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Stocks ended Monday with a whimper as a solidly higher open lost momentum throughout the trading day.
Disappointing earnings announcements from a pair of tech names created selling pressure for the broader market. Most notably, Nvidia (NVDA) shed 6.3% after the chipmaker said its second-quarter revenue will likely come in at $6.7 billion – lower than the $8.1 billion it previously guided for – amid a 33% year-over-year decline in gaming revenue. The company also expects "challenging market conditions" to persist in Q3. NVDA will release its full earnings report on Aug. 24.
Earnings from Palantir Technologies (PLTR) were also on Wall Street's radar. Shares plunged 14.2% after the data analytics firm reported a per-share loss of 1 cent in its second quarter, compared to the consensus estimate for earnings of 3 cents per share. PLTR also gave lower-than-anticipated full-year revenue guidance.
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Not surprisingly, technology was the worst-performing sector today, giving back 0.9%. Meanwhile, the biggest gains were found in the materials (+0.6%) and real estate (+0.7%) sectors.
As for the major indexes, the Nasdaq Composite (-0.1% at 12,644) and S&P 500 Index (-0.1% at 4,140) finished in negative territory, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average eked out a 0.1% gain to end at 32,832.
YCharts
Other news in the stock market today:
Electric vehicle (EV) stocks were a pocket of strength today after the Senate over the weekend passed the Inflation Reduction Act. The industry is poised to benefit from the spending bill, which aims to commit $369 billion toward green energy investments – including extending a tax credit for purchases of electric vehicles – and reduce carbon emissions by 40% by the end of this decade.
The efforts to fight climate change are a major part of the roughly $430 billion bill. But as with all things in life, nothing is free. In order to pay for the measures, the plan proposes a 1% tax on stock buybacks and a 15% minimum tax on companies reporting more than $1 billion in revenue.
"We find the potential tax on share buybacks to be particularly interesting," says Sonia Joao, chief operating officer of Houston-based RIA Robertson Wealth Management. "Share buybacks have been a popular way for American companies, and particularly tech firms, to reward their shareholders. This may incentivize them to spend less on payouts and more on dividends or debt reduction. It's early, but we could see this having far-ranging implications for the U.S. market."
While the bill still has to make it through the House before being signed into law by President Joe Biden, investors will want to keep an eye out for its potential impact to their portfolios. Here, we've put together a short guide detailing some of the best (and worst) stocks from the Inflation Reduction Act. Check them out.
Karee Venema was long PLTR as of this writing.
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