported fiscal second-quarter revenue and earnings that surpassed analysts’ expectations, with higher-than-expected iPhone sales.
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Shares of Apple were down about 5% in early trading Friday. The stock has lost about 19% of its value since the start of the year.
Bitcoin Levels to Watch as $100,000 Back in Sight
12 hr 16 min ago
Bitcoin (BTCUSD) has surged to its highest point in more than two months, putting it back within reach of the psychological $100,000 level.
Bitcoin is up about 30% from its early-April low as investors have sought to diversify their portfolios amid uncertainty surrounding the Trump administration’s trade policies and their potential impact on the economy. Amid recent market turmoil, bitcoin and stocks have occasionally moved in opposite directions, evidence to some investors that the cryptocurrency is finally showing its worth as a safe haven.
After breaking out from a a descending channel last month, bitcoin’s price rallied sharply before consolidating in a narrow pennant pattern.
In a win for the bulls, the pioneer cryptocurrency staged a breakout above the pennant’s top trendline Thursday, setting the stage for a continuation move higher. Moreover, the relative strength index confirms bullish price momentum, with the indicator edging toward overbought territory.
However, it’s worth pointing out that trading volumes have been below average during bitcoin’s recent bullish price action, suggesting larger market participants may remain on the sidelines.
Investors should watch crucial overhead levels on bitcoin’s chart around $100,000 and $107,000, while also eyeing key support near $92,000 and $85,000.
The legacy cryptocurrency was at $97,000 recently, still below its record high of around $109,000 in January but up from last month’s low below $75,000.
Read the full technical analysis piece here.
Major Stock Index Futures Point to Gains
12 hr 55 min ago
Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average were up 0.4%.
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S&P 500 futures also rose 0.4%.
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Nasdaq 100 futures were up 0.2%.
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