Stock market today: S&P 500, Nasdaq lead stocks higher as Apple surges

The stock market has returned to rally mode on Wednesday and it’s once again being led by Big Tech stocks.

Apple (AAPL) shares rose nearly 6% on news that CEO Tim Cook will join President Trump at the White House to announce a new $100 billion investment in domestic manufacturing. Other large-cap tech names, such as Amazon (AMZN), Tesla (TSLA), and Broadcom (AVGO), were all more than 3% higher.

Novo Nordisk (NVO) reported an earnings miss Wednesday. The results sent the stock down 4% in early trading, pressuring the stock further after a surprise management shake-up earlier in the year and sharply lower guidance despite growing sales of its blockbuster GLP-1 drugs, Ozempic and Wegovy.

The stock is down more than 46% year to date as a result.

CFO Karsten Munk Knudsen discussed some of the changes in recent weeks. He told Yahoo Finance that the leadership change — the ousting of CEO Lars Jørgensen and international head Mike Doustdar taking his place — was a surprise.

“I was surprised about the changes of CEOs back in May,” Knudsen said. “But … looking at other companies … when pressure is on, in terms of performance and competition, then it’s not unusual that bosses and owners assess what’s the right team to lead the company. In a macro setting, I don’t think it’s extraordinary, but in a Novo setting, it was indeed surprising.”

Read more here.

Stocks are moving than normal following earnings releases.

With more than two-thirds of S&P 500 (^GSPC) companies having reported so far, companies that miss Wall Street’s estimates for earnings per share and sales have seen an average one-day decline of 7.4%, per Julian Emanuel, who leads the equity, derivatives, and quantitative strategy team at Evercore ISI. This far exceeds the typical drop over the past five years of 3.2%.

Stocks that beat one of Wall Street’s estimates while missing on another are also seeing their stocks fall more than average, leaving the only companies posting an average positive day following financial releases those that top estimates for both sales and earnings per share.

With the market trading near record highs, Emanuel noted investors are “agitated by anything short of perfect” this corporate earnings season.

But it hasn’t just been companies with disappointing outlooks that have seen their stocks fall this reporting period. A slew of companies have had good results that just haven’t been good enough.

This theme is on display on Wednesday with AMD (AMD) stock falling more than 6% after reporting second quarter data center segment revenue that matched Wall Street’s expectations. The same reaction came for Uber (UBER) which slid more than 1% despite topping the Street’s sales expectations and launching a $20 billion buyback.

Both Uber and AMD had rallied more than 40% thus far this year, entering the release.

Snap (SNAP) stock sank more than 18% Wednesday after the Snapchat parent company reported second quarter earnings and revenue the prior afternoon that missed Wall Street’s estimates amid a problem with its ad platform.

Snap’s second quarter advertising revenue grew at its slowest pace in more than a year, rising roughly 4% to $1.17 billion in the second quarter, less than the $1.22 billion expected by Wall Street analysts tracked by Bloomberg.

The company said in a call with analysts that an issue with its auction system — which is used to price advertising campaigns for marketers on its platform — caused campaigns to sell for “substantially reduced prices.”

The social media platform faced heightened expectations from Wall Street going into its report after a string of corporate earnings from tech firms such as Meta (META), Reddit (RDDT), Alphabet (GOOGL, GOOG), and Amazon (AMZN) highlighted strength in their advertising businesses. Under CEO Evan Spiegel, Snap has been fighting to regain traction in its ad business.

Read the full story here.

Apple (AAPL) stock gained more than 5% in morning trading Wednesday on news that the company is planning to invest another $100 billion in US manufacturing.

CEO Tim Cook is expected to join President Trump at the White House today to tout the commitment. Already, Apple has committed to spending $500 billion over the next four years to build out its US manufacturing presence.

This latest pledge comes as Apple has faced — and is looking to avoid — steep tariffs imposed by the Trump administration. In the second quarter, Apple said tariffs cost the iPhone maker $800 million. In the current quarter, Apple said it expects a $1.1 billion headwind from Trump’s tariffs.

Since an escalation of the trade war between the US and China briefly sent duties on the country into the triple digits, Apple shifted much of its US iPhone production to India. However, Apple’s supply chain repositioning may not be enough to avoid high tariff costs, as Trump signed an executive order on Wednesday, hiking tariffs on goods from India by an additional 25% over its purchases of Russian oil.

Read more here.

Oil prices rose on Wednesday after President Trump hit India with an additional 25% tariffs because of the country’s purchase of Russian oil.

“I find that the Government of India is currently directly or indirectly importing Russian Federation oil,” said a White House executive order.

West Texas Intermediate crude jumped more than 1% while Brent, the international benchmark, also rose 1.2%.

Earlier this week Trump threatened to raise the 25% tariffs previously announced on imports from India, essentially accusing New Dehil of helping fund Russia in its continued war with Ukraine.

Wednesday’s executive order raises the total tariff rate on India to 50%.

Lucid (LCID) shares fell more than 7% Wednesday morning after CEO Marc Winterhoff said the electric vehicle company is not where it hoped to be in terms of scaling up production of its new SUV.

Yahoo Finance’s Pras Subramanian reports:

Read the full story here.

Shopify (SHOP) stock hit an intraday 52-week high at the open after the commerce technology company provided an upbeat forecast and positive second quarter results.

US-listed shares of the Ottawa-based company soared 21% in early trading to $154 per share.

Gross profit rose to $1.3 billion in the quarter, while revenue reached $2.68 billion, compared to estimates of $2.54 billion. Shopify’s second quarter revenue marked a 31% increase from a year ago as the company benefited from investments in product features and artificial intelligence.

For the third quarter, Shopify anticipates revenue to grow at a mid-to-high twenties percentage rate on a year-over-year basis. Gross profit dollars are expected to grow at a low-twenties percentage rate annually.

Shopify is one of several stocks making outsized moves on quarterly results. Other names seeing large stock swings include Novavax (up 20%), Super Micro Computer (down 17%), Snap (down 20%), and Lucid (down 7%).

Read more live coverage of corporate earnings here

Disney (DIS) said late Tuesday that ESPN has reached a preliminary agreement with the NFL to acquire media assets including NFL Network, NFL RedZone, and NFL Fantasy in exchange for a 10% equity stake.

The new partnership aims to broaden the reach of NFL content through Disney’s expanding streaming footprint. ESPN plans to integrate NFL Network into its upcoming direct-to-consumer platform, set to launch Aug. 21 at a price point of $29.99 a month, while preserving distribution via cable and satellite. The value of the stake was not disclosed.

Disney stock initially rose following the NFL news, but slipped about 2% shortly after Wednesday’s open as investors digested the company’s Q3 earnings report.

“This deal helps fuel ESPN’s digital future, laying the foundation for an even more robust offering as we prepare to launch our new direct-to-consumer service,” Jimmy Pitaro, chairman of ESPN, said in a statement.

On the earnings call Wednesday, Disney CEO Bob Iger said the NFL deal will be accretive in its first year post-close, citing increased revenue and operating income from distributing NFL media assets, plus potential upside from lower churn and advertising.

Alongside the acquisition, ESPN and the NFL have also entered into a second non-binding agreement. Under the terms, the league will license certain NFL content and intellectual property to ESPN for use across the newly acquired NFL Media assets.

The NFL agreement comes ahead of another major rights deal unveiled this week: ESPN will become the exclusive US streaming home of WWE Premium Live Events, including WrestleMania and SummerSlam, beginning in 2026 — a move seen as further strengthening the content lineup for its new DTC service.

Read more here.

US stocks mostly edged higher the open on Wednesday as a fresh round of corporate earnings rolled in and trade uncertainty persisted.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) hovered around the flat line, paring premarket gains. The benchmark S&P 500 (^GSPC) edged up 0.2%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq (^IXIC) was up nearly 0.4%.

Yahoo Finance’s Hamza Shaban writes in today’s Morning Brief:

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Super Micro (SMCI) stock fell 17% before the bell on Wednesday after missing Wall Street estimates for its fourth-quarter revenue and profit. The company is grappling with larger server makers for high-performance computers used to train artificial intelligence models.

Reuters reports:

Read more here.

Shares in Honda Motor (HMC) rose 2% after the automaker reported a 50% drop in first-quarter operating profit on Wednesday as a stronger yen and the impact of US President Donald Trump’s tariffs took its toll, but the company raised its full-year forecast.

Reuters reports:

Read more here.

Economic data: MBA mortgage applications (week ending Aug. 1)

Earnings: AppLovin (APP), e.l.f. Beauty (ELF), Disney (DIS), DraftKings (DKNG), McDonald’s (MCD), Novo Nordisk (NVO), Shopify (SHOP), Six Flags (FUN), Uber (UBER)

Here are some of the biggest stories you may have missed overnight and early this morning:

Disney announces ESPN deal as parks, streaming drive earnings beat

McDonald’s stock rises after company reverses US sales slump

NFL to take 10% stake in ESPN in deal with Disney

AI and GLP-1s were hot post-pandemic trades, but only one is thriving

Novo reports Q2 earnings missing estimates on slower GLP-1 sales

China pushes back on US chip tracking amid ongoing trade tensions

Shopify jumps on Q3 revenue forecast, boosted by AI upgrades

Trump says Japan to import Ford’s huge F-150 pickup trucks

Goldman trader says buoyant stocks are ignoring recession risks

McDonald’s (MCD) stock rose 3% in premarket trading after

The fast-food chain reported a return to sales growth in the second quarter. Global comparable sales jumped 3.8%, above analysts’ estimates for a 2.5% increase, while US same-store sales increased 2.5% in the company’s fiscal second quarter, marking a turnaround from the 3.6% drop in the first quarter.

McDonald’s also beat Wall Street estimates for earnings and revenue, reporting profits of $3.19 per share on $6.84 billion in revenue. Analysts were expecting earnings per share of $2.97 on $6.70 billion in revenue.

The company still expects same-store sales to grow 1.9% for the full fiscal year, and US same-store sales to rise 1.2%.

Read more here.

Disney (DIS) reported fiscal third quarter earnings on Wednesday that beat expectations, driven by continued strength in its domestic parks business and a year-over-year swing to profitability in its streaming unit. Revenue came in roughly in line with forecasts.

The direct-to-consumer segment posted a profit of $346 million, compared to a $19 million loss a year ago. The company continues to prioritize consistent profitability in streaming amid the ongoing shift away from traditional pay-TV. Disney is targeting approximately $875 million in streaming profits for fiscal 2025.

The company raised its full-year profit forecast to $5.85 a share, up from its May forecast of $5.75 and ahead of Wall Street expectations of $5.77.

Prior to its earnings update, Disney also confirmed previous reports that ESPN has reached a preliminary deal to acquire key NFL Media assets, including NFL Network, NFL RedZone, and NFL Fantasy, in exchange for a 10% equity stake in the network.

The stock gave up earlier gains and slipped around 2% in pre-market trading, as steep declines in the linear TV business overshadowed strength in parks and streaming.

Read more here.

Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) is off by 5% pre-market following EPS last night.

Some squishy areas of the results such as margins falling and mixed third quarter guidance. Demand seemed OK to me.

If there is one read through from the report to Nvidia’s (NVDA) August 27 earnings day it’s this: China chip risk will remain high in the near-term. That may suggest similarly mixed guidance from Nvidia when it reports.

If there is a positive here, this risk is being priced into Nvidia shares today after the AMD results.

After a 7.85% post earnings pop on Tuesday, Palantir (PLTR) looks to be holding onto gains pre-market despite mixed results out of Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) last night.

It’s going to be hard to shake the Palantir bulls in the near-term. Palantir had the type of shocking quarter than ignited the Nvidia trade more than a year ago. Factor in the potential for a rate cut at the September Fed meeting that could fuel momentum stocks, and the setup on Palantir looks bright…until it doesn’t.

“We believe in the next few years Palantir has the potential to be a trillion dollar market cap as the AI Revolution takes hold,” said Wedbush analyst Dan Ives.

Palantir’s current market cap: $411 billion.