Biggest stock movers today: MA, MO, AMD, ASML, and more

Stock futures edged higher on Wednesday as investors digested mixed tech earnings and braced for the Federal Reserve’s interest rate decision later in the day. With expectations for the central bank to hold rates steady, the market will be closely watching for clues about the central bank’s future monetary policy path.

Here are some of Wednesday’s biggest stock movers:

Biggest stock gainers

• Mastercard (NYSE:MA) shares rose nearly 5% after topping the consensus mark in Q2 results. “We delivered another strong quarter across all aspects of our business with double-digit net revenue and earnings growth,” said CEO Michael Miebach. “This was supported by continued healthy consumer spending, robust cross-border volume growth of 17%, and demand for our value-added services and solutions where net revenue increased 18%, or 19% on a currency-neutral basis.”
• Advanced Micro Devices (NASDAQ:AMD) gained more than 9% following better than expected Q2 results, with top-line growth of about 9% driven by a 115% Y/Y rise in Data center revenue. The company expects Q3 revenue of $6.7B at the midpoint, vs. the consensus of $6.61B. Non-GAAP gross margin is expected to be approximately 53.5%.
• ASML Holding’s (NASDAQ:ASML) stock surged 7% following a report indicating a potential exemption from expanded export restrictions on chip making equipment to China. Barclays upgraded ASML to Overweight from Equal Weight, raising its price target by 24% to $1,243 from $1,005. Barclays projects ASML to grow 27% in 2025 and 15% in 2026.

Biggest stock losers

• Shares of Altria (NYSE:MO) declined by ~6% as the downbeat Q2 saw a 4.6% Y/Y drop in total revenue, and revenues net of excise taxes decreased 3.0%, driven by declining cigarette demand. Despite lower net revenue in the smokeable products segment, there was an increase in the oral tobacco products segment. Additionally, Altria narrowed its FY2024 adjusted EPS guidance to $5.07-$5.15 compared to the consensus of $5.10 and the previous outlook of $5.05-$5.17.
• Pinterest stock (NYSE:PINS) slid 15% following its Q2 earnings report, despite surpassing revenue and profit expectations. The company reported a 21% increase in revenues and a 12% year-over-year rise in global monthly active users to 522M, beating the Bloomberg consensus of 518.04M. Non-GAAP net income also jumped by 46%. However, the disappointing third-quarter guidance, forecasting 16%-18% growth to $885M-$900M versus analyst expectations of $909.5M, contributed to the stock’s decline. Additionally, Pinterest projected adjusted operating expenses to rise 17%-20% to $485M-$500M, excluding cost of revenue.