Stock Indexes Mostly Rise Ahead of Nvidia Earnings; S&P 500 on Pace to End 4-Session Skid

Energy Is Worst-Performing S&P 500 Sector Wednesday

5 minutes ago

On a positive day for the S&P 500, energy shares are underperforming.

The S&P 500 Energy Sector was by far the worst performer of the 11 industries tracked by the benchmark index, down 1.7%—roughly double the second-worst-performing sector, Real Estate.

Eversource Energy (ES) was the worst-performing individual stock in the S&P 500, with shares tumbling about 8.5%. APA (APA), Valero Energy (VLO), Phillips 66 (PSX), and Marathon Petroleum (MPC) also were among the biggest decliners Wednesday morning.

The S&P 500 overall was up about 0.4%, on pace to snap a four-session skid.

Bullish Stock Drops on Higher-Than-Expected Expenses Outlook

47 minutes ago

Bullish (BLSH) investors are not so bullish about its fourth-quarter expenses projection.

Shares of the cryptocurrency exchange dropped more than 5% Wednesday morning after the Peter Thiel-backed firm said it sees current-quarter adjusted operating expenses of $48.0 million to $50.0 million. Analysts surveyed by Visible Alpha had expected $46.6 million.

Bullish, which also operates the CoinDesk crypto information site, reported mixed third-quarter results, with adjusted revenue of $76.5 million topping analysts’ expectations but digital asset sales of $41.6 billion coming up short of consensus.

Bullish shares have lost nearly half their value since their August IPO.

La-Z-Boy Stock Soars After Furniture Retailer Unexpectedly Delivers Sales Growth Despite ‘Choppy Landscape’

2 hr 32 min ago

La-Z-Boy (LZB) shares ended trading yesterday having lost nearly a third of their value in 2025. They look poised to significantly pare their yearly declines today.

Shares of the Monroe, Mich.-based furniture maker soared 11% in premarket trading Wednesday, a day after the company unexpectedly posted a year-over-year sales increase in its fiscal 2026 second quarter.

La-Z-Boy reported Q2 sales of $522.5 million. Although up just 0.3% from a year ago, analysts surveyed by Visible Alpha had expected a slight decline. Wholesale segment sales increased 2%.

“We were pleased to deliver modest sales growth, particularly in our Wholesale segment where we also again delivered margin expansion, continuing to create our own momentum in what remains a choppy landscape,” CEO Melinda Whittington said.

Adjusted profit of $0.71 per share easily topped analysts’ consensus forecast of $0.53.

“We are proactively taking steps to optimize our portfolio,” Whittington added. “We have announced plans to exit our non-core wholesale casegoods and upholstery businesses in the back half of the fiscal year, announced the proposed closure of our U.K. manufacturing facility, and strategically realigned our commercial leadership and corporate staffing to enhance operating efficiency.”

La-Z-Boy shares entered the day down 32% this year. 

Peter Thiel’s Hedge Fund Dumped Nvidia Shares Just Before Its Big Earnings Report

3 hr 25 min ago

While everybody is watching for Nvidia’s earnings report tomorrow, a few big investors have already taken their chips off the table.

Thiel Macro, tech titan Peter Thiel’s hedge fund, revealed in a regulatory filing late last week that it sold its entire stake in the AI bellwether during the third quarter. The 537,742 shares the firm held heading into the quarter would have been worth approximately $100 million at the end of September.

While people may sell assets for all sorts of reasons, Thiel joins a growing list of heavy hitters whose Nvidia (NVDA) moves have lately raised eyebrows on Wall Street. Japanese investment firm SoftBank revealed last week that it sold its entire Nvidia stake in October, raising about $5.8 billion. (Executives said the position was liquidated to fund investments in another AI darling, OpenAI.)

Others have outright bet against Nvidia. Scion Asset Management, run by Michael Burry, the hedge fund manager of “The Big Short” fame, revealed earlier this month that it sold short Nvidia shares valued at $186 million in the third quarter. (Scion also had a short bet against Palantir (PLTR), the data analytics firm Thiel founded in 2003, valued at more than $900 million at the end of the quarter.)

Some on Wall Street are increasingly worried that the AI boom is actually an AI bubble. They point to elevated stock valuations, uncertainty about AI’s revenue potential, and a series of circular deals between vendors and customers as causes for concern. AI bulls contend that valuations are modest compared with the Dotcom Bubble, to which the current investment cycle is frequently compared, and remind skeptics that AI investment is being driven by hugely profitable tech businesses.

Read the full article here.

–Colin Laidley

Stock Futures Tick Higher Ahead of Nvidia Earnings

3 hr 57 min ago

Futures contracts tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average edged 0.1% higher.

S&P 500 futures advanced 0.3%.

Nasdaq 100 futures rose 0.4%.