Biden vs. Trump—Who Had the Better Stock Market?
14 minutes ago
Stocks rose on Friday, capping off a strong run for markets under President Joe Biden and putting equities near record highs ahead of Donald Trump’s inauguration on Monday.
The S&P 500 rose 58% since Joe Biden’s inauguration on Jan. 20, 2021. The S&P 500’s performance during Biden’s presidency fell short of its nearly 70% return (excluding dividends) during Trump’s first term. It also falls short of the more than 80% return registered in Obama’s first term, when stocks rebounded from the bear market of the Great Recession.
Similarly, Biden’s presidency was a good time for the blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average, but not quite as good as Trump’s first term and Obama’s two terms. The Dow advanced more than 56% under Trump and rose almost 150% under Obama. However, Biden’s time in the White House was far better for Wall Street than George W. Bush’s tenure between 2001 and 2009 when the Dow lost about a quarter of its value.
Read the full article here.
Qorvo Soars as Starboard Value Takes Stake
1 hr 2 min ago
Qorvo (QRVO) shares jumped 14% Friday after hedge fund Starboard Value made a significant investment in the maker of radio frequency and power semiconductors.
In a regulatory filing, Qorvo reported Starboard held 7.29 million shares of the company, a 7.7% stake. At Thursday’s closing price of $73.59, the ownership was valued at about $536 million.
Qorvo has struggled of late. In October, shares plunged 25% to their lowest level since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 when the firm posted a surprising quarterly loss and warned it faced a continued business slowdown.
At the time, CFO Grant Brown explained that changing consumer cellphone buying habits reduced demand. Brown added that the company was “taking appropriate actions, including factory consolidation and operating expense reductions as well as focusing on opportunities that align with our long-term profitability objectives.”
Even with today’s advance, shares of Qorvo are down 16% in the past year.
Major Indexes Break Two-Week Losing Streaks
1 hr 34 min ago
The Dow, S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite all finished solidly higher for the week, the first time in three weeks that the major indexes posted gains.
The Dow and S&P 500 rose 3.7% and 2.9%, respectively this week, their best weekly performances since the week of Nov. 4, when Donald Trump’s victory in the presidential election sent stocks soaring. The Nasdaq added 2.4% this week, its best performance since the first week of December.
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So far in 2025, the Dow has gained 2.2%, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq have added 2% and 1.7%, respectively.
Meta, YouTube and Others That Could Benefit From TikTok Ban
2 hr 42 min ago
With a TikTok ban potentially taking effect in the U.S. on Sunday, analysts at Morgan Stanley said other social media platforms could compete for the roughly $10 billion in ad revenue and 32 billion hours users spend on the app each year.
Morgan Stanley analysts suggested ahead of the decision that Meta (META) could be the “largest fundamental winner” if the ban takes effect Sunday, given its large user base and dataset on Instagram, Facebook, and WhatsApp.
They added that for every 10% of U.S. user time currently spent on TikTok that Meta can capture, it could add 30 cents to 60 cents to the company’s estimated roughly $30 in earnings per share in 2026.
“Said another way, META’s ability to capture half of [TikTok]’s time would likely add $1 to $3 to our ‘26 EPS,” the analysts added, noting the biggest gains could come from Instagram Reels, which offers similar short-form video content.
Alphabet’s (GOOGL) YouTube, particularly YouTube Shorts, could also see increased engagement after a TikTok shutdown in the U.S., Morgan Stanley said.
However, Morgan Stanley noted Shorts monetizes at half the rate of typical YouTube content, meaning the same 10% time share gain might only add a 1% to 2% increase in YouTube ad revenue. That could mean even if YouTube gained a 50% share and Shorts monetized at the standard YouTube rate, ad revenue for its owner Alphabet would increase just 1.2% in 2026, the firm said.
Social media companies Snapchat (SNAP) and Pinterest (PINS), as well as online gaming entity Roblox (RBLX), could also contend for a piece of the ad revenue pie, Morgan Stanley said. However, the analysts warned the companies might need to prove performance, scalability, and returns on ad spending.
Reddit (RDDT) and Applovin (APP) were among those that could see long-term benefits as well, Morgan Stanley added, noting improving engagement on their platforms.
How Investors Are Preparing for Trump’s Return to White House
3 hr 15 min ago
Stocks on Friday were on track to have their best week since early November as investors bid up equities after this week’s reassuring inflation data and ahead of Donald Trump’s inauguration next week.
Spencer Platt / Getty Images
Cryptocurrencies, Trump Media & Technology Group (DJT), and Tesla (TSLA) have all charged higher this week in anticipation of Trump’s first week back in the White House.
However, Wall Street and individual investors are showing some signs of caution and could be preparing for volatility to jump next week as Trump issues a flurry of executive orders.
Read the full article here.
Crypto Stocks Surge as Bitcoin Jumps Ahead of Inauguration
4 hr 35 min ago
Bitcoin-associated stocks jumped Friday after the cryptocurrency’s price climbed above $105,000.
Shares of MicroStrategy (MSTR), the largest corporate holder of bitcoin, were up 7% in recent trading. Cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase’s (COIN) stock rose around 5%. Bitcoin miners Riot Platforms (RIOT) and Mara Holdings (MARA) climbed 5% and 13%, respectively.
Bitcoin has been on a tear lately, surging nearly 50% since Donald Trump’s election victory partly on optimism that the incoming administration will be more favorable to crypto. The cryptocurrency hit an all-time high above $108,000 last month.
In December, Trump tapped Paul Atkins to lead the Securities and Exchange Commission. Atkins, a former SEC commissioner under President George W. Bush, has worked recently on digital assets and is set to replace Gary Gensler, who is seen by many as a crypto critic.
Trump will also likely have the opportunity to replace several SEC commissioners whose terms are set to expire during his administration.
Intel Shares Surge to Lead S&P 500 Gainers
5 hr 24 min ago
Intel shareholders would probably rather forget 2024. This year is off to a better start.
Shares of the chipmaker were up 9% in recent trading to lead S&P 500 advancers, leaving them up nearly 7% in January, outpacing the S&P 500. That doesn’t change what’s in the rear-view mirror—Intel (INTC) is still off more than 50% over the past 12 months—but the signs of life are notable nonetheless.
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What investors may be buying into are signs of change in the wake of the retirement of CEO Pat Gelsinger late last year. One such development, which helped lift the stock this week: news that the company plans to make its venture fund a stand-alone entity, with the company remaining an investor.
Meanwhile, news services circulated a report from a tech newsletter indicating that Intel might be a takeover target. A sale of Intel, currently valued around $84 billion per Visible Alpha, would be a huge deal, but similar narratives have driven interest in the stock in recent months.
Intel is slated to report its latest quarterly financial results later this month, and investors will surely be watching that announcement and the conference call that follows for clues about how else management might seek to execute that plan.
Wall Street analysts are in wait-and-see mode for now. Visible Alpha doesn’t track a single one with a “buy” rating on the shares—it mostly logs “hold” ratings, with a few “sell” labels—though the share-price rise implied by the mean price target is more than 20% from recent levels.
J.B. Hunt Stock Sinks Amid ‘Challenging Freight Environment’
6 hr 38 min ago
Shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services (JBHT) tumbled Friday, a day after the big shipping firm reported a drop in sales as volumes fell.
The company reported fourth-quarter revenue tumbled 5% year-over-year to $3.15 billion, with earnings per share (EPS) of $1.53. Both were short of Visible Alpha estimates.
All its divisions posted sales losses. Intermodal revenue was down 2% to $1.60 billion on changes in mix of freight, customer rates, and fuel surcharge revenue. It slid 5% to $839 million at its Dedicated Contract Services unit because of lower average truck revenue. The Integrated Capacity Solutions division revenue dipped 15% to $308 million as volume sank 22%. Sales were lower at Final Mile Services (-6%) and Truckload (-7%) segments as well.
CEO Shelley Simpson said 2024 “was a continuation of the challenging freight environment,” according to a transcript of the earnings call provided by AlphaSense. Simpson added that the company is focused on “a path to repair and improve our financial performance,” and that while market dynamics “remain uncertain around the timing and magnitude of a potential inflection, our focus in 2025 is to grow and begin to repair our margins.”
J.B. Hunt shares were down 7% in recent trading and have lost about 10% in the past year.
Apple Stock Levels to Watch After Yesterday’s Big Decline
7 hr 45 min ago
Apple shares gained ground in early trading Friday after suffering their worst one-day decline since August yesterday, following news that the tech giant lost its coveted position as China’s largest smartphone seller last year.
The stock has lost 8% of its value so far this year, after rising 30% in 2024. Apple shares were up 1% at around $230.50 in recent trading.
Since an evening star pattern marked the stock’s all-time high (ATH) last month, Apple shares have trended sharply lower. Selling pressure intensified on Thursday, with the price falling decisively below the lower trendline of an ascending triangle, raising the possibility of a significant breakdown.
It’s also worth pointing out that the stock recorded its highest volume yesterday since December’s triple witching trading session, indicating that larger market players participated in the sell-off.
Investors should watch key support levels on Apple’s chart around $218 and $207, while also monitoring important resistance levels near $235 and $250.
Read the full technical analysis piece here.
Fastenal Shares Slip After Results Miss Expectations
8 hr 17 min ago
Shares of Fastenal (FAST) stumbled in early trading Friday after the industrial parts company’s fourth-quarter results came in short of what analysts had expected.
Fastenal reported $262.1 million in net income, or $0.46 per share, on $1.82 billion in sales, all below analysts’ consensus estimates compiled by Visible Alpha.
Sales rose 3.7% year-over-year, but stripping out an extra selling day compared with 2023, net daily sales increased 2.1%. Profit declined 1.6%.
Fastenal said its sales growth was slow due to a “continuation of the soft manufacturing environment” present for much of 2024. Sales also were affected by more customers performing “unusually sharp production cuts” in late December as factories closed for the holidays, and foreign exchange rates having a negative impact compared with a positive one the prior year.
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Fastenal shares were down 2% in recent trading. The stock has gained 15% over the past year, significantly lagging the performance of the S&P 500 over the period.
UnitedHealth Levels to Watch Amid Post-Earnings Slump
9 hr 18 min ago
UnitedHealth Group (UNH) shares were down slightly in premarket trading Friday after falling sharply yesterday, when the health insurer reported fourth-quarter results below Wall Street’s expectations and issued a lackluster outlook amid higher medical costs.
UnitedHealth shares were the biggest decliners on the S&P 500 on Thursday, falling 6% to $510.59. The stock, which is down nearly 20% from its record high set in November, is virtually unchanged from a year ago, while the S&P 500 has gained 25% in the last 12 months.
After rallying from their mid-December low, UnitedHealth shares ran into selling pressure near the 200-day moving average, with Thursday’s drop following several failed attempts by the bulls to close above the closely watched indicator.
Moreover, Thursday’s selling occurred on the highest trading volume since the stock’s sharp move lower last month, opening the door for further downside.
Investors should watch key support levels on UnitedHealth’s chart around $475 and $436, while also monitoring important overhead areas near $550 and $605.
Read the full technical analysis piece here.
Futures Point to Higher Open for Major Indexes
9 hr 41 min ago
Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average were up 0.5%.
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S&P 500 futures were up 0.6%.
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Nasdaq 100 futures added 0.8%.
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