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These Magnificent Seven Stocks Pulled the Stock Market Higher Today

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What a difference a week makes. The bulls took control today as the magnificent seven tech stocks rallied and all three of the major indices ended in the green amid an eventful earnings week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average tacked on over 260 points, while the Nasdaq and S&P 500 each advanced by over 1%, extending Monday’s gains.

Tech stocks rebounded after last week’s debacle in which they suffered their biggest sell-off in a year. Meanwhile, more than three-quarters of S&P companies that have reported earnings so far have surpassed Wall Street views, per FactSet data. Tech stocks are in line to report their quarterly results this week. 

Here’s a look at seven of the big gainers that helped to lift the mood on Wall Street today.  

Nvidia Soars 

Shares of AI favorite Nvidia (Nasdaq: NVDA) climbed nearly 4% higher to comfortably above the $800 level. The rebound in the stock comes in a month that Nvidia shares have taken investors on a roller-coaster ride, trading in a range of $756 and $922 since April 1. Softbank reportedly plans to pour $1 billion to build a Japanese-language generative AI model powered by Nvidia chips.

According to reports, traders have been taking out call options on Nvidia stock amid expectations the AI stock will find its way back to its 52-week high before long. A year ago at this time, Nvidia stock was trading at around $150, a reminder of just how volatile AI names can be. While UBS decided to downgrade Nvidia among other tech stocks to “neutral” from “overweight,” JPMorgan Private Bank maintains that AI stocks remain a far cry from tech-bubble highs.

Microsoft Partnership

Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) is also upping its AI game. The company has teamed up with an unlikely partner – Coca-Cola (KO) – for a five-year partnership. Together, Microsoft and Coca-Cola plan to “accelerate cloud and generative AI initiatives.” Coca-Cola has earmarked $1.1 billion to be directed toward Microsoft Cloud and its generative AI prowess. 

In response, Microsoft shares climbed nearly 2% higher to above the $400 level and closer to their 52-week high of $430. Microsoft, which reports earnings on Thursday, was also included in the UBS downgrade wave. The company’s Azure cloud platform is expected to be a big revenue driver in the quarter, with t he company predicting revenue between $26 billion and $26.3 billion from its Intelligent Cloud segment.

Meta Moves 

Shares of Meta Platforms (Nasdaq: META) advanced 3%, bringing the stock within striking distance of $500 per share. Meta’s brands, including Facebook and Instagram, are among the stocks  poised to benefit from a likely TikTok ban in the U.S. Without the short-video platform, there will be less competition for screen time among young users. The Senate today voted to pass a bill that includes the TikTok ban. Meta reports earnings on Wednesday. 

Amazon Advances

Amazon (Nasdaq: AMZN) shares rose over 1% to contribute to today’s tech rally and is within a stone’s throw of its 52-week high price of $189. Amazon just introduced a value grocery delivery subscription option for U.S. members at a price point of $9.99 per month for orders that exceed $35 at retailers like Whole Foods and Amazon Fresh. That shrewd move sent shares of rival grocery delivery service Maplebear (Nasdaq: CART), better known as Instacart, reeling by over 7%. Nevertheless, AMZN couldn’t escape UBS’ tech call in which shares were downgraded to neutral. 

Apple Holds Its Own

Shares of iPhone maker Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) also did their part, rising fractionally in the tech rebound. Apple stock is down 15% from its 52-week high and of almost $200. Morgan Stanley analysts expect Apple to beat expectations in its Q1 results but warns that Q2 guidance is likely to disappoint. The analyst firm reaffirmed its overweight rating and lowered its price target on the stock from $220 to $210. If Apple does indeed fall short when it reports earnings on May 2, Wells Fargo analysts say buy into any weakness.

Steady Alphabet 

Alphabet (Nasdaq: GOOG) shares increased 1.25% on the day and are hovering around their 52-week high of $161, a sign that the stock has held its own throughout the tech sell-off. Similar to Amazon, Google is investing heavily in data centers and is expected to benefit from its cloud business in its Q1 results, which the company will report on Thursday. 

While Google may not compete directly with Tesla (Nasdaq: TSLA), it plays in the autonomous driving space through Waymo, which despite suffering a fire-related setback earlier this year has plans to expand in Los Angeles.  

Tesla Earnings 

Tesla has reported its long-awaited Q1 results, and despite a 9% drop in revenue, its worst performance in over a decade, the stock is up 6% in after-hours trading.

Wall Street was bracing for Tesla’s earnings miss, and that’s exactly what they got. The EV giant reported EPS of $0.45 per share compared with estimates of $0.51. Revenue of $21.30 billion failed to meet expectations of over $22 billion. Tesla’s operating income of $1.2 billion resulted in an operating margin of 5.5%.

In its earnings deck, Tesla vowed to “accelerate the launch of new models ahead of our previously communicated start of production in the second half of 2025” with a focus on affordable vehicle models, which gave investors something to cheer.

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