Traders watch as President-elect Donald Trump walks onto the floor of the New York Stock Exchange with his wife, Melania, after being named Time’s “Person of the Year” for the second time, on Dec. 12, 2024.
Stocks fell Thursday, weighed down by a hotter-than-expected U.S. inflation report, as tech shares failed to keep the momentum seen earlier in the week.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite slid 0.66%, dipping back below the 20,000 threshold to end at 19,902.84. The broad market S&P 500 shed 0.54% to close at 6,051.25. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 234.44 points, or 0.53%, to settle at 43,914.12. It was the 30-stock index's sixth straight losing day.
Tech names were among the notable decliners, with Nvidia losing more than 1%. Software giant Adobe declined more than 13% following the company's weaker-than-expected 2025 outlook. Meta Platforms, Alphabet and Amazon ended the session lower as well.
The producer price index, which tracks wholesale prices, increased 0.4% last month. Economists polled by Dow Jones expected a 0.2% increase on a monthly basis. The 10-year Treasury yield jumped to the highest level in two weeks following the data.
This follows November's consumer price index report, which came in line with economists' estimates and has prompted investors to anticipate another interest rate cut from the Federal Reserve at its policy meeting next week.
"I think the trajectory of disinflation is promising and concerning at the same time," Keith Buchanan, senior portfolio manager at Globalt Investments, said to CNBC. "We continue to grind below 3%, but progress seems to be slowing as we try to get things towards the Fed's target of 2%."
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Buchanan still believes the Fed is going to lower rates next week. Fed funds futures trading data reflects a nearly 95% likelihood that central bank policymakers will do so by a quarter point, according to the CME FedWatch Tool.
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"If they had an idea of a plan that didn't match what the market expected this close to the meeting, we'd know it," he added.
Wall Street is coming off a mixed session, with the Nasdaq topping 20,000 for the first time on Wednesday and reaching new all-time and closing highs. The S&P 500 also gained. The Dow, however, pulled back.
Stocks end in the red
Stocks finished lower on Thursday.
The Nasdaq Composite fell about 0.7% to close at 19,902.84, and the S&P 500 dropped 0.5% to close at 6,051.25. Meanwhile, the Dow Jones Industrial Average also slid 234 points, or 0.5%, to finish at 43,914.12.
— Sean Conlon
'Magnificent 7' isn't going to 'quietly end the year,' Chris Verrone says
The "Magnificent Seven" may be due for more big moves heading into 2025, according to Strategas Research Partners head of technical analysis Chris Verrone.
"The Mag 7 is not going quietly to end the year," he wrote in a Thursday note. "The most important thing on our screens the last few weeks has been the return of mega-cap leadership after a lengthy rest."
Verrone noted that Amazon, Meta Platforms, Apple, Alphabet and Tesla all hit fresh highs in the previous session. Those stocks have seen year-to-date gains of more than 50%, more than 78%, nearly 29%, more than 37% and more than 69%, respectively.
During Thursday's trading day, the CNBC Magnificent Seven index hit a new 52-week high.
— Sean Conlon
Broadcom can now be seen as a 'growth stock,' Laffer Tengler Investments CEO says ahead of its earnings
Eyes are on Broadcom's earnings due after the market close as investors watch for further artificial intelligence-related growth updates from the semiconductor and software maker. Shares were down about 2.3% around midday.
"We're looking for continued guidance on AI and its trajectory, which will be crucial for investors," Nancy Tengler, CEO and chief investment officer of Laffer Tengler Investments, said in a note to clients. "Broadcom was previously considered a value stock, but it could now be seen as a growth stock. However, it appeals to both, thanks to its continued dividend payments and growth."
Tengler noted that Broadcom's wireless segment's guidance was revised downward, but said that adjustment has already been factored into the company's stock price. Shares are up just 4% this quarter, but have raced ahead nearly 60.8% this year, fueled by enthusiasm around its role in making parts required for big data centers and AI infrastructure.
Sentiment on Broadcom overall remains strong. Of the 41 analysts covering the stock, 10 have a strong buy rating while 26 rate it a buy, per LSEG. Analysts polled by FactSet are forecasting fourth-quarter earnings of $1.39 per share on $14.07 billion in revenue, exceeding the company's guidance of $14 billion.
— Pia Singh
S&P 500 on track for seventh strongest year in history, according to Canaccord Genuity Capital Markets
The S&P 500 has risen around 27% this year, hovering around its all-time highs. This puts the index on pace to notch its seventh strongest year on record, Canaccord Genuity Capital Markets wrote in a Thursday note.
Last year, the benchmark cinched a 24% rise.
"Back-to-back gains of 20% or more, although rare, have historically led to further upside," analyst Michael Welch said. "The mid-90s was the only other period when the SPX had back-to-back >20% gains."
He added: "The current environment continues to track the prior non-recessionary periods, with the S&P 500, Nasdaq Comp., and Russell 2000 all having gains across one, two, and three-month time periods."
— Lisa Kailai Han
Ciena shares head for best day in two years
Ciena shares popped 16% and headed for their best day since December 2022 after the networking equipment company issued strong guidance.
The company said it expects revenue to grow between 8% and 11% in fiscal 2025, topping a FactSet estimate calling for a little more than 7% growth. Ciena expects first-quarter revenue to range between $1.01 billion and $1.09 billion, ahead of the $1 billion estimate from Wall Street.
The rally came even as the company fell short of Wall Street's earnings expectations.
— Samantha Subin
Stocks making the biggest moves midday
Check out some of the companies making headlines in midday trading:
- Adobe — The software company tumbled more than 12% after it announced lighter-than-expected revenue estimates for the fiscal first quarter. Adobe guided for revenue between $5.63 billion and $5.68 billion in the fiscal first quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $5.73 billion, according to LSEG.
- Warner Bros. Discovery — Shares surged 15% after the legacy media company announced plans to restructure and split its business into linear and streaming segments.
- Constellation Energy — The energy company advanced 3% following an upgrade to buy from Bank of America, with the firm citing rising demand and tightening supply as catalysts for shares moving forward.
Read the full list here.
— Brian Evans
ServiceTitan opens at $101 per share, well above IPO price
Software stock ServiceTitan had a strong start to its first day as a public company.
The stock began trading at $101 per share on Thursday, well above the $71 per share that it priced at last night. That price was already above the initial projected range for the stock, and translated to a raise of $625 million.
The strong debut comes after a slow period of initial public offerings for tech stocks, especially since Reddit and Rubrik went public earlier this year.
— Jesse Pound, Jordan Novet
8 stocks hit new 52-week highs
Eight stocks in the S&P 500 hit fresh 52-week highs during Thursday's trading day.
Of those, six scored new all-time highs. Below are the names that hit the milestone:
- Booking Holdings trading at all-time highs back to its initial public offering in April 1999
- Tesla trading at all-time highs back to its IPO in June 2010
- Kroger trading at all-time highs back to its IPO in January 1977
- MasterCard trading at all-time-high levels since its IPO in May 2006
- F5 trading at all-time-high levels back to its IPO in June 1999
- PTC trading at all-time highs back to its IPO in 1989
By contrast, five S&P 500 stocks, including CVS Health and Nucor, hit new 52-week lows. CVS was trading at lows not seen since February 2013, and Nucor was trading at lows not seen since May 2023.
— Sean Conlon, Christopher Hayes
Jeremy Siegel doesn't think the stock market in 2025 will beat the rally from the past two years
Next year's outlook seems tepid in comparison to previous years, according to Jeremy Siegel, WisdomTree senior economist and finance professor at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School.
"I don't think 2025, as good as everyone hopes the economy will be, given valuations, is going to be as good as 2023, 2024," Siegel told CNBC's "Squawk on the Street" on Thursday. "We'll probably see 0-10, 5-10 [percent gains.]"
Siegel added that there may be rotation in the market next year, noting that the recent surge of "Mag 7" tech stocks has been nearly unprecedented. "I don't know if it's just portfolio catch-up … some of that enthusiasm for some of those stocks very well might unwind next year," he said.
— Pia Singh
Warner Bros. Discovery shares on track for best day since January 2022
Shares of Warner Bros. Discovery surged more than 15% in midday trading, putting the stock on pace for its best day in more than two years.
If the stock closes around this level, this will mark its largest percentage increase since Jan. 7, 2022, when it gained almost 17%.
The move comes after the company announced a restructuring plan Thursday to segment its business into linear and streaming units.
— Sean Conlon, Sara Salinas
Small caps struggle
Small-cap stocks underperformed on Thursday.
The small cap-focused Russell 2000 slipped 0.6% in late morning trading. By comparison, the Dow was near flat and the S&P 500 ticked lower by about 0.1%.
— Alex Harring
Bill Ackman says Trump's policy 'lifts all boats'
Pershing Square's Bill Ackman reiterated his belief that President-elect Trump's administration is a positive catalyst for businesses and the economy.
"Most of the country understands that the more successful businesses are, the more the stock market goes up, the more that their wages rise, the more job growth, the more opportunity, the more businesses who come to this country, it lifts all boats," Ackman said on CNBC's "Squawk on the Street" at the New York Stock Exchange where Trump rang the opening bell. "I don't know anyone who is opposed to the business plan of this next administration."
Regarding tariffs that Trump threatened to slap on major U.S. trading partners, the hedge fund manager said he believes the president-elect will be very thoughtful about trade, using tariffs as a powerful negotiating tool to level the playing field.
— Yun Li
Starboard reportedly takes a position in bitcoin mining laggard Riot Platforms
Shares of Riot Platforms jumped after The Wall Street Journal reported activist investor Starboard Value has taken a "significant position" in the bitcoin miner and is pushing for the company to convert some of its bitcoin mining facilities into space for big data-center users. The report did not disclose the size of Starboard's stake.
The stock was last higher by 7%. Earlier, it spiked as much as 12%.
Pure-play bitcoin mining stocks such as Riot, Mara Holdings and CleanSpark came under pressure this year as bitcoin exchange-traded funds gave investors a new way to get exposure to bitcoin, miner revenue was slashed during the halving and the bitcoin price was stuck in a tight range for several months. During that period, other miners such as Iren, Core Scientific and TeraWulf made pivots to artificial intelligence and outperformed.
Riot is up more than 30% since the election. President-elect Trump's victory served as a positive catalyst that sent pure-play miners on a catch-up rally. However, it is still down 17% for the year.
— Tanaya Macheel
Attendees cheer as Trump rings opening bell
The New York Stock Exchange was buzzing Thursday morning as President-elect Trump arrived to ring the opening bell.
Trump appeared alongside family, Vice President-elect JD Vance and NYSE President Lynn Martin. In a post on LinkedIn, Martin called Thursday a "historic day for this historic institution."
Several chief executives were confirmed to be in attendance by CNBC. The list includes Goldman Sachs' David Solomon, Citigroup's Jane Fraser, Verizon's Hans Vestberg, Pershing Square's Bill Ackman and Target's Brian Cornell.
Attendees cheered as Trump took the stage. At one point, they were chanting "U-S-A."
— Alex Harring
Trump rings NYSE opening bell
Thursday's trading session kicked off with President-elect Donald Trump ringing the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange.
This comes amid the former president being named Time magazine's 2024 Person of the Year. He was previously given the title back in 2016.
— Sean Conlon
S&P 500, Nasdaq open lower
The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite ticked lower Thursday morning.
The broad market index pulled back about 0.1%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq moved 0.4% lower. Meanwhile, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 30 points, or about 0.1%.
— Sean Conlon
Buy small caps and cyclical value stocks heading into 2025, Barclays says
Small-cap and cyclical value stocks look attractive with President-elect Trump's second term and a Republican-controlled Congress in 2025, according to Barclays
"Looking at the historical pattern of stock market returns in the 12m post US elections, we have a pretty clear view that, once the election uncertainty passes, you tend to get a fairly strong cyclical vs. defensive rotation both at the sector and style level, with a high hit ratio of success for this rotation," the firm wrote in a recent a note to clients.
"Given the Trump win and Red Sweep, it seems a fair assumption that reflationary policies could engineer a similar return outcome this time around as well," the firm also said. "Even though we are yet to see this pronounced style return pattern come about this time, it is still early days and we are happy to be patient in our style allocation, remaining Positive on cyclical Value and Small Caps, and Negative on defensive Low Vol."
— Sean Conlon
Uber, Celsius Holdings and Adobe among stocks making biggest premarket moves
Check out the companies making headlines before the bell:
- Uber — Shares of the ride-sharing company climbed more than 3%, rebounding from losses earlier in the week. The stock has declined for three straight days, including a 5.8% drop on Wednesday after General Motors halted funding of Cruise. The autonomous driving division had a partnership with Uber.
- Celsius Holdings — Shares of the energy drink manufacturer rose nearly 4% after JPMorgan initiated coverage of the company with an overweight rating, citing lighter inventory and a reacceleration in U.S. energy drink growth as catalysts.
- Beverage companies — Deutsche Bank analyst Steve Powers upgraded Coca-Cola, PepsiCo and Keurig Dr Pepper to buy from neutral. Each of the stocks moved up around 1% in premarket trading. The analyst anticipates accelerating trends in restaurant traffic and more impulse purchasing next year, which he believes should benefit the beverage and snacks industry.
For the full list, read here.
— Pia Singh
PPI rises more than expected
Wholesale prices rose more than expected in November, raising questions about the future outlook for U.S. monetary policy.
The producer price index increased 0.4% month over month. Economists polled by Dow Jones expected PPI to increase 0.2% month over month in November.
— Fred Imbert
Sell General Dynamics, Goldman says
Goldman Sachs turned negative on General Dynamics shares as it evaluates what the defense sector will look like in 2025.
Analyst Noah Poponak downgraded shares of the aerospace and defense stock to sell from neutral. Poponak's $245 price target reflects the potential for a 7.7% slide in share price.
"We see fundamental challenges in all four segments," Poponak said of General Dynamics' business. For example, he said the technology division could be hurt as the so-called Department of Government Efficiency tries to reduce spending under President-elect Donald Trump.
Shares fell 2.5% in Thursday premarket trading follow the downgrade. The stock has risen just over 2% in 2024, underperforming the broad market.
With the call, General Dynamics joined defense stocks Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, L3Harris Technologies, Huntington Ingalls Industries and Mercury Systems in having sell ratings from Goldman.
— Alex Harring
Celsius shares can rebound, JPMorgan says
Lighter inventory and a reacceleration of growth are the right mix for Celsius Holdings following a rough patch, JPMorgan said.
Analyst Andrea Teixeira initiated coverage of the energy drink stock on Thursday with an overweight rating, citing those two themes as reasons for optimism. Teixeira's $37 price target implies upside of 24.3% over Wednesday's closing level.
"We think the deceleration in the energy drink category in the U.S. does not invalidate CELH secular tailwinds that should lead to consistent top-tier growth within staples," Teixeira said.
Celsius is the third-largest energy drink brand in the U.S., Teixeira said. The analyst noted that it is connected to several consumer megatrends, including functionality and a lack of sugar.
Shares popped 2.8% in Thursday premarket trading on the back of Teixeira's call. However, it has been a tough year, with the stock tumbling more than 45% in 2024. With that performance, Celsius is tracking for its first negative year since 2018.
— Alex Harring
Wells Fargo downgrades Hershey, citing 'historic' earnings pressure
Investors should expect Hershey's earnings per share to get squeezed, according to Wells Fargo.
Analyst Chris Carey downgraded the chocolate maker stock to underweight from equal weight. Carey also slashed his price target by $15 to $160, which reflects the potential for shares to drop 9.6% from Wednesday's closing level.
Carey's call comes after sources said earlier this week that Mondelez showed takeover interest in Hershey. The stock has been hurt by surging cocoa prices.
"The past week … has crystallized a simple fact: HSY is on the precipice of historic EPS pressure in 2025 and (now) into 2026," Carey wrote to clients in a Thursday note. As a result, "Street EPS needs to come down substantially."
Hershey shares slid 0.6% in Thursday's premarket trading. The stock has dropped just over 5% in 2024, putting it on pace for a second negative year in a row.
— Alex Harring
Just 16% of shoppers plan to spend more this holiday season, CNBC survey shows
The CNBC All-America Economic Survey finds inflation is still haunting the buying public, leading to what is shaping up to be just an average season for retailers.
Just 16% of respondents say they will spend more, down two points compared to last year. Forty-eight percent said they will lay out the same amount for holiday gifts, up five points. At the same time, 35% say they will spend less, down two points as well.
Check out the full survey for more.
— Steve Liesman
Baird sits on sidelines with Palantir stock
While Baird sees reasons to like Palantir, the firm is cautious about buying in after its banner year.
Senior analyst William Power initiated coverage of the cybersecurity stock at a hold rating. Power's $70 price target implies shares can pull back 3.5% from Wednesday's close.
Power said he is optimistic on the company's growth opportunity as it provides artificial intelligence "firepower to western institutions." His reason for a pause on investing is tied to the company's spectacular rally of more than 320% in 2024 alone, which builds on last year's gain of 167.5%.
"PLTR has excelled at actually putting generative AI applications into production, which is where we expect most value to be extracted in the coming years," Power said in a Wednesday note to clients. "We are positive on the company's position, but are wary of chasing given strong YTD performance and valuation."
Shares slid 1.1% in Thursday premarket trading.
— Alex Harring
European markets open higher
European markets opened higher on Thursday, as regional investors await the last monetary policy decision from the European Central Bank this year.
The pan-European Stoxx 600 index was up 0.14%, with all major bourses and most sectors trading in the green. Oil and gas stocks added 0.92%, while media stocks dipped 0.28%.
The U.K.'s FTSE 100 index was 0.14% higher at 8,313, Germany's DAX was up 0.23% at 20,444, France's CAC was 0.4% higher at 7,451 and Italy's FTSE MIB was up 0.51% at 34,912.
— Karen Gilchrist
ServiceTitan prices initial public offering at $71 per share
Cloud software company ServiceTitan priced its initial public offering at $71 per share on Wednesday evening.
The figure comes in above the company's expected range. Previously, ServiceTitan had hiked its price range to between $65 and $67.
ServiceTitan is expected to begin trading Thursday on the Nasdaq under the ticker "TTAN."
Read more about ServiceTitan's anticipated debut from CNBC's Jordan Novet.
— Darla Mercado
Stocks making the biggest moves after hours
Check out the companies making headlines in extended trading:
- Adobe — The software company fell 8% after issuing lighter-than-expected revenue estimates for the fiscal first quarter. Adobe guided for revenue between $5.63 billion and $5.68 billion in the period, lower than the consensus estimate of $5.73 billion, according to LSEG. Meanwhile, the company's adjusted earnings per share and revenue in the prior quarter topped analysts' forecasts.
- Chewy — The pet goods retailer declined nearly 3% in extended trading. The company announced an underwritten public offering of $500 million in shares, which are being sold by Buddy Chester Sub LLC. Chewy will not receive any proceeds from the sale of these shares. The retailer also said it would concurrently purchase $50 million in shares from Buddy Chester.
The full story can be found here.
— Hakyung Kim
Stock futures are little changed Wednesday
U.S. stock futures were flat Wednesday night.
Futures tied to the Nasdaq 100 slipped around 0.2%. S&P 500 futures inched down 0.1%. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures fell 49 points, or 0.1%.
— Hakyung Kim
Correction: An earlier version of this blog post misstated the day of the week.
