Stock Market Live June 26: S&P 500 (VOO) Creeps Towards a New Record High
Key Points
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The S&P 500 is within 1% of hitting a new all-time high as markets prepare to open for trading Thursday.
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Positive earnings reports among three S&P 500 companies promise to help lift the index, and the Vanguard S&P 500 ETF as well.
Live Updates
Thursday Wrap-Up
The Vanguard S&P 500 ETF closed Thursday at 564.20, up 0.8%.
Game On for Meta
Bloomberg is reporting that Meta Platforms (Nasdaq: META | META Price Prediction) is in advanced talks (about which there are no details) to buy AI-powered voice-replication start-up PlayAI.
Novo Nordisk Finds a Replacement for Hims & Hers
Novo Nordisk (NYSE: NVO) says it will collaborate with WeightWatchers to expand access to Novo’s Wegovy GLP-1 diet drug beginning on July 1. WeightWatchers customers will be able to use CenterWell Pharmacy for Wegovy prescription fulfilment and delivery from NovoCare Pharmacy.
Novo added that it will replace its $199 introductory cash-only price for Wegovy prescriptions, which expires June 30, with a new introductory price of $299 running from July 1 through July 31. The price rises to $499 per month thereafter.
Kratos Cashes In
Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (Nasdaq: KTOS) stock has more than doubled over the past year, and the defense company and dronemaker is ready to cash in on its good fortune. Last night, Kratos announced plans to sell $500 million worth of new stock. This morning, Kratos confirmed the sale price: $38.50 per share.
Just under 13 million shares were sold at the offering.
Kratos stock is down 4.4% on today’s news. The Voo is up 0.3%.
This article will be updated throughout the day, so check back often for more daily updates.
Since tumbling into bear market territory in April in response to a flurry of tariffs announcements from President Trump, the Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (NYSEMKT: VOO) has gained back 22%. And on Thursday, it’s “22 down, just one more to go.”
If the stock market can eke out just a single percentage point gain today, it will hit a new all-time record high. So what are the chances that will happen?
With so many factors at play, it’s really hard to say. On the one hand, tariffs threats to economic growth remain. On the other, a tenuous ceasefire deal between Israel and Iran has investors feeling ebullient, and oil investors in particular sighing in relief. On the third hand, initial jobless claims for last week just came in at 236,000, slightly better than the 244,000 expected. On the fourth, with continuing jobless claims numbers still high, no one seems entirely certain if this will convince the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates — or raise them.
Earnings
In earnings news, S&P 500 component company Micron (Nasdaq: MU) reported a big Q3 earnings beat — $1.91 per share — last night, with revenue of $9.3 billion way, way above the $8.8 billion Wall Street predicted. Micron further forecast that 2025 revenue might hit $11 billion, more than the $9.9 billion expected.
Fellow S&P 500 component company McCormick (NYSE: MKC) reported a beat this morning, $0.69 per share versus $0.66 expected. Revenue nailed the $1.66 billion forecast, and McCormick says it’s on track to beat earnings for the year, earning between $3.03 and $3.08 per share.
Rounding out the list of S&P 500 companies reporting today, Walgreens Boot Alliance (Nasdaq: WBA) reported $0.38 per share for Q3 earnings this morning, a nickel better than expected. Revenue of $39 billion also topped estimates.
Walgreens is in the process of being bought by a consortium of companies led by Sycamore Partners. The sale is expected to close later this year and, when it happens, Walgreens stock will disappear from the Nasdaq.
Joel South covers large-cap stocks, dividend investing, and major market trends, with a focus on earnings analysis, valuation, and turning complex data into actionable insights for investors.
He brings more than 15 years of experience as an investor and financial journalist, including 12 years at The Motley Fool, where he served as an investment analyst, Bureau Chief, and later led the Fool.com investing news desk. He has also co-hosted an investing podcast and appeared across TV and radio discussing market trends.
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