Biggest S&P 500 Movers on Thursday Advancers West Pharmaceutical Services (WST) shares skyrocketed 23%, the most of any stock in the S&P 500, after the healthcare products provider beat sales and profit estimates for the second quarter and raised its full-year guidance. The company, which specializes in packaging solutions and delivery systems for injectable drugs, highlighted a strong contribution from its high-value products segment, which includes its proprietary self-injection systems, stoppers, seals, and plungers.

(WST) shares skyrocketed 23%, the most of any stock in the S&P 500, after the healthcare products provider beat sales and profit estimates for the second quarter and raised its full-year guidance. The company, which specializes in packaging solutions and delivery systems for injectable drugs, highlighted a strong contribution from its high-value products segment, which includes its proprietary self-injection systems, stoppers, seals, and plungers. Second-quarter sales and profits from United Rentals (URI) also came in ahead of analysts’ forecasts, and shares of the construction and industrial equipment rental firm jumped 9%. In addition, United Rentals boosted its sales forecast for the full year, expanded its 2025 share buyback program by $400 million, and announced a quarterly dividend. Analysts at Bank of America raised their price target on United Rentals stock following the upbeat results.

(URI) also came in ahead of analysts’ forecasts, and shares of the construction and industrial equipment rental firm jumped 9%. In addition, United Rentals boosted its sales forecast for the full year, expanded its 2025 share buyback program by $400 million, and announced a quarterly dividend. Analysts at Bank of America raised their price target on United Rentals stock following the upbeat results. Healthcare diagnostics company Labcorp Holdings (LH) followed suit with a “beat-and-raise” earnings report. Labcorp’s second-quarter revenue and adjusted earnings per share exceeded estimates, driven by growth across its diagnostics and biopharma segments, and the company raised its full-year outlook. Shares of Labcorp gained 6.9% on Thursday. Decliners LKQ Corp . (LKQ), a provider of replacement auto parts, cut its 2025 forecasts for revenue, adjusted EPS, free cash flow, and operating cash flow, citing persistent headwinds in the car repair market and a challenging economic backdrop in Europe. Baird analysts cut their price target on LKQ stock in the wake of the earnings release, citing softness across the company’s major markets. LKQ shares plummeted 18% on Thursday, logging the S&P 500’s weakest daily performance.

. (LKQ), a provider of replacement auto parts, cut its 2025 forecasts for revenue, adjusted EPS, free cash flow, and operating cash flow, citing persistent headwinds in the car repair market and a challenging economic backdrop in Europe. Baird analysts cut their price target on LKQ stock in the wake of the earnings release, citing softness across the company’s major markets. LKQ shares plummeted 18% on Thursday, logging the S&P 500’s weakest daily performance. Shares of Dow Inc. (DOW) plunged 17.5% after the chemical company posted a wider-than-expected quarterly loss and halved its dividend, citing the need for financial flexibility as it navigates prolonged earnings pressure. Dow experienced year-over-year sales declines across all its operating segments, particularly in its packaging and specialty plastics business. Volumes were also down from a year ago, reflecting decreases in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and India, despite gains in the U.S. and Canada.

(DOW) plunged 17.5% after the chemical company posted a wider-than-expected quarterly loss and halved its dividend, citing the need for financial flexibility as it navigates prolonged earnings pressure. Dow experienced year-over-year sales declines across all its operating segments, particularly in its packaging and specialty plastics business. Volumes were also down from a year ago, reflecting decreases in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and India, despite gains in the U.S. and Canada. Molina Healthcare (MOH) cut its full-year profit guidance for the second time this month, pointing to higher medical costs across its business and especially elevated spending related to its Affordable Care Act plans. Although the insurer’s second-quarter revenue came in ahead of estimates, profit for the period fell short of expectations. The company’s medical cost ratio, a key measure of the amount of premium revenue paid out by an insurer for medical expenses, increased from a year ago. Molina shares tumbled 17% Thursday, putting the stock down more than 46% over the past month. -Michael Bromberg

Blackstone Jumps on Strong Earnings, Boosted Dividend Blackstone (BX) shares rose Thursday after the investment management firm posted better-than-expected results and raised its dividend as fees and assets under management (AUM) took off. The largest alternative asset manager reported second-quarter distributable earnings per share of $1.21, with revenue soaring 32.7% to $3.71 billion. Both exceeded analysts’ estimates. Fee-related performance revenues skyrocketed 167% to $472.1 million. Private equity fee-related earnings jumped 87% to $519.4 million, and real estate fee-related earnings were up 13% to $543.6 million. AUM grew 12.5% to $1.21 trillion, which CEO Stephen Schwarzman called “a new industry record.” Schwarzman said the performance was “reflective of the broader underlying expansion of the firm’s business and earnings power, particularly in private wealth, credit and insurance, and infrastructure.” The company also announced it increased its quarterly dividend by $0.10 to $1.03 to be paid Aug. 11 to shareholders of record on Aug. 4. Blackstone shares gained 3.6% on Thursday. Blackstone stock on Thursday closed at its highest level since January and moved back into positive territory for 2025. TradingView -Bill McColl

UnitedHealth Slides as Insurer Confirms DOJ Probe UnitedHealth Group (UNH) on Thursday confirmed several reports in recent months that the Department of Justice is probing aspects of its business. The company said it recently “proactively reached out to the Department of Justice after reviewing media reports about investigations into certain aspects of the Company’s participation in the Medicare program,” and is now “complying with formal criminal and civil requests from the Department.”] The health insurer’s stock has been battered by a number of reports this year that authorities are investigating UnitedHealth’s Medicare Advantage program. The company has denied claims that it has pressured physicians to bill for certain conditions that could get it larger payouts from the government. UnitedHealth stock also fell this year after its first-quarter results came in short of estimates and the insurer lowered its profit forecast, and after its CEO departed in May. UnitedHealth is scheduled to report earnings before the market opens next Tuesday. UnitedHealth is the worst-performing stock in the Dow Jones Industrial Average over the past 12 months. The stock is once again trading near its lowest level since 2020. TradingView The health insurer’s stock closed nearly 5% lower on Thursday and has lost 45% of its value since the start of 2025. -Aaron McDade

ServiceNow Jumps on Strong Results Amid Growing AI Demand ServiceNow (NOW) shares surged Thursday after the company reported better-than-anticipated results and boosted its guidance on increasing demand for its AI business platform. The software maker posted second-quarter earnings per share of $4.09, $0.52 more than analysts surveyed by Visible Alpha were looking for. Revenue soared 22.5% year-over-year to $3.22 billion, above forecasts as well. Subscription revenue also rose 22.5% to $3.11 billion, and the number of customers with more than $20 million in annual recurring revenue grew 30%. CEO Bill McDermott said the performance reflected the importance of the ServiceNow AI Platform. “Every business process in every industry is being refactored for agentic AI, he said. “ServiceNow has never been more differentiated as a full stack agentic operating system for the enterprise.” CEO Bill McDermott attends the Allen & Co. Media and Technology Conference in Sun Valley, Idaho, earlier this month. David Paul Morris / Bloomberg / Getty Images The company lifted its full-year subscription revenue outlook to a range of $12.775 billion to $12.795 billion from the previous expectation of $12.640 billion to $12.680 billion. ServiceNow shares were up 4% in recent trading but remain in negative territory for 2025. -Bill McColl

Chipotle Shares Plummet on Weak Sales Outlook Investors are souring on Chipotle. We don’t mean its sour cream. Chipotle shares hit their lowest level since April this morning. Luke Sharrett / Bloomberg / Getty Images Chipotle’s (CMG) stock was recently down about 14%, bringing its year-to-date decline to roughly 25%. The reason for today’s pullback seems straightforward: The burrito, bowl, salad and taco company, which earlier this year thought full-year same-store sales might manage double-digit growth, now says it’s more likely that they come in flat. Executives don’t expect it to last forever. “We are confident in getting back to mid-single-digit comps and surpassing $4 million in [average unit volumes] longer term,” CEO Scott Boatwright said on yesterday’s conference call with analysts, according to a transcript provided by AlphaSense. Wall Street analysts don’t seem to be cutting back much. Bank of America maintained a “buy” rating, along with a $64 price target that is among Wall Street’s higher numbers, according to Visible Alpha data, after the results. Oppenheimer, which has a $63 target, did the same. (That wasn’t a unanimous response: JPMorgan, for example, cut its target by a couple of bucks, to $52.) Morgan Stanley, one of a few banks with a Street-high $65 target, also held firm. “Nothing is broken here, and growth should pick up, but patience may be needed,” its analysts wrote. -David Marino-Nachison

How Much Traders Expect Intel to Move After Earnings Intel (INTC) is scheduled to report earnings after the closing bell today, with traders anticipating a sizable move from the struggling chipmaker’s stock. Options pricing suggests traders expect Intel’s stock could move more than 7% from its recent level by the end of Friday’s trading session. Intel’s stock has registered an average post-earnings move of 11% over the past four quarters, falling in three of those instances. In April, shares fell 7% the day after earnings as the chipmaker issued a quarterly forecast below analysts’ expectations. Heading into Thursday’s report, all 11 brokers covering Intel tracked by Visible Alpha have a neutral rating for the stock, with an average price target near $23. Analysts on average expect Intel’s quarterly revenue and profits to have declined year-over-year, with attention squarely on how new CEO Lip-Bu Tan will manage—or sell off—the chipmaker’s struggling foundry business. Tan is reportedly considering changing what manufacturing process the foundry business focuses on, a move that would cost the company hundreds of millions or even billions of dollars, but could help win major customers like Nvidia (NVDA) and Apple (AAPL). Intel shares have significantly lagged the performance of the benchmark S&P 500 stock index over the past 12 months. TradingView Intel’s stock had added about 14% in 2025 so far, but has still lost more than one-quarter of its value from this time last year. -Andrew Kessel

American Airlines Stock Drops as Outlook Disappoints American Airlines (AAL) shares tumbled Thursday after the carrier’s restored earnings projection for 2025 lagged its earlier forecasts and Wall Street analyst estimates. Shares in the Fort Worth, Texas-based air carrier were down 9% in afternoon trading and have now lost about a third of their value so far this year. Tariffs and economic uncertainty have weighed on consumer appetite for domestic travel in recent months, affecting the outlook for airlines, although international travel has held up. American said Thursday it expects a 2025 adjusted per-share loss of as much as 20 cents or earnings per share (EPS) of as much as 80 cents, with the midpoint lagging the Visible Alpha analyst EPS forecast of 71 cents. The forecast was also well below the company’s projection in January of adjusted EPS of between $1.70 and $2.70 for the full year. Like rivals Delta Air Lines (DAL) and Southwest Airlines (LUV), American had withdrawn its 2025 guidance in April citing an uncertain outlook amid tariffs. Delta and Southwest both restored their guidance for the year this month. American’s third-quarter earnings projections also disappointed. The carrier forecast an adjusted third-quarter per share loss of between 10 cents and 60 cents, well below analysts’ estimates. American posted second-quarter results Thursday that were better than expectations. It reported adjusted EPS of $0.95 on record operating revenue of $14.39 billion. Analysts polled by Visible Alpha had expected an adjusted EPS of $0.79 on revenue of $14.30 billion. -Nisha Gopalan

IBM Stock Slides on Weak Software Sales IBM (IBM) shares sank in intraday trading Thursday, as slightly weaker-than-expected software revenue growth tempered optimism about a second-quarter earnings report that largely topped estimates. After the closing bell Wednesday, IBM said it posted revenue of $16.98 billion, up 8% year-over-year, along with adjusted earnings per share of $2.80, each better than estimates compiled by Visible Alpha. IBM’s software revenue, however, came in at $7.39 billion, narrowly below the $7.43 billion analyst consensus. IBM CEO Arvind Krishna said that “geopolitical tensions are prompting a few clients to move cautiously,” adding that “US federal spending was also somewhat constrained in the first half, but we do not expect it to create long-term headwinds.”. Christopher Pike / Bloomberg / Getty Images Shares were down more than 8% in recent trading to around $258, leading decliners in the Dow Jones Industrial Average. With Thursday’s move, the stock’s year-to-date gain has been trimmed to 18%. UBS analysts noted that IBM’s organic software revenue growth slowed to 5% in the quarter, compared to 6% and 8% growth, respectively, in the company’s previous two quarters. The analysts kept their “sell” rating on the stock, but lifted their price target to $200 from $195. Bank of America analysts cut their price target to $310 from $320, while maintaining their “buy” rating, saying that they “remain bullish on overall company trajectory” even as the lackluster growth of IBM’s software segment “has turned into a show me story” for the second half of this year. Analysts from Wedbush said they “believe that IBM is well-positioned to capitalize on the current demand shift for hybrid and AI applications with more enterprises looking to implement AI for productivity gains and drive long-term profitable growth,” and added they they “would be buyers of any knee-jerk weakness” in the stock on Thursday. -Aaron McDade

Citi Boosts Alphabet Price Target After Earnings Some analysts turned more positive on Alphabet shares after the company’s better-than-expected results. Citi analysts raised their price target to $225 from $203—Wall Street’s average is above $216, according to Visible Alpha—citing the company’s “improving Search monetization trends.” Investors have been concerned that Google’s search business, a core revenue generator, was under threat from the rise of AI. “To be clear, the broader search market continues to evolve and remains among the most competitive ever as debate on the future of Search continues,” the Citi analysts wrote. The analysts named a list of things they said impressed them from Alphabet’s results, including consumers’ increasing adoption of Google’s large language model Gemini and the expansion of AI Mode, which integrates an AI chatbot tool into search. CEO Sundar Pichai said on the earnings call late Wednesday that AI Mode had reached 100 million monthly active users in the U.S. and India since it was launched in May. The analysts also said they liked the company’s “faster product cycle,” accelerating revenue from cloud operations and the growing demand for its products that led to its plan to spend $85 billion on developing AI this year, up from an earlier target. Alphabet shares were up more than 1% at around $193 in recent trading. The stock is up about 2% in 2025. Alphabet shares have lagged the performance of most mega-cap tech stocks so far in 2025. TradingView

US stocks were mixed on Thursday, with the S&P 500 (^GSPC) notching its fourth record close in a row as tech earnings from Alphabet (GOOG) pointed to AI as a key growth catalyst.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) rose 0.2% to also close at a fresh record, while the S&P 500 ended up just 0.1% higher. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) dropped 0.6% amid a post-earnings slide in IBM (IBM) shares.

Alphabet beat Wall Street’s second quarter earnings expectations and doubled down on its AI spending spree. The Google parent’s shares rose alongside other AI-linked stocks such as Nvidia (NVDA), helping buoy the tech-focused gauges.

Read more: Full earnings coverage in our live blog

But fellow “Magnificent Seven” stalwart Tesla’s (TSLA) stock sank after an earnings miss, a continued slump in European sales, and a warning from CEO Elon Musk that the EV maker faced “rough quarters” as President Trump’s budget bill kills off tax credits.

Trade deal hopes continued to run high after the US-Japan pact helped fuel more records for the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite on Wednesday.

The EU and US are closing in on an agreement that would impose a 15% tariff for most imports from Europe, instead of the 30% threatened, media reports said.

Read more: The latest on Trump’s tariffs

That rate is emerging as a potential new baseline for the “reciprocal” tariffs set to kick in on Aug. 1, going by Trump’s comments late Wednesday. Previously, the president had imposed a 10% baseline rate on countries as part of his sweeping April tariffs.

LIVE COVERAGE IS OVER

22 updates

What’s going on here?

Stocks hovered near all-time highs on Friday, as Donald Trump shot down chatter about replacing Fed Chair Jerome Powell and early earnings highlights like Deckers Outdoor and Intel steered investor attention.

What does this mean?

US stocks kept their gains modest, with the S&P 500 and Dow ticking up 0.1% in early trading and the Nasdaq staying just above flat, after fresh highs the previous day. Trump, just after visiting the Federal Reserve, dismissed talk of removing Powell, signaling some continuity at the top of US monetary policy. Most investors—backed by the CME FedWatch tool—now overwhelmingly expect interest rates to stay put at the Fed’s meeting next week. Government bond yields barely budged, while company earnings fueled sharp stock swings: Deckers Outdoor jumped 13% as sales topped estimates, but Intel sank 7.3% after reporting an unexpected loss. UnitedHealth also dipped, following more news about the Justice Department’s Medicare probe.

Why should I care?

For markets: Fed stability eases investor jitters.

Consistency at the top has reassured markets, with Trump’s backing of Powell reducing worries about sudden shifts in US monetary policy. With rates widely expected to be unchanged, traders are zeroing in on corporate earnings for clues on future trends. Volatile swings in names like Deckers and Intel are steering sector moves, while steady Treasury yields point to a calm lead-up to next week’s Fed decision.

The bigger picture: Earnings and policy moves echo globally.

US markets tracing record territory highlights their resilience in the face of higher rates and mixed company results. Stable signals from the Fed and corporate America set a tone for investors worldwide, as fresh data releases—from economic reports to commodity prices—shape expectations. Shifting trends in oil, gold, and bitcoin show how quickly perspectives can change across the global financial landscape.

U.S. stocks powered higher on Monday as strong earnings overshadowed continued uncertainty on tariffs and the White House’s pressure on the Federal Reserve.

The S&P 500 closed up 0.14%, and the Nasdaq rose 0.38%, paring gains after touching new all-time intraday highs. The Dow Jones Industrial Average reversed lower, slipping 19 points, or 0.04%.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury dropped 4.7 basis points to 4.384%. The U.S. dollar fell 0.55% against the euro and sank 0.97% against the yen. That’s after upper-house parliamentary elections in Japan were not as disastrous for Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba’s coalition as feared, though his future remains in doubt.

Gold jumped 1.52% to $3,409.50 per ounce. U.S. oil prices dipped 0.52% to $66.99 per barrel, and Brent crude lost 0.42% to $68.99.

Verizon helped the market after beating quarterly earnings forecasts and raising its profit outlook for the year. Shares of the telecom giant surged 4%.

That follows upbeat results last week from big banks like JPMorgan, which said U.S. consumers remain resilient despite headwinds from tariffs.

After the first week of this earnings season, 73% of companies have beaten per-share profit estimates, above the first-week average of 68%, according to Bank of America.

Other companies reporting this week include Tesla, Alphabet, Intel, Coca-Cola, Lockheed Martin, General Motors, RTX, Northrop Grumman, IBM, AT&T, Honeywell, and Union Pacific.

Meanwhile, Trump’s trade war and his war on the Fed are still hanging over the market.

On Monday, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told CNBC that trade talks are moving along, adding that getting a good deal is more important than the timing of a deal. That could suggest the Aug. 1 deadline, when higher tariff rates are due to kick in, may be more flexible.

In the same interview, he also ramped up pressure on Fed Chairman Jerome Powell, who has resisted Trump’s calls to lower rates. Bessent said “the entire Federal Reserve institution” should be examined.

That’s after the White House accused Powell of mismanagement over the Fed headquarters renovation, while backing off suggestions he should be fired.

Biggest S&P 500 Movers on Wednesday Advancers Shares of AES Corp. (AES) skyrocketed 19.8%, leading gains on the S&P 500 following reports that the power generator is exploring a sale. Several major infrastructure investors including BlackRock’s (BLK) Global Infrastructure Partners unit have been evaluating an acquisition of AES amid declines in its share price over the past few years, Bloomberg reported. AES generates energy from a variety of sources, including hydro, wind, and solar, and has signed agreements with multiple tech firms to provide renewable energy for data centers.

(AES) skyrocketed 19.8%, leading gains on the S&P 500 following reports that the power generator is exploring a sale. Several major infrastructure investors including BlackRock’s (BLK) Global Infrastructure Partners unit have been evaluating an acquisition of AES amid declines in its share price over the past few years, Bloomberg reported. AES generates energy from a variety of sources, including hydro, wind, and solar, and has signed agreements with multiple tech firms to provide renewable energy for data centers. Reports of a potential takeover bid also helped lift shares of engineering design software firm PTC Inc. (PTC), which surged 17.7%. Bloomberg indicated that rival Autodesk (ADSK), which competes with PTC in the computer-aided design and product lifecycle management markets, is evaluating a potential acquisition. Autodesk shares slipped 2.4%.

(PTC), which surged 17.7%. Bloomberg indicated that rival Autodesk (ADSK), which competes with PTC in the computer-aided design and product lifecycle management markets, is evaluating a potential acquisition. Autodesk shares slipped 2.4%. Major cryptocurrencies moved higher, with the price of Bitcoin hitting a record high around $112,000 amid optimism about a crypto-friendly regulatory environment in the U.S. under the Trump administration. Shares of Coinbase Global (COIN), operator of the largest crypto exchange in the U.S., advanced 5.4%, adding to a string of recent gains leaving the stock up over 50% since the start of the year.

(COIN), operator of the largest crypto exchange in the U.S., advanced 5.4%, adding to a string of recent gains leaving the stock up over 50% since the start of the year. Newly released minutes from the latest Federal Open Market Committee meeting showed that policymakers believe tariff-related inflationary pressure will be moderate and still anticipate interest-rate cuts in 2025. The projection for potential Fed rate cuts and the likelihood of lower mortgage rates helped lift housing-related stocks. D.R. Horton (DHI) shares gained 5.4% Shares of fellow home builders Lennar (LEN) and PulteGroup (PHM), as well as shares of residential construction supplier Builders FirstSource (BLDR), all added around 4.5%.

(DHI) shares gained 5.4% Shares of fellow home builders (LEN) and (PHM), as well as shares of residential construction supplier (BLDR), all added around 4.5%. Boeing (BA) shares climbed 3.7%, a day after the company reported it delivered 150 commercial jets in the second quarter, up from 92 in the year-ago period and ahead of analysts’ forecasts. The aviation giant also topped expectations for quarterly deliveries of helicopters and jets in its defense segment. The Boeing pavilion at the 2025 Paris Air Show 2025 in June. Nicolas Economou / NurPhoto / Getty Images Decliners Shares of data analytics firm Fair Isaac (FICO) logged the weakest performance in the S&P 500 for the second straight session, dropping 6.5% Wednesday. The two-day slide came after Bill Pulte, director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, indicated that lenders will be able to evaluate the creditworthiness of mortgage borrowers using the VantageScore system, a competitor to Fair Isaac’s FICO credit scores.

(FICO) logged the weakest performance in the S&P 500 for the second straight session, dropping 6.5% Wednesday. The two-day slide came after Bill Pulte, director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, indicated that lenders will be able to evaluate the creditworthiness of mortgage borrowers using the VantageScore system, a competitor to Fair Isaac’s FICO credit scores. Hershey (HSY) shares fell 4.7% after the chocolate maker named a new CEO. The confectionery company announced that Kirk Tanner, who currently serves as the top executive for fast-food giant Wendy’s (WEN), will take the helm at Hershey starting next month. Tanner is slated to replace retiring Hershey CEO Michele Buck.

(HSY) shares fell 4.7% after the chocolate maker named a new CEO. The confectionery company announced that Kirk Tanner, who currently serves as the top executive for fast-food giant Wendy’s (WEN), will take the helm at Hershey starting next month. Tanner is slated to replace retiring Hershey CEO Michele Buck. Rothschild & Co Redburn analysts downgraded Monster Beverage (MNST) stock to “neutral” from “buy,” suggesting that tariffs on aluminum imports could weigh on the performance of the energy drink maker. Monster Beverage shares sank 3.3%. -Michael Bromberg

Nvidia Chart Levels to Watch as Stock Breaks Records Nvidia (NVDA) shares hit a record high Wednesday as the AI investor favorite became the first company ever to reach a market capitalization of $4 trillion. Nvidia shares have risen 88% from their early-April low and are up 20% since the start of the year, boosted by expectations that major technology companies will continue snapping up the chip giant’s products as they build out their AI capabilities. Nvidia shares closed Wednesday’s session nearly 2% higher at around $163, leaving the market value just shy of the milestone level it briefly surpassed early in the day. Since forming a bullish engulfing pattern in early April, Nvidia shares have trended sharply higher, with the price climbing back above the 50-week moving average (MA) in May on its way toward its recent highs. Source: TradingView.com. Moreover, the relative strength index confirms bullish momentum, but remains below overbought levels, indicating the shares have more room to test higher prices before consolidating. Bars pattern analysis forecasts an upside target of around $300 and indicates the trend higher may last until late December this year. Investors should also watch key support levels on Nvidia’s chart near $130 and $97. Read the full technical analysis piece here. -Timothy Smith

Bitcoin Hits First Record Since May Bitcoin rose to a new high on Wednesday, rising above above $112,000 after failing to break through the $110,000 level several times in recent days. Bitcoin is up roughly 20% on the year after briefly dipping below $100,000 in late June. Its previous high was set in May; the world’s largest cryptocurrency quickly moved back below $112,000 on Wednesday and traded recently around $111,000. According to Coinglass, there were nearly $340 million in liquidations involving bitcoin short positions on various exchanges in the four hours around the time the new all-time high was established.

According to some industry experts, companies are expected to continue taking on bitcoin as a reserve asset in the second half of 2025. Many bitcoin holders are also still holding onto hope that the U.S. government will establish a strategic bitcoin reserve before the end of the year, though the perceived odds of that happening have fallen substantially this year, according to Polymarket. Crypto exchange Coinbase Global (COIN) and bitcoin treasury company Strategy (MSTR) were both up roughly 5% on the day. -Kyle Torpey

Kellogg Stock Soars on Report of Deal With Ferrero Shares of Frosted Flakes maker WK Kellogg (KLG) surged 50% in extended trading Wednesday following a report the company could soon be acquired by Italian sweets seller Ferrero. The two companies could finalize a deal worth roughly $3 billion as soon as this week, The Wall Street Journal reported. Neither WK Kellogg nor Ferrero responded to an Investopedia request for comment in time for publication. WK Kellogg owns Corn Flakes, Frosted Flakes, Froot Loops, and other cereal brands. It was formed in October 2023 after Kellogg split into WK Kellogg and Kellanova (K), which owns snack brands including Pringles and Pop-Tarts, among other products. -Andrew Kessel

How Far Away is $5 Trillion for Nvidia? One Wall Street bull thinks the next trillion bucks might not be too far away. “Over the next 18 months the focus will be on the $5 trillion club,” Wedbush analysts led by Dan Ives told clients in a note published shortly after Nvidia’s (NVDA) record-breaking moment earlier today. With 24.4 billion shares outstanding as of the end of May, the stock would need to reach $204.91 in order to bring Nvidia’s market cap past the $5 trillion mark. That would suggest a roughly 25% rise from the $163.93 at which the stock reached $4 trillion earlier today. Nvidia, which counts many of the world’s largest tech companies among its clients, saw its market cap hit its first $1 trillion in 2023, a little over two decades after going public in 1999. Its second and third trillions came a lot sooner than the first, with both milestones reached last year. Microsoft (MSFT) and Apple (AAPL), which have jockeyed with Nvidia for the title of world’s most valuable company over the past year, are the only two other companies with market caps currently surpassing the $3 trillion level. Amazon (AMZN) and Google parent Alphabet (GOOGL) tail behind, with market caps above $2 trillion. Analysts at Wedbush said they expect Microsoft could be the next company to join Nvidia in the $4 trillion club sometime this summer. Despite a tough start to the year, Nvidia’s stock has already added about a fifth of its value in 2025, regaining its footing in a historical surge as a poster child for the AI boom. “This is a historical moment for Nvidia, the tech space flexing its muscles, and speaks to the AI Revolution hitting its next stage of growth,” Wedbush said. Wedbush isn’t alone in its view. Sixteen of the 18 brokers tracked by Visible Alpha have issued “buy” or equivalent ratings, with two “hold” ratings. Their mean target for the stock in the next 12 months is $174. The stock closed nearly 2% higher at around $163 on Wednesday.

Microsoft Gets Upgrade as It Moves Closer to $4T Market Cap Microsoft wasn’t the first company to see its market cap touch $4 trillion—but its shares still have plenty of room to rise, one analyst said. Oppenheimer cited growth in Microsoft’s (MSFT) AI revenue among its reasons on Wednesday to upgrade the software giant’s shares to a bullish “outperform” rating. It set a $600 price target that is well above Visible Alpha’s average of just over $548 and one of a few that is $5 below the highest one out there. The target represents about a 20% premium to Tuesday’s close; the shares were recently up 1% to $502, perhaps on track for their first close above $500 apiece. The company’s market cap is around $3.7 trillion today, according to Visible Alpha data. Growing AI revenue offers “not only valuation support … but also upside potential as this revenue stream continues scaling fast and investors embrace Microsoft as one of the long-term AI winners in software,” Oppenheimer wrote. The analysts also said Microsoft was one of “only a few vendors in the software industry” capable of a so-called “Rule of 60” profile, a reference to the concept of a company having a combined annual revenue growth rate and EBITDA margin above 60. That, they said, “lends good support to premium multiples” for Microsoft’s stock. Microsoft is one of only three companies with a market cap above $3 trillion. Nvidia (NVDA) this morning became the first to top $4 trillion; Wedbush analyst Dan Ives in a note earlier today said he figures Microsoft will get there “this summer.” Apple (AAPL) has a market cap of about $3.1 trillion. -David Marino-Nachison

UnitedHealth Slides as DOJ Medicare Probe Continues UnitedHealth Group (UNH) stock declined on Wednesday following a report from the Wall Street Journal that ex-employees and medical professionals have been interviewed by Department of Justice investigators over a probe into the insurer’s Medicare billing practices. The Journal reported that several doctors were interviewed last month by investigators asking about how they were trained and whether they felt pressured to submit claims for certain conditions that could get UnitedHealth larger payments from the Medicare Advantage program. “We stand firmly behind the integrity of our Medicare Advantage business and the positive impact it delivers to millions of seniors across the country,” UnitedHealth said in a statement responding to the report. “Today’s article from The Wall Street Journal represents a continuation of its sustained campaign against Medicare Advantage, relying on incomplete data, a predetermined narrative and a flawed understanding of how the Medicare Advantage program works,” the company said. UnitedHealth’s stock has been battered this year amid a number of earlier reports about the DOJ probing aspects of its Medicare Advantage program, along with a lackluster first-quarter report that saw UnitedHealth cut its profit forecasts, and a change in leadership when CEO Andrew Witty resigned in May. Only rival healthcare company Centene and Ugg-parent Deckers Brand have posted weaker share price performances than UnitedHealth in 2025 among S&P 500 components. Shares of UnitedHealth were down nearly 2% in recent trading. The stock has lost about 40% of its value since the start of this year, making it the third-worst performing stock in the S&P 500 in 2025. -Aaron McDade

Verona Pharma Soars as Merck Buys Firm for $10 Billion Shares of Verona Pharma (VRNA) jumped Wednesday after Merck (MRK) agreed to pay about $10 billion for the British biopharmaceutical firm to boost its reach into respiratory disease treatments. Merck said the deal is valued at $107 per American Depositary Share, a 23% premium to Verona’s closing price yesterday. The acquisition gives Merck Verona’s Ohtuvayre inhaler for patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Ohtuvayre is Verona’s first commercial product, and the company reported it had sales of $42.3 million in 2024. Merck noted that Ohtuvayre is currently also being tested to treat non-cystic fibrosis bronchiectasis, a chronic lung condition that damages airways in the lungs. Merck CEO Robert Davis said that the addition of Verona “complements and expands our pipeline and portfolio of treatments for cardio-pulmonary diseases while delivering near- and long-term growth as well as value for shareholders.” The transaction is expected to be completed in the fourth quarter. The news sent U.S.-listed shares of Verona Pharma to a record high on Wednesday. The stock was recently up 21% at around $105. Merck shares were up about 3% this afternoon. -Bill McColl

A Google Bull Gets More Bullish Oppenheimer analysts raised their price target for Google parent Alphabet (GOOGL) stock after survey data revealed a preference among respondents for the tech giant’s new AI search tools over competitors like ChatGPT. The broker raised its price target to $220 from $200. Alphabet shares were up 1.6% at around $178 in recent trading. Google (GOOG) shares have lost more than 6% of their value since the start of 2025, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 is up about 8% over that period. TradingView An Oppenheimer survey found that 60% of respondents knowledgeable about Google’s AI Mode say its results are more helpful than asking ChatGPT. What’s more, 75% of those who pay for ChatGPT rated AI Mode as more helpful than the OpenAI chatbot. AI Mode, which rolled out in the U.S. in May, allows users to converse within Google Search the same way they would with ChatGPT, with updated search links provided after each user input. AI Mode appears as a tab beneath the search bar alongside News, Images, and others. Last year, Google launched AI Overviews, which uses AI to generate an answer that appears at the top of users’ search results. Additionally, more respondents than Oppenheimer expected say they click on AI Mode result links. Google holds roughly 70% of the search advertising market, the analysts noted, making it by far the U.S. leader. Google Search generated $198.09 billion in revenue last year -Andrew Kessel

WPP Stock Tanks as Ad Giant Slashes Outlook An outlook cut and warning about client spending sent shares of advertising giant WPP (WPP) plunging Wednesday. The London-based firm pointed to “a challenging economic backdrop,” which has caused a “deterioration in performance as Q2 has progressed.” It added that it expects “continued macro uncertainty weighing on client spend and weaker net new business than originally anticipated.” WPP now sees full-year like-for-like revenue, excluding pass-through costs, down 3% to 5%. Previously, the company predicted it would be flat to 2% lower. In addition, WPP’s new outlook for headline operating profit margin is for a drop of 50 to 175 basis points, compared to the earlier estimate of flat. CEO Mark Read said that while the company “expected the second quarter to be similar to the first quarter, performance in June was worse than anticipated and we expect this pattern of trading in the first half to continue into the second half.” WPP’s U.S.-listed shares were down 18% in recent trading at their lowest level since March 2020. -Bill McColl

Nvidia Becomes 1st Company to Hit $4 Trillion in Market Cap Nvidia did it. The chip giant on Wednesday morning became the first company to see its market capitalization touch $4 trillion intraday, rising above that level when its shares reached $163.93 in early trading. (Market cap markers are sometimes considered “official” only if the shares close above the needed level.) The stock was recently up 2.2% at $163.40, after rising as high as $164.42 in the opening minutes of the session. It’s the latest milestone for one of the biggest stock stories in recent years. Nvidia (NVDA) and its shares have effectively become poster children for the AI boom, with the stock in particular being one of the main beneficiaries. Nvidia shares have gained about 22% over the past 12 months, outpacing the performance of mega-cap tech rivals Apple and Microsoft. Two other big tech companies—Microsoft (MSFT) and Apple (AAPL)—have market caps above $3 trillion. (You can read our definition of what market cap is and how to calculate it yourself here.) -David Marino-Nachison

AES Jumps on Report Company Exploring Possible Sale Shares in AES Corp. (AES) surged 14% in early trading Wednesday, pacing S&P 500 gainers, following a report the renewable energy firm is considering a sale, among other options. According to Bloomberg, citing people with knowledge of the matter, the company “is exploring options including a potential sale amid takeover interest.” Infrastructure investors including BlackRock’s (BLK) Global Infrastructure Partners unit and Brookfield Asset Management “have been studying AES after the company’s shares lost about half their value over the past two years,” the report said. AES has signed deals with several tech firms, including Microsoft (MSFT), Alphabet (GOOGL), and Amazon (AMZN), to provide renewable power for data centers. The power sector has seen heavy interest from acquirers this year as investors bet that the need for power to fuel AI and cryptocurrency mining will boost demand. This year, the infrastructure unit of Blackstone (BX) agreed to buy TXNM Energy (TXNM), the power provider for New Mexico and Texas, for $11.5 billion in cash and debt while Constellation Energy (CEG) struck a deal to buy private energy company Calpine in a deal valued at $26.6 billion. AES declined to comment. Brookfield and Global Infrastructure Partners didn’t immediately return requests for comment. AES shares entered Tuesday down almost 14% this year. -Nisha Gopalan