Stocks Slip as White House Says Tariffs Coming Saturday; Major Indexes Post Gains for January

Biggest S&P 500 Movers on Friday

January 31, 2025 06:10 PM EST

Decliners

• Franklin Resources (BEN) was the top performer in the S&P 500 as the investment manager surged 10.4%. The company reported earnings that beat analysts’ projections despite revenue coming up shorter than expected.
• Strong earnings also sent Eastman Kodak (KODK) spinoff Eastman Chemical (EMN) higher by 7.5%. 
• AbbVie (ABBV) stock jumped by 4.7% after the pharmaceutical firm beat estimates on strong sales of its Skyrizi and Rinvoq inflammation treatments and raised its long-term sales outlook for the drugs. 
• Vertex Pharmaceuticals (VRTX) moved up by 5.3% after it said that the Food and Drug Administration approved its non-opioid pain treatment Journavx.

Advancers

• Deckers Outdoor (DECK), the maker of Ugg and Hoka brand footwear, led S&P 500 decliners, falling 20% after its full-year revenue guidance raised investor concerns. The company said it would be facing challenges from competitor discounts, high shipping costs, and a strong U.S. dollar.

–Terry Lane

Analysts See AI as Key to More Apple Stock Gains

January 31, 2025 05:55 PM EST

After Apple (AAPL) CEO Tim Cook said the iPhone maker is seeing record iPhone upgrades with the rollout of Apple Intelligence, several analysts raised their price targets for the company’s stock, pointing to AI updates as a potential source of growth.

Morgan Stanley analysts said Apple’s first-quarter results underlined how “Apple Intelligence is bolstering iPhone performance,” and suggested a “cleaner catalyst path” for updates expected in the coming months. The analysts raised their price target to $275 from $273 and maintained an “overweight” rating. They added the launch of a lower-cost iPhone SE4 could also help revenue.

Of the 17 analysts covering the stock tracked by Visible Alpha, 10 have issued “buy” or equivalent ratings, compared to five “hold” ratings, and two “sell” ratings. Their consensus price target is about $253, a roughly 7% premium over Apple’s closing price Friday. 

Cook said on the company’s earnings call Thursday that Apple Intelligence will roll out in more languages in April, and users can also expect new features like an “even more capable Siri” in the future. He added that Apple has seen better performance from the iPhone 16 lineup in regions where Apple Intelligence is available, compared to markets where it hasn’t been rolled out.

This comes amid concerns about falling sales in China, where Apple Intelligence remains unavailable due to regulatory hurdles. Apple’s first-quarter revenue fell 11% year-over-year in the region, as Chinese smartphone makers like Vivo and Huawei gained market share.

Wedbush analysts, who maintained a $325 price target, expressed confidence that Apple could find an artificial intelligence partner in the region to facilitate an Apple Intelligence rollout in the county as soon as April. “We believe as Apple Intelligence rolls out in China we will see growth markedly rebound in this region to double digits,” they said. 

Cook also said that recent fiscal stimulus announced in the country would “cover the categories that we have products,” which JPMorgan analysts suggested could improve sales. JPMorgan raised its price target for Apple stock to $270 from $260.

Shares of Apple fell 0.7% to $236 Friday, after paring back gains earlier in the session. They’ve added about 27% over the past 12 months.

–Andrew Kessel

Major Indexes Show Monthly Gains

January 31, 2025 05:03 PM EST

A volatile final week of trading wasn’t enough to prevent the Dow Jones Industrial Average, S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite from posting gains for the month.

The Dow rose 4.7% in January, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq added 2.7% and 1.6%, respectively. It was the third straight month of gains for the Nasdaq, while the Dow and S&P 500 were rebounding from losses in December.

For the week, the Dow tacked on 0.3%, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq slid 1% and 1.6%, respectively.

Maker of Uggs and Hoka Leads S&P 500 Decliners

January 31, 2025 03:38 PM EST

Deckers Outdoor (DECK) shares plunged Friday, despite the shoemaker reporting sales results for the latest quarter that beat analysts’ estimates.

The company, which sells Hoka, Ugg, and Teva footwear, told investors late Thursday that the company doesn’t see demand flagging for its most sought-after shoes. Still, Deckers shares were down 20% in afternoon trading Friday, leading S&P 500 decliners, amid investor concerns about demand trends.

The footwear company said fiscal third-quarter quarter’s sales hit a record $1.83 billion, growing 17% year-over-year and coming in higher than the $1.73 billion analyst consensus estimate from VisibleAlpha.Deckers reported $3 in earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter ended Dec. 31, while analysts polled by VisibleAlpha had estimated the company would have $2.60 in EPS.

Deckers now expects sales to grow 15%—rather than 12%—and hit $4.9 billion for the full fiscal year, Chief Financial Officer Steven Fasching said in a Thursday earnings conference call, according to a transcript provided by AlphaSense. He said Deckers doesn’t expect Ugg or Hoka to lose traction after they had year-over-year sales increases of about 16% and 24%, respectively, last quarter.

“The demand for these brands is still incredible,” Fasching said on the call.

The pullback presents an opportunity to buy Deckers shares, UBS analysts wrote in a Friday note. Investors may worry that Hoka is decelerating and Ugg can’t repeat its strong results, but the report called these fears “misplaced.”

“Hoka has a robust new product pipeline,” the UBS note said, while calling Ugg one of “the strongest casual footwear brands in the world” that’s transforming into a “true four-season brand” after launching as a winter shoe.

Even with today’s selloff, Deckers stock is up 45% over the past 12 months, easily outpacing the S&P 500 over that period.

–Sarina Trangle

Nvidia CEO Heads to White House After Wild Week for Stock

January 31, 2025 01:49 PM EST

Nvidia (NVDA) CEO Jensen Huang is set to meet with President Donald Trump at the White House, Bloomberg reported Friday, after a wild week for the chipmaker’s stock.

Shares were down nearly 1% in afternoon trading Friday, having lost more than 13% of their value this week after the rapid rise of Chinese AI startup DeepSeek rattled markets. 

The surging popularity of an app from DeepSeek, which claimed it developed an AI model rivaling the performance of American competitors for a fraction of the cost, spurred a reckoning on Wall Street about the competitiveness of American AI leaders and their spending on tech, sending shares of Nvidia and other AI stocks into a tailspin earlier in the week. 

Still, analysts have largely remained bullish on the chipmaker’s stock, with Bank of America telling clients Wednesday they “view the recent selloff as an enhanced buy opportunity.” Analysts at Bernstein, Citi, Wedbush, Raymond James, and elsewhere were also among those that suggested the market’s reaction may have been overblown. 

Raymond James and Bank of America added that they expect competition from China could push Big Tech companies like Microsoft (MSFT), Amazon (AMZN), and Alphabet (GOOGL) to spend even more on AI, to the benefit of Nvidia, Broadcom (AVGO), and other AI chipmakers.

In earnings calls this week, executives from Microsoft and Meta stood by their plans to spend billions of dollars this year on AI infrastructure.

Huang’s meeting at the White House also comes following reports the Trump administration could be considering further tightening restrictions on sales of advanced U.S. chips to China.

–Kara Greenberg

Apple Stock Price Levels to Watch After Earnings

January 31, 2025 12:22 PM EST

Apple (AAPL) shares were higher in midday trading Friday after the company reported better-than-expected earnings and said customers are increasingly upgrading their iPhones to take advantage of AI features.

Apple shares have trended higher within an 18-month rising wedge, with the stock’s price recently finding buying interest near the pattern’s lower trendline ahead of the company’s quarterly report.

This move coincided with the relative strength index (RSI) reclaiming the 50 threshold earlier this month, indicating a positive shift in price momentum.

Apple shares were up nearly 1% to around $240 in recent trading. The stock has gained 30% over the past 12 months, slightly outpacing the S&P 500 over that period.

Read the full technical analysis piece here.

–Tim Smith

Vertex Rises as Non-Opioid Painkiller Gets FDA Approval

January 31, 2025 11:17 AM EST

Shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals (VRTX) surged Friday, a day after the drugmaker reported federal regulators have approved its non-opioid painkiller, the first such drug to head to market in two decades.

The company announced that the Food and Drug Administration has approved Journavx, a twice-daily pill that it described as a “highly selective NaV1.8 pain signal inhibitor for the treatment of adults with moderate-to-severe acute pain.”

CEO Dr. Reshma Kewalramani said Journavx was “the first new class of pain medicine approved in more than 20 years,” adding that the treatment provides “the opportunity to change the paradigm of acute pain management and establish a new standard of care.”

Vertex said that the wholesale purchase price for Journavx in the U.S. would be $15.50 per 50mg pill. 

The news sent Vertex Pharmaceuticals shares, which had been up just 1% over the past 12 months, nearly 7% higher Friday morning.

–Bill McColl

AbbVie Jumps on Strong Revenue, Rosy Outlook

January 31, 2025 10:38 AM EST

AbbVie (ABBV) stock was one of the top gainers in the S&P 500 Friday morning as the biotech firm posted better-than-expected sales and gave strong guidance on higher demand for two of its drugs to treat inflammation.

The company reported fourth-quarter revenue rose nearly 6% year-over-year to $15.1 billion, above the $14.8 billion consensus estimate of analysts surveyed by Visible Alpha. Adjusted earnings per share (EPS) of $2.16 came in below forecasts.

Global sales of Skyrizi soared 58% to $3.78 billion, and rose 46% to $1.83 billion for Rinvoq. Those offset falling sales for Humira—once the world’s top-selling drug—which has been losing market share because of generic competition. Humira sales slid 49% to $1.68 billion.

The company updated its long-term outlook for sales of Skyrizi and Rinvoq, anticipating combined sales of more than $31 billion in 2027. It had previously predicted more than $27 billion. It added that the guidance assumes revenues of more than $20 billion for Skyrizi and more than $11 billion for Rinvoq.

Shares of AbbVie, which surged roughly 8% early Friday, are up 15% over the last year.

–Bill McColl

Atlassian Levels to Watch as Stock Soars After Earnings

January 31, 2025 10:03 AM EST

Atlassian (TEAM) shares surged in early trading Friday after the software company late yesterday issued an upbeat revenue outlook amid robust demand for its AI-powered cloud offerings

Since early December, Atlassian shares have consolidated in a pennant, a chart pattern that signals a continuation of the stock’s strong uptrend that started in August. The stock is now set to stage a decisive breakout from the pennant in Friday’s trading session.

It’s also worth pointing out that even before the latest financial results, the stock registered its highest weekly volume since early November, suggesting that some larger market participants had positioned for the stock to resume its trend higher.

Atlassian shares were up 18% at $315, trading at their highest levels in three years.

Read the full technical analysis piece here.

–Timothy Smith

Major Indexes Set to Post Monthly Gains

January 31, 2025 08:58 AM EST

The Dow Jones Industrial Average, S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite are solidly in the green for the month heading into the last trading day of January.

The Dow is up 5.5% this month, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq have gained 3.2% and 1.9%, respectively, since the start of the year. The Dow and S&P 500 posted losses in December, while the Nasdaq is on course to finish higher for the third consecutive month.

The Dow enters Friday’s session just 0.3% away from surpassing its record closing high set on Dec. 4. The S&P 500 is 0.8% below its record close, set last week, while the Nasdaq is 2.5% beneath its all-time closing high.

Major Index Futures Higher This Morning

January 31, 2025 08:24 AM EST

Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average were up 0.3%.

S&P 500 futures were up 0.4%.

Nasdaq 100 futures rose 0.7%.