A dovish speech by Fed Chair Jerome Powell at the Jackson Hole conference triggered a strong Friday rally across markets and helped Wall Street avoid a loss over the week.
Before Powell’s speech reignited hopes for a rate cut in September, the U.S. stock market was hurt by a rout in technology stocks and disappointing retail earnings.
Nevertheless, the S&P gained 0.3% over the course of the five-day trading week, just shy of its all-time high. The blue-chip Dow also rose 1.6% for the week, closing at a record high near 45,632.
The tech-focused Nasdaq Composite still ended in a decline, as cautious investors ahead of Jackson Hole sold off megacap tech names.
Amid the week’s earnings, rallies. and selloffs, these were some of the trending stocks:
Novo Nordisk (NVO) was in spotlight after it secured FDA’s accelerated approval for Wegovy to treat metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis , a serious liver condition. The Danish drugmaker also entered into a collaboration with GoodRx (GDRX) to supply type 2 diabetes and weight loss meds Ozempic and Wegovy for $499 a month for self-pay customers. GoodRx shares surged on the announcement.
Palantir Technologies (PLTR) extended its decline, falling over 13% in the week. The AI software firm fell in six straight sessions since Aug 13, marking its longest losing streak since April 2024 that pushed the company further into correction territory.
Palo Alto Networks (PANW) was in the spotlight after its latest quarterly results and guidance were better-than-expected and the company received substantial praise from Wall Street analysts. Wedbush Securities analyst Dan Ives said the results and guidance are indicative that the platformization strategy led by CEO Nikesh Arora is resonating with its customers.
SoFi (SOFI) said it will launch an international money transfer service later this year, allowing members to send funds abroad directly through the SoFi app with lower fees and faster delivery than traditional providers. The service, powered by Lightspark’s Universal Money Address and the Bitcoin Lightning Network, will make SoFi one of the first U.S. banks to offer blockchain-based remittances.
Intel (INTC) shares popped after announcing a definitive securities purchase agreement in which SoftBank will make a $2B investment in its common stock, paying $23/share. The deal will make SoftBank the sixth largest investor in Intel, an equity stake of slightly less than 2%, according to LSEG data.
Dayforce (DAY) has entered into a definitive agreement with Thoma Bravo to become a privately held company in an all-cash transaction with an enterprise value of $12.3 billion. The per-share purchase price represents a premium of 32% over the company’s unaffected closing share price on August 15.
Walmart (WMT) shares fell after second-quarter adjusted EPS and gross margin missed estimates, pressured by higher liability claims and SG&A. It marked the retailer’s first adjusted EPS miss since May 2022, Bloomberg data showed. On a conference call with analysts, CEO Doug McMillon said that as the company replenishes inventory at “post-tariff price levels,” it has continued to see costs increase each week, which is expected to continue into the remaining quarters.
Hertz (HTZ) shares rose after it announced a pact with Amazon Autos (AMZN), allowing shoppers to browse, finance, and purchase from a selection of pre-owned vehicles through Amazon Autos.
Target (TGT) shares plunged after the retailer’s decision to appoint an internal candidate as CEO overshadowed stronger-than-expected Q2 results and reaffirmed guidance. The retailer tapped Michael Fiddelke, chief operating officer, to succeed Brian Cornell as chief executive officer and become a member of its board of directors. This isn’t a “knock” on Fiddelke, but the announcement “lacks the pop that a significant external hire would provide,” DA Davidson’s Michael Baker writes.
ZIM Integrated Shipping (ZIM) fell after reporting sharply lower Q2 earnings due to lower freight rates and volumes. Q2 net income plunged to $24M from $373M in the year-earlier quarter, while revenues fell 15% Y/Y to $1.64B, as the company carried 895K teu in the quarter compared to 952K teu and the average freight rate fell to $1,479/teu from $1,674/teu in the year-ago quarter.
James Hardie (JHX) sank on Wednesday after reporting a 29% decline in first-quarter profit due to high borrowing costs, triggering its biggest one-day share decline.