Key Points
- U.S. stocks were mixed on Thursday as investors weighed corporate earnings and a key Supreme Court case.
- Tech earnings were a mixed bag, with Arm Holdings and Snap up, while Qualcomm fell.
- The Supreme Court is hearing arguments on the legality of President Trump’s global tariffs.
- Tesla shareholders are set to vote on a massive compensation package for CEO Elon Musk.
U.S. stocks moved in a tight range on Thursday as investors processed another batch of corporate earnings and kept a close eye on the Supreme Court hearing regarding President Donald Trump’s tariffs.
As of 10:25 ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down slightly by 0.42%, while the S&P 500 index fell by 0.41%, and the NASDAQ Composite slipped by 0.99%. Wall Street’s main indexes have stabilized after a sharp selloff earlier in the week. Fears about high stock valuations, especially in the AI-driven tech sector, have calmed down for now.
The quarterly earnings season continued on Thursday, with the tech sector once again in the spotlight. Shares of Qualcomm dropped after the chip designer revealed it might lose some business from its top customer, Samsung Electronics, next year. This news overshadowed the company’s strong sales and profit forecasts for the current quarter. On the other hand, chip technology provider Arm Holdings saw its stock rise after its third-quarter outlook beat estimates, thanks to heavy AI spending across the tech industry.
Snap stock also surged after the social media company beat its quarterly revenue estimates and reported a narrower net loss. Ride-hailing platform Lyft gained after reporting higher revenue and returning to profitability. Moderna’s stock jumped after the drugmaker’s third-quarter revenue, though down sharply, still beat estimates. Datadog’s stock gained after the cloud monitoring company reported strong third-quarter results and raised its outlook.
However, Warner Bros Discovery’s stock fell after the entertainment giant reported disappointing quarterly revenue, hurt by slow growth in its streaming unit and ongoing declines in its cable TV business. Marvell Technology’s stock jumped on a Bloomberg report that SoftBank had considered a takeover earlier this year. Tesla shareholders are also expected to vote today on a massive compensation package for CEO Elon Musk.
Investors were also closely watching the Supreme Court, which is examining whether Trump’s sweeping tariffs are legal. On Wednesday, the court began hearing arguments on Trump’s use of the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) to justify the tariffs. The case reached the Supreme Court after lower courts ruled that the president had overstepped his authority. The outcome of this case could reshape presidential trade powers and have major implications for U.S.-China relations and global markets.
In the commodity markets, oil prices rose, rebounding from recent sharp losses. Brent futures gained 0.1% to $63.59 a barrel, and U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures rose 0.1% to $59.66 a barrel. Both contracts fell about 1% each on Wednesday, marking their third straight monthly decline in October.
