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Russian (RU) Updated Thu, May 1, 2025, 9:45 AM 2 min read
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The Nasdaq led US stocks higher on Thursday as strong earnings from Microsoft (MSFT) and Meta (META) eased fears about Big Tech's prospects amid President Trump's tariff upheaval.
The benchmark S&P 500 (^GSPC) rose around 0.8%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) led the gains rising more than 1.8%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) added about 0.3%, or nearly 150 points, extending its largest winning streak of the year.
Microsoft and Meta both topped Wall Street expectations for quarterly profit late Wednesday, relieving worries that Trump's trade war would hit corporate spending on AI and cloud, as well as advertising. The stocks surged, up around 10% and 6%, respectively.
That sets the stage for more Big Tech reports from Apple (AAPL) and Amazon (AMZN), set to release results after the bell on Thursday.
Both of the "Magnificent Seven" megacaps have found themselves in the crosshairs of Trump's trade offensive. Amazon reassured the White House this week that it won't show the tariff hike in its product prices, while Apple is scrambling to shift iPhone production from China even as smartphones are exempted from steep duties on imports from there.
Read more: The latest on Trump's tariffs
McDonald's (MCD) pointed to the fallout from tariffs for consumers as it posted a first quarter earnings miss and slump in US sales. Americans are "grappling with uncertainty," the fast-food giant's CEO said. Shares fell 1.4%.
More broadly, markets welcomed signs of a thawing in the trade war that has driven fears of an economic slowdown — particularly after data on Wednesday showed US gross domestic product contracted in the first quarter. On Thursday, new data showed weekly filings for unemployment claims hit a two-month high at the end of April, while continuing claims hit their highest level since November 2021.
Beijing has reportedly signaled that the US has reached out to China to initiate trade talks, despite the White House's insistence that President Xi must make the first move. At the same time, officials have hinted the Trump administration is closing in on announcing a first batch of trade deals.
Gold (GC=F) prices extended their drop into a third day, falling over 2% as traders slowed their rush for shelter from the trade uncertainty.
LIVE 15 updates
Nvidia leads chip stocks higher after Meta, Microsoft back massive AI investment plans
Nvidia (NVDA) stock rose as much as 4.3% early Thursday, leading chip stocks higher after Big Tech leaders Meta (META) and Microsoft (MSFT) reaffirmed their aggressive AI investment plans.
Shares of fellow AI chipmakers Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) and Broadcom (AVGO) jumped 1.3% and 2.4%, respectively. Nvidia supplier Micron (MU), which makes advanced memory chips for its GPUs (graphics processing units), climbed 2.7%.
During its quarterly earnings presentations late Wednesday afternoon, Microsoft reiterated its $80 billion spending plan to build out AI data centers, with more than half of that spending going toward the US. Meta, meanwhile, raised its capital expenditure outlook for 2025, forecasting spending will now fall between $64 billion and $72 billion, up from its prior range of $60 billion to $65 billion.
Meta stock rose 6% Thursday morning, while Microsoft jumped 10%.
Microsoft soars at the open
The largest stock in the world is ripping higher on Thursday morning.
Microsoft (MSFT) popped as much as 10% at the market open on Thursday morning after a blowout earnings report for the tech giant on Wednesday night. Zooming out to a yearly chart, its a rather large move for a stock that had been essentially flat over the past year prior to today's session.
Kohl’s board ousts CEO over policy violations
Kohl’s (KSS) board of directors has ousted CEO Ashley Buchanan for cause, citing violations of company policies related to undisclosed conflicts of interest in vendor relationships.
According to Bloomberg, trading in Kohl’s shares was temporarily halted Thursday morning following the announcement. Shares later rose as much as 5%, signaling investor approval of the board’s decisive action.
An investigation found Buchanan violated company policies by directing vendor transactions involving undisclosed conflicts of interest. The board emphasized the termination was unrelated to company performance or financial reporting. As a result, Buchanan has also been removed from the board and withdrawn as a nominee for reelection at the 2025 shareholders meeting.
Buchanan, who assumed the CEO role in January, was awarded a compensation package totaling approximately $20 million — more than double the $9 million received by his predecessor, Tom Kingsbury.
In response to the leadership change, the board has appointed Michael Bender as interim CEO, effective immediately. Bender has served on the board since July 2019 and was named board chair in May 2024.
Lilly stock falls as Zepbound struggles cloud strong earnings
Eli Lilly (LLY) shares slid about 5% before the bell after a double-whammy for its popular Zepbound treatment, despite better-than-expected first quarter results from the drugmaker.
Sales of Lilly's popular weight-loss drug fell slightly short of Wall Street estimates. Separately, CVS Health (CVS) said its pharmacy business will list Novo Nordisk's (NVO, NOVO-B.CO) rival GLP-1 drug Wegovy as its preferred obesity drug, to the exclusion of Zepbound.
"Now that there’s adequate supply of both of these GLP-1s, CVS Caremark was able to negotiate Wegovy against Zepbound to determine which manufacturer of these clinically similar products could deliver the greatest overall value and lowest net cost for our clients that choose to participate on our standard commercial formularies," a CVS spokesperson told Yahoo Finance's Anjalee Khemlani.
Reuters reports:
Jobless claims hit 2-month high
Weekly claims for unemployment benefits hit their lowest level in two months during the final full week of April.
Data from the Department of Labor released Thursday morning showed 241,000 initial jobless claims were filed in the week ending April 26, up from 223,000 the week prior and well above economists expectations for another print of 223,000.
Meanwhile, 1.916 million continuing claims were filed, up from the 1.833 million seen the week prior, and the highest level seen since November 2021.
Big Tech stocks rise on strong earnings, with Amazon and Apple on deck
Big Tech stocks were the top trending tickers in premarket trading on Thursday as several of the "Magnificent Seven" names took center stage with first quarter earnings reports this week.
Microsoft (MSFT) stock surged 9% after the company posted an earnings beat and strong cloud performance Wednesday. AI contributed more than expected to Azure revenue growth, though Microsoft noted capacity constraints remain a headwind for AI growth.
Meta (META) stock popped 6% after Q1 results also beat on the top and bottom lines. Despite concerns of an advertising slowdown due to the heightened uncertainty around tariffs and the economy, Meta raised its capital expenditures estimates and held its revenue forecasts steady.
Amazon (AMZN) stock rose 3% ahead of its first quarter earnings report. Investors are closely watching for AI spending's moment of truth as well as for any potential headwinds from President Trump's tariff policies. Earlier this week, Amazon drew ire from the White House over a report that the company planned to display tariff price hikes next to products, which Amazon denied.
Nvidia (NVDA) gained 4% as Meta and Microsoft suggested that the AI buildouts haven't slowed down, as my colleague Brian Sozzi wrote below. Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang made a trip to Washington, D.C., on Wednesday to advocate for changes to chip export policies.
Apple (AAPL) stock fell 1% ahead of its earnings report, where investors will get a look at how tariffs are affecting the iPhone maker and its supply chains. "We don't think Apple is 'out-of-the-woods' yet," KeyBanc analyst Brandon Nispel wrote in a note, as Yahoo Finance's Dan Howley reported.
GM cuts profit guidance, warns of $5B impact from tariffs
General Motors lowered its 2025 profit forecast on Thursday after getting more clarity on tariff risks in President Trump's partial reprieve for automakers.
Two days earlier, the Big Three car giant pulled its previous forward guidance and suspended share buybacks while it waited for the White House to shed light on it trade plans.
In a letter to shareholders, GM said it now sees a potential impact from current tariffs of as much as $5 billion.
Shares in the auto giant rose almost 4% as investors assessed the news.
Reuters reports:
CVS posts Q1 earnings beat, raises full-year guidance
Shares of CVS (CVS) jumped more than 10% in pre-market after the healthcare company raised its full-year 2025 profit guidance. Its first quarter earnings also out on Thursday handily beat Wall Street estimates.
Yahoo Finance's Anjalee Khemlani reports:
McDonald's earnings miss estimates, US sales slump
A drop in US sales and traffic weighed on McDonald's (MCD) first quarter results on Thursday, dragging the stock down slightly.
Shares slipped less than 1% after the fast-food giant's earnings missed Wall Street expectations.
Yahoo Finance's Laura Bratton reports:
Good morning. Here's what's happening today.
Earnings: Apple (AAPL), Amazon (AMZN), Airbnb (ABNB), CVS (CVS), Eli Lilly (LLY), Mastercard (MA), McDonald's (MCD), Reddit (RDDT), Roblox (RBLX), Shake Shack (SHAK), Sirius XM (SIRI)
Economic data: Challenger jobs cuts (April); Initial jobless claims (week ending April 26); S&P global US manufacturing (April final); ISM manufacturing (April); ISM prices paid (April); Construction spending, (March)
Here are some of the biggest stories you may have missed overnight and early this morning:
The month that Trump blinked on trade
CVS posts Q1 earnings beat, raises full-year guidance
Microsoft stock jumps as cloud drives earnings beat
Meta stock rises as upbeat outlook eases tariff concerns
China signals US reached out to kick off tariff talks
Downbeat GDP offers 2 views on the US economy
Trump barely defeats challenge to his tariff war in Senate
Starbucks seeks to cut its million-dollar store upgrade costs
Amazon to invest $4 billion to speed up deliveries in rural US
Gold sinks for third day as hopes rise for a tariff reprieve
Gold (GC=F) extended its slide on Thursday as traders welcomed signs of progress in trade talks between the US and countries facing President Trump's hefty tariff hikes.
Futures fell 2.4% to around $3,238 an ounce in early morning trade as investors' rush for shelter slowed amid optimism for an easing in trade tensions.
Bloomberg reports:
Eyes on Nvidia after big Meta, Microsoft quarters
Nvidia (NVDA) shares are up 4% in premarket trading, with darn good reason.
I heard nothing on the earnings calls from Microsoft (MSFT) and Meta (META) last night to suggest AI buildouts are slowing down. In fact, I would argue buildouts are accelerating, believe it or not.
I was most surprised by the pace of spending on AI out of Meta — and that says a lot, because the company has been spending aggressively on AI the past two years.
Tesla board searching for Musk replacement claims WSJ
Tesla (TSLA) board members have potentially been vetting CEOs to replace Elon Musk over the past month, according to a report from the Wall Street Journal. Musk's political alignment and the tanking of Tesla stock since Musk spearheaded the Department of Government Efficiency are cited as chief aspects behind the push for a new head to the beleaguered carmaker.
In response to the WSJ report, Tesla Chair Robyn Denholm claimed that news the board had begun steps of looking for a new CEO to replace Elon Musk were "absolutely false".
Reuters reports:
Oil prices steady fall following selloff
Oil prices have steadied after falling steeply from the blowout of the ongoing US-China trade war.
Reuters reports:
Brent crude (BZ=F) futures gained 7 cents, or 0.1%, at $61.13 a barrel as at 0318 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (CL=F) crude futures were up 1 cent or 0.02%, at $58.22. WTI closed at its lowest since March 2021 on Wednesday.
"In the near term, the path of least resistance remains tilted to the downside," said Sugandha Sachdeva, founder of SS WealthStreet, a New Delhi-based research firm.
"The dual impact of deteriorating demand and looming supply expansion has created a pessimistic outlook for crude, with Brent crude appearing vulnerable to test $55 per barrel," Sachdeva said.
Trending tickers after-hours
Microsoft Corp (MSFT)
Microsoft stock soared following Q3 earnings, popping 6.9% after handily trouncing Wall Street's expectations. The tech giant saw earnings per share of $3.46 on revenue of $70 billion. Analysts were anticipating earnings of $3.21 on revenue of $68.4 billion,
QUALCOMM Inc. (QCOM)
Semiconducter giant Qualcomm saw share value drop 5.4% despite delivering stronger-than-expected fiscal second-quarter results on Wednesday. Tariff concerns weigh heavily on the company with supply chain issues expected by market analysts.
QCOM reported adjusted earnings per share of $2.85, edging past Wall Street’s forecast of $2.82, Revenue also came in above expectations, reaching $10.84 billion, compared to analyst estimates of $10.66 billion.
Meta Platforms (META)
Shares in social media giant Meta jumped 5.5% in extended trading after a strong Q3 earnings report provided a boost to the company and the tech sector at large.
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