The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite ended little changed on Friday, overcoming a brief dip triggered by a Financial Times report indicating U.S. President Donald Trump was pushing for steep new tariffs on European Union products.
Market Snapshot
The S&P 500 lost 0.57 points, or 0.01%, to 6,296.79, and the Nasdaq Composite gained 10.01 points, or 0.05%, to 20,895.66. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 142.30 points, or 0.32%, to 44,342.19.
Market Movers
Second-quarter profit at Netflix rose 46% to $3.1 billion as revenue jumped 16% to $11.08 billion with the streaming giant saying the gains were "primarily a function of more members, higher subscription pricing, and increased ad revenue." Operating margins in the period rose to 34.1% from 27.2% a year earlier. Netflix raised its revenue forecast for the year, saying it expects to post revenue of $44.8 billion to $45.2 billion, up from an earlier forecast of $43.5 billion to $44.5 billion. It raised its forecast for operating margins in 2025 to 29.5% from 29%. The stock fell 5.1%.
Opendoor Technologies Inc shares jumped 36% on Friday, soaring 189% this week, by far their best weekly performance since the company’s public market debut in late 2020. The stock closed on Friday at $2.25. Its highest-volume trading days on record were Wednesday, Thursday and Friday of this week.
Sarepta Therapeutics sank 36% after Reuters reported that the Food and Drug Administration is going to ask the company to stop shipments of its Duchenne muscular dystrophy gene therapy Elevidys. Two patients died earlier this year after taking the drug. The news came after Sarepta confirmed on a tense investor call Friday that it had not disclosed the recent death of a third patient on one of its experimental gene therapies.
Norfolk Southern rose 2.5% after The Wall Street Journal reported Union Pacific was holding talks to acquire its smaller railroad rival. The talks are at an early stage and may not result in a deal or receive regulatory approval, people familiar with the matter told the Journal. Union Pacific fell 1.2%.
American Express, the credit card company, posted second-quarter adjusted earnings that topped analysts' forecasts as revenue net of interest expense rose 9% to $17.86 billion. "The increase was primarily driven by increased card member spending, higher net interest income supported by growth in revolving loan balances, and continued strong card fee growth," the company said in a statement. Shares, however, dropped 2.4%.
Interactive Brokers reported second-quarter adjusted earnings of 51 cents a share, topping analysts' consensus of 47 cents. The online brokerage platform said revenue rose to $1.48 billion from $1.23 billion. Commission revenue in the quarter jumped 27%. Trading volume in stocks and options rose 31% and 24%, respectively. Shares of Interactive Brokers rose 7.8%.
Invesco was the top performer in the S&P 500, rising 15%, after the investment management company proposed changing the structure of its flagship QQQ exchange-traded fund. The proposal would allow Invesco to claim investment fees it now misses out on, while reducing the expense ratio for shareholders. ETF owners will vote on the proposal in October.
3M was down 3.7% after the maker of Post-it Notes and Scotch Tape reported bettter-than-expected second-quarter earnings and raised the midpoint of its 2025 per-share guidance to $7.87 from $7.75.
Talen Energy reached agreements to acquire two Caithness Energy combined-cycle gas-fired plants for $3.5 billion. Talen will buy Caithness Energy's Moxie Freedom Energy Center in Pennsylvania and Caithness Energy and BlackRock's Guernsey Power Station in Ohio. Both plants are located in the Pennsylvania-New Jersey-Maryland Interconnection. Talen shares gained 25%.
Oilfield services provider Schlumberger beat analysts' expectations for second-quarter earnings amid a prolonged slump in oil prices. SLB posted adjusted earnings of 74 cents a share versus estimates of 72 cents. Revenue fell 6% to $8.6 billion but topped estimates of $7.3 billion. The stock fell 3.9%.
Charles Schwab reported second-quarter adjusted earnings of $1.14 a share on revenue of $5.9 billion, beating Wall Street estimates for earnings of $1.10 on revenue of $5.7 billion. Core net new assets rose 31% in the quarter to $80.3 billion. Shares rose 2.9%.
Market News
Chevron closes Hess acquisition after winning Exxon legal battle
Chevron closed its $55 billion acquisition of Hess on Friday after winning a landmark legal battle against larger rival Exxon Mobil to gain access to the largest oil discovery in decades.
Chevron CEO Mike Wirth's strategy to turn around his company's lagging performance hinged on the acquisition, one of the largest energy deals in the past decade. The prize is a stake in the prolific Stabroek Block off the coast of Guyana that holds more than 11 billion barrels of oil and is one of the fastest growing oil provinces in the world.
Tesla IT exec with no traditional car-sales experience is running sales, sources say
A relatively little-known information technology executive is running Tesla's sales team as the electric carmaker grapples with a drop in sales, according to people familiar with the matter.
Raj Jegannathan, a senior executive with a wide purview including several IT and data functions, recently took over the sales role, said the people familiar with the matter. Some inside Tesla have interpreted this to mean that Jegannathan has assumed the role of Troy Jones, Tesla's top sales executive in North America until he departed earlier this month after 15 years with the company, said the people.
