Traders work on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York City, U.S., Nov. 19, 2025.
Brendan McDermid | Reuters
The S&P 500 rose on Wednesday, spurred by a jump in Alphabet shares, following a four-day slide centered around technology as investors moved back into the artificial intelligence trade and bet that Nvidia’s upcoming earnings would calm fears that AI stocks are overvalued and overhyped.
The broad market index climbed 0.4%, while the Nasdaq Composite gained 0.6%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average hovered around the flatline.
The S&P 500’s move higher was supported by a 4% jump in Alphabet, which hit a new all-time high. Shares were rallying around optimism about its new generation of AI, Gemini 3, which it rolled out Tuesday.
Nvidia also saw gains, rising 2% ahead of its third-quarter results scheduled for after the bell. Analysts largely expect that the company — the largest in the broad-market index — will meaningfully beat Wall Street’s expectations and forecast strong sales growth driven by demand for its AI chips and other infrastructure.
“They’re going to come in great, I suspect, but if they don’t, then there’s going to be a problem,” Scott Welch, chief investment officer at Certuity, told CNBC. “Within the AI space, it’s not that people disbelieve the trade or don’t think these are quality companies. It’s just that they’re really super hyper-expensive right now from a valuation perspective.”
The AI chip darling has a high bar to beat. Investors have taken profits from their tech holdings in recent days, reflecting heightened concerns that the AI boom has run up the valuations of Nvidia and other tech hyperscalers at an unsustainable pace.
“People are just starting to ask the question, as they should, ‘You guys are committing to spending trillions of dollars into your data centers and your AI capabilities and everything else, when are we going to see the results of that?'” Welch said. “It’s not a question that they’re doubting them. It’s just that it’s a question of timing.”
“There’s nothing wrong with the AI trade, but it may not go to the moon tomorrow,” he continued. “There’s never, ever in history been an experience where markets have gotten this elevated and not corrected.”
Tuesday’s session saw the Dow and S&P 500 notch their fourth consecutive losing days, with the S&P 500 notching its longest slide since August. The tech-heavy Nasdaq recorded its fifth negative day in six sessions. Bitcoin briefly dropped below $90,000 on Tuesday before recovering, while gold prices rose from a one-week low.
Jefferies sees more than 20% upside ahead for Zions Bancorp
Jefferies has moved off the sidelines on Zions Bancorp, upgrading the regional bank to buy from hold on Wednesday. The firm also raised its price target on the stock to $60 from $55, suggesting nearly 22% upside from Tuesday’s close.
Zion’s charge-off of $50 million in alleged fraud-related charges in the third quarter, as well as the small credit scare among non-bank financials led to a pullback that is overdone, analyst Brooks Dutton said in a note to clients.
“We believe this is an isolated issue and expect further assurance on credit in coming quarters,” he wrote. “We expect momentum on core fundamentals, particularly in loans & deposits where growth has previously lagged, could steer the narrative back on track and narrow the discount.”
Shares were up more than 2% in midday trading.
— Michelle Fox
Alphabet shares gain amid Gemini 3 AI model optimism
Alphabet stock jumped 5% on Wednesday after Google debuted its latest artificial intelligence model, Gemini 3, sparking optimism from investors.
The new model is an improvement on its predecessor, Gemini 2.5, which Google released about eight months ago.
Google said Gemini 3 allows users to get better answers to more complex questions and doesn’t need as much prompting to determine the context and intent behind their requests.
Gemini 3 will be integrated into Google’s search products, the Gemini app and enterprise services. Read more.
GOOGL, 1-day
— Annie Palmer
Loop Capital sees a 75% gain ahead for Chipotle
A Chipotle restaurant in San Francisco, California, US, on Friday, Jan. 31, 2025.
David Paul Morris | Bloomberg | Getty Images
After a rapid sell-off of Chipotle stock, entry is favorable for investors, says Loop Capital.
While the company reiterated the stock’s buy rating, it lowered its estimates on the company. However, its $54 price target 75% increase from Tuesday’s close.
Analyst Alton Stump cited rumors the fast-casual Mexican restaurant began to lose its core customer base as a catalyst for the sell-off. However, the 25-35 age demographic, which makes up over 25% of Chipotle’s sales, is visiting restaurants less in the face of growing macroeconomic pressures.
“In our view, this narrative undoubtedly has some merit but is overblown,” he wrote.
Stump is optimistic about Chipotle’s plan to focus on value-centric marketing campaigns and confident in the company’s ability to bounce back from the sell-off.
“We are confident Chipotle will return to at least low single-digit comp growth in 2026, which along with its high single-digit unit growth profile and industry-leading store-level returns would suggest the shares are substantially undervalued,” Stump noted.
— Itzel Franco
Michael Burry says he remains investing after deregistering his hedge fund
“The Big Short” investor Michael Burry said he remains actively investing, even though his Scion Asset Management hedge fund is deregistered.
In an email to Bloomberg News, he explained that this latest version of Scion was essentially a “friends and family fund,” one he didn’t market widely or seek to grow through outside investors, in part to avoid the challenges he faced earlier with Scion Capital.
“I am still running my money and active in markets,” Burry said.
The famed investor recently revealed seemingly fresh wagers against AI favorites Nvidia and Palantir Technologies. He also alleged that “hyperscalers” — the major cloud and AI infrastructure providers — are understating depreciation expenses by estimating that chips will have a longer life cycle than is realistic.
— Yun Li
U.S. trade deficit fell nearly 24% in August on steep drop in imports
Shipping containers are off-loaded at the Port of Long Beach in Long Beach, California, on Thursday, Oct. 13, 2022.
Tim Rue | Bloomberg | Getty Images
The U.S. trade deficit moved sharply lower in August following a slide in imports as tariffs make their way through the global economy.
A Commerce Department report Wednesday — the agency’s first official data release since the government shutdown ended — put the imbalance between goods and services at $59.6 billion, tumbling 23.8% from $78.2 billion in July and below the Dow Jones forecast for $61billion.
Driving the decline was a 5.1% decrease in imports, and to a much lesser degree as a 0.1% increase in exports. Deficits with Switzerland and Canada fell by a combined $10 billion.
— Jeff Cox
Stocks open little changed
The three major averages opened Wednesday’s session little changed.
The S&P 500 rose 0.1% just after 9:30 a.m. ET, as did the Nasdaq Composite. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 38 points, or 0.1%.
— Sean Conlon
Blue Owl calls off merger of its two private-credit funds, according to sources
Blue Owl Capital at the New York Stock Exchange, May 20, 2021.
Source: NYSE
Blue Owl has decided to call off the merging of two of its private-credit funds after the deal caused some angst among investors, according to people familiar with the matter.
The firm had planned to merge its smaller, non-traded Blue Owl Capital Corporation II (OBDC II), into the larger, publicly traded fund Blue Owl Capital Corporation (OBDC). In doing so, the firm restricted investors in the $1.7 billion OBDC II from redeeming until the deal closed, even as the merger would have meant about 20% paper losses, based on where the $17.1 billion OBDC has been trading.
News of the restricted redemptions caused shares of the parent company – Blue Owl Capital to slump about 6% on Monday. It also added to concerns about the state of the private credit industry among investors, especially the area that has started to heavily finance the AI datacenter buildout that many fear is overhyped. Blue Owl shares rebounded slightly on Tuesday. Read more.
Blue Owl, 1-day
— Leslie Picker
Stocks making moves in premarket trading
Here are some of the stocks moving before the opening bell:
- TJX — The parent of the T.J. Maxx and Marshalls retail chains rose 3% after reporting third-quarter earnings of $1.28 per share on revenue of $15.12 billion. That topped the LSEG consensus estimate of $1.22 EPS on revenue of $14.85 billion.
- Bullish — The crypto exchange added 1% on the back of its revenue beat. Bullish, which went public in August, reported adjusted revenue of $76.5 million, topping the $72.9 million expected from analysts polled by FactSet. Adjusted EBITDA also exceeded expectations.
- Plug Power — The hydrogen fuel cell developer sank 20.6% after announcing plans to offer $375 million of senior convertible notes due in 2033.
To see more names making moves in the premarket, read the full story here.
— Michelle Fox
Dollar index scores new high
The dollar was weaker on Tuesday ahead of a slate of central bank meetings that will likely see a rate cut in the U.S. and as investors kept a wary eye on President Donald Trump’s Asia tour, hoping for a trade deal with China.
Nurphoto | Nurphoto | Getty Images
The dollar index inched up on Wednesday, hitting a fresh high of 99.792. That’s the highest level since Nov. 7, when the index hit a high of 99.872.
Wednesday’s gains help put the index on track to secure its first positive week in three, as it’s currently up 0.4% week to date.
Dollar index, 1-day
— Gina Francolla, Sean Conlon
Global investors reflect on stock sell-off
Global investor sentiment for artificial intelligence remains buoyant, despite on the ongoing stock sell-off.
European and Asia markets have seen days of consecutive losses, tracking their U.S. counterparts lower as pressures mount on AI-related stocks and their valuations. The pan-European Stoxx 600 on Tuesday notched its lowest level in a month, with major bourses opening mixed on Wednesday, while Asia-Pacific markets fell.
Stateside, stock futures were little changed overnight after major U.S. indexes extended their losses. AI-related stocks such as Nvidia, Palantir, and Microsoft are among those feeling the pressure.
“We do think this is an AI specific pullback. We don’t think this is the beginning of the bear market,” Emma Wall, head of investment analysis at Hargreaves Lansdown, told CNBC’s “Squawk Box Europe.” Read more.
— Tasmin Lockwood
Jefferies says buy DoorDash
A delivery worker carries a DoorDash bag in New York, US, on Tuesday, May 6, 2025.
Yuki Iwamura | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Jefferies is getting more bullish on DoorDash as more advertising opportunities materialize.
The investment firm upgraded the food delivery platform to buy from hold. It also raised its price target to $260 from $220, which signals upside of 23% from Tuesday’s close.
Shares of DoorDash have rallied 26% this year, but have cratered 20% in the past 30 days, making DoorDash’s “strong execution and growth algorithm now appear underappreciated,” Jefferies wrote. CNBC Pro subscribers can read more here.
DASH, 1-day
— Lisa Kailai Han
Target falls on profit outlook cut
A shopper pulls a shopping cart outside a Target store in Albany, California, US, on Monday, Nov. 17, 2025. Target Corp. is scheduled to release earnings figures on November 19. Photographer:
David Paul Morris | Bloomberg | Getty Images
TGT 5-day chart
— Fred Imbert
Lowe’s rises on earnings beat
Lowe’s logo is seen on the store in Texas, United States on Oct. 21, 2025.
Jakub Porzycki | Nurphoto | Getty Images
Lowe’s shares rose more than 4% after the home improvement company reported third-quarter earnings that beat analyst expectations. The company earned an adjusted $3.06 per share, topping an LSEG estimate of $2.97 per share.
LOW 5-day chart
— Fred Imbert
Bitcoin slips again
CFOTO | Future Publishing | Getty Images
The volatility in bitcoin continued, with the flagship cryptocurrency falling more than 1% to trade around $91,240. Bitcoin on Tuesday briefly dipped below $90,000 before rebounding.
BTC 5-day chart
— Fred Imbert
Fund managers holding unusually small amount of cash are flashing a sell signal, BofA says
Professional money managers polled by Bank of America in its November Global Fund Manager Survey are holding just 3.7% of assets in cash, flashing a “sell signal,” the bank said.
Investors were too bullish this month, the most overweight in equities since February and the most overweight in commodities since Sept. 2022, BoFA said. That enthusiasm is “a headwind not tailwind for risk assets,” and means the autumn market’s “froth” will continue “to correct further without [a] Fed December rate cut,” strategists led by Michael Hartnett wrote Tuesday. Emerging markets and banks are the “most vulnerable to proper Q4 risk-off move,” they said.
Contrarians view small amounts of cash reserves as bearish for stocks because it means most buying has already been done and there’s little dry powder left on the sidelines that can be further allocated into equities.
The survey covered the period from Nov. 7-13, including some 202 participants running $550 billion in assets under management.
— Scott Schnipper
ON Semiconductor, La-Z-Boy among stocks moving Tuesday evening
Check out the companies moving in after-hours trading:
- La-Z-Boy — Shares of the furniture retailer and manufacturer jumped nearly 7% on the back of strong second-quarter earnings results. La-Z-Boy earned 71 cents per share, on an adjusted basis, which came out significantly higher than the 54 cents per share analysts polled by FactSet expected. The company’s revenue of $522.5 million for the period exceeded the forecasted $517.6 million.
- ON Semiconductor — ON Semiconductor shares rose almost 4% after the company’s board approved a $6 billion stock buyback program over the next three years, beginning on Jan. 1, 2026.
- Dolby Laboratories — Dolby Laboratories dropped 1% after the audio and imaging company’s fiscal first-quarter guidance disappointed the Street. Dolby expects earnings to be between 79 cents and 94 cents per share, excluding items, while analysts polled by FactSet expected $1.15 per share. Dolby also forecasted revenue of between $315 million and $345 million, lower than the $369.2 million consensus estimate. Still, Dolby’s fourth-quarter results beat on top and bottom lines.
— Pia Singh
Constellation Energy shares rise on news of Trump administration loan
The cooling towers of the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant in Middletown, Pennsylvania, Oct. 30, 2024.
Danielle DeVries | CNBC
Shares of Constellation Energy ticked 2.6% higher in extended trading after the U.S. government said it will back the company with a federal loan.
Department of Energy officials said Tuesday that the Trump administration will provide Constellation Energy with a $1 billion loan to restart the Crane Clean Energy Center nuclear plant in Pennsylvania. The plant, previously known as Three Mile Island Unit 1, is expected to start generating power again in 2027. Constellation unveiled plans to rename and restart the reactor in Sept. 2024 through a power purchase agreement with Microsoft to support the tech company’s data center demand in the region.
The loan would cover the majority to the project’s estimated cost of $1.6 billion. More here.
— Spencer Kimball, Pia Singh
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