JPMorgan Says Ulta Beauty Still ‘Top Pick’ After CEO Change
22 minutes ago
Ulta Beauty (ULTA) announced Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Dave Kimbell’s retirement after the bell Monday, but JPMorgan analysts don’t see the transition as a negative for the company.
The analysts said late Monday that the cosmetics retailer remains one of its “top picks” and reiterated their $480 price target.
Ulta stock was little changed Tuesday afternoon at around $431 after surging as much as 6.7% earlier in the session.
Ulta on Monday also raised its fiscal fourth-quarter comparable sales and operating margin outlook to “make sure that investors clearly understood that the CEO change had nothing to do with 4Q performance,” the JPMorgan note said. Kimbell has been succeeded by Chief Operating Officer (COO) Kecia Steelman.
A 1% increase in comparable sales and an operating margin of just above Ulta’s previously projected range would imply current-quarter earnings per share (EPS) of $7.21, above Wall Street’s consensus of $6.76, JPMorgan said.
Carvana is up 4,000% in Two Years—What’s Next?
1 hr 17 min ago
Carvana (CVNA) stock more than tripled in 2024, extending a two-year bull run that’s returned 4,000% amid a turnaround effort that has pulled the online used-car retailer from the brink of bankruptcy.
Shares soared to an all-time high of more than $370 in August 2021 as COVID-19 lockdowns and stimulus checks fueled a surge in used-car sales. The tides turned when inflation began to accelerate and consumers’ pandemic savings dwindled. The company’s share price fell 99% to a closing low of $3.72 in December 2022.
Since then, shares have bounced back after a raft of layoffs and a rebound in used-car sales that helped the company blow past profit estimates with its most recent quarterly report.
Read the full article here.
Moderna Stock Soars After First U.S. Bird-Flu Death
2 hr 14 min ago
Moderna (MRNA) shares soared to lead S&P 500 gainers Tuesday, a day after the first bird-flu death was reported in the U.S. The biotech company is developing a vaccine for H5N1.
On Monday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said that it was “saddened by Louisiana’s report that a person previously hospitalized with severe avian influenza A (H5N1) illness [had] passed away.” The agency added that it was “not unexpected because of the known potential for infection with these viruses to cause severe illness and death.”
As of Monday, there had “been 66 confirmed human cases of H5N1 bird flu in the United States since 2024 and 67 since 2022,” the CDC added.
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Moderna shares were up more than 10% at around $47 in early-afternoon trading Tuesday. Despite the gain, the stock has lost more than half of its value over the past year and is well off its all-time high of nearly $500 in August 2021, during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Micron Levels to Watch as Stock Continues to Surge
3 hr 10 min ago
Micron Technology (MU) shares jumped again Tuesday after leading a broad chip rally to start the week amid optimism that robust AI demand will continue to drive sector growth this year.
The stock was up 5% at around $104 in midday trading Tuesday after Nvidia (NVDA) CEO cited Micron when discussing Nvidia’s new gaming chips during his highly anticipated keynote address at the CES trade show in Las Vegas last night.
Since bottoming out in early August, Micron shares have remained rangebound, helping to establish easily identifiable support and resistance levels on the chart.
More recently, the stock gapped lower in mid-December, but immediately found buying interest near the August and September swing lows. Importantly, Monday’s rally from this key support area occurred on the highest trading volume since mid-December, indicating buying conviction behind the move.
Investors should watch key overhead areas on Micron’s chart around $110 and $130, while also monitoring important support levels near $97 and $85.
Read the full technical analysis piece here.
Aurora Innovation Jumps on Partnership with Nvidia
3 hr 41 min ago
Shares of Aurora Innovation (AUR) soared Tuesday morning after the self-driving software company announced a partnership with tech giant Nvidia (NVDA) and manufacturer Continental to develop self-driving trucks.
Nvidia and Aurora will work together to develop the software and hardware necessary to operate the trucks, according to a news release. Continental expects to start manufacturing the equipment needed for the driverless trucks to operate, the companies said late Monday.
“Delivering one driverless truck will be monumental. Deploying thousands will change the way we live,” Aurora CEO Chris Urmson said. “NVIDIA is the market leader in accelerated computing, and they’ll strengthen our ecosystem of partners and our ability to deliver safe and reliable driverless trucks to our customers at scale.”
Aurora said it is in the “final stages of validating” its Aurora Driver system to be operated on the road without a driver. The company says its system should be capable of being used for smaller passenger vehicles as well as semi-trucks.
Separately late Monday, Nvidia also announced self-driving related deals to provide its software for driver assistance programs to Toyota, and with Uber (UBER) to bring driverless software to Uber cars.
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Aurora shares were up more than 40% in recent trading, reaching their highest levels since early 2022.
Nvidia Price Levels to Watch As Stock Hits Record Highs
5 hr 23 min ago
Nvidia (NVDA) shares hit an all-time high Tuesday morning after CEO Jensen Huang provided several important technology updates last night during his keynote address at the CES 2025 conference in Las Vegas.
During the highly anticipated event, Huang unveiled next generation AI-powered gaming chips, introduced technology that speeds up the training of robots, launched the chipmaker’s first desktop computer and announced a deal with Japanese automaker, Toyota (TM).
Nvidia is coming off another banner year during which insatiable demand for AI infrastructure helped drive its stock price up about 170%. Those gains followed a more than three-fold increase in 2023.
Nvidia shares were up 0.3% at around $150 in recent trading, after hitting a high of $153.13.
The stock broke out above the top trendline of a descending channel on Friday, with bullish momentum continuing into Monday’s trading session ahead of Huang’s address.
Investors should watch key overhead areas on Nvidia’s chart around $150 and $225, while also monitoring major support levels near $140 and $130.
Read the full technical analysis piece here.
Futures Point to Modest Gains for Major Indexes
6 hr 32 min ago
Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average were up 0.2%.
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S&P 500 futures rose 0.1%.
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Nasdaq 100 futures were up less than 0.1%.
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