Post-Bell | S&P 500 Ends Lower; Alibaba Up 13%; Marvell Fell 19%; Dell Down 9%; Nvidia Down 3.4%

The S&P 500 ended down from record highs on Friday, with losses in Dell, Nvidia and other AI-related stocks, while investors parsed inflation data showing tariffs have started feeding into prices.

Market Snapshot

The S&P 500 declined 0.64% to end the session at 6,460.26 points a day after notching a record-high close. The Nasdaq declined 1.15% to 21,455.55 points, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 0.20% to 45,544.88 points.

Market Movers

Marvell Technology fell 19% after the chip designer swung to a profit in the second quarter but adjusted earnings of 67 cents a share on revenue of $2.01 billion only matched Wall Street estimates. Marvell said revenue in the period rose 58%, due in part to "strong AI demand" for its custom silicon and electrooptics products. Marvell expects third-quarter adjusted earnings of 74 cents a share, plus or minus five cents, and revenue of $2.06 billion, plus or minus 5%. Analysts had been calling for earnings of 72 cents a share on revenue of $2.11 billion.

Dell Technologies Inc. was down 9% after the maker of computers and artificial-intelligence servers posted better-than-expected second-quarter adjusted earnings, but issued a third-quarter outlook that missed analysts' estimates. Dell said it anticipates third-quarter adjusted earnings of $2.45 a share at the midpoint, compared with expectations of $2.55. The company expects fiscal 2026 AI server shipments of $20 billion, higher than prior guidance of $15 billion. Demand for Dell's AI solutions "continues to be exceptional," management said.

Nvidia was down 3.4%. Shares of the AI chip maker declined 0.8% Thursday following Nvidia's second-quarter earnings report. A miss on data-center revenue in the quarter, which rose 56% to $41.1 billion, disappointed investors.

U.S.-listed shares of Alibaba gained 13% after the Chinese e-commerce conglomerate posted fiscal first-quarter earnings that beat analysts' expectations but revenue that missed forecasts amid a fierce price war in China. Separately, The Wall Street Journal reported that Alibaba, China's biggest cloud-computing company, had developed a new and more versatile artificial-intelligence chip.

Software company Autodesk rallied 9.1% after posting second-quarter adjusted earnings that topped Wall Street forecasts. Guidance for both the third quarter and fiscal year came in above estimates.

Affirm Holdings jumped 11%. The fintech swung to a fiscal fourth-quarter profit and revenue rose 33% to $876 million, handily topping analysts' estimates of $837 million. Gross merchandise volume, a metric that represents the total dollar amount of all transactions on the platform, net of refunds, jumped 43% to $10.4 billion.

Caterpillar was down 3.7% after the manufacturer of construction and mining equipment said it expected import levies to have a net impact of between $500 million to $600 million for the third quarter and $1.5 billion to $1.8 billion for 2025. The figures were higher than prior guidance of $1.3 billion to $1.5 billion issued in early August.

Celsius Holdings, Inc. rose 5.3% after PepsiCo said it was increasing its stake in the energy-drink maker as part of an agreement to expand their strategic partnership. PepsiCo bought $585 million in newly issued convertible 5% preferred Celsius stock, giving it an 11% ownership stake in the company. PepsiCo was up 1.1%.

Ambarella jumped 17%. The chip-design company raised fiscal-year revenue guidance after second-quarter revenue surged 49.9% to $95.5 million, topping analysts' calls for $90 million.

IREN Ltd was up 15%. The data-center company reported record quarterly revenue and announced another round of Nvidia chip purchases. IREN also secured Nvidia preferred-partner status.

Second-quarter adjusted earnings at ulta beauty easily topped Wall Street expectations, and the cosmetics retailer raised its guidance for the fiscal year. Shares surged in after-hours trading Thursday but reversed those gains on Friday, falling 7.1%.

Elastic N.V. stock shed significant premarket gains and was down 3.1% after the software company posted better-than-expected fiscal first-quarter adjusted earnings of 60 cents a share on sales of $415 million, up 20% from a year earlier. Elastic also boosted its sales guidance for its second quarter and fiscal year.

Shares of cybersecurity company SentinelOne rose 7.1% after second-quarter revenue surged 22% and annualized recurring revenue surpassed $1 billion.

Market News

Most Trump tariffs are not legal, US appeals court rules

A divided U.S. appeals court ruled on Friday that most of Donald Trump's tariffs are illegal, undercutting the Republican president's use of the levies as a key international economic policy tool.

The court allowed the tariffs to remain in place through October 14 to give the Trump administration a chance to file an appeal with the U.S. Supreme Court.

Spirit Airlines files for second bankruptcy in a year as financial challenges persist

U.S. no-frills pioneer Spirit Airlines filed for bankruptcy protection on Friday for the second time in a year after a previous reorganization failed to put it on firmer financial footing.

The Florida-based carrier, which emerged from its first bankruptcy in March, has been grappling with dwindling cash and mounting losses.