The three major stock indexes closed higher on Tuesday, aided by energy stocks, while investors saw reason for optimism for a trade breakthrough between the U.S. and China after President Donald Trump delayed tariffs for Canada and Mexico.
Market Snapshot
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 134.13 points, or 0.30%, to 44,556.04, the S&P 500 gained 43.31 points, or 0.72%, to 6,037.88 and the Nasdaq Composite gained 262.06 points, or 1.35%, to 19,654.02.
Market Movers
Palantir - Palantir Technologies soared 24% after the software company reported fourth-quarter adjusted earnings that topped analysts’ estimates and revenue jumped 36% to $828 million, beating expectations of $776 million. The company’s U.S. business jumped 52% from a year earlier. “Our business results continue to astound, demonstrating our deepening position at the center of the (artificial intelligence) revolution. Our early insights surrounding the commoditization of large-language models have evolved from theory to fact,” said CEO Alex Karp. For the first quarter, Palantir said it expects revenue of $858 million to $862 million, up 36% from 2024 at the midpoint, and better than Wall Street estimates of $799 million.
Tesla - Tesla was up 2.2% after shares of the electric-vehicle maker slumped 5.2% on Monday. The stock closed lower after it was announced that tariffs levied on Mexico by the U.S. would be delayed by a month but before President Donald Trump struck a similar deal with Canada. Tesla makes all its EVs for the U.S. market in the U.S., but about 15% of the parts in a Model Y sold in the U.S. come from Mexico.
Nvidia - Shares of Nvidia, the leading maker of artificial-intelligence chips, were up 1.7%. Nvidia declined 2.8% on Monday as Wall Street gauged the potential effects of the Trump administration’s tariffs on chip companies, and amid continued worries over AI advancements made by China’s DeepSeek.
Super Micro Computer - Super Micro Computer rose 8.6%. The maker of AI servers said it would be providing a fiscal second-quarter “business update” on Feb. 11. The Nasdaq Stock Market told the company in November that it wasn’t in compliance with a listing rule requiring timely filing of reports with the Securities and Exchange Commission. In early December, the company said it expected to file its delayed financial statements by Feb. 25.
PepsiCo - PepsiCo posted fourth-quarter adjusted earnings per share of $1.96, beating analysts’ estimates for $1.94, but the stock fell 4.5% after revenue declined 0.2% from a year earlier to $27.78 billion, and missed expectations of $27.89 billion.
Spotify - Shares of Spotify Technology jumped 13.2% after the audio-streaming company added more premium subscribers in the fourth quarter than Wall Street expected, helping revenue top estimates.
Merck - Merck fell 9.1% after the drugmaker reported fourth-quarter adjusted earnings that beat analysts’ estimates but provided guidance that missed expectations. Merck said it expects 2025 adjusted earnings per share of $8.88 to $9.03, below consensus for $9.21.
Pfizer - Pfizer was down 1.3%. The pharmaceutical company reported fourth-quarter adjusted earnings per share of 63 cents, beating analysts’ forecasts of 46 cents, and reaffirmed guidance for 2025. Shares fell Tuesday after a Senate panel voted to advance the nomination of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to serve as secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services.
PayPal - PayPal Holdings declined 13.2%. The fintech beat fourth-quarter earnings and sales estimates, and said total payment volume rose 7% in the quarter, while payment transactions decreased 3%.
Estee Lauder - Estée Lauder slumped 16.1% after the luxury beauty brand issued weak earnings guidance, announced it would eliminate thousands of positions as part of a two-year restructuring plan, and would record more than $1 billion in pretax charges on employee-related costs.
Ferrari - Ferrari was up 7.1% after the Italian supercar maker reported better-than-expected fourth-quarter earnings and revenue.
Clorox - Clorox reported a 15% drop in fiscal second-quarter sales to $1.69 billion, and said it now expects fiscal-year sales to fall 1% to 2%, down from a prior outlook for sales to be flat to down 2%. Shares of the cleaning-products maker were down 7.2%.
Market News
Alphabet Plunges After Cloud Sales Fall Short of Expectations
Google parent Alphabet Inc. posted fourth-quarter revenue that missed analysts’ expectations as growth in its cloud business slowed. The shares fell nearly 9%.
Sales, excluding partner payouts, were $81.6 billion, Alphabet said Tuesday in a statement. Analysts had projected $82.8 billion, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
The company also projected $75 billion in 2025 capital expenditures, far exceeding the $57.9 billion that analysts expected, related to a buildout of data centers and infrastructure for artificial intelligence. That led to a about 4% boost in Broadcom Inc. shares.
AMD Data Center Sales Miss Estimates in Sign of AI Slowdown
Advanced Micro Devices Inc. reported disappointing results for its data center division, signaling that it’s not making gains on Nvidia Corp. in the market for artificial intelligence computing.
Though AMD’s overall revenue topped estimates — and it provided a solid forecast for the current period — the data center unit was seen as a weak spot. Shares of the chipmaker slid 5% in late trading after the report was released.
Revenue in the division was $3.86 billion during the fourth quarter. That jumped 69% from a year earlier, but analysts had projected $4.09 billion. Total sales will be $6.8 billion to $7.4 billion in the current quarter, the company said Tuesday. Analysts estimated $7.04 billion on average.
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