Stocks rose Friday as the
Nasdaq Composite
and
S&P 500
finished the week at record closing highs.
These stocks made moves Friday:
Dell Technologies
posted better-than-expected fourth-quarter adjusted earnings and revenue as the maker of personal computers continues to see robust demand for artificial-intelligence servers. The company said its backlog of AI servers has now reached $2.9 billion, compared with $1.6 billion last quarter. Dell has shipped $1.5 billion of AI servers over the last two quarters, and said it has a pipeline of interest in AI servers that is “multiples” of the current backlog. Dell also said it was increasing its annual cash dividend 20% to $1.78 a share. Shares surged 32%.
Spirit Aerosystems
soared 15% after The Wall Street Journal reported
Boeing
was in talks to acquire the troubled parts supplier.
Spirit
has hired bankers to explore strategic options and has had preliminary discussions with its former owner, the Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter.
Boeing
spun off
Spirit Aerosystems
in 2006.
New York Community Bancorp
plunged 26% after disclosing that fourth-quarter earnings would take a hit of $2.4 billion from a goodwill impairment charge, and separately that it had identified “material weaknesses” in its loan review process. The weaknesses, the bank said, resulted from ineffective oversight, risk assessment, and monitoring activities. The regional lender also announced CEO Thomas Cangemi would be stepping down after 27 years with the bank.
NetApp
rose 18% after issuing strong guidance for 2024. The data storage company said it expects adjusted profit in the year of $6.40 and $6.50 a share, compared with previous expectations of $6.05 to $6.25.
NetApp
forecast 2024 revenue of $6.185 billion to $6.335 billion.
Cybersecurity company
Zscaler
reported fiscal second-quarter adjusted profit that beat analysts’ estimates as revenue rose to $525 million from $388 million a year earlier.
Zscaler
expects third-quarter adjusted earnings of 64 cents to 65 cents a share on revenue of $536 million. Analysts had been calling for third-quarter earnings of 58 cents a share on revenue of $532 million. Zscaler shares, however, fell 9.4%.
SoundHound AI,
the artificial-intelligence voice technology company, narrowed its losses in the fourth quarter on a sales jump of 80%, boosted by a contribution from “pre-eminent AI chip company,” according to CEO Keyvan Mohajer, who wouldn’t disclose the customer’s name. That company is thought to be
Nvidia.
The stock though fell 19% as fourth-quarter sales of $17.1 million missed estimates of $17.7 million.
SoundHound
also had forecast that it would be profitable in the quarter on the basis of adjusted Ebitda, or earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization. But the company actually lost $3.7 million on that basis.
Sweetgreen
rose 28% after the salad-restaurant chain issued first-quarter revenue guidance higher than analysts’ estimates. The company said it sees first-quarter revenue of $150 million to $154 million vesus analysts’ estimates of $147.8 million.
Plug Power
said doubts about its ability to continue as a “going concern” no longer exist. The stock rose 10.2%. The hydrogen-technology company disclosed in a 10-K filing that losses in 2023 totaled $1.4 billion, or $2.30 a share, compared with losses in 2022 of $724 million, or $1.25 a share.
Elastic,
the enterprise data software company, reported fiscal third-quarter adjusted earnings and sales that beat Wall Street estimates, and said it expects fourth-quarter sales of $328 million and $330 million, compared with expectations of $327 million. Shares declined 13%.
Autodesk
posted fourth-quarter adjusted earnings of $2.09 a share, better than Wall Street estimates, and revenue of $1.47 billion that also beat forecasts. The stock rose 2.5%.
Autodesk
said it expects fiscal 2025 sales of $5.99 billion to $6.09 billion, higher than Wall Street forecasts of $5.96 billion. CEO Andrew Anagnost, in an interview with Barron’s, highlighted opportunities the design software company has with generative artificial intelligence.
Fisker,
the electric-vehicle start-up, reported weaker-than-expected fourth-quarter sales and issued a “going concern” warning with its update.
Fisker
said it was in “negotiations with a large automaker for a potential transaction which could include an investment in Fisker, joint development of one or more electric vehicle platforms, and North America manufacturing.” The company also said it intends to reduce its workforce by about 15%. The stock fell 34% to 48 cents.
Write to Joe Woelfel at joseph.woelfel@barrons.com
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