Biggest S&P 500 Movers on Friday

6 hr 24 min ago

Decliners

• Constellation Brands (STZ) shares dropped 17.1%, losing the most of any S&P 500 stock after the beer, wine, and spirits maker reported lower-than-expected quarterly sales and slashed its annual forecast. The owner of the Corona and Modelo beer brands noted that inflationary pressure was weighing down spending on alcoholic beverages while shifting preferences for lower-calorie products also affected demand.
• Shares of electric utility PG&E (PCG) fell 10.8% as devastating wildfires continue to rage in Southern California. While PG&E is headquartered in Oakland and primarily serves northern and central parts of the state, the power generator declared Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2019 after being hit with billions of dollars in legal damages related to past fire outbreaks. Shares of Edison International (EIX), which has shut off power to many Los Angeles-area customers around the path of the fire, extended this week’s steep losses with a drop of 6.5%.
• Truist downgraded shares of power and sensor chipmaker ON Semiconductor (ON) to “hold” from “buy” and lowered its price target on the stock. Onsemi’s management team believes the company is poised for a recovery in revenue and margins as it emerges this year from a recent period of demand weakness. However, even after a downturn in the stock, Truist analysts are adopting a cautious outlook until estimates are readjusted. Onsemi shares slipped 7.5%

Advancers

• Shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance (WBA) skyrocketed 27.6%, notching the top performance in the S&P 500 on Friday. The push higher came after the pharmacy giant reported better-than-expected sales and adjusted profits for the first quarter of fiscal 2025. The company noted that while it remains in the early stages of a turnaround plan that includes closing around 1,200 underperforming locations, it is confident in its initial progress.
• Constellation Energy (CEG) shares surged 25.2% after the Maryland-based utility agreed to acquire private energy company Calpine. The deal boosts Constellation Energy’s footprint in California and Texas and adds Calpine’s natural gas and renewable energy portfolio in the Northeast. The company said the combined entity will become the largest clean energy provider in the U.S.

• Shares of Delta Air Lines (DAL) soared 9% after the carrier’s first-quarter profit guidance came in ahead of consensus expectations. The airline expects strong travel demand in the opening months of the year, and Delta CEO Ed Bastian indicated that 2025 could be the company’s best year ever. United Airlines (UAL) shares moved 3.3% higher.

–Michael Bromberg

Some Retail Stocks Could Take Hits From LA Wildfires

7 hr 10 min ago

Target (TGT) is among the retailers with the most exposure to the deadly wildfires that have raged this week in the Los Angeles area, JPMorgan analysts said Friday.

Sixty-six Target locations, or 3.3% of its total stores, are within the affected region, which includes parts of Los Angeles, Pasadena, Glendale and other areas, according to JPMorgan. Luxury furniture retailer RH (RH) has four stores in the region, or 5% of its total; AutoZone (AZ0) has 85 locations in the area, or 1.3% of its total.

Generally, JPMorgan said, “natural disasters result in an immediate headwind to sales,” adding that home improvement retailers often eventually experience tailwinds as an area rebuilds. Home Depot (HD) has 25 stores in the area, 1.2% of its total, and Lowe’s (LOW) has 9 locations, or 0.9%.

Other retailers with a significant store presence in the wildfire area include Costco (COST) (14 stores, 2.3%), Williams-Sonoma (WSM) (12 stores, 2.3%), Best Buy (BBY) (20 stores, 2.1%), and O’Reilly Automotive (ORLY) (53 stores, 0.9%), JPMorgan said.

The wildfires have killed at least 10 people, according to the Los Angeles County authorities, and caused as much as $150 billion in damages, per AccuWeather.

–Andrew Kessel

S&P 500 Down in Four of the Last Five Weeks

7 hr 54 min ago

The three major stock indexes each posted their second straight week of declines. The Nasdaq Composite fell 2.3% for the week, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 shed 1.9%.

The S&P 500 has now lost ground in four of the past five weeks, while the Dow retreated for the fifth time in six weeks.

Constellation Brands Plummets on Lowered Growth Forecast

9 hr 2 min ago

Constellation Brands (STZ) shares plunged Friday, after the maker of beer, wine, and spirits cut its outlook as consumers held back spending.

The company behind brands including Modelo beer and Kim Crawford wine reduced the lower end of its estimate for fiscal 2025 earnings per share to between $13.40 and $13.80, versus its earlier projection of $13.60 to $13.80. It said it sees sales gaining 2% to 5% for the fiscal year, compared to its previous prediction of a 4% to 6% increase.

CEO Bill Newlands said that because of “near-term uncertainty on when consumers will revert to more normalized spending, we have prudently lowered our growth outlook.”

The lower outlook offset strong fiscal third-quarter results, with Constellation Brands reporting EPS of $3.39 and revenue down 0.5% to $2.64 billion. Both were above estimates.

Beer sales rose 3% to $2.03 billion, as shipment volumes increased 1.6%. Sales of wine and spirits slumped 14%, dragged down by “weaker consumer demand and continued retailer inventory destocking across most price segments in the U.S. wholesale market.”

Constellation Brands shares were down nearly 18%, leading S&P 500 decliners, in late trading Friday. The stock has now lost about 30% of its value over the past year.

–Bill McColl

Why the Jobs Report Dashed Hopes for Another Rate Cut

9 hr 41 min ago

If you’ve been waiting for borrowing costs to fall for credit cards, car loans, or mortgages, your wait just got longer.

The economy added far more jobs than expected in December, and that’s likely to make officials at the Federal Reserve comfortable holding the central bank’s benchmark interest rate higher for longer than they had expected just a few months ago.

Indeed, a few months ago, economists were discussing how fast the Fed might slash interest rates in 2025. Now they’re questioning whether there will be any rate cuts at all. And since the fed funds rate influences interest rates charged for all kinds of loans, that’s bad news for borrowers, at least for the time being.

“The robust December employment report is another piece of economic data that suggests the Federal Reserve will move to the sidelines for a while; we foresee them keeping rates steady throughout the first half of the year,” Kathy Bostjancic, chief economist at Nationwide, wrote in a commentary.

As of Friday afternoon, financial markets were pricing in a 30% chance that 2025 will come and go without any more rate cuts, double the 13% chance the day before the jobs report, according to the CME Group’s FedWatch tool. The tool forecasts rate changes based on fed funds futures trading data

Read the full article here.

–Diccon Hyatt

What Surging Treasury Yields Mean for Your Finances

10 hr 54 min ago

In the last four months, the yield on the 10-year Treasury has increased more than a full percentage point, even as the Federal Reserve has cut its benchmark interest by the same amount.

Treasury yields have been driven higher by signs of strong economic growth, concerns about sticky inflation, and uncertainty about the consequences of President-elect Donald Trump’s policy proposals. This week, in particular, labor market data has underscored the resilience of the economy, raising concerns that the Fed may not cut rates again.

The last time Treasury yields climbed to around their current levels, in April 2024, consumer interest rates followed suit. The average 30-year mortgage rate rose from 6.8% to 7.2% between early April and early May. Amid a surge in October 2023, when the 10-year yield briefly topped 5%, the average mortgage rate hit a 23-year high of more than 7.6%.

When Treasury yields last reached their current levels, they also hit stock portfolios. The S&P 500 pulled back more than 5% in the first three weeks of April 2024, when the 10-year yield advanced more than 40 basis points. And in October 2023, the benchmark index fell into a technical correction as Treasury yields peaked after a monthslong ascent. 

Read the full article here.

–Colin Laidley

Constellation Energy Soars on $26B Deal to Buy Calpine

11 hr 35 min ago

Constellation Energy (CEG) shares surged Friday after the company agreed to buy private energy company Calpine in a deal valued at $26.6 billion that it said will create the largest clean energy provider in the U.S.

The move expands Constellation’s foothold in Texas and California, as well as in the Northeast with Calpine’s natural gas and renewable energy portfolio. Constellation expects the combination to add more than $2 billion in adjusted free cash flow per year and $2 in earnings per share (EPS) beyond 2026.

The cash and stock transaction valued at $16.4 billion consists of $4.5 billion in cash alongside 50 million shares of Constellation stock. Constellation will also assume roughly $12.7 billion of Calpine net debt, bringing the net purchase price to $26.6 billion.  The companies said the transaction is expected to close within 12 months.

The acquisition is set to expand Constellation’s capacity at a time when power demand for artificial intelligence (AI) data centers in the U.S. is expected to triple by 2030, Mizuho Research analysts said last year. The rise in demand for AI applications has driven shares of Constellation and other energy providers like Duke Energy (DUK) and NextEra Energy (NEE) higher over the past year. 

Constellation shares were up over 25% in early-afternoon trading. The stock has gained 160% over the past 12 months, far outpacing the S&P 500’s performance during the period.

–Andrew Kessel

Geopolitical Concerns Push Oil Prices Higher

12 hr 13 min ago

Oil prices rose Friday, touching prices last seen in the fall, as traders digested further U.S. sanctions on Russia. 

Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, recently traded around $80, up nearly 3%, according to several market data sources. That was the contract’s highest price since October. Meanwhile, the S&P 500’s energy sector was the day’s only gainer of the index’s 11, rising about 0.4%.

The Treasury Department on Friday announced actions targeting the Russian oil industry, including Russian oil producers Gazprom Neft and Surgutneftegas and sanctions on “more than 180 vessels, and dozens of oil traders, oilfield service providers, insurance companies, and energy officials.”

“We are ratcheting up the sanctions risk associated with Russia’s oil trade, including shipping and financial facilitation in support of Russia’s oil exports,” Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said.

Traders may also be responding to cold weather in parts of the U.S. that could lift demand for oil used for heating.

Geopolitical issues—including sanctions and tariffs—are expected to be a key, if unpredictable, driver of movement in oil prices in 2025, Goldman Sachs analysts wrote Thursday, even as they forecast steady demand growth over the next decade, including from emerging markets.

Reduced supply, potentially from Iran, could lift prices this year, UBS analysts wrote Wednesday, while a global economic slowdown could pull them lower.

–David Marino-Nachison

Insurance Stocks Fall as LA Wildfire Damage Estimates Rise

13 hr 28 min ago

Shares of insurance companies tumbled on Friday as the deadly wildfires in Southern California that are still burning have already caused billions of dollars in damage.

The Travelers Companies (TRV) was down 3.5% in recent trading, leading decliners in the Dow Jones Industrial Average, while Allstate (ALL) and Chubb Limited (CB) fell 5% and 3.5%, respectively. The SPDR S&P Insurance ETF (KIE) was down 2.5%.

The latest preliminary estimate from weather site AccuWeather is that the blazes, which broke out on Tuesday, have created total damage and economic loss of between $135 billion and $150 billion. AccuWeather noted that as the fires continue to spread, that number could go up, possibly substantially.

AccuWeather’s Chief Meteorologist Jonathan Porter said “the devastation left behind is heartbreaking and the economic toll is staggering,” adding that the financial cost might reach nearly 4% of California’s annual gross domestic product (GDP). 

–Bill McColl

Walgreens Stock Surges on Strong Earnings Report

14 hr 37 min ago

Shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance (WBA) skyrocketed Friday morning after the pharmacy retailer reported better-than-expected fiscal first-quarter results.

The company recorded $39.46 billion in revenue for the quarter, well above the $36.71 billion it recorded the same time last year and the $37.33 billion analyst consensus compiled by Visible Alpha. Walgreens posted a $265 million net loss, below the small profit analysts expected, but the company’s adjusted earnings beat projections.

After adjusting for the cost of various one-time charges like store closures and the changing value of some of its investments, Walgreens recorded an adjusted net income of $440 million, or 51 cents per share, well above the $329.34 million and 38 cents per share analysts had expected.

In its fourth quarter report, Walgreens announced a plan to close roughly 1,200 “underperforming” stores over the next three years, including 500 in this fiscal year. The company did not disclose in Friday’s earnings report how many stores it closed in the first quarter.

“While our turnaround will take time, our early progress reinforces our belief in a sustainable, retail pharmacy-led operating model,” Walgreens CEO Tim Wentworth said Friday.

Walgreens shares were up more than 20% early Friday. The stock was the worst performer in the S&P 500 in 2024, with shares hitting their lowest price in decades.

–Aaron McDade

Bitcoin Levels to Watch as Cryptocurrency Down From Highs

15 hr 59 min ago

Bitcoin (BTCUSD) surged above $100,000 early this week but retreated in recent days as investors reassess this year’s interest rate outlook.

The cryptocurrency has lost ground as stronger-than-expected economic data has driven up Treasury yields, putting downward pressure on risk-on assets such as bitcoin amid investor concerns that the Federal Reserve may not cut interest rates again.

Bitcoin was at $93,500 on Friday morning, up from an overnight low of $91,700 but well below its high for the week set on Monday of nearly $103,000.

Since setting an all-time high (ATH) of around $108,000 in mid-December, bitcoin’s price has come under significant selling pressure. More recently, the cryptocurrency’s price formed a bearish engulfing pattern to halt last week’s rally back above the closely watched $100K level.

In addition, the relative strength index (RSI) has dropped below the 50 threshold and the price has fallen decisively under the respected 50-day moving average (MA), signaling weakening buying momentum.

Investors should watch key support levels on Bitcoin’s chart around $92,000, $87,000, and $74,000, while also monitoring important resistance levels near $100,000 and $106,000.

Read the full technical analysis piece here.

–Timothy Smith

Delta Soars as Results Beat Expectations

16 hr 23 min ago

Shares of Delta Air Lines (DAL) rose in premarket trading Friday after the airline reported fourth-quarter fiscal 2024 results that came in ahead of analysts’ estimates.

The carrier posted December-quarter profit of $843 million, or $1.29 per share, on revenue of $15.56 billion. Analysts polled by Visible Alpha expected net income of $1.15 billion, or $1.78 per share, on revenue of $14.89 billion.

On an adjusted basis, earnings per share (EPS) of $1.85 topped analysts’ estimates of $1.76.

Delta projects EPS growth of over 10% year-over-year to greater than $7.35 in fiscal 2025, “excluding the 45-cent impact of the CrowdStrike-caused outage in the September quarter.” For the current quarter, it expects revenue to grow 7% to 9% and EPS of $0.70 to $1.00.

Shares were up 7% in recent premarket trading. They have risen roughly 50% over the past year, more than double the percentage gain of American Airlines (AAL) stock but trailing the roughly 135% surge in United Airlines (UAL) shares.

–Aaron McDade