During market hours:
- Stocks rose on Monday, briefly pushing the S&P 500 into positive territory for the year, a mystifying comeback led by technology shares that comes amid still rising coronavirus cases.
- The S&P 500 (Symbol: SPY) gained 1% and was up about 0.1% for the year earlier. Shares of Apple (Symbol: AAPL) and Amazon (Symbol: AMZN) rose 3% each to drive the Monday’s gain. Those two have also been the leaders of the market’s comeback. Pfizer (Symbol: PFE) jumped 5% on vaccine developments, also boosting sentiment.
- Monday marked the first time since early June that the S&P 500 traded positive year to date.
- PepsiCo (Symbol: PEP) – shares went up 1.7% The beverage and snack giant reported quarterly earnings of $1.32 per share, 7 cents a share above estimates. Revenue also came in above forecasts. The company’s results were largely driven by a 4% jump in organic sales of its snack offerings. PepsiCo also joined the many other companies in withholding financial guidance, due to uncertainty surrounding the Covid-19 pandemic.
- Analog Devices (Symbol: ADI) – Shares lost almost 4%. In a deal uniting two semiconductor makers, Maxim Integrated (MXIM) agreed to be acquired by Analog for $20.91 billion in stock. Analog shareholders will own 69% of the combined company, Maxim shareholders the remainder. Separately, Analog raised its current-quarter revenue guidance thanks to strength in end markets like industrial and communications.
- Carnival (Symbol: CCL) – The cruise line operator will cut 13 ships from its fleet, reducing capacity by about 9%. CEO Arnold Donald said Carnival is aiming to emerge from the coronavirus pandemic as a leaner and more efficient operation. Shares dropped almost 3%.
- AMC Entertainment (Symbol: AMC) – Down 3%. AMC will receive $300 million in new money from investors, as the nation’s largest theater chain tries to restart its business. Part of that new money will come via a deal with bondholders, who will swap $1.6 billion in current debt for new debt at a discounted rate.
- Tesla (Symbol: TSLA) – The automaker cut the price of its model Y SUV by $3,000, putting the starting price at just under $50,000. The move comes just four months after the Model Y came to market, and follows price cuts for Tesla’s Model 3, Model X, and Model S. Shares of Tesla fell into negative territory during afternoon trading on Monday, giving back a more than 14% jump from earlier in the session that had pushed the stock to a new all-time high.
- Apple (Symbol: AAPL) – Apple’s shipments of its MacBook computers will rise more than 20% this quarter compared to the prior three months, according to a story in tech publication DigiTimes citing supply chain sources. Stock price increased by more than 1%.
- Walt Disney (Symbol: DIS) – Goldman Sachs initiated coverage of Disney with a “buy” rating, saying Street consensus underestimates the profitability of the company’s Disney+ streaming service.
- Pfizer (Symbol: PFE), BioNTech (Symbol: BNTX) – The drugmakers said two of their Covid-19 vaccine candidates received “fast track” designation status from the Food and Drug Administration, meaning those treatments will receive expedited FDA review. Pfizer shares up by more than 5%.
- Moderna (Symbol: MRNA) – Jefferies rates the drugmaker a “buy” in new coverage, based on its expectation that Moderna’s Covid-19 vaccine candidate will be approved and that it could generate about $5 billion in orders over the next few years. Stock soared more than 17%.
- Quest Diagnostics (Symbol: DGX) – The medical lab operator reported preliminary second-quarter revenue above analyst expectations, due largely to growing demand for Covid-19 tests. Stock of Quest diagnostics rose almost 4%.