Post-Bell | S&P 500, Dow Score Record High Closes; Nvidia Falls 0.8%; Snowflake Jumps 20%; Pure Storage Soars 32%

The S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average notched record high closes on Thursday after Nvidia's quarterly report fell short of investors' high expectations but confirmed that spending related to artificial intelligence infrastructure remains strong.

Market Snapshot

The S&P 500 climbed 0.32% to end the session at 6,501.86 points, reaching a record high close for a second straight day. The Nasdaq gained 0.53% to 21,705.16 points, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.16% to 45,636.90 points, exceeding its previous record high close on August 22.

Market Movers

Nvidia - Nvidia declined 0.8%. The leading maker of artificial-intelligence chips reported fiscal second-quarter adjusted earnings of $1.05 a share, better than analysts’ forecasts of $1.01. Revenue of $46.7 billion beat consensus of $46 billion, and data-center revenue jumped 56% to $41.1 billion, but was below Wall Street estimates of $41.3 billion. Revenue at the midpoint of Nvidia’s third-quarter guidance range came in at $54 billion, versus expectations of $53.4 billion. The company said its current quarter outlook doesn’t assume shipments of its H20 chip to China.

CrowdStrike - CrowdStrike Holdings rose 4.6%. The cybersecurity company posted second-quarter adjusted earnings of 93 cents a share, better than analysts’ estimates of 83 cents, as revenue of $1.17 billion also topped forecasts. For the third quarter, CrowdStrike expects revenue in a range of $1.21 billion to $1.22 billion, below estimates of roughly $1.23 billion. The company also reached an agreement to acquire privately held Onum, a data observability platform, for undisclosed terms.

Snowflake - Snowflake soared 20.3% after the provider of cloud-based data warehouse software reported second-quarter adjusted earnings that topped analysts’ forecasts and raised its fiscal-year product revenue expectations to $4.395 billion from $4.325 billion. “We have an enormous opportunity ahead as we continue to empower every enterprise to achieve its full potential through data and AI,” said CEO Sridhar Ramaswamy.

Pure Storage - Pure Storage, the maker of flash memory products, posted second-quarter adjusted profit of 43 cents a share on revenue of $861 million, up 13% from a year earlier. Analysts were calling for earnings of 39 cents a share on revenue of $846 million. Shares rallied 32.3%. Pure Storage said it expects to ship one to two exabytes of DirectFlash storage devices to customerMeta Platformsby the end of fiscal 2026, with the potential for additional shipments this year.

HP - HP Inc. was up 4.6%. The computer-products company’s fiscal third-quarter earnings matched Wall Street expectations and revenue rose 3.1% to $13.9 billion and topped analysts’ projections. HP said it expects strong demand for AI-powered personal computers in the months ahead. The company anticipates fourth-quarter adjusted earnings of between 87 cents and 97 cents a share, compared with estimates of 92 cents.

Best Buy - Best Buy fell 3.7% after the electronics retailer posted better-than-expected fiscal second-quarter earnings and revenue but left investors disappointed it didn’t raise fiscal-year guidance.

Li Auto - Li Auto’s American depositary receipts rose 2.9%. The Chinese electric-vehicle maker reported second-quarter adjusted earnings and revenue that missed analysts’ estimates. Quarterly deliveries were 111,074 vehicles, below the consensus call of 124,700.

Urban Outfitters - Urban Outfitters, the apparel and home goods retailer, posted second-quarter earnings that beat Wall Street forecasts as revenue rose 11% to a better-than-expected $1.5 billion. Same-store sales rose 6.7% at its Free People brand and 5.7% at Anthropologie. However, the company warned that tariffs would lower future margins and could lead to price increases. The stock fell 10.7%.

Cooper - Cooper Cos. tumbled 12.9% after fiscal third-quarter earnings beat analysts’ expectations but revenue in the quarter rose 2% on an organic basis from a year earlier, lower than the expected 5.4% growth. The medical devices maker said it sees fiscal-year revenue between $4.08 billion and $4.1 billion, down from previous guidance and slightly below expectations.

Hormel - Hormel Foods declined 13.1% after fiscal-third quarter adjusted earnings missed analysts’ estimates. Interim CEO Jeff Ettinger said a “steep rise in commodity input costs affecting our industry was the largest contributor to our shortfall,” and added that Hormel expects “profit recovery to lag into next year, with the near-term pressures we experienced in the third quarter persisting through the fourth quarter.”

Veeva - Shares of Veeva Systems were down 7.2% after the cloud-solutions company posted better than expected second-quarter adjusted earnings and said it anticipates third-quarter adjusted profit of $1.94 to $1.95 a share, topping consensus estimates of $1.89.

Dollar General - Shares of Dollar General rose 0.5% after wavering earlier in the session. The discount retailer posted second-quarter earnings of $1.86 a share, above consensus of $1.58. Net sales climbed 5.1% to $10.7 billion and were in line with consensus. The retailer also raised its fiscal-year guidance, but indicated tariffs would likely lead to price hikes.

Nutanix - Nutanix fell 5.1%. The cloud-computing company posted fiscal fourth-quarter earnings that were better than Wall Street expectations on revenue of $653.3 million, better than consensus and up 19% from a year earlier. The company said it sees fiscal 2026 revenue of $2.9 billion to $2.94 billion; analysts had called for revenue of $2.91 billion.

Market News

US Second-Quarter GDP Revised Higher as Businesses Boost Investment in AI

The U.S. economy grew faster than initially thought in the second quarter, in part driven by business investment in intellectual property such as artificial intelligence, but tariffs on imports continued to cloud the picture.

The upgrade to gross domestic product reported by the Commerce Department on Thursday also reflected upward revisions to consumer spending as well as business investment in equipment. That resulted in a measure of underlying domestic demand also being revised higher.

GDP increased at a 3.3% annualized rate last quarter, the Commerce Department's Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) said in its second estimate. The economy was initially reported to have grown at a 3.0% pace in the second quarter. Economists polled by Reuters had expected GDP growth would be raised to a 3.1% rate.

Intel Says It Received US Grant; Government Says It Is Still Working on Deal

Intel received the $5.7 billion in cash on Wednesday night as part of the deal U.S. President Donald Trump negotiated for a 10% stake in the struggling chipmaker, finance chief David Zinsner said at an investor conference on Thursday.

The stake in Intel announced by the U.S. government last week is an incentive for Intel to retain control of its contract manufacturing business, or foundry, Zinsner said.

As part of the deal, the government negotiated an additional 5% warrant, should Intel cease to own more than 51% of its foundry operation.

Fed's Cook Sues Trump over His Attempt to Fire Her; Court Hearing Set for Friday

Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook filed a lawsuit on Thursday claiming President Donald Trump has no power to remove her from office, setting up a legal battle that could challenge long-established norms for the U.S. central bank's independence.

The lawsuit said Trump violated a federal law allowing him to remove a Fed governor only "for cause" when the president took the unprecedented step on August 25 of announcing he would fire her. Trump has accused Cook of committing mortgage fraud in 2021, a year before she joined the central bank's governing body.

Cook also filed a motion for a temporary restraining order. It declares that Trump's effort to fire her is unlawful and seeks to bar the Fed from taking steps to remove her pending further litigation. A hearing on the motion is set for 10 a.m. EDT (1400 GMT) on Friday.