Stocks continue to find support from recovery hopes as the economy reopens. Massive stimulus, both implemented and planned, keeps providing a strong tailwind for stocks despite the escalating spat between the U.S. and China and civil unrest that continues in the form of protests in major American cities. The latest turn in the fight with China - the Trump administration's imposition of an order banning Chinese passenger carriers from flying to the United States starting in mid-June - did not slow the rally that has kicked off June.
ECONOMIC EVENTS: In U.S. data, ADP reported private payrolls declined 2.76M in May, which wasn't as weak as the market feared. Markit's final services PMI was revised up to 37.5 from the 36.9 flash reading for May. The ISM services index rose 3.6 points to 45.4 in May, rebounding from an 11-year low of 41.8 in April. Factory orders plummeted a record 13.0% in April after plunging 11.0% in March, though this drop was also better than feared.
TOP NEWS: Shares of Zoom Video (ZM) closed 7.6% higher after what Wall Street analysts called the "greatest quarter in enterprise software's history" and "easily the most stunningly positive quarter" in 18 years. Due to accelerating adoption in the work from home environment, all metrics showed material upside against consensus expectations and the company's fiscal year revenue guidance doubled the consensus estimate.
Crowdstrike (CRWD), another beneficiary of the shift to a work from home environment, said along with its report of better than forecast results that it believes "the rapid shift to a remote workforce has helped increase" its leadership. Shares of Crowdstrike rose 6.3% following last night's quarterly report from the cybersecurity company.
Warner Music Group (WMG) priced its 75 million share initial public offering at $25 per share, valuing the record label at $12.75B. The stock opened at $27. In other IPO news, Pliant Therapeutics (PLRX) priced 9 millions shares at $16, which was the high end of the expected range, and then opened for trading at $25 per share.
Meanwhile, Moderna (MRNA) gained after The New York Times reported that the company is among the five finalists selected by the Trump administration as the most likely to produce a vaccine for COVID-19. The other finalists include AstraZeneca (AZN), Johnson & Johnson (JNJ), Merck (MRK) and Pfizer (PFE). On the flip side, Inovio (INO) and Novavax (NVAX) fell a respective 13.3% and 10.9% as the White House list doesn't include either company.
Additionally, shares of Snap (SNAP) were fractionally lower after The Verge reported that the company said President Trump's verified account on the social media platform will no longer be promoted within the app after management concluded that the president's tweets over the weekend promoted violence. In response, Bloomberg reported that the Trump campaign has accused the social media company of attempting to "rig" this year's election.
MAJOR MOVERS: Among the noteworthy gainers was Cheesecake Factory (CAKE), which rose 16.3% after announcing approximately 25% of the company's restaurants across its concepts, including 34 Cheesecake Factory restaurants, have reopened dining rooms with limited capacity. Also higher was Criteo (CRTO), which gained 19% after it reported that May revenue was "better than expected."
Among the notable losers was Roku (ROKU), which slid 6.2%, with Stephens analyst Kyle Evans saying that Best Buy’s (BBY) TCL Android TV models could be pressuring the stock. Also lower was Pilgrim's Pride (PPC), which plunged 12.4% after a federal grand jury in the U.S. District Court in Denver, Colorado, returned an indictment against four executives - including Pilgrim's CEO Jayson Penn - for their role in a conspiracy to fix prices and rig bids for broiler chickens.
INDEXES: The Dow rose 527.24, or 2.05%, to 26,269.89, the Nasdaq gained 74.54, or 0.78%, to 9,682.91, and the S&P 500 advanced 42.05, or 1.36%, to 3,122.87.
Zoom Video
+15.91 (+7.65%)
Crowdstrike
+5.945 (+6.45%)
Warner Music
+ (+0.00%)
Pliant Therapeutics
+ (+0.00%)
Moderna
+0.005 (+0.01%)
Inovio
-1.94 (-13.50%)
Novavax
-5.315 (-10.72%)
AstraZeneca
+0.285 (+0.52%)
Merck
+1.22 (+1.51%)
Johnson & Johnson
+0.52 (+0.35%)
Pfizer
-0.01 (-0.03%)
Snap
-0.035 (-0.18%)
Cheesecake Factory
+3.41 (+16.28%)
Criteo
+2.08 (+18.60%)
Roku
-6.92 (-6.24%)
Best Buy
+1.76 (+2.19%)
Pilgrim's Pride
-2.58 (-12.36%)