S&P 500, Nasdaq Hit New Highs Amid Flurry of Earnings Reports as Fed Meeting on Interest Rates Set to Get Underway

Meta Levels to Watch With Earnings Coming Wednesday

7 minutes ago

Shares in Meta Platforms (META) were little changed in early trading Tuesday ahead of the tech giant’s highly anticipated quarterly earnings report, due after Wednesday’s close.

Investors will pay close attention to the company’s AI infrastructure spending plans after its Magnificent Seven rival, Google parent Alphabet (GOOGL), last week raised its 2025 capital expenditures projection by $10 billion to $85 billion. Meta has said it expects to spend $64 billion to $72 billion in capex this year, a figure Wells Fargo analysts expect to reach $76.7 billion in 2026.

The stock was down slightly at around $716 in recent trading, after gaining nearly 1% on Monday. Meta shares have risen about 22% since the start of the year, boosted by the company’s ongoing efforts to fortify its AI position among its big tech peers.

After hitting an all-time high last month, Meta shares have undergone a pullback toward the respected 50-day moving average (MA) ahead of the tech giant’s quarterly results. However, the relative strength index sits above neutral territory, indicating price momentum remains positive.

It’s worth pointing out that trading volume in the stock has remained subdued in recent months, suggesting that larger market participants are waiting for the company’s report before deploying further capital.

Investors should watch key overhead areas on Meta’s chart around $740 and $930, while also monitoring major support levels near $680 and $635.

Read the full technical analysis piece here.

–Timothy Smith

Novo Nordisk Stock Plunges After Wegovy Maker Cuts Outlook

21 minutes ago

U.S.-listed shares of Novo Nordisk (NVO) sank in early trading after the Danish drugmaker cut its full-year outlook and named a new CEO.

Novo Nordisk, which makes blockbuster weight-loss drugs Ozempic and Wegovy, now expects 2025 sales growth at constant exchange rates of 8% to 14%, down from its early May forecast of 13% to 21%. It attributed the cut to lower growth expectations for Wegovy and Ozempic in the U.S. obesity and diabetes markets, respectively, and “lower-than-expected penetration” in some international markets.

Novo Nordisk named Maziar Mike Doustdar as its next CEO, effective Aug. 7, when he will replace Lars Fruergaard Jørgensen. In May, the company announced Jørgensen would be stepping down once a new chief executive was selected.

Novo Nordisk said that the sales outlook for Wegovy in the U.S. “reflects the persistent use of compounded GLP-1s, slower-than-expected market expansion and competition,” indicating that it belives some competing products are being sold illegally. The company sees 2025 operating profit growth, or EBIT, of 10% to 16%, down from its prior projection of 16% to 24%.

U.S.-listed shares of Novo Nordisk were down 20% in recent trading. Coming into today, the stock had lost about about 20% since the start of the year and more than 45% over the past 12 months. The stock has been under pressure amid slowing sales growth and studies that showed the active ingredient in rival Eli Lilly’s (LLY) Mounjaro and Zepbound caused greater weight loss than that of Ozempic and Wegovy.

–Aaron Rennie

UnitedHealth Reports Weak Earnings, Cuts Profit Outlook

1 hr 11 min ago

Shares of UnitedHealth Group (UNH) fell in premarket trading Tuesday after the health insurance giant’s second-quarter profit came in worse than analysts had forecast.

The insurer posted adjusted earnings per share of $4.06 on revenue that increased about 13% year-over-year to $111.6 billion. Analysts polled by Visible Alpha had projected $4.64 and $111.88 billion, respectively.

After suspending its outlook when ex-CEO Andrew Witty departed in May, UnitedHealth reinstated its forecasts on Tuesday. The company now projects $445.5 billion to $448.0 billion in full-year revenue, while its estimates for EPS and adjusted EPS were slashed again by about $10 each to at least $14.65 and at least $16, respectively, citing “higher realized and anticipated care trends.”

 UnitedHealth said it “expects to return to earnings growth in 2026.”

Last quarter, UnitedHealth’s stock plummeted 22%—its worst day since 1998—after the firm’s Q1 results came up short and it cut its 2025 adjusted EPS forecast to a range of $26.00 to $26.50 from the prior $29.50 to $30.00.

Shares were down about 3% in recent premarket trading. They entered the day down more than 40% since the start of this year, making the stock the biggest decliner in the Dow Jones Industrial Average in 2025.

Analysts have remained bullish on UnitedHealth’s stock despite disappointing results, a sudden CEO change, and a Department of Justice investigation into its billing practices.

–Aaron McDade

Major Index Futures Point to Higher Open

1 hr 39 min ago

Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average were up 0.1%.

S&P 500 futures rose 0.3%.

Nasdaq 100 futures added 0.5%.