Dow Jones Today: Stocks Extend Gains as Economic Concerns Ease, Chipmakers Rally

Levels to Watch in the Price of Gold

13 minutes ago

Gold prices recovered on Thursday after losing ground in the past several sessions amid the broader market downturn.

According to our technical analysis, which you can read here, Investors should monitor for a breakout or breakdown from an ascending channel on the gold chart, which will likely provide clues about the precious metal’s next move.

A breakdown from the pattern could see the gold price revisit support at $2,200 and $2,085, while a breakout could see price targets met at $2,675 and $2,770.

Gold futures were up 1.4% at around $2,465 in recent trading.

–Timothy Smith

Bumble Tumbles to All-Time Low

2 hr 37 min ago

Shares of Bumble (BMBL) plunged to their all-time low Thursday after the online dating service slashed its guidance as customers spent less on it.

The company that operates the eponymous app now expects full-year revenue to rise 1% to 2% year-over-year, compared with its earlier forecast of 8% to 11%, and app revenue to rise 1.5% to 2.5%, down from 9% to 11%. 

In the second quarter, total paying users climbed 14% to 4.1 million but the total average revenue per paying user fell 8.0% to $21.37.

The company’s second-quarter revenue of $268.6 million fell short of expectations, while earnings per share of $0.22 were better than anticipated. 

Bumble shares hit an all-time low Thursday morning and were down 30% in recent trading.

–Bill McColl

Under Armour Jumps 20% as Restructuring Takes Shape

3 hr 21 min ago

Under Armour (UAA) shares popped Thursday following the company’s first-quarter fiscal 2025 results, its first since announcing a substantial restructuring plan.

The athletic apparel retailer said it has recognized $34 million of the estimated $70 to $90 million in charges related to the restructuring, with the remainder expected to occur in fiscal 2025. Notably, the process has included a drawback in promotional material. 

Under Armour reported revenue of $1.18 billion, down 10% year-over-year but above analysts’ expectations. Adjusted profit of 1 cent per share also came in better than anticipated.

Under Armour said it expects fiscal 2025 revenue to fall at a low double-digit percentage rate, and an adjusted per-share profit of 19 cents to 22 cents. The forecasts are in line with analysts’ expectations.

Under Armour shares were up 19.5% in recent trading at their highest level since March.

–Andrew Kessel

Chip Stocks Leading Thursday’s Rally

4 hr 2 min ago

Gains for tech stocks are pushing the market higher Thursday, led by sharp increases by Nvidia (NVDA) and other chipmakers.

Nvidia, Intel (INTC) and Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) were all up more than 4% in late-morning trading. The iShares Semiconductor ETF (SOXX) was up more than 5%, as chip stocks rose across the board.

Over the last week, the ETF had come under increasing pressure amid the broader market’s downturn. Disappointing earnings from Intel and reports that Nvidia’s highly anticipated Blackwell chips would be delayed by at least three months also weighed on sentiment.

Amid the recovery Thursday, keep an eye on the $215 and $239 price levels, where SOXX may run into overhead resistance.

Read our technical analysis here.

–Timothy Smith

Expectations for Big Fed Rate Cuts Moderate

4 hr 40 min ago

The market meltdown on Monday that sent U.S. stock indexes to their biggest one-day losses in two years also led market participants to price in nearly a 100% chance that the Fed would cut its benchmark lending rate by half a percentage point at its next policy committee meeting in September.

With Thursday’s jobless claims data indicating that the economic fears that sparked Monday’s selloff may have been overblown, expectations for steep rate cuts in September and beyond are being scaled back.

Traders are now pricing in a 55% likelihood that the Fed will cut its influential rate by half a point at its September policy meeting, according to the CME Group’s FedWatch tool, which forecasts interest rate movements based on fed funds futures trading data. That’s still up from the 22% a week ago, but down from the 99% chance that was being priced in at the height of Monday’s volatility.

The Fed’s policy committee decided last week to maintain the fed funds rate at a range of 5.25% to 5.50%, where it has been for the past year as the central bank has sought to tame inflation. With inflation on the decline and stress in the labor market, Fed Chair Jerome Powell said last week that the Fed could start cutting rates, which are at their highest level since 2001, as soon as September.

Warner Bros. Discovery Shares Plunge on Weak Earnings

5 hr 22 min ago

Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) shares plunged Thursday after the entertainment company recorded an almost $10 billion second-quarter loss, hit by a write-down in the value of its cable networks.

The company posted a $9.1 billion non-cash goodwill impairment charge from its cable networks segment, showing that CNN and TNT, among others, continue to be disrupted by streaming services like Netflix (NFLX).

The company’s fortunes don’t look much brighter, either, after its TNT Sports unit last month lost out on the lucrative 11-year media rights deal to show NBA games.

Warner Bros. Discovery’s second-quarter loss widened to $9.99 billion from $1.24 billion last year, while revenue fell to $9.71 billion from $10.36 billion. The numbers were worse than expected on both the top and bottom lines.

WBD shares were down 10%, trading at their lowest levels since 2008.

–Nisha Gopalan

Eli Lilly Soars on Strength of Weight-Loss Drug Sales

5 hr 51 min ago

Eli Lilly (LLY) shares surged higher in early trading Thursday after the drugmaker’s second-quarter earnings came in well above analysts’ estimates and it raised its full-year revenue and profit guidance.

The maker of weight-loss drugs Mounjaro and Zepbound reported $11.3 billion in revenue, a 36% year-over-year jump and more than $1 billion above what analysts had expected. Profits rose 68% to $2.97 billion, also well above estimates.

Sales of Mounjaro more than tripled to $3.09 billion, while Zepbound sales have already surpassed $1 billion after only receiving FDA approval in November 2023.

Eli Lilly lifted its 2024 revenue guidance by $3 billion, now projecting $45.4 billion to $46.6 billion on the back of strong Mounjaro and Zepbound sales.

Eli Lilly shares were up nearly 9% in recent trading.

–Aaron McDade

Stock Futures Point to Higher Open for Major indexes

6 hr 58 min ago

Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average were up 0.5%.

S&P 500 futures were up 0.8%.

Nasdaq 100 futures were up 1.2%