Several companies were making headlines in midday trading, with Victoria’s Secret seeing a 3.5% drop in its shares after Goldman Sachs initiated coverage with a sell rating due to tough macro conditions and competitive pressure. Meta Platforms, the parent company of Facebook, saw a more than 11% plunge after reporting lighter-than-expected second-quarter revenue guidance and CEO Mark Zuckerberg discussing investments in areas like AI and mixed reality that are not currently profitable. This led to declines in tech stocks overall, with major giants like Microsoft, Alphabet, and Amazon seeing drops in their stock prices.
JPMorgan downgraded Monster Beverage to neutral from overweight, citing cost pressure, which caused a 3% decrease in its shares. Honeywell also saw a 1.5% decline after reiterating its full-year guidance and posting better-than-expected earnings and revenue for the quarter. In contrast, Merck & Co gained 2% on stronger-than-expected results for the first quarter, beating analyst estimates for both earnings and revenue. Deckers Outdoor was downgraded by Bank of America, leading to a 5% drop in shares.
Southwest Airlines faced a more than 7% decline after missing on both top and bottom lines, reporting wider-than-expected losses per share and lower revenue than consensus estimates. The company attributed this to Boeing’s airplane delays impacting growth into 2025. ServiceNow slid 5% after narrowly beating analysts’ revenue expectations in the first quarter. Chipotle Mexican Grill, on the other hand, saw a 5% rise in its shares after topping Wall Street’s first-quarter estimates and reporting higher same-store sales growth.
International Business Machines (IBM) saw its revenue miss consensus estimates but beat on the bottom line, causing shares to fall nearly 10%. IBM also announced a $6.4 billion acquisition of HashiCorp, which led HashiCorp shares to rise. Caterpillar tumbled 6.5% after missing revenue estimates for the most recent quarter and revealing soft sales guidance for the second quarter. Nvidia, however, saw a 3% rise in its shares despite a declining market, with investors encouraged to buy the dip. Comcast shed more than 6% after quarterly broadband subscriber losses overshadowed a top-and-bottom line beat.
U.S.-listed shares of Deutsche Bank surged nearly 8% to hit a 52-week high after reporting first-quarter revenue and profit that exceeded expectations, driven by continued recovery in its investment banking unit. Overall, the market saw significant movement in various sectors, with companies facing challenges such as competitive pressure, cost issues, and revenue misses, while others exceeded expectations and benefited from positive earnings reports. Investors continue to closely monitor these developments and adjust their strategies accordingly.
