Wall Street closed higher on Thursday as investors weighed fresh jobs data for clues on the labor market’s strength.
On a sector-by-sector basis, 10 of the 11 S&P segments finished trading in positive territory, led by Consumer Discretionary and Communication Services. At the other end of the spectrum, Utilities lagged the most on Thursday.
On the economic front, job cuts climbed 39% in August, boosting the YTD total higher than all of 2024. Furthermore, U.S. private sector employment continued softening, slightly more than expected, in August.
Meanwhile, on the political side, President Donald Trump urged the Supreme Court to quickly accept and rule on an appeal aiming to overturn lower court rulings that deemed most of his tariffs illegal.
Earnings Roundup:
Out of the seven S&P 500 companies that reported earnings this week, all of them beat EPS estimates, while only four of them surpassed revenue expectations.
Dollar Tree (DLTR) reported sales from continuing operations were up 12.3% to $4.6 billion in Q2. Same-store net sales growth was +6.5% for the Dollar Tree banner, topping the consensus estimate of +5.2%.
The same-store sales gain was driven by a 3.0% increase in traffic and a 3.4% increase in average ticket.
Looking ahead, Dollar Tree (DLTR) guided for full-year EPS of $5.32 to $5.72 vs. $5.52 consensus and a prior outlook for $5.15 to $5.65. The outlook assumes that the level of tariffs in place today remains in effect for the balance of the fiscal year.
Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) reported its third-quarter financial results, which surpassed estimates in its first earnings report since the acquisition of Juniper Networks.
For the quarter ended July 31, the server, networking, and hybrid cloud solutions company reported adjusted earnings per share of $0.44 versus the consensus estimate of $0.42.
Revenue for the quarter increased 18% year over year to $9.1B, which surpassed the estimate of $8.83B.
Broadcom (AVGO) posted third-quarter results and guidance that topped expectations.
For the period ending Aug. 3, the software and semiconductor giant said it earned an adjusted $1.69 per share as revenue rose 22% year-over-year to come in at $15.95B. Analysts were expecting the Hock Tan-led company to earn $1.67 per share and generate $15.84B in revenue.
Salesforce (CRM) second-quarter results easily surpassed estimates, while the third quarter and full-year outlook demonstrated mixed results.
For the quarter ended July 31, the customer relations management software company reported adjusted earnings per share of $2.91, which was more than the consensus estimate of $2.78.
Revenue for the quarter totaled $10.24B, which also surpassed the estimate of $10.14B.
Earnings next week:
As earnings season comes to a close, next week will be light with quarterly reports from Caseys (NASDAQ:CASY) and Planet Labs (NYSE:PL) on Monday, and Synopsys (NASDAQ:SNPS), Rubrik (NYSE:RBRK), and GameStop (NYSE:GME) on Tuesday.
Wednesday will see earnings reports from Chewy (NYSE:CHWY), Daktronics (NASDAQ:DAKT), and Vince (NYSE:VNCE), with Adobe (NASDAQ:ADBE) and Kroger (NYSE:KR) reporting on Thursday.