Dow Jones Today: S&P 500, Dow Close Lower as Stock Market Rally Stalls

Vistra Powers Higher as Analysts Lift Price Targets

46 minutes ago

Shares of Texas-based power generator Vistra (VST) gained nearly 6% on Wednesday, the largest daily gain of any S&P 500 stock. Vistra is no stranger to market-leading upticks, having surpassed Nvidia (NVDA) as the top-performing stock in the benchmark index this year.

Several investment firms have suggested there could be even more upside potential for shares of the utility company. In research notes published this week, Jefferies boosted its price target on Vistra shares to $137 from $99, while Morgan Stanley lifted its target on the stock to $132 from $110.

Read the full story here.

–Michael Bromberg

Cintas Shares Hit Record High After Strong Earnings

1 hr 58 min ago

Cintas (CTAS) shares hit an all-time high Wednesday as the uniform and other workplace supplies provider posted better-than-expected results and raised its guidance.

Cintas reported fiscal 2025 first-quarter earnings per share (EPS) of $1.10, with revenue increasing 6.8% year-over-year to an all-time high of $2.50 billion. Both exceeded estimates.

CEO Todd Schneider said Cintas “continued to experience strong demand for our services, not only from existing customers, but across our new business pipeline,” according to a transcript of its earnings call provided by AlphaSense.

The company now anticipates full-year EPS in a range of $4.17 to $4.25 versus its earlier forecast of $4.06 and $4.19.

Cintas shares gained 1.2% on Wednesday to close at $207.21. The stock hit an all-time of $209.58 early in the session.

–Bill McColl

GM, Ford Sink Following Morgan Stanley Downgrade

3 hr 12 min ago

Shares of General Motors (GM) and Ford Motor (F) tumbled Wednesday as Morgan Stanley downgraded the stocks and the overall U.S. industry sector because of competition from China.

Calling it the “China Butterfly Effect,” the analysts wrote in a note that the “China capacity ‘butterfly’ has emerged and is flapping its wings.” They noted that the country now produces 9 million more cars than it buys, “upsetting the competitive balance in the West.”

General Motors went to “underweight” from “equal-weight,” and its price target fell to $42 from $47. Ford Motor was dropped to “equal-weight” from “overweight,” with the price target going to $12 from $16.

Morgan Stanley also downgraded the U.S. auto industry to “in-line” from “attractive,” based on “a combination of international, domestic and strategic factors that we believe may not be fully appreciated by investors.” The analysts said that “there are better ways to play rate cuts.”

Despite today’s 5% decline, shares of General Motors are up more than 25% year-to-date. Ford shares, which are down 4% Wednesday afternoon, are nearly 15% lower in 2024.

–Bill McColl

HP Enterprise Shares Jump as Barclays Sees AI Opportunity

4 hr 7 min ago

Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) shares jumped Wednesday following an upgrade from Barclays on the information technology’s strength in the booming artificial intelligence (AI) sector.

Barclays raised its rating on HPE stock to “overweight” from “equal weight,” and boosted the price target to $24 from $20. Shares were up 4.6% to $19.75 in afternoon trading.

The upgrade from Barclays comes after Bank of America boosted its rating and price target for HPE last week, in part because of the company’s AI strength. Bank of America said HPE could hold a “command position” in AI adoption because of its “decades of expertise in liquid cooling (CRAY systems) and increased adoption of supercomputing.”

–Bill McColl

Key Visa Stock Price Levels to Watch

5 hr 31 min ago

Visa (V) shares were down about 1% Wednesday after slumping more than 5% yesterday following news that the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) had filed an antitrust lawsuit against the payments giant.

The stock broke out to a new record high earlier this moth but promptly reversed course, raising the possibility of a bull trap, a chart pattern that lures investors into buying before the price makes a rapid move lower.

Investors should monitor key lower levels on Visa’s chart around $267, $263, and $254, while watching how the price responds to the $290 area if the stock’s uptrend continues.

Read the full technical analysis piece here.

–Timothy Smith

Micron Rising Ahead of Earnings Report

7 hr 21 min ago

Shares of Micron Technology (MU) were up about 2% Wednesday morning as investors await the release of the company’s earnings report after the closing bell.

Analysts expect the memory chip maker and Nvidia (NVDA) partner to swing to a profit for its fiscal fourth quarter. The Street expects the company to report net income of $1 billion for the quarter, compared to a loss of $1.43 billion a year earlier. Revenue is projected to nearly double to $7.65 billion, according to estimates compiled by Visible Alpha.  

Read the full earnings preview here.

–Andrew Kessel

Trump Media Stock Surges

7 hr 36 min ago

Trump Media & Technology (DJT) stock has shown a bit of bounce this week. 

Stepping back a bit, shares of the Truth Social parent company are still well off highs seen earlier this year, when the stock changed hands at nearly $80 per share. But after touching intraday levels below $12 yesterday, they were more recently trading around $14, up about 9% on the day and ahead of Friday’s close of $13.55. 

The company’s stock, majority owned by former President Donald Trump, has mostly fallen this year, moving dramatically at times based on its financial results and investors’ estimations of Trump’s political future. Late last week, another dynamic drove trading in the shares: the expiration of lock-up agreements that limited the ability of Trump and some other insiders to sell their shares. 

Trump has said he has no plans to sell his stake in the company. Still, investors have wondered whether he or other large investors in the company might move to sell shares. Others have speculated that the expiration of the lock-ups could spur further pressure on the shares by short sellers. 

–David Marino-Nachison

KB Home Shares Slide After Earnings-Key Levels to Watch

9 hr 50 min ago

KB Home (KBH) shares were down 6% in premarket trading after the homebuilder’s third-quarter profit fell short of Wall Street expectations.

The stock sits poised to fall below the lower trendline of an ascending triangle on Wednesday, opening the door for further price fluctuations.

Investors should monitor key post-earnings price levels on KB Home’s chart at $79, $72, and $64. A measured move, which calculates the distance of the ascending triangle near its widest point and adds that amount to the pattern’s top trendline, projects a price target of $108 if the stock resumes its longer-term uptrend.

Read the full technical analysis piece here.

–Timothy Smith

Major Index Stock Futures Slightly Lower

10 hr 19 min ago

Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average were down fractionally.

S&P 500 futures were also down less than 0.1%.

Nasdaq 100 futures were down 0.2%.