S&P 500 posts third straight losing day as Meta, Microsoft fail to lift market: Live updates

Stocks slid on Thursday as struggles in the broader market overshadowed blockbuster results from megacap tech giants Microsoft and Meta Platforms.

The S&P 500 dropped 0.37% and closed at 6,339.39 for its third straight losing day, while the Nasdaq Composite inched down 0.03% to settle at 21,122.45. Both indexes touched intraday records before retreating from those levels. The Dow Jones Industrial Average tumbled 330.30 points, or 0.74%, ending at 44,130.98.

“Magnificent Seven” titans Microsoft and Meta respectively rose about 4% and 11% on the back of better-than-expected quarterly earnings. Software giant Microsoft said that annual revenue from its cloud computing service Azure exceeded $75 billion. Meta issued an upbeat third-quarter sales outlook, surpassing the Street’s estimates. Microsoft’s strong earnings print propelled the company to a $4 trillion market capitalization.

The continued rise of tech stocks failed to boost the broader market on Thursday, however, with nine of the 11 S&P 500 sectors in the red. UnitedHealth and Merck led the way lower within the Dow, losing 6% and 4%, respectively.

“These market reactions—despite strong earnings, capex, and buyback activity —are becoming increasingly difficult to justify,” said Joseph Cusick, senior vice president and portfolio manager at Calamos Investments. “At the same time, downside moves have been relatively contained.”

Stocks suffered from a reappraisal of Federal Reserve policy after this week’s central bank meeting left many investors questioning whether rates will fall in September. Also knocking sentiment was Friday’s White House deadline to impose sharply higher tariffs on leading trading partners, from India to Brazil.

President Donald Trump announced that a 25% duty on Mexican imports would be extended for another 90 days.

To be sure, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Thursday said negotiations with China are at a point where both sides “have the makings of a deal.” Bessent did not give any details on a potential deal, however, nor did he indicate when such an agreement could be made. The U.S. and China have until Aug. 12 before the truce over aggressive tariffs runs out.

Thursday marked the end of what has been mostly a strong month on Wall Street. The S&P 500 jumped 2.2% in July, while the 30-stock Dow squeaked out a nearly 0.1% gain. It was the third straight positive month for both indexes. The Nasdaq advanced 3.7% in the period for its fourth winning month.

Mag Seven names Apple and Amazon are slated to report earnings after the bell Thursday.

Stocks close lower, S&P 500 slides for third straight session

Stocks closed lower on Thursday, with the S&P 500 posting its third consecutive losing session.

The broad market index slipped 0.37% to close at 6,339.39, while the Nasdaq Composite lost 0.03% to 21,122.45. The Dow Jones Industrial Average pulled back 330.30 points, or 0.74%, to finish the session at 44,130.98.

— Brian Evans

Utilities poised for longest monthly win streak since 2009

Utility stocks are on track to notch a monthly win streak that hasn’t been seen in more than 15 years.

The S&P 500 sector has climbed more than 4% so far in July. If that holds through Thursday’s closing bell, it would mark the group’s seventh straight positive month — a length that hasn’t been seen since 2009.

AES has led the sector higher in July, surging more than 24%. Entergy and American Electric Power were also among the top performers, with each climbing more than 8%.

PG&E was the worst performer in the sector this month, losing around 1%.

— Alex Harring, Nick Wells

HSBC downgrades Novo Nordisk to hold from buy, saying obesity drugs behaving like ‘mature’ market

Pharmaceutical stocks are falling after President Donald Trump sent letters to 17 drugmakers, asking them to lower prices within 60 days. Merck shares fell nearly 4%, while Pfizer and Eli Lilly shed almost 2% each.

Novo Nordisk shares are down nearly 5%, but the stock as already under pressure before this latest news broke, after HSBC downgraded it to hold from buy. This latest slide means shares have lost about 44% since the year began, and nearly 64% over the past 12 months.

The euphoria around obesity drugs has clearly faded. HSBC analyst Rajesh Kumar said the category is behaving like a mature market, and “slower growth should imply lower multiples.”

Kumar said the consensus estimate for GLP-1 market size is between $100 billion and $200 billion.

However, “One must ask if that market size is a reasonable estimate …,” Kumar said, citing persisting competition from compounding pharmacies, despite the illegality, and limited access due to insurance constraints.

“If the market penetration is in single digit, why is growth for Wegovy being impacted by compounders and competition?” he said.

—Christina Cheddar Berk

Figma opens at $85 per share on NYSE

Figma opened trading at $85 per share on NYSE Thursday afternoon. The opening level for the design software company’s shares was more than double its IPO price of $33.

Trading was halted briefly after the open. The stock jumped above $100 in the minutes after the debut.

— Yun Li

Monster moves for tech stocks could be a good time to broaden portfolios, says Harris Financial Group’s Jamie Cox

As technology stocks like Meta Platforms and Microsoft rip higher on strong earnings, now could be a good time for investors to eye undervalued aspects of the market, according to Harris Financial Group managing partner Jamie Cox.

“Many of the companies in the Mag 7 have winner take all economics, and people are willing to pay up for it,” Cox said. “I think, however,  investors are pushing the envelope on tech and overlooking more durable themes in the market—such a security and defense. ,”

“This is an excellent opportunity to reallocate to the everything else trade while markets are willing to pay you to do so,” he added.

— Brian Evans

Stocks making big moves midday

• Generac — The generator company gained 5% after Bank of America raised its price target on the stock, highlighting the company’s entry into data centers.
• Baxter International — Shares fell 10% after the health care company reported weaker-than-expected results for the second quarter. Baxter earned 59 cents per share on revenue of $2.81 billion. Analysts polled by FactSet had forecast a profit of 60 cents per share on revenue of $2.82 billion. On top of that, Baxter lowered its full-year earnings guidance.
• Integra LifeSciences — The medical technology company popped 7% following its beat on the top and bottom lines for the second quarter. Revenue was $415.6 million, above the $395 million expected from analysts polled by FactSet.  Adjusted earnings came in at 45 cents a share, 1 cent per share higher than the consensus estimate.
• C.H. Robinson — The transportation stock jumped 9% after the company posted second-quarter adjusted earnings of $1.29 per share, beating the FactSet estimate of $1.16 per share. On Thursday, Baird upgraded the stock to an outperform rating from neutral.

For the full list, go here.

— Fred Imbert

Figma IPO will open the floodgates, NYSE president says

The strong demand for Figma IPO will open the door for a slew of listings,  Lynn Martin, president of New York Stock Exchange said.

“This will open the floodgates,” Martin said Thursday. “Even just in the month of July, we’ve raised almost $5 billion of capital for companies who had IPOs at the NYSE. It feels like the market is finally back.”

Martin said the stock market back at record highs as well as the clarity of tariffs helped market sentiment.

“We are working with a variety of companies to become public later this month and August. Also, September and October pipeline’s looking robust,” she said.

— Yun Li

Dow falls behind as tech fuels S&P 500, Nasdaq Composite

The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite hit fresh record highs following the strong results from Meta Platforms and Microsoft, but the Dow Jones Industrial Average was notably absent from the party.

The 30-stock Dow is the only major benchmark yet to reach new all-time highs this year, while its tech-heavy peers have managed to ride an AI-fueled rally over the last several months to fresh records. The blue-chip index was last lower, down 0.3% in midday trading.

The blue-chip index, which has a higher concentration of value stocks than growth stocks, tends to outperform during market downturns such as in 2022. In years when the market rallies on tech, such as in 2023 and 2024, the S&P 500 and Nasdaq tend to do better.

— Sarah Min

27 stocks in the S&P 500 hit new 52-week highs

During Thursday’s session, 27 stocks in the S&P 500 traded at new 52-week highs.

Names that hit this milestone included:

• Meta Platforms trading at all-time high levels back to its IPO in May 2012
• DoorDash trading at levels not seen since November 2021
• eBay trading at all-time high levels back to its IPO in September 1998
• Ulta trading at levels not seen since April 2024
• GE Vernova trading at all-time highs back to its spin-off from GE in April 2024
• Advanced Micro Devices trading at levels not seen since July 2024
• Broadcom LTD trading at all-time high levels back through Avago history and its IPO in August 2009
• Microsoft trading at all-time high levels back to its IPO in March 1986
• NVIDIA trading at all-time high levels back to its IPO in January 1999
• Oracle trading at all-time high levels back to its IPO on March 12 1986
• Constellation Energy trading at all-time high levels back to its spin-off from Exelon in January 2022

On the other hand, 25 stocks in the index traded at new 52-week lows, including:

— Christopher Hayes, Lisa Kailai Han

Meta shares have nearly 30% upside ahead as AI fuels new growth cycle, HSBC says

HSBC sees AI capex-fueled growth ahead for Meta.

Analyst Nicolas Cote-Colisson upgraded his price target by $290 to $900, which implies about 29.5% potential upside for the tech giant. He also upgraded the stock to buy.

Artificial intelligence is creating opportunities for Meta that can support double-digit revenue growth in the coming years, particularly by bringing in more search-related traffic, ad dollars and tools for advertisers to reach clients, Cote-Colisson wrote in a Thursday note to clients.

“We see Meta in a strong position to outpace digital ad market growth,” the analyst said. “Meta already captures 31.6% of the global digital ad market in 25e and can get more incremental revenue than its fair share, we think. AI capabilities improve targeting and quality of content. Time spent on the different platforms keeps increasing. In addition, user count is still expanding, reinforcing the network effect (where revenue increases faster than users).”

Meta shares rallied more than 12% in Thursday morning trading, after the company on Wednesday reported a significant second-quarter earnings and revenue beat.

— Pia Singh

Morgan Stanley downgrades Align following earnings miss

Morgan Stanley moved to the sidelines on Align Technology after the dental product maker’s earnings miss.

Analyst Erin Wright downgraded the stock to equal weight from overweight. Wright also slashed her price target to $154 from $249, an eye-popping 38% reduction.

“Our prior OW thesis was based on ALGN’s leadership in a high growth category, but growth has been challenged for years, w/ limited clarity on path from here,” Wright wrote in a note to clients on Thursday. “ALGN’s latest earnings shortfall and guidance cut … calls into question line of sight to LT growth recovery.”

Wright’s downgrade comes as the Invisalign parent’s stock slides more than 30% on Thursday, on track for its worst session since 2007. Align earned $2.49 per share on $1.01 billion in revenue for the second quarter, while analysts polled by FactSet anticipated $2.57 per share and $1.06 billion, respectively.

— Alex Harring

Stocks open higher with tech leading the way

Stocks opened higher on Thursday, with technology stocks carrying the brunt of the gains for the major indexes.

The S&P 500 added 0.65%, while the Nasdaq Composite gained 1.1%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 62 points, or 0.1%.

— Brian Evans

Inflation higher than expected, Fed’s preferred gauge shows

Inflation in June was a touch hotter than expected and still above target, according to the Federal Reserve’s preferred forecasting measure.

The personal consumption expenditures price index showed a 12-month seasonally adjusted rate of 2.6% on the headline measure and 2.8% on core excluding food and energy, according to the Commerce Department. Both were 0.1 percentage point higher than the Dow Jones consensus forecast. However, the monthly increases of 0.3% were in line.

The Fed targets inflation at 2%,

Personal income increased 0.3%, compared to the 0.2% estimate, while spending also rose 0.3%, against the outlook for 0.4%.

—Jeff Cox

Trump attacks Powell after Federal Reserve holds rates steady

President Donald Trump attacked Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell again after the central bank held interest rates steady this week.

“Jerome ‘Too Late’ Powell has done it again!!! He is TOO LATE, and actually, TOO ANGRY, TOO STUPID, & TOO POLITICAL, to have the job of Fed Chair,” Trump said on Truth Social.

“He is costing our Country TRILLIONS OF DOLLARS, in addition to one of the most incompetent, or corrupt, renovations of a building(s) in the history of construction! Put another way, “Too Late” is a TOTAL LOSER, and our Country is paying the price!,” the president said.

Two Fed governors opposed holding rates steady on Wednesday.

Trump visited the Fed last week where he and Powell sparred over the costs of renovating the building.

— Spencer Kimball

Moderna to cut 10% of its workforce

Moderna said on Thursday that it plans to cut about 10% of its global workforce by the end of 2025, amid slowing sales for Covid-19 shots and broader uncertainty in the vaccine market.

“Every effort was made to avoid affecting jobs,” Moderna CEO Stephane Bancel said in a memo discussing the layoffs. “But today, reshaping our operating structure and aligning our cost structure to the realities of our business are essential to remain focused and financially disciplined, while continuing to invest in our science on the path to 2027.”

— Brian Evans

Microsoft to top $4 trillion market cap

Microsoft shares popped more than 8% after its stronger-than-expected quarterly report. That gain put the tech giant on track to reach a market cap of more than $4 trillion — joining Nvidia.

— Fred Imbert

Asia-Pacific markets end the day mostly lower

Asia-Pacific markets mostly ended lower Thursday.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index fell 1.51% in its last hour while mainland China’s CSI 300 index declined 1.82% to 4,075.59.

Meanwhile, South Korea’s Kospi index lost 0.28% to close at 3,245.44, while the small-cap Kosdaq moved up 0.2% to 805.24.

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 benchmark fell 0.16% to end the day at 8,742.80.

Over in India, the 50-stock benchmark Nifty 50 was up 0.18%, while the BSE Sensex index was flat as of 1.05 p.m. Indian Standard Time (3.35 a.m. ET).

— Amala Balakrishner

Market is ‘losing its glass-half-full bias,’ strategist says

The market could be losing some of its optimism following the Federal Reserve’s interest rate decision, according to TradeStation global head of market strategy David Russell. 

“The market could be losing its glass-half-full bias as the realities of tariffs and seasonality kick in. Investors have mostly looked past warning signs like the last CPI report, which showed the impact of trade duties,” Russell said. “Those pressures might increase going forward, especially if the White House pursues secondary sanctions on Russia’s oil buyers like China.”

— Brian Evans

Alignment Healthcare surges 20% in extended trading

Shares of Alignment Healthcare popped in after-hours trading after the health-care company posted second-quarter beats and solid guidance.

Medicare player Alignment Healthcare reported earnings of 7 cents a share, while FactSet consensus estimates sought a loss of 7 cents a share. Revenue landed at $1.02 billion, compared to the Street’s estimate for $960.5 million.

For the third quarter, Alignment sees revenue coming in at $970 million to $985 million, while the FactSet consensus called for $956.8 million.

–Bertha Coombs, Darla Mercado

Microsoft joins exclusive $4 trillion market cap club, boosted by 8% after-hours gains

Shares of Microsoft jumped 8% in Wednesday’s extended trading hours, after the software giant posted better-than-expected fiscal fourth-quarter results.

The after-hours gain lifted Microsoft’s market capitalization to about $4.1 trillion. If this rally continues on Thursday, Microsoft will officially join chipmaker Nvidia in the exclusive $4 trillion market cap club. Nvidia hit the benchmark level earlier this month.

Apple is third on the leaderboard, with a total market capitalization of around $3.2 trillion.

— Ari Levy, Jordan Novet, Lisa Kailai Han

Stocks making the biggest moves after the bell: Microsoft, Meta and more

These are the stocks moving the most in extended-hours trading:

Read the full list of stocks moving here.

— Lisa Kailai Han

S&P 500 futures, Nasdaq 100 futures rise

S&P 500 futures and Nasdaq 100 futures rose on Wednesday night, boosted by after-hours gains in shares of Meta Platforms and Microsoft.

Futures tied to the broad market benchmark rose 0.6%, while Nasdaq 100 futures gained 0.9%. Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 23 points, or 0.05%.

— Lisa Kailai Han