Post-Bell | Wall Street Closes Lower; Nvidia and Meta Gain 2%; AMD Drops 1%; Tilray Jumps 22%; Serve Robotics Surges 29%

U.S. stocks ended in negative territory on Thursday as investors, left with no economic data or any sentiment-swaying catalysts, took the opportunity to consolidate ahead of third-quarter earnings season.

Market Snapshot

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 243.36 points, or 0.52%, to 46,358.42, the S&P 500 lost 18.61 points, or 0.28%, to 6,735.11 and the Nasdaq Composite lost 18.75 points, or 0.08%, to 23,024.63.

Market Movers

Nvidia - Nvidia stock jumped 1.8% to a record high on Thursday after the U.S. government gave final clearance for the company to export several billion dollars in AI chips to the United Arab Emirates.

Tesla - Tesla dropped 0.7% as the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration opened an investigation into the electric-vehicle company’s Full Self-Driving driver-assistance technology. The NHTSA said its Office of Defects Investigation would open a “preliminary evaluation to assess the scope, frequency, and potential safety consequences of FSD executing driving maneuvers that constitute traffic safety violations.” It cited two scenarios: cars traveling into an intersectionFerrari sank 15% in the U.S. after the luxury auto maker issued guidance for 2030 that was below analysts’ expectations. Ferrari also scaled back its plans to go electric, saying electric vehicles would make up just 20% of its sports car model lineup by 2030. Ferrari previously vowed that 40% of its lineup would be electric by the end of the decade.

Meta Platforms - UBS analyst Stephen Ju has maintained a 'Buy' rating on the Meta stock. The price target has been increased from $897 to $900. Meta shares gained 2.2%.

AMD - AMD fell 1.1%. Shares of the chip maker ended Wednesday’s session up 11% at $235.56, a record high. The stock was boosted by a deal with OpenAI to power 6 gigawatts of AI infrastructure with its graphics processing units. As part of the agreement, OpenAI will receive a warrant to buy up to 160 million AMD shares.

Serve Robotics, DoorDash - Serve Robotics surged 28.6% to $17.68 after unveiling a multiyear strategic partnership with DoorDash to expand its footprint in the U.S. The company designs and develops autonomous food delivery robots powered by AI. DoorDash stock fell 2%. The company unveiled its own self-driving delivery robot, Dot, last week. on a red light, and cars changing lanes into oncoming traffic.

Tilray - Tilray logged a profit in its fiscal first quarter thanks to strong distribution and cannabis segment performance which supported better-than-expected revenue growth. Tilray shares jumped 22.1% on Thursday. Tilray’s peers Canopy Growth rose 8%, SNDL rose 7%.

Delta Air Lines - Shares of Delta Air Lines rose 4.3% after third-quarter earnings from the carrier beat Wall Street estimates. Delta reported adjusted earnings of $1.71 a share on revenue of $16.67 billion. Delta also firmed up its full-year guidance, saying it expects earnings of $6 a share, up from a range between $5.25 and $6.25. Analysts had been expecting $5.80.

Fellow carriers United Airlines and American Airlines rose 3.3% and declined 1.6%, respectively.

Pepsi - PepsiCo gained 4.2% after the beverage and snack company posted third-quarter adjusted earnings of $2.29 a share, topping analysts’ estimates of $2.26. Revenue of $23.94 billion also beat forecasts. The company also named Steve Schmitt as chief financial officer. Schmitt joins PepsiCo fromWalmart, where he currently serves as executive vice president and chief financial officer for Walmart U.S.

Akero Therapeutics - Akero Therapeutics rose 16.3% to $54.08 after Novo Nordisk reached an agreement to acquire the biotech, which is currently developing a treatment for obesity-linked liver disease. Novo Nordisk said it would buy Akero for $54 a share in cash, or $4.7 billion upfront, and will pay $6 more if its lead asset Efruxifermin secures U.S. approval. Novo Nordisk is the Danish maker of the blockbuster diabetes and obesity drugs Ozempic and Wegovy.

Costco - Costco Wholesale gained 3.1% after the membership warehouse retailer posted sales that rose 8% to $26.6 billion in the five weeks ended Oct. 5. Comparable-store sales rose 5.7% overall, with U.S. sales up 5.1%. Costco said digitally-enabled comparable sales, previously referred to as e-commerce sales, rose 26%.

MP Materials - MP Materials was up 2.4%. Shares of the rare-earth excavator rose after China tightened its control over critical minerals used to make high-tech products including electric vehicles and jet fighters, The Wall Street Journal reported. The U.S. Department of Defense recently acquired a stake of $400 million in MP Materials.

Oklo - Oklo rose 2.5% to $138.13. Canaccord Genuity initiated coverage on shares of the nuclear start-up at Buy with a $175 price target, representing a Wall Street high. “While rising AI demand may influence the growth trajectory, we anticipate strong long-term demand for nuclear energy regardless,” analysts with the firm wrote.

Freeport-McMoRan - Freeport-McMoRan rose 1.1%. The stock climbed 5.3% on Wednesday after two Wall Street analysts issued positive calls on shares of the copper miner. Citi upgraded the stock to Buy and Well Fargo initiated coverage with a Buy rating, with analysts from both firms citing expectations for higher copper prices.

AZZ Inc - AZZ Inc., the metal coatings and welding services company, tumbled 4.9% after reporting second-quarter adjusted earnings and revenue that missed analysts’ estimates. AZZ reiterated its fiscal-year guidance, calling for adjusted earnings of $6 a share on sales of $1.675 billion at the midpoint.

Neogen - Shares of Neogen jumped 16.5% after the food safety company met earnings expectations for its fiscal first quarter and revealed companywide layoffs.

Market News

Apple WWDC 2024: ChatGPT Comes to iPhone; "Apple Intelligence" Unveiled

Apple unveiled a long-awaited AI strategy on Monday, integrating its new "Apple Intelligence" technology across its suite of apps including Siri and bringing OpenAI's chatbot ChatGPT to its devices.

In the nearly two-hour long presentation at Apple's annual developer conference, executives including CEO Tim Cook touted how voice assistant Siri would be able to interact with messages, emails, calendar, as well as third party apps. Siri will be able to write emails and change the tone of voice to suit the occasion.

Long known for a focus on user safety, the iPhone maker also signaled it plans to differentiate itself from rivals Microsoft and Google by placing privacy "at the core" of its features.

Musk Warns That He Will Ban Apple Devices If OpenAI Is Integrated at Operating System Level

Billionaire Elon Musk said on Monday he would ban Apple devices at his companies if the iPhone maker integrates OpenAI at the operating system level.

"That is an unacceptable security violation," Musk, who is the CEO of electric-vehicle maker Tesla and rocket maker SpaceX and owner of social media company X, said in a post on X.

"And visitors will have to check their Apple devices at the door, where they will be stored in a Faraday cage," he said.

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