Biggest S&P 500 Movers on Thursday
August 28, 2025 06:02 PM EDT
Advancers
- Datadog (DDOG) shares logged the S&P 500’s top daily performance, jumping 7%. Thursday’s surge for Datadog stock added to gains posted in the previous session following a strong earnings report from fellow database software specialist MongoDB (MDB). Datadog has launched several new products this year that leverage artificial intelligence technology to enhance its platform’s database-monitoring capabilities, helping revenue growth.
- Shares of Fair Isaac (FICO), the data analytics company known for its consumer credit scores, advanced 6.1%. The stock has come under pressure in recent months following criticism of its pricing scheme by William Pulte, director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, who announced in July that mortgage lenders would be able to use FICO competitor VantageScore to evaluate the credit of potential borrowers. Some analysts have lately grown more positive on the shares, citing among other reasons its pricing strength for credit evaluations.
- Agilent Technologies (A) surpassed sales and profit expectations for its fiscal third quarter, and shares of the health sciences company gained 5.3%. The company also issued stronger-than-expected sales guidance for the current quarter, highlighting strong demand in its pharmaceutical end markets and its chemicals and advanced materials segment.
Decliners
- Hormel Foods (HRL) shares plummeted 13%, falling the furthest of any S&P 500 stock. The maker of deli meats and parent company of brands including Spam and Skippy reported mixed results for its fiscal third quarter, topping revenue estimates but falling short of adjusted profit expectations. The company attributed its lackluster performance to increases in commodity input costs. Hormel expects this trend to continue in the current quarter and said it plans pricing action to address the inflationary pressure.
- Cooper Companies (COO) lowered its revenue guidance for fiscal 2025, citing soft demand for contact lenses, and shares of the medical device maker dropped nearly 13%. Cooper’s revenue for the third quarter also missed analysts’ forecasts, although adjusted profit came in slightly ahead of estimates. Citi analysts downgraded Cooper stock to “neutral” from “buy.”
- Shares of Brown-Forman (BF.B) sank 4.9% after the alcoholic beverage maker reported lower-than-expected earnings per share for its fiscal first quarter. Although the Jack Daniel’s parent slightly surpassed estimates with its top-line results for the period, boosted by demand for its ready-to-drink beverages, sales were down from a year ago. The company discussed consumer uncertainty amid the volatile macroeconomic and geopolitical backdrop, noting that the absence of U.S.-made spirits in most Canadian markets added to pressure on its international business.
Dollar General Warns About Consumer Pressures
August 28, 2025 04:40 PM EDT
Dollar General (DG) said that low-income consumers were facing macroeconomic pressures as the discount retailer beat profit and sales estimates and raised its guidance.
The store chain posted second-quarter earnings per share of $1.86, $0.30 above the average forecast of analysts surveyed by Visible Alpha. Sales rose 5% year-over-year to $10.73 billion, and same-store sales grew 2.8%, with both also exceeding expectations.
The company expects full-year EPS of $5.80 to $6.30, sales growth of 4.3% to 4.8%, and same-store sales up 2.1% to 2.6%. Previously, its outlook was for EPS of $5.20 to $5.80, sales growth of 3.7% to 4.7%, and same-store sales up 1.5% to 2.5%.
However, in the call with analysts, outgoing CFO Kelly Dilts said the company is preparing for “increasing pressure on consumer spending as we move through the back half of the year, with Q4 potentially more impacted than Q3,” according to a transcript provided by AlphaSense.
Shares of Dollar General swung between big gains and losses in early trading Thursday before stabilizing. The stock finished the day up 0.5% and has gained 47% since the start of the year.
Hormel Stock Sinks on Soft Outlook
August 28, 2025 02:57 PM EDT
Shares of Hormel Foods (HRL) tumbled Thursday after the company said it expects “near-term pressures” continuing through the current quarter.
The parent of various canned meats brands and Planters snacks reported that fiscal third-quarter sales increased nearly 5% year-over-year to $3.03 billion, topping the $2.98 billion consensus projection of analysts surveyed by Visible Alpha. However, adjusted earnings per share of $0.35 came up short of the $0.41 estimate.
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The company’s results “were disappointing, and we fell short of our expectations,” said interim CEO Jeff Ettinger. “The steep rise in commodity input costs affecting our industry was the largest contributor to our shortfall.”
For the current quarter, Hormel sees adjusted EPS between $0.38 and $0.40, well below the $0.49 consensus, and sales between $3.15 billion and $3.25 billion, with the midpoint lower than expectation.
“To address commodity inflation, we are taking targeted pricing actions,” Ettinger said. “We expect profit recovery to lag into next year, with the near-term pressures we experienced in the third quarter persisting through the fourth quarter.”
Hormel Foods shares were down 13% in recent trading, leading decliners in the S&P 500.
Tesla’s EU Sales Continue to Plunge
August 28, 2025 01:16 PM EDT
Tesla’s (TSLA) sales in the European Union tumbled in July for a seventh consecutive month, while those of Chinese rival BYD’s soared.
According to the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association, Tesla’s EU new car registrations, which serve as a proxy for sales, plunged 42.4% year-over-year in July to 6,600 vehicles, and have dropped 43.5% over the first seven months of 2025 to 77,446. Tesla’s percentage of new car registrations in the EU fell to 0.7% in July from 1.3% a year earlier.
Tesla’s percentage of new car registrations in the EU, along with the U.K., Iceland, Norway and Switzerland, fell to 0.8% from 1.4% in July last year.
Tesla’s showing came against a backdrop of rising regional EV sales, especially by Chinese EV maker BYD. Battery-electric vehicle (BEV) registrations in the bloc make up 15.6% of the EU market, up from 12.5% in July 2024.
Last month, BYD’s market share in the EU rose to 1.1% from 0.4% in July last year, as new car registrations soared 206% to 9,698. Combined with the U.K., Iceland, Norway and Switzerland, BYD’s regional market share surged to 1.2% in July from 0.4% the same month last year.
Tesla shares, which entered Thursday down 13% this year, were down about 1.5% in recent trading.
Nvidia Price Levels to Watch as Stock Slides After Earnings
August 28, 2025 12:37 PM EDT
Nvidia (NVDA) shares lost ground Thursday even as the AI chipmaker and investor favorite reported revenue and profit that topped analysts’ estimates.
Nvidia shares were down 1.5% at around $179 in midday trading. Coming into today’s session the stock had gained 35% since the start of the year, making it the biggest gainer among members of the Magnificent 7 group of mega-cap technology stocks.
After registering a fresh all-time high earlier this month, Nvidia shares have traded mostly sideways, indicating apprehension among market participants ahead of the chipmaker’s quarterly results.
While the relative strength index remained in bullish territory leading into earnings, the indicator had made consistently lower highs since topping out in mid-July, signaling weakening buying momentum.
Investors should watch key support levels on Nvidia’s chart around $174, $159 and $150, while also eyeing an important overhead area near $183.
Read the full technical analysis piece here.
Snowflake Soars on Strong Results, Boosted Outlook
August 28, 2025 11:11 AM EDT
Shares of Snowflake (SNOW) jumped Thursday morning are the AI data cloud provider posted better-than-anticipated results and boosted its guidance.
The company reported second quarter fiscal 2026 adjusted earnings per share of $0.35 on revenue that grew 32% year-over-year to $1.14 billion. Analysts surveyed by Visible Alpha had expected $0.27 and $1.09 billion, respectively. Product revenue of $1.09 billion also topped forecasts.
Snowflake had 654 customers with trailing 12-month product revenue above $1 million, up from 606 in the previous quarter.
CEO Sridhar Ramaswamy noted that more than 6,100 accounts are using Snowflake’s AI every week, and that the company has “an enormous opportunity ahead as we continue to empower every enterprise to achieve its full potential through data and AI.”
Justin Sullivan / Getty Images
Snowflake now sees full-year product revenue increasing 27% to about $4.40 billion, versus its earlier outlook of a 25% gain to roughly $4.33 billion.
Shares of Snowflake were up 18% in recent trading, boosting the stock’s year-to-date gain to more than 50%.
UBS Analysts Say AI Bull Market Intact After Nvidia Earnings
August 28, 2025 10:20 AM EDT
UBS analysts said they were optimistic on the prospects the rally in the AI-driven bull market would continue after Nvidia’s results.
“The overall strength of the July quarter results may offer some reassurance for investors after signs of stalling momentum for the large-cap tech rally,” UBS analysts wrote, adding that “the outlook for large-cap tech remains compelling.”
Several of Nvidia’s major Big Tech clients, including Microsoft (MSFT), Meta (META), Amazon (AMZN), and Google parent Alphabet (GOOGL), have committed to spending big on their AI capacity, and Nvidia said Thursday that one customer spent more than $10 billion last quarter. Kress said late Thursday that the chipmaker anticipates $3 trillion–4 trillion in AI infrastructure spending by the end of the decade.
Morgan Stanley Analysts Raise Nvidia Price Target
August 28, 2025 09:30 AM EDT
Nvidia’s (NVDA) outlook for the third quarter was met with a bullish reception from analysts at Morgan Stanley.
The company at the center of the AI boom projected third-quarter revenue of $54 billion, plus or minus 2%, a record level but a tepid forecast versus estimates of around $53.8 billion. Nvidia issued its projection as it posted better-than-estimated second-quarter results, although key data center business revenue lagged forecasts.
Morgan Stanley raised its price target on the stock to $210 from $206 and kept its overweight call on the stock, saying Nvidia shares are “less expensive than other AI beneficiaries.” They said the “bar [set by Nvidia] continues to be high but the growth acceleration is clear.”
“For the stock to sell off slightly after hours on these types of numbers certainly indicates that sentiment has largely caught up to the growth potential, after fears of digestion just a few weeks ago,” they wrote. “But outside of China geopolitics, this is a very clean beat and raise quarter.”
Nvidia shares were down slightly at $181 in recent premarket trading, after falling sharply in extended trading hours late Wednesday immediately following the earnings release.
Nvidia CFO Collette Kress said during the earnings call Thursday that the company hasn’t restarted sales of its H20 chips in China yet while the company waits for the U.S. government to formalize its revenue-sharing agreement. Earlier this year, the Trump administration blocked Nvidia’s sale of its H20 chips, which the company tailored for the Chinese market, then this month struck a deal where Nvidia would give the government 15% of China chip revenues in exchange for resumed sales.
Major Index Futures Mixed
August 28, 2025 08:24 AM EDT
Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average were up 0.1%.
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S&P 500 futures rose less than 0.1%.
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Nasdaq 100 futures were down fractionally.
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