Thursday, January 9, 2025

Markets News, January 7, 2025: Stocks Slide as Treasury Yields Rise After Economic Data; Nvidia Leads Tech Selloff; Bitcoin Plunges

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Biggest S&P 500 Movers on Tuesday

7 hr 35 min ago

Decliners

  • The heaviest losses in the S&P 500 hit shares of big data analytics software provider Palantir Technologies (PLTR), which dropped 7.8%. Tuesday’s decline extended the losses posted in the prior session after Morgan Stanley analysts expressed their trepidation about the stock’s valuation following the massive 2024 run-up that made Palantir the top performer in the benchmark index last year.
Palantir CEO Alex Karp speaking in a Bloomberg Television interview during the FoundryCon event in Palo Alto, California on March 7, 2024.

David Paul Morris / Bloomberg / Getty Images


  • Shares of AI chipmaker Nvidia (NVDA) plunged 6.2% on Tuesday. Although Monday’s CES conference keynote speech by Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang highlighted notable advances, including new gaming chips and a self-driving partnership with carmaker Toyota (TM), analysts cited a lack of detail on Rubin, the chipmaker’s next generation of graphics processing units (GPUs) being developed as a successor to the current Blackwell platform.
  • Super Micro Computer (SMCI) shares sank 5.7%, reversing a portion of the strong gains achieved in the previous session as analysts speculated that Nvidia’s keynote could be a catalyst for Supermicro. This week’s volatility is nothing new for shares of the server maker, which saw major price swings throughout 2024 as investors reacted to accounting and corporate governance issues.

Advancers

  • Moderna (MRNA) shares logged the S&P 500’s best performance on Tuesday, soaring 11.7%. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported Monday that a patient in the U.S. had died after being infected with severe avian influenza A (H5N1), the country’s first fatality from the virus commonly known as bird flu. Moderna is developing an experimental vaccine to protect against H5N1.
  • Shares of hospital operator HCA Holdings (HCA) gained 3.8% after analysts at Truist trimmed their price target on the stock but maintained their “buy” rating. The analyst team noted that, although a more cost-conscious dynamic within the government could weigh on healthcare services companies, the industry should see tailwinds from demographics, trends toward value-based care, and robust core demand.
  • Solar power stocks built on their hot start to 2025, becoming the latest industry to benefit from expectations for surging AI-driven power demand. The Invesco Solar ETF (TAN) was up 3% on Tuesday. Shares of panel manufacturer First Solar (FSLR) jumped 3.4%, while Enphase Energy (ENPH) shares powered 3% higher as the firm announced that its microinverters had been selected for a solar project at a radioactive waste facility in Belgium.

Michael Bromberg

Bitcoin Tumbles Back Below $100,000

7 hr 56 min ago

Bitcoin (BTCUSD) tumbled Tuesday after better-than-expect labor market data underscored the strength of the U.S. economy, dimming hopes that the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates.

Bitcoin was trading $97,000 late Tuesday afternoon, down from an overnight high of nearly $103,000. The digital currency had moved above $100,000 on Monday for the first time in nearly three weeks.

Risk-on assets, such as bitcoin and other crypto assets, tend to fall in conditions that are less conducive to lower interest rates, as it means there will be less money to throw around at such assets, and yields on bonds will be more appealing. The Fed has reduced its benchmark rate at each of its last three policy meetings but has warned that the pace of easing will likely slow as inflation pressures persist.

Bitcoin Opportunity Fund co-founder and Managing Partner James Lavish said in a post on X that investors are now also asking whether inflation could make a strong return in a manner similar to what was seen in the 1970s.

Non-bitcoin crypto assets were down even more than bitcoin on Tuesday, with ether down 8% and solana down over 7% over the past 24 hours.

Kyle Torpey

Tesla Tumbles as Volatile Ride Continues

8 hr 45 min ago

Tesla (TSLA) shares dropped Tuesday as federal regulators said they’re looking into crashes related to the company’s automated vehicle summoning features, while analysts at Bank of America downgraded the EV maker’s stock. 

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has opened an investigation into the Smart Summon and Actually Smart Summon features, which allow Tesla drivers to remotely move their vehicle using a phone app. The agency said it has received complaints that Tesla vehicles have failed to detect obstacles or parked vehicles, resulting in crashes. 

Meanwhile. Bank of America Securities on Tuesday downgraded Tesla to “neutral” from “buy” but raised its price target to $490 from $400.

 That’s about a 25% premium after Tesla shares fell 4.1% Tuesday to close at $394.36. 

Despite the higher price target, “execution risk is high and TSLA is trading at a level that captures much of our base case,” the analysts said. 

The bank’s analysts are eyeing multiple potential growth catalysts this year, including the introduction of a low-cost Tesla model in the first half of the year, the launch of a robotaxi in the middle of the year, and the ramp-up of Megapack commercial energy storage battery production at its Shanghai assembly plant. 

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Tesla shares rose 62% last year, with most of the gains coming after the early-November election of Donald Trump amid investor optimism that CEO Elon Musk’s close relationship with the president-elect will benefit the company. The stock has bounced around in recent weeks and is down about 20% from its mid-December all-time high.

Andrew Kessel

Shutterstock, Getty Images Soar on Merger News

9 hr 36 min ago

Shares of Getty Images Holdings (GETY) and Shutterstock (SSTK) soared Tuesday after the providers of stock images and videos announced they would be combining to “meet the evolving needs of creative, media, and advertising industries.”

Getty said the deal was a merger of equals, creating a company with an enterprise value of $3.7 billion. It will be called Getty Images Holdings and continue to trade on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) under the ticker symbol “GETY.”

Under the agreement, Shutterstock investors will have the option of receiving $28.85 per share in cash, or 13.67 shares of Getty Images stock, or a combination of $9.50 per share in cash and 9.17 shares of Getty Images stock for each Shutterstock share they own. 

Getty noted that the combination allows for “greater investment in innovative content creation, expanded event coverage, and customer‑facing technologies and capabilities such as search, 3D imagery and generative AI.” 

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Getty Images shares closed 24% higher, while Shutterstock added 15%. Despite the gains, the stocks are down sharply over the past year.

Bill McColl

What Nvidia’s Latest AI Tech Unveiling Means for Investors

10 hr 20 min ago

Nvidia (NVDA) CEO Jensen Huang kicked off this year’s consumer electronics trade show with a slew of AI announcements Monday, in a blockbuster address that had analysts calling the chipmaker’s stock a “top pick” on its AI leadership.

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang delivers a keynote address at the CES consumer electronics trade show in Las Vegas, Nevada on January 6, 2025.

Patrick T. Fallon / AFP / Getty Images


During Monday’s event, Nvidia revealed new chips in its GeForce RTX 50 series for AI PCs that run on Nvidia’s Blackwell architecture. Nvidia also introduced AI foundational models for its RTX AI PCs, and unveiled its Cosmos platform meant to support processing pipelines for robots, autonomous vehicles, and vision AI. 

In a note to clients after the event, Bank of America analysts called Nvidia a “top pick,” citing its “continued AI dominance” and growing reach across different enterprise and consumer segments. The analysts maintained a “buy” rating and $190 price target.

They’re not the only ones bullish on Nvidia’s trajectory. All but one of the 21 analysts covering the stock tracked by Visible Alpha maintain a “buy” or equivalent rating as of Tuesday, with a consensus price target of $177.

Nvidia shares hit an all-time high of $153.13 shortly after the open Tuesday, before reversing course as part of a broader market decline. The stock was down 5.3% to $141.50 in recent trading, after closing at a record high Monday ahead of the event. 

“There was a lot here I think for people to get excited about. I don’t think the price action today really has much to do with anything that Jensen said or didn’t say yesterday,” said Bernstein analyst Stacy Rasgon in an interview with CNBC Tuesday morning. Rasgon cited the broader issues affecting the market and said there was likely some profit-taking after the stock hit new highs.

Read the full story here.

Kara Greenberg

JPMorgan Says Ulta Beauty Still ‘Top Pick’ After CEO Change

11 hr 6 min ago

Ulta Beauty (ULTA) announced Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Dave Kimbell’s retirement after the bell Monday, but JPMorgan analysts don’t see the transition as a negative for the company.

 The analysts said late Monday that the cosmetics retailer remains one of its “top picks” and reiterated their $480 price target.

Ulta stock was little changed Tuesday afternoon at around $431 after surging as much as 6.7% earlier in the session.

Ulta on Monday also raised its fiscal fourth-quarter comparable sales and operating margin outlook to “make sure that investors clearly understood that the CEO change had nothing to do with 4Q performance,” the JPMorgan note said. Kimbell has been succeeded by Chief Operating Officer (COO) Kecia Steelman. 

A 1% increase in comparable sales and an operating margin of just above Ulta’s previously projected range would imply current-quarter earnings per share (EPS) of $7.21, above Wall Street’s consensus of $6.76, JPMorgan said. 

Andrew Kessel

Carvana is up 4,000% in Two Years—What’s Next?

12 hr 1 min ago

Carvana (CVNA) stock more than tripled in 2024, extending a two-year bull run that’s returned 4,000% amid a turnaround effort that has pulled the online used-car retailer from the brink of bankruptcy.

Shares soared to an all-time high of more than $370 in August 2021 as COVID-19 lockdowns and stimulus checks fueled a surge in used-car sales. The tides turned when inflation began to accelerate and consumers’ pandemic savings dwindled. The company’s share price fell 99% to a closing low of $3.72 in December 2022.

Since then, shares have bounced back after a raft of layoffs and a rebound in used-car sales that helped the company blow past profit estimates with its most recent quarterly report. 

Read the full article here.

Colin Laidley

Moderna Stock Soars After First U.S. Bird-Flu Death

12 hr 58 min ago

Moderna (MRNA) shares soared to lead S&P 500 gainers Tuesday, a day after the first bird-flu death was reported in the U.S. The biotech company is developing a vaccine for H5N1.

On Monday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said that it was “saddened by Louisiana’s report that a person previously hospitalized with severe avian influenza A (H5N1) illness [had] passed away.” The agency added that it was “not unexpected because of the known potential for infection with these viruses to cause severe illness and death.”

As of Monday, there had “been 66 confirmed human cases of H5N1 bird flu in the United States since 2024 and 67 since 2022,” the CDC added.

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Moderna shares were up more than 10% at around $47 in early-afternoon trading Tuesday. Despite the gain, the stock has lost more than half of its value over the past year and is well off its all-time high of nearly $500 in August 2021, during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Aaron Rennie

Micron Levels to Watch as Stock Continues to Surge

13 hr 54 min ago

Micron Technology (MU) shares jumped again Tuesday after leading a broad chip rally to start the week amid optimism that robust AI demand will continue to drive sector growth this year.

The stock was up 5% at around $104 in midday trading Tuesday after Nvidia (NVDA) CEO cited Micron when discussing Nvidia’s new gaming chips during his highly anticipated keynote address at the CES trade show in Las Vegas last night.

Since bottoming out in early August, Micron shares have remained rangebound, helping to establish easily identifiable support and resistance levels on the chart.

Source: TradingView.com.

More recently, the stock gapped lower in mid-December, but immediately found buying interest near the August and September swing lows. Importantly, Monday’s rally from this key support area occurred on the highest trading volume since mid-December, indicating buying conviction behind the move.

Investors should watch key overhead areas on Micron’s chart around $110 and $130, while also monitoring important support levels near $97 and $85.

Read the full technical analysis piece here.

Timothy Smith

Aurora Innovation Jumps on Partnership with Nvidia

14 hr 25 min ago

Shares of Aurora Innovation (AUR) soared Tuesday morning after the self-driving software company announced a partnership with tech giant Nvidia (NVDA) and manufacturer Continental to develop self-driving trucks.

Nvidia and Aurora will work together to develop the software and hardware necessary to operate the trucks, according to a news release. Continental expects to start manufacturing the equipment needed for the driverless trucks to operate, the companies said late Monday.

“Delivering one driverless truck will be monumental. Deploying thousands will change the way we live,” Aurora CEO Chris Urmson said. “NVIDIA is the market leader in accelerated computing, and they’ll strengthen our ecosystem of partners and our ability to deliver safe and reliable driverless trucks to our customers at scale.”

Aurora said it is in the “final stages of validating” its Aurora Driver system to be operated on the road without a driver. The company says its system should be capable of being used for smaller passenger vehicles as well as semi-trucks.

Separately late Monday, Nvidia also announced self-driving related deals to provide its software for driver assistance programs to Toyota, and with Uber (UBER) to bring driverless software to Uber cars.

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Aurora shares were up more than 40% in recent trading, reaching their highest levels since early 2022.

Aaron McDade

Nvidia Price Levels to Watch As Stock Hits Record Highs

16 hr 7 min ago

Nvidia (NVDA) shares hit an all-time high Tuesday morning after CEO Jensen Huang provided several important technology updates last night during his keynote address at the CES 2025 conference in Las Vegas.

During the highly anticipated event, Huang unveiled next generation AI-powered gaming chips, introduced technology that speeds up the training of robots, launched the chipmaker’s first desktop computer and announced a deal with Japanese automaker, Toyota (TM).

Nvidia is coming off another banner year during which insatiable demand for AI infrastructure helped drive its stock price up about 170%. Those gains followed a more than three-fold increase in 2023.

Nvidia shares were up 0.3% at around $150 in recent trading, after hitting a high of $153.13.

Source: TradingView.com.

The stock broke out above the top trendline of a descending channel on Friday, with bullish momentum continuing into Monday’s trading session ahead of Huang’s address.

Investors should watch key overhead areas on Nvidia’s chart around $150 and $225, while also monitoring major support levels near $140 and $130.

Read the full technical analysis piece here.

Timothy Smith

Futures Point to Modest Gains for Major Indexes

17 hr 16 min ago

Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average were up 0.2%.

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S&P 500 futures rose 0.1%.

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Nasdaq 100 futures were up less than 0.1%.

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