Stocks Pull Back as Investors Weigh Earnings Reports, US-China Trade Tensions, Government Shutdown; Gold Sets Fresh Record

Nestle Is the Latest Big Employer to Plan Thousands of White-Collar Layoffs

22 minutes ago

White-collar employment is taking another hit.

Global food giant Nestle on Thursday said that, as part of a cost-savings push, it would cut about 12,000 white-collar positions. The company in a press release said the cuts would be “across functions and geographies.” It reported 277,000 employees worldwide in its last annual report, about half of them non-factory, with some 15% in North America.

“The world is changing, and Nestlé needs to change faster,” CEO Philipp Navratil said in a statement. “This will include making hard but necessary decisions to reduce headcount over the next two years.”

The company in an email said that “we are not in a position to give specific numbers or plans for the U.S.” Nestle’s shares rose in European trading.

Big employers are increasingly cutting into their white-collar workforces, with some commentators discussing a “white-collar recession.” Many of those cuts have come at large, high-profile tech companies, including some Magnificent 7 giants.

Economists have offered several reasons, among them a sense that AI will offer opportunities to cut costs and streamline operations. Broader economic wariness, including concerns about shifts in tariff policy that have complicated planning, are also seen as culprits.

Read the full article here.

TSMC’s Results Add Another Feather in the Hat of AI Bulls—What You Need to Know

1 hr 21 min ago

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSM) posted record earnings and lifted its outlook, in what could be taken as another strong signal of AI demand.

The world’s largest chip manufacturer posted earnings per share of $2.92 on revenue that surged 41% year-over-year to $33.10 billion in the third quarter, topping analysts’ estimates compiled by Visible Alpha.

TSMC CEO C.C. Wei pointed to “robust” AI-related demand for the growth, telling investors on Thursday’s earnings call that “conviction in the AI megatrend is strengthening and we believe that demand for semiconductors will continue to be very fundamental,” according to a transcript provided by AlphaSense.

TSMC said it sees fourth-quarter revenue of between $32.2 billion and $33.4 billion, and boosted its 2025 revenue growth forecast to the mid-30% range, up from its previous projection of about 30%.

Shares of TSMC climbed to a record high Thursday morning following the news before paring their early gains. The stock has added over 50% in 2025 so far.

–Kara Greenberg

J.B. Hunt Stock Soars as Profit Easily Tops Estimates

2 hr 51 min ago

J.B. Hunt Transport Services (JBHT) was easily the top performer in the S&P 500 Thursday morning, with shares surging 18%.

After the bell Wednesday, the Lowell, Ark.-based firm reported third-quarter earnings per share of $1.76, 20% higher than the $1.46 consensus estimate of analysts surveyed by Visible Alpha. Revenue of $3.05 billion also topped expectations.

J.B. Hunt’s operating income rose 8% year-over-year to $242.7 million, with the increase “primarily due to structural cost removal as part of our efforts to lower our cost to serve, improved productivity across the organization and lower purchase transportation costs compared to third quarter 2024,” the company said.

Despite today’s surge, shares of J.B. Hunt remain 4% lower this year, while the S&P 500 has risen nearly 14%.

Here’s What We’ve Learned From Big Bank Earnings Reports This Week

3 hr 29 min ago

Large U.S. banks, reveling in a market-friendly environment, surpassed third-quarter revenue and earnings expectations this week. At the same time, they emphasized that geopolitical uncertainty requires vigilance to ensure the good times last.

With a frothy stock market boosting dealmaking, corporate lending and returns on asset management and trading, banks ranging from JPMorganChase (JPM) to Wells Fargo (WFC) topped consensus projections while expanding profits from the same period a year ago.

In a research report, UBS noted the results from big banks were “not what the bears wanted.” Indeed, most investors praised them, sending shares of the major banks sharply higher in recent sessions.

Amid the ongoing federal government shutdown and global trade tension, though, some bank executives cautioned against complacency.

Jamie Dimon, JPMorgan’s CEO, said third-quarter results reflect a resilient U.S. economy. But a murky outlook persists.

“There continues be a heightened degree of uncertainty stemming from complex geopolitical conditions, tariffs and trade uncertainty, elevated asset prices and the risk of sticky inflation,” Dimon said. “As always, we hope for the best, but these complex forces reinforce why we prepare the firm for a wide range of scenarios.”

Read the full article here.

–Lyle Niedens

Four Biggest US Airlines Look Unlikely to Make Money Flying Passengers This Year

5 hr 3 min ago

It’s not looking good for any of the major U.S. airlines to actually make money flying passengers in 2025.

United Airlines (UAL) reported third-quarter results after the bell yesterday, and through nine months of 2025, it has produced higher cost per available seat mile (CASM) than passenger revenue per available seat mile (PRASM).

With PRASM of 16.00 cents but CASM of 16.34 cents, the Chicago-based carrier joins rival Delta Air Lines (DAL) with results in those metrics to the negative through three quarters.

American Airlines (AAL) and Southwest Airlines (LUV) report Q3 results next week, but both were even further to the negative through two quarters than Delta and United.

Still, all four were profitable overall in 2024, largely because of lucrative co-branded credit cards.

Shares of United ticked lower an hour before the bell. The stock entered Thursday up 7% this year.

Snowflake Stock Jumps on Palantir Partnership

5 hr 41 min ago

Snowflake (SNOW) shares popped 7% before the bell after the AI data cloud company announced a partnership with Palantir Technologies (PLTR).

The collaboration “integrates Snowflake’s AI Data Cloud with Palantir Foundry and Palantir Artificial Intelligence Platform (AIP),” the press release said, and “customers in the commercial and public sectors will be able to build more efficient and trusted data pipelines, faster data analytics, and AI applications.” 

Snowflake stock entered Thursday up roughly 55% this year. Shares of Palantir, which were up 1% before the bell, have soared more than 135% in 2025.

Watch These Salesforce Price Levels as Stock Jumps on Upbeat Sales Outlook

6 hr 10 min ago

Salesforce (CRM) shares gained ground in premarket trading Thursday after the software maker issued a better-than-expected long-term sales outlook.

The company said it expects revenue to surpass $60 billion in 2030, comfortably ahead of the level forecast by analysts. It also projects revenue growth of above 10% annually for the 2026–2030 fiscal years, boosted by its Agentforce software, which automates customer service tasks and business processes.

Shares of Salesforce, a Dow Jones Industrial Average component, were up 4.8% at $248 in recent premarket trading. Coming into today’s session, the stock had lost nearly 30% of its value so far this year amid concerns that competing AI software could slow adoption of the company’s Agentforce platform.

Since retesting the 200-day moving average (MA) in mid-May, Salesforce shares have traded lower within a descending broadening formation, tagging the pattern’s upper and lower trendlines on several occasions since that time.

More recently, the 50-day MA has provided selling pressure on attempted rallies, while the relative strength index has slipped slightly below its neutral threshold. However, the stock looks set to open around the 50-day MA after the software maker’s upbeat revenue outlook, potentially setting the stage for a breakout from the descending broadening formation.

Read the full technical analysis piece here.

–Timothy Smith

Stock Futures Point Higher as Strong Bank Earnings Continue

6 hr 22 min ago

Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.4%.

S&P 500 futures also were up 0.4%.

Nasdaq 100 futures rose 0.5%.