Tesla Surges After Sell-Off
24 minutes ago
Tesla (TSLA) shares jumped Tuesday, after losing more than 15% of their value a day earlier.
The stock was up 5% at around $233 in late trading, making back a small fraction of what it’s lost amid an extended sell-off since President Trump took office. The stock is on pace to fall for the eighth consecutive week, even after the uptick on Tuesday.
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Tesla’s stock price had surged to a record close of $479.86 about a month after Trump’s election victory, but since Musk started working in the cost-cutting Department of Government Efficiency in January, the EV maker’s shares have lost almost half their value. Recent losses have come amid worries about slowing sales in China and declining registrations in Europe, as well as widespread market uncertainty about tariffs.
However, Tesla’s precipitous slide could be an opportunity for investors to buy low, analysts at Morgan Stanley told clients Monday. The analysts reiterated a price target of $430, calling Tesla its “top pick” among U.S. automakers, bolstered by artificial intelligence and robotics potential.
The consensus price target for Tesla stock is about $366 among analysts who follow Tesla and are tracked by Visible Alpha.
Small Business Owners’ Confidence Drops as Uncertainty Rises
1 hr 37 min ago
Small business owners, who largely cheered Donald Trump’s election, are starting to feel uncertain about the future amid the president’s rapid policy changes.
Optimism among small businesses fell in February, according to a monthly survey by the National Federation of Independent Businesses released Tuesday. An index measuring uncertainty rose to its second-highest level in the survey’s 50-year history. Despite the downtick, business optimism remained above its historical average.
Small businesses have historically applauded Trump and his policies. The confidence index hit what at the time was its highest point ever in 2016, the first time Trump was elected. And after Trump won re-election last year, the index surged.
The survey highlighted the uncertainty taking hold in the business community. Trump’s on-again, off-again threats to impose tariffs on U.S. trading partners have made planning for the future cloudier and raised concerns about rising costs and inflation reigniting.
Business owners are responding to the developments by raising prices, according to the survey. The net percentage of businesses raising prices rose 10 percentage points to 32%, the biggest jump since 2021, and the third-highest level on record.
“Although economic perceptions remain much more constructive than in recent years, the recent flurry of tariff activity appears to have dented economic expectations and put upward pressure on small business prices,” Charlie Dougherty, Jackie Benson, and Ali Hajibeigi, economists at Wells Fargo Securities, wrote in a commentary.
Airlines Scale Back Outlooks as Demand Softens
2 hr 37 min ago
Three of the largest U.S. airlines—Delta Air Lines (DAL), Southwest Airlines (LUV), and American Airlines (AAL)—have lowered their projections for the first quarter of the year, citing weakening travel demand amid an uncertain economy.
Delta said it expects first-quarter revenue to rise 3% to 4% rather than the 7% to 9% growth it projected previously, citing a “recent reduction in consumer and corporate confidence caused by increased macro uncertainty, driving softness in Domestic demand.”
Southwest and American Airlines have also cut their revenue outlooks. American projected a larger loss than previously expected and Southwest announced a slate of new revenue-generating measures like charging for checked luggage.
American cited “softness in the domestic leisure segment” along with a negative impact on bookings after the January Washington, D.C., crash involving one of its planes. Southwest cited the impact of the January wildfires in Los Angeles—but also “softness in bookings and demand trends as the macro environment has weakened.”
The trend is also hitting smaller airlines. JetBlue (JBLU) lowered its first-quarter projection for available seat miles because of more weather disruptions and “demand choppiness due to mixed macroeconomic indicators.”
“We believe airline industry demand will likely bounce along the trough until macro stability is reached,” Bank of America analysts wrote Monday.
Teradyne Plunges as Company Warns on Impact of Tariffs
3 hr 57 min ago
Shares of Teradyne (TER) plummeted to lead S&P 500 decliners Tuesday, as the maker of testing equipment for chips and electronics updated its guidance in response to the potential impact of Trump administration trade moves.
In a presentation ahead of its Investor Day, the company said that it sees short-term volatility “mainly in SemiTest business,” as well as new uncertainty around tariffs and trade restrictions. It added it doesn’t expect cancellations, “but some push outs and capital reviews.”
Teradyne didn’t forecast any changes to its outlook for the current quarter but anticipates second-quarter revenue to be flat to down 10% from the first quarter and full-year revenue up 5% to 10% year-over-year. For fiscal 2026, the company predicts earnings per share (EPS) and revenue “trending toward the low end of the previous 2026 earnings model.”
In addition to the update, Teradyne also announced it bought privately held Quantifi Photonics for an undisclosed price. Quantifi manufactures photonic integrated circuit testing devices.
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Teradyne shares, which entered Tuesday little changed over the past year, were down 18% in recent trading, at their lowest level in more than a year.
Southwest Jumps After News of Baggage Fees
4 hr 41 min ago
Southwest Airlines (LUV) shares surged Tuesday after the airline announced its latest revenue-generating changes amid pressure from activist investor Elliott Investment Management.
The airline said it would introduce a basic economy ticket option and baggage fees, ending some of Southwest’s trademark perks. Certain members of the airline’s rewards program will still be eligible for one or two free checked bags once the policy changes for flights booked on or after May 28.
The introduction of baggage fees are the newest change for Southwest, which in July announced an end to its famed open seating policy and introduced overnight flights, which started last month. The airline has since said it plans to start booking assigned seating flights in the second half of this year and roll out the changes in 2026.
“What’s changed is that we’ve come to realize that we need more revenue to cover our costs,” Southwest COO Andrew Watterson told CNBC Tuesday. “We think that these changes that we’re announcing today will lead to less of that share shift than would have been the case otherwise.”
The changes follow months of disputes with Elliott, which built a stake in Southwest last year and pushed for changes at the executive and board level. In October, the sides agreed to a settlement that saw five Elliott-backed candidates added to Southwest’s board. Also on Tuesday, Southwest lowered its projected growth for first-quarter revenue per available seat mile to a year-over-year increase of 2% to 4%, from 5% to 7% previously.
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Southwest shares were up more than 6% in recent trading. Despite Tuesday’s gains, they’ve lost about 10% of their value since the start of the year.
Kohl’s Stock Plunges on Disappointing Outlook
6 hr 10 min ago
Shares of Kohl’s (KSS) plunged in early trading after the struggling retailer’s forecasts fell short of analysts’ expectations.
For fiscal 2025, Kohl’s projects net sales to fall 5% to 7%, comparable sales to fall 4% to 6%, and earnings per share (EPS) of between $0.10 and $0.60. Analysts were looking for 2025 net sales to decline by about 2%, comparable sales to decline by 1.83%, and EPS of $1.26, according to Visible Alpha data.
The department store chain’s fiscal fourth-quarter results were mixed, with profits lagging analysts’ projections. It posted EPS of $0.43 on net revenue of $5.4 billion. (After adjusting for one-time costs like store closures, Kohl’s adjusted EPS of $0.95 topped estimates.) Analysts polled by Visible Alpha had expected $0.71 and $5.38 billion, respectively. Last year, Kohl’s registered profit of $1.67 per share and sales of $5.96 billion.
Comparable store sales fell by 6.7%, a bit better than the 6.9% decline that analysts had projected.
Kohl’s missed estimates last quarter, when its said craft store chain Michaels Cos. CEO Ashley Buchanan would be replacing Tom Kingsbury as chief executive.
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Kohl’s shares were down 15% in recent trading and have lost more than 60% of their value over the past year. The stock dipped below $10 for the first time since 1997 this morning.
Tesla Prices to Watch After Stock’s 50% Decline from Record
7 hr 18 min ago
Tesla (TSLA) shares moved slightly higher in premarket trading after tumbling 15% on Monday to lead S&P decliners, closing below their Election Day level for the first time.
Since hitting a record high in mid-December, Tesla shares have fallen 55% amid investor concerns about potential fallout from Musk’s extensive involvement in the Trump administration and weak sales figures.
Tesla shares fell below the closely watched 200-week moving average in Monday’s trading session. Moreover, increasing volumes have accompanied the recent drop, signaling selling participation by larger market players, such as institutional investors and hedge funds.
While the relative strength index confirms bearish momentum with a reading below 50, the indicator has moved into a region that has typically corresponded with bounces in the stock stretching back to May 2022.
Investors should monitor key support levels on Tesla’s chart around $215 and $165, while also watching major resistance levels near $265 and $300.
The stock was up 0.4% at $223 in recent premarket trading.
Read the full technical analysis piece here.
Major Stock Index Futures Point to Higher Open
7 hr 54 min ago
Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average were up 0.4%.
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S&P 500 futures rose 0.5%.
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Nasdaq 100 futures were up 0.6%.
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Source: Dow Jones Today: Stocks Mixed Amid Fresh Concerns About Tariffs, Slowing Economy; Tesla,
