Key Takeaways
- The S&P 500 slid 0.2% on Friday, June 20, wrapping up the shortened buying and selling week as buyers mulled the implications of the continued battle within the Center East.
- Accenture reported lower-than-expected quarterly bookings, and its shares tumbled.
- Kroger shares surged after the grocery retailer operator topped revenue and similar gross sales forecasts.
Main U.S. equities indexes had been blended on the day after the Juneteenth vacation, wrapping up the shortened buying and selling week. The preventing between Israel and Iran remained in focus as President Donald Trump pointed to a two-week timeframe for a choice on potential U.S. involvement within the battle.
The S&P 500 slipped 0.2%, closing in adverse territory for the third straight session. The Nasdaq was down 0.5%, however the Dow eked out a acquire of 0.1%.
Accenture (ACN) shares tumbled 6.9%, falling the furthest of any S&P 500 inventory, after the skilled providers agency’s bookings for its fiscal third quarter fell shy of analysts’ expectations. Though gross sales and earnings for the quarter topped forecasts, boosted by demand associated to synthetic intelligence (AI) providers, Accenture’s CEO famous that corporations are holding off on hiring consultants in response to the unsure international financial backdrop.
Shares of Albemarle (ALB), the world’s largest lithium miner, dropped 4.6% after analysts at UBS reaffirmed their cautious stance on the lithium market. The agency pointed to ongoing oversupply and pricing stress for the important thing battery part, suggesting that three way partnership buildings and robust steadiness sheets have contributed to creating lithium producers sluggish to make provide changes in response to the weak pricing atmosphere.
Metal Dynamics (STLD) shares slipped 3.2%, extending losses posted this week after the steelmaker issued lower-than-expected revenue steering for the present quarter. Friday’s downtick got here after Keybanc analysts trimmed their worth goal on the inventory, citing anticipated softness in galvanized metal spreads.
Kroger (KR) shares surged 9.8%, notching the highest efficiency within the S&P 500 on Friday. The operator of the biggest chain of conventional grocery shops within the U.S. posted better-than-expected revenue and similar gross sales progress for its fiscal first quarter. Whereas Kroger’s chief monetary officer mentioned ongoing macroeconomic uncertainty, the corporate boosted its full-year similar gross sales progress forecast and maintained its different steering. The meals retailer didn’t present an replace on its seek for a brand new CEO following the resignation of its earlier chief in March amid a probe into alleged misconduct.
Shares of residential building supplies provider Builders FirstSource (BLDR) jumped 7.5%. Though Wedbush analysts trimmed their worth goal on the inventory, citing the potential for soft-oriented strand board pricing to weigh on Builders FirstSource’s second-quarter outcomes, they maintained their “outperform” score, suggesting that gross sales tendencies may very well be priced in at present ranges following the inventory’s year-to-date decline.
Used-car vendor CarMax (KMX) topped quarterly revenue estimates, and its shares rose 6.6%. Though gross sales got here in barely under expectations, complete income was up 6% from the year-ago interval, boosted by a 9% year-over-year acquire in retail car gross sales.
