Stocks ended the day higher, and the S&P 500 (^GSPC) entered a bull market on Thursday as investors digested fresh economic data ahead of next week’s Federal Reserve meeting and a leadership shakeup at GameStop (GME).
The S&P rose 0.62% while the Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) popped 1.02% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) was up 0.50%, or 168 points. The S&P 500 has now increased more than 20% from its October 2022 lows.
The Nasdaq 100 snapped a four-day winning streak on Wednesday as the artificial intelligence-infused rally appears to have hit a standstill. The S&P 500 has been chasing bull-market territory all week, needing a close above 4,292.44.
In single stock moves, GameStop, a meme stock favorite, reported first quarter earnings and announced the firing of CEO Matthew Furlong as part of the release. GameStop board chairman Ryan Cohen was named executive chairman. Financially, GameStop’s first quarter came in worse than Wall Street had hoped for, with revenue of $1.24 billion coming in short of analysts’ expectations for $1.4 billion.
The company didn’t hold an earnings call, typically an industry standard, to explain its quarterly results or the executive shakeup. Shares of the company fell 18% at the market open on Thursday.
“We remain convinced that GameStop is doomed, with declining physical software sales and a shift of sales to subscription services and digital downloads sealing its fate,” Wedbush managing director Michael Pachter wrote in a note to clients on Thursday. “While we think that the chain might have some value if run in order to harvest profits, we don’t see a turnaround on the horizon without capable management.”
Meanwhile, shares of Carvana (CVNA) soared on Thursday as the company announced an improved second quarter outlook. The company projected second quarter adjusted EBITDA of $50 million. Analysts had been expecting a loss of $3.6 million, per Bloomberg. Carvana stock gained more than 57% on the news.
Amazon (AMZN) helped lead tech higher with shares rising nearly 3%. Analysts at UBS wrote in a note to clients that the tech giant’s AI efforts could materially increase Amazon Web Services revenue by the fourth quarter of this year.
Warner Brothers Discovery (WBD) is one of the biggest winners in the S&P 500 rising near 7% on Thursday. Shares are now up more than 20% over the past week. This comes as CNN Chief Chris Licht departed the company on Tuesday after a tumultuous time at the network, which has included mass layoffs, a failed foray into streaming with CNN+, and historically low ratings.
On the economic front, new data from the Department of Labor showed 261,000 jobless claims were filed in the week ending June 3. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg were expecting 235,000 claims. Thursday’s report marks an increase from the week prior’s 233,000 claims.
While not considered a major indicator on a weekly basis in the Fed’s decision making, this week’s jobless claims will be one of the final economic data points for the Federal Reserve ahead of the Federal Open Market Committee meeting set to begin next Tuesday. As of Thursday morning, markets are pricing in a 65% chance that the Federal Reserve pauses its historic interest rate hiking campaign at that meeting, per the CME FedWatch Tool.
LONDON — Buy now, pay later firm Affirm launched Monday its installment loans in the U.K., in the company’s first expansion overseas.
Founded in 2012, Affirm is an...
