Biggest S&P 500 Movers on Friday

1 hr 52 min ago

Decliners

• Cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike Holdings (CRWD) was at the center of the technological mayhem, as a defective software update from the company led to widespread outages. Since CrowdStrike provides security software to major cloud computing platforms, including Microsoft‘s (MSFT) Azure, the incident had a far-reaching impact, disrupting operations for major airlines, health care facilities, and financial institutions, among other businesses. Shares of CrowdStrike plummeted 11.1%, marking the heaviest losses of any S&P 500 stock.
• Shares of commercial lines insurance firm W.R. Berkley (WRB) dropped 8.3%. The company could face a flurry of business interruption insurance claims as a result of the CrowdStrike outage, although many policies are unlikely to include coverage for this type of event. W.R. Berkley is set to post its latest quarterly results before the markets open on Monday morning.
• Shares of fellow insurer Travelers Companies (TRV) also lost ground on Friday, declining 7.8% after the company released its second-quarter earnings report. Although quarterly revenue and net premiums written came in higher than the year-ago period, both figures fell short of analysts’ estimates. Travelers also reported an increase in catastrophe losses, citing severe storm activity, while investment losses also jumped over the year.

Advancers

• Intuitive Surgical (ISRG) shares notched the day’s top performance in the S&P 500, soaring 9.3% to a record high after the manufacturer of robotic medical devices topped sales and profit forecasts with its second-quarter results. Robust demand for the company’s da Vinci robotic surgical device helped drive the strong performance, with a 17% year-over-year increase in procedures performed using the system.

• Starbucks (SBUX) shares jolted 6.9% higher amid reports that activist investor Elliott Investment Management has accumulated a significant position in the coffee giant. According to The Wall Street Journal, Elliott has held discussions with Starbucks in recent weeks about ways to improve the company’s performance. However, the exact size of Elliott’s stake and any particular changes the firm may push for remain unknown.
• Huntington Bancshares (HBAN) stock advanced 3.9% after the bank holding company reported better-than-expected revenue and earnings per share (EPS) for the second quarter. Although net interest income fell year over year, Huntington’s average loans and deposits moved higher.
• United Airlines (UAL) shares gained 3.3% on Friday, recovering losses posted in the previous session after the carrier released quarterly results. United’s second-quarter revenue missed estimates, and the airline provided a muted forecast for the current quarter, citing a slowdown in air travel demand. However, analysts at Citi suggested these expectations may already be priced in after rival Delta Air Lines (DAL) highlighted demand concerns in its earnings report last week. Analysts also said United has benefitted from strong cost management and lower fuel expenses.

–Michael Bromberg

Bitcoin Surges Above $67,000

2 hr 47 min ago

After a slight dip Thursday, bitcoin (BTC) gained more than 4% Friday to move back above $67,000 for the first time in a month.

It was another positive day for U.S. spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) on Thursday, as $84.8 million flowed into these products, according to Farside Investors. This takes the week’s total inflows to $861.5 million so far.1

Optimism around the approval and potential trading debut next week of spot ether ETFs is also growing, pushing ether (ETH) prices higher. Issuers of these products have unveiled their fee structure and now await a final nod from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The native token of the Ethereum blockchain was also up around 2% in Friday trading.

–Kyle Torpey

Intuitive Surgical Hits New High as Device Demand Jumps

4 hours ago

Intuitive Surgical (ISRG) shares traded at an all-time high Friday after the maker of robotic medical devices posted better-than-expected second-quarter results on soaring demand for its da Vinci surgical machine.

The company reported adjusted earnings per share of $1.46. Revenue increased 14.5% to $2.01 billion. Both exceeded forecasts. 

Intuitive Surgical said worldwide procedures with its da Vinci system rose 17%, and it placed 341 in medical facilities, 10 more than in the same period last year. At the end of June it had a total of 9,203 in use, a 14% gain from the end of the first half of 2023.

The company said that surgical procedures weren’t hurt by COVID-19, as they were in China during lockdowns there a year ago. More people are having procedures done that they had put off during the pandemic, the company said.

Intuitive Surgical shares were up 9% in late trading, leading gainers on the Nasdaq and S&P 500.

–Bill McColl

A Big Nvidia Stake Sends Another AI Stock Soaring

5 hr 56 min ago

Shares of Serve Robotics (SERV) surged on Friday after Nvidia (NVDA) reported a 10% stake in the delivery technology company, making it the latest upstart to get a boost from the AI giant’s halo effect.

Nvidia in a regulatory filing late Thursday said it owned 3.7 million shares of Serve, a stake valued at about $9.8 million based on Thursday’s closing price.

Shares of Soundhound AI (SOUN), a voice AI and speech recognition company, jumped in mid-February when Nvidia disclosed a stake that at the time was valued at less than $4 million. Soundhound stock has since gained more than 125%.

Serve is a last-mile delivery company whose semi-autonomous delivery robots can be seen on the sidewalks of San Francisco and Los Angeles. Serve, once a subsidiary of food delivery service Postmates, was acquired by Uber (UBER) in 2020 and subsequently spun off in 2021.

Serve shares were up more than 200% in recent trading. 

–Colin Laidley

Travelers Tumbles After Earnings Miss

7 hr 4 min ago

The Travelers Companies (TRV) shares fell sharply Friday as the big insurance provider missed estimates for second-quarter sales and net premiums written.

The company reported quarterly revenue was up 12% to $11.28 billion, less than forecasts. Net written premiums rose 8% to a record $11.12 billion, but that also was below forecasts. Adjusted profit of $2.51 per share was better than expected.

Shares were down about 7% in recent trading, making Travelers the biggest decliner among Dow components.

–Bill McColl

American Express Drops as Revenue Misses Expectations

8 hr 18 min ago

American Express (AXP) reported larger profits than analysts had expected for the second quarter Friday, despite revenue and net interest income (NII) that fell short of estimates.

The company’s stock was down about 4% in mid-morning trading, making it among the big decliners on the Dow Jones Industrial Average.

The banking and credit card provider reported record quarterly revenue of $16.33 billion, but analysts had expected $16.56 billion. Profits of $3.02 billion, or $4.15 per share, handily beat projections.

American Express joined peers in the finance industry in reporting sequentially lower NII, dropping to $3.73 billion from $3.77 billion in the first quarter.

American Express CEO Stephen Squeri said the company is affirming its revenue growth projections of 9% to 11% for the full fiscal year, while also lifting EPS projections to a range of $13.30 to $13.80, up from $12.65 to $13.15 previously.

–Aaron McDade

CrowdStrike Plunges, Rivals Surge

9 hr 30 min ago

CrowdStrike (CRWD) shares plunged Friday, while those of its rivals surged, after the cybersecurity firm said an update “defect” caused a worldwide outage in Microsoft’s (MSFT) cloud services.

In a statement, CrowdStrike CrowdStrike CEO George Kurtz blamed the outage on a “defect” in the firm’s update of its Falcon software. The outage affected services globally of airlines, banks, and other businesses Friday.

Investors bought into CrowdStrike’s rivals as the scale of the damage from the cybersecurity firm’s update was increasingly known. Shares of Palo Alto Networks (PANW) SentinelOne (S) jumped in early trading.

“This is a black-eye moment for CrowdStrike, and I think for the cybersecurity sector,” Wedbush analyst Dan Ives told CNBC in an interview. “The big issue is the brand damage, because CrowdStrike today becomes a household name but not in a good way.”

–Nisha Gopalan

Major Stock Indexes Mixed Ahead of Opening Bell

10 hr 38 min ago

Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average are down 0.2%.

S&P 500 futures are up 0.1%

Nasdaq 100 futures are also up 0.1%.