Markets News, Nov. 2, 2023: Dow Gains 500 Points, Bond Yields Dip Ahead of Apple Earnings

S&P 500 Gains and Losses Today

Here are the stocks in the S&P 500 that gained and lost the most today, and the stories behind the session's market movers.

Apple Stock Slips After Hours on Falling Sales

Shares of Apple (AAPL) were about 1% lower in extended trading Thursday after the iPhone maker reported its fourth consecutive quarter of revenue decline.

Apple earnings by the numbers

• Net income: $22.96 billion vs. $21.84 billion expected, according to analyst estimates compiled by Visible Alpha
• Earnings per share: $1.46 vs. $1.40 expected
• Revenue: $89.5 billion vs. $89.55 billion expected
• Hardware revenue: $67.18 billion vs. $68.14 billion expected
• Services revenue: $22.31 billion vs. $21.41 billion expected
• iPhone sales: $43.81 billion vs. $43.7 billion expected

The iPhone was the only hardware category in which sales increased from the same quarter last year. Mac sales slumped nearly 34% and iPad revenue declined 10%.

Sales in China, Apple’s third-largest market, slipped about 2.5% as economic uncertainty there weighed on spending. 

Dow Adds More than 550 Points in its Best Day Since June

Confidence that the Federal Reserve is done with interest rate hikes drove the Dow Jones Industrial Average higher for the fourth consecutive session, gaining 564 points, or 1.7%. It was the index’s best day since June 2 when it jumped 2.1%.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (WBA) shares rose 4.2% after the retail pharmacy named Neal Sample, a former Express Scripts and Northwestern Mutual executive, as its new chief information officer.

Nike (NKE) shares gained nearly 4.2%. The shoe maker’s stock has rallied more than 17% since it reported higher-than-expected quarterly earnings in late September.

Chevron (CVX) shares moved higher by 3.3% after Bernstein upgraded the oil major to “outperform” from “market perform,” calling the market’s reaction to its earnings miss and acquisition of Hess Corp. “overdone.”

Shares of Caterpillar (CAT) increased by 3.1% while Home Depot (HD) added 2.8%. 

The financial sector was one of the day’s best performers, rising 2.4%. American Express (AXP) shares climbed 3%, Goldman Sachs (GS) gained 2.2% and Visa (V) added 2%. 

Shares of Apple (AAPL) gained 2% ahead of its earnings report after markets close.

Travelers Companies (TRV) was the only index component to close in the red. Its shares fell 0.2%. Merck & Co. (MRK) finished unchanged.

-Terry Lane

PayPal Shares Jump After Profit and Sales Beat Expectations, as CEO Promises Cuts

Shares of PayPal Holdings (PYPL) advanced as the payment system provider reported better-than-expected results, raised its outlook, and its new CEO promised to cut costs.

PayPal indicated third quarter fiscal 2023 profit surged 20% year-over-year to $1.30 per share. Sales were up 8% to $7.42 billion. Both exceeded estimates. Total payment volume increased 15% to $388.7 billion.

The company also boosted its full-year earnings per share (EPS) outlook to about $4.98 from $4.95.

The earnings beat overshadowed news that the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) had subpoenaed the firm for documents relating to its stablecoin, PayPal USD (PYUSD), which it launched in August. The company said it was cooperating with the investigation.

Despite gaining 6% Thursday, shares of PayPal remained more than 20% lower for the year.

-Bill McColl

Roku Shares Jump 30% on Revenue Beat, All-Time High Subscribers

Roku Inc. (ROKU) shares spiked by more than 30% in trading Thursday after the streaming device and TV maker reported earnings results well ahead of analyst predictions for the third quarter alongside strong subscriber growth.

Roku added 2.3 million accounts in the third quarter, bringing total active accounts to 75.8 million, a net increase of 16% compared with the prior-year quarter. Analysts had expected active accounts to reach 75.3 million.

Roku's revenue growth also outpaced analyst estimates. The company reported a 20% year-over-year increase, reaching $912 million for the quarter, against predictions of $855 million.

-Nathan Reiff

Midday Market Movers

Tyler Technologies Inc. (TYL): Shares of the software provider jumped 10% after reporting better-than-expected earnings on a 16% increase in subscription revenue. 

Parker-Hannifin Corp. (PH): Shares of the motion and control technology maker rose more than 9% after its fiscal 2024 first-quarter earnings topped Wall Street’s estimates, leading it to raise its full-year guidance. 

Affirm Holdings Inc. (AFRM): Shares jumped more than 17% after Amazon said it was adding the buy now, pay later company’s service to its business-to-business store.

Aptiv Plc (APTV): Shares of the auto parts supplier fell about 10% after it topped Wall Street estimates with its earnings, but warned the UAW strike would deal a $180 million hit to full-year sales. Fellow auto parts maker BorgWarner’s (BWA) shares fell about 12% on its third-quarter sales miss.

Dentsply Sirona Inc. (XRAY): Shares of the dental equipment manufacturer fell more than 7% after it said revenue was flat year-over-year in the third quarter while earnings slipped about 3%. It also cut its full-year sales and earnings guidance citing “recent developments in the macroeconomic environment.”

Qualcomm Shares Surge as Its Results Top Estimates on Rising Smartphone Demand 

Qualcomm (QCOM) shares jumped over 6% in intraday trading Thursday after the chipmaker posted better-than-expected results and guidance on increasing demand for mobile phones.

The company reported fourth-quarter fiscal 2023 earnings per share (EPS) of $2.02. Revenue was down 24% year-over-year to $8.67 billion. Both were more than forecasts.

CFO Akash Palkhiwala said the company is seeing “early signs of stabilization in demand for global 3G, 4G, 5G handsets.” He noted the outlook for shipments of smartphones with Qualcomm chips would be for a decline in the mid- to high-single-digit percent range, better than its previous estimate. 

With Thursday's gains, shares of Qualcomm were trading in positive territory for 2023 after ending the month of October lower for the year.

-Bill McColl

Palantir Shares Jump on Earnings Beat

Palantir Technologies Inc. (PLTR) shares soared 17% Thursday morning after the data analytics firm’s third-quarter earnings beat Wall Street estimates on the top and bottom lines. 

Palantir earnings by the numbers

• Net income: $71.5 million vs. $25.6 million expected, according to analyst estimates compiled by Visible Alpha
• Adjusted earnings per share: $0.07 vs. $0.06 expected
• Revenue: $558 million vs. $555 million expected

The company’s fourth consecutive profitable quarter makes it eligible for inclusion in the S&P 500, an outcome CEO Alex Karp said the company had been working toward. 

Revenue grew 17% year-over-year, boosted by a 33% increase in U.S. commercial revenue, which the company attributed to demand for its artificial intelligence platform. 

Palantir also raised its full-year sales guidance to a range of $2.216 billion and $2.22 billion, after predicting sales of at least $2.212 billion in August. It also boosted adjusted income from operations guidance to between $607 million and $611 million.

Doordash Shares Surge on Big Earnings Beat

Shares of Doordash (DASH) jumped more than 17% in early trading after it reported better-than-expected third-quarter earnings as order volume rose to a record. 

Doordash earnings by the numbers

• Net loss: $75 million vs. $74 million expected
• Adjusted EBITDA: $344 million vs. $257 million expected
• Revenue: $2.16 billion vs. $2.1 billion expected, according to analyst estimates compiled by Visible Alpha
• Marketplace gross order value: $16.7 billion vs. $16.1 billion expected

Doordash management also forecast better-than-expected current-quarter sales and earnings, projecting order volume will rise to between $17 billion and $17.4 billion. Adjusted EBITDA is expected to come in between $320 million and $380 million, topping Wall Street’s estimates.

Starbucks Shares Surge on Earnings Beat as U.S. Consumers Splurge on Beverages

Starbucks (SBUX) shares surged more than 10% in early trading Thursday after the company posted better-than-expected earnings for its fiscal fourth quarter, as U.S. consumers continued to splurge on coffee and beverages despite inflation.

Revenue surged to a record $9.37 billion, which was up 11% from the same quarter last year. Net earnings jumped almost 39% to $1.22 billion, or $1.06 per diluted share, which was well above consensus estimates of 97 cents per share provided by Visible Alpha.

Sales growth was driven by an 8% increase in same-store sales in North America, as U.S. consumers continued to spend on coffee and beverages despite more expensive drinks.

In China, the company's second-largest market, same-store sales rose 5% in the latest quarter compared with a year earlier. However, unlike in North America where the average amount customers spent per transaction rose 6%, in China the average ticket fell by 3%.

Before Thursday's gain, Starbucks shares had traded almost 10% lower for the year. They've now fully recovered their year-to-date losses.

-Mack Wilowski

Stocks Making the Biggest Moves Premarket

Gains:

• Palantir Technologies Inc. (PLTR): Shares of the data analytics software maker jumped 18% after it reported better-than-expected third-quarter revenue and sales, and increased its full-year revenue forecast. 
• Shopify Inc. (SHOP): The e-commerce platform provider’s shares rose more than 15% after its third-quarter earnings of 24 cents a share on $1.7 billion in revenue topped Wall Street estimates.
• Starbucks Corp. (SBUX): Shares of the coffee chain soared 12% after its quarterly earnings topped estimates, with strong demand in North America offsetting weaker-than-expected sales in China. 
  

Losses:

• SolarEdge Technologies Inc. (SEDG): Shares of the energy tech company dropped 14% after reporting fourth-quarter guidance that fell well short of analyst estimates. The company expects revenue of between $300 million and $350 million, while analysts were expecting about $688 million. 
• Moderna Inc. (MRNA): Shares fell 13% after the vaccine maker reported a worse-than-expected loss in the third quarter as demand for its Covid vaccine plummeted. 
• Albemarle Corp. (ALB): Shares of the lithium miner fell about 4% after its quarterly earnings fell short of Wall Street estimates. Lithium oversupply amid a slowdown in the electric vehicle market has weighed on lithium prices and, subsequently, the sales of miners like Albemarle. 

Stock Futures Up as Markets Continue to Rally on Powell Comments

Futures contracts connected to the Dow Jones Industrial Average were up 0.5% and rising about an hour before equity markets opened.

S&P 500 futures were 0.7% higher.

Nasdaq 100 futures gained about 1.1% in premarket trading.