Traders work on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York City, U.S., Nov. 26, 2025.
Brendan McDermid | Reuters
Stocks rose on Wednesday, putting the major averages on pace for their fourth straight day of gains ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 405 points, or 0.9%. The S&P 500 climbed 0.9%, while the Nasdaq Composite increased 1%.
The broader market’s gains were bolstered by artificial intelligence player Oracle, which jumped more than 4% after Deutsche Bank reaffirmed its bullish stance on the name. Nvidia shares moved up more than 1%, recovering from a recent pullback, while fellow “Magnificent Seven” member Microsoft traded around 2% higher.
“It’s simply a snapback to the risk-off action we had in the last week or two, which was completely normal,” said Eric Diton, president and managing director at The Wealth Alliance. “Thanksgiving week is generally a strong week in the markets. Everyone’s feeling good.”
The S&P 500 and the Dow are pacing for their best weeks since late June, with the broad-based index being up more than 3% and the blue-chip Dow rising almost 3% week to date. The tech-heavy Nasdaq has seen a more than 4% gain this week, tracking for its best week since mid-May.
“We’re also coming to the best stretch of the year for stocks – November to April,” he continued. “It’s hard to not stay bullish here.”
Stocks had a winning session on Tuesday despite volatile trading. The 30-stock Dow logged a third consecutive positive day along with the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq. Several tech stocks also climbed higher to lift the broader market. Alphabet hit fresh record highs on a report that Meta Platforms is considering using the Google parent’s TPU chips in 2027. Chipmaker Nvidia shed more than 2.5%, however.
Investors continue to monitor catalysts that could affect the Federal Reserve’s next interest rate move. Traders are pricing in a more than 80% chance of a quarter percentage point cut from the Fed in December, according to the CME FedWatch tool.
“If the Fed disappoints, you could have a sell-off,” Diton said to CNBC. “I don’t think they will.”
Taking a step back, November has proven to be a difficult month for stocks. While the three major averages have trimmed monthly losses with this week’s gains, all are still tracking for a losing month as concerns about elevated valuations have cooled the momentum behind some high-flying tech stocks. The S&P 500 and Dow are both marginally lower on the month, while the Nasdaq is down about 2%.
The stock market will be closed Thursday for Thanksgiving. Trading will resume with a shortened session Friday, when the market will close at 1 p.m. ET.
Dow zeros in on monthly flatline
The Dow‘s recent rebound has pushed the blue-chip average close to its flatline for the month.
The 30-stock index has jumped close to 1% in late Wednesday trading, bringing its week-to-date gain to around 2.7%. The Dow is down around 0.1% for November.
The Dow, 1-month
If the Dow finishes November in the green, it would mark the index’s seventh straight positive month. That would be the Dow’s longest monthly winning streak since a 10-month climb that ended in early 2018.
The Dow is on track to finish the year up more than 10%.
— Alex Harring
Best Buy notches big boost on earnings, sales forecast heading into Black Friday
Best Buy has surged roughly 8% over the past two days, riding high on its strong earnings and sales forecasts ahead of Black Friday.
On Tuesday, the consumer electronics retailer reported that it expects between $41.65 and $41.95 billion in revenue for the full year, up from its previous target between $41.1 billion and $41.9 billion. It also predicted adjusted earnings per share will be between $6.25 to $6.35 at the year’s end, topping its earlier forecast between $6.15 and $6.30 per share.
The company posted adjusted earnings of $1.40 per share on $9.67 billion revenue for the three-month period ended on Nov. 1, topping analysts’ consensus estimate of $1.31 earnings per share on revenue of $9.59 billion, per LSEG data.
— Liz Napolitano
Retail stocks jump ahead of Black Friday
Investors have their eye on retailers heading into Black Friday.
The State Street SPDR S&P Retail ETF (XRT) has jumped nearly 6% week to date. If that holds through Friday’s closing bell, it would mark the fund’s biggest weekly gain since May, when it climbed more than 8% in one week.
The XRT ETF, 5-day chart
Kohl’s has led the group higher this week, surging more than 50% after reporting earnings and naming Michael Bender as permanent CEO. Abercrombie & Fitch followed, climbing more than 30% on a stronger-than-expected quarterly report.
But Burlington Stores weighed on the group, with shares dropping 12% after reporting weaker-than-expected revenue and comparable store sales in the third quarter.
— Alex Harring
Workday shares fall amid subscription revenue guidance worries
Shares of software maker Workday dropped as much as 10% on Wednesday as analysts lowered their price targets, citing a lack of a upside after the company revised its full-year subscription revenue forecast. Read more.
WDAY, 1-day
— Jordan Novet
Stocks making big moves midday
A Kohl’s store in Pleasant Hill, California, US, on Monday, Nov. 24, 2025.
David Paul Morris | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Check out the companies making the biggest moves midday:
- Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals — The stock popped 19% after the biopharmaceutical company reported fiscal year revenue that beat analyst expectations. Arrowhead’s top line for the period totaled $829.4 million, beating a FactSet consensus of $861.2 million. Last week, the company announced it created the first and only FDA approved medicine to treat complications related to familial chylomicronemia syndrome.
- Cleanspark — The bitcoin mining company rose more than 4% after reporting revenue of $766.3 million for the fiscal year 2025, a 102% increase from the year-earlier period.
- Kohl’s — The department store chain jumped almost another 7% one day after soaring 43% in the wake of better-than-expected third-quarter earnings per share excluding one-time items, revenue and a narrower-than-forecast decline in same-store sales.
- Embecta — The insulin injection device maker fell 6%, adding to its 7% pullback from Tuesday. The stock fell in the previous session after the company’s fiscal fourth-quarter results and full-year guidance failed to impress investors.
- Deere — The seller of farm equipment dropped 5% even after posting fiscal fourth quarter results that exceeded estimates. Deere reported earnings of $3.93 per share on revenues of $10.58 billion. Analysts polled by LSEG had anticipated per-share earnings of $3.85 on revenues of $9.85 billion.
Read more here.
— Fred Imbert, Itzel Franco
Oracle jumps 4% after Deutsche Bank says risk-reward presents ‘attractive entry point’ since pullback
Oracle shares jumped more than 4% on Wednesday after Deutsche Bank analyst Brad Zelnick reiterated his bullish view on the cloud infrastructure stock.
In a note to clients, Zelnick reiterated his buy rating and $375 price target on Oracle shares, which imply 90.3% potential upside for the stock. Zelnick’s target is above the average price target of $345.42 from analysts polled by LSEG.
“With shares currently trading at 27x consensus CY26 EPS (which is burdened by upfront costs in scaling the AI business) there appears to be limited appetite to underwrite much more than what can be demonstrated in the here and now,” Zelnick wrote. “While we appreciate the financial and operational risks, our view is that these are much more than offset by the very real opportunity as OpenAI backlog represents solid ROI business, continues to advance as planned, and validates Oracle’s leadership in deploying AI cloud infrastructure at scale.”
The analyst added that Oracle’s risk-reward “skews strongly to the upside and amidst the pullback presents an attractive entry point for investors when looking at Oracle’s business in totality.”
Oracle stock performance over the past year.
Shares of Oracle have declined more than 27% over the past month. The stock is up more than 23% year to date.
— Pia Singh
What’s changed and what’s staying the same this holiday season
A shopper browses a holiday food display while shopping for groceries ahead of the Thanksgiving Day holiday at an Albertsons supermarket in Redmond, Washington, U.S., November 24, 2025.
David Ryder | Reuters
Holidays are often about traditions, and if you were to snoop on shopping lists this year, you’d see many of the same items are being purchased for gift giving. According to market researcher Circana, clothing and accessories are top of mind, followed by tech and electronics, beauty, entertainment, home and toys.
But the vast majority, some 81% of shoppers Circana surveyed, expect prices to be higher when the hit the stores due to tariffs. And 63% said the cost of food and groceries will prompt them to change their shopping behavior by either putting fewer gifts under the tree, cutting back on what they spend or buying more “off brand” items, Circana said.
Those decisions will be made strategically, according to Marshal Cohen, chief retail advisor for Circana. For example, consumers said they are less likely to cut back on what they spend on kids. However, some 40% of people buying gifts for a spouse or partner will spend less on them.
“Consumers may have entered this holiday shopping season with a more cautious spending mindset, but the spirit of the season is still a factor in their spending choices. Don’t underestimate the resilience of the consumer,” Cohen said.
— Christina Cheddar Berk
The S&P 500 could hit 7,400 next year, according to strategist Sam Stovall
CFRA Chief Investment Strategist Sam Stovall said he believes the stock market will overcome its recent hiccup and resume an upward march next year.
In 2026, Stovall said, the S&P 500 can echo this year’s advance by rallying to 7,400 by year-end, or approximately 10% higher than where the benchmark closed Monday.
That would amount to about a third less than this year’s gain so far, but still mark a fourth straight year of double-digit performance. CNBC Pro subscribers can read more here.
— Lisa Kailai Han
Most S&P 500 sectors are higher
All but two of the 11 S&P 500 sectors were in positive territory in late morning trading on Wednesday.
Those with gains were led by information technology and materials at 1% and 0.9%, respectively. Consumer staples and utilities were up 0.9% as well.
Communication services and health care, meanwhile, were the two sectors trading in the red. The former was lower by about 0.8%, while the latter was down around 0.3%.
— Sean Conlon
Autodesk is a buy after latest earnings, Deutsche Bank Research says
Igor Golovniov | Lightrocket | Getty Images
Autodesk is a buy after its latest earnings results, according to Deutsche Bank Research.
Bhavin Shah, research analyst at the firm, upgraded the software company to buy from hold, saying the healthy third-quarter results increased confidence in the stock outlook. Autodesk posted third-quarter earnings of $2.67 per share, on an adjusted basis, with revenue of $1.85 billion. Analysts polled by FactSet expected earnings of $2.50 per share on revenue of $1.81 billion.
“This was one of the cleanest quarterly reports we have seen from Autodesk over the last few years with strong execution driving all metrics (revenue, margins, EPS, Billings, FCF) ahead of our/Street expectations,” Shah wrote on Wednesday.
“While management will likely remain conservative on next year’s guidance, we walk away from the quarter now firmly believing the company can sustainably grow normalized revenue ~10%+ with mid-teens EPS and FCF growth over the next several years,” Shah continued.
— Sarah Min
Stocks open higher the day before Thanksgiving
Stocks started off Wednesday’s session in positive territory.
The S&P 500 rose 0.5% just after 9:30 a.m. ET, while the Nasdaq Composite traded higher by 0.6%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 178 points, or 0.4%.
— Sean Conlon
Stocks making the biggest moves premarket
Check out the companies making headlines before the bell:
- Deere — The seller of farm equipment dropped 4.5% even posting fiscal fourth quarter results that exceeded estimates. Deere reported earnings of $3.93 per share on revenues of $10.58 billion. Analysts polled by LSEG had anticipated per-share earnings of $3.85 on revenues of $9.85 billion.
- Dell Technologies — Shares rose 2.9% following upbeat guidance that was driven by strong AI sales expectations. Dell said it was expecting $31.5 billion in sales for the fourth quarter, topping analyst an LSEG consensus forecast of of $27.59 billion.
- Urban Outfitters — The apparel retailer surged roughly 17% following third-quarter results that exceeded expectations. Urban Outfitters earned $1.28 per share on revenue of $1.53 billion. That topped calls for $1.20 per-share earnings on revenue of $1.47 billion, according to consensus estimates from LSEG.
Read the full list here.
— Sarah Min
Jobless claims fall to 216,000
A hiring sign is displayed in the window of a business in Manhattan on Nov. 27, 2025 in New York City.
Spencer Platt | Getty Images
Initial claims for unemployment benefits came in less than expected last week.
The Labor Department reported Wednesday that first-time filings for the week ended Nov. 22 totaled a seasonally adjusted 216,000, down 6,000 from the revised level for the prior week and lower than the Dow Jones consensus estimate for 225,000.
The latest figure is the lowest level since April 12, when initial claims also stood at 216,000.
— Sean Conlon
Goldman raises Broadcom price target as earnings report approaches
Broadcom is gaining momentum heading into its next earnings report, and Goldman Sachs thinks the stock could get a boost.
Analyst James Schneider, who has a buy rating on chipmaker, lifted his target price to $435 from $380, which signals upside of 13% from Tuesday’s close. Broadcom is set to post earnings Dec. 11.
“We expect sustained AI strength in 4Q, with 1Q guidance above the Street given robust spending at key customers — and we expect updated FY26 AI revenue guidance above 100% YoY,” he wrote. CNBC Pro subscribers can read more here.
AVGO, 1-day
— Lisa Kailai Han
Urban Outfitters shares jump after earnings
An Urban Outfitters store in New York City, Feb. 17, 2020.
Alex Tai | Sopa Images | Lightrocket | Getty Images
Shares of retailer Urban Outfitters surged more than 15% in the premarket on Wednesday after the company’s third-quarter results topped Wall Street’s expectations.
Urban Outfitters posted earnings of $1.28 per share on $1.53 billion in revenue. Analysts surveyed by LSEG were looking for $1.20 per share and $1.47 billion in revenue for the quarter. The company also saw “mid single-digit positive growth” in retail store sales as well as digital channel sales.
“We are pleased to report record revenues, profits, and earnings per share for the quarter,” CEO Richard Hayne said in a statement.
URBN, 1-day
The stock has gained more than 24% this year, outperforming the S&P 500’s 15% rise in the same period.
— Sean Conlon
Alphabet rises again
Alphabet shares rose more than 1% in the premarket Wednesday, putting them on track to build on their strong gains this week. The stock is up nearly 8% week to date as excitement around the company’s AI chips and capabilities grow.
GOOGL 5-day chart
— Fred Imbert
Google-parent Alphabet has closed at 13 all-time highs in November
Sundar Pichai, chief executive officer of Alphabet Inc., during the Bloomberg Tech conference in San Francisco, California, US, on Wednesday, June 4, 2025.
David Paul Morris | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Google and YouTube parent Alphabet closed at another all-time high Tuesday for the 13th time in November, the third day in a row and fourth day in five. With 17 trading days in November thus far, Alphabet has closed at a record high more than 76% of the time this month.
Driven at least in part by optimism toward its Gemini 3 artificial intelligence platform, Alphabet has now soared more than 24% in the past month, 55% in the past three months and has nearly doubled in the past six months, climbing 92%.
Although Alphabet’s 14-day relative strength index, a momentum indicator, stands at 76.8 today, it was even higher at 87.6 in mid-September. Any reading above 70 is usually interpreted on Wall Street as signaling that a stock is overbought.
Alphabet soars 55% in three months.
— Scott Schnipper
HP Inc, Urban Outfitters and Dell are among the stocks moving Tuesday evening
Check out the companies making headlines in after-hours trading.
- HP Inc. — Shares of the computer and printer manufacturer fell more than 5% after issuing disappointing guidance and saying it would cut 10% of its workforce. Fiscal fourth-quarter results beat on the top and bottom line, but the company warned it will need to cut 6,000 jobs as its ramps up its adoption of artificial intelligence. CEO Enrique Lores said the effort will ultimately produce $1 billion in annualized gross run rate savings over the next three years.
- Urban Outfitters — The retail stock jumped about 17% in extended trading on the back of strong third-quarter results. Urban Outfitters earned $1.28 per share, topping the $1.20 per share estimate from LSEG. Urban’s revenue for the period came out at $1.53 billion, exceeding analysts’ expectations of $1.47 billion.
- Dell Technologies — Shares rose nearly 3% despite weaker-than-expected third-quarter revenue. Dell, however, forecasted a stronger-than-expected fourth quarter driven by increased AI sales.
For the full list, read here.
— Pia Singh
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