Market Snapshot
| Dow | 47931.59 | +457.34 | (0.96%) | | Nasdaq | 23492.86 | +79.15 | (0.34%) | | SP 500 | 6858.55 | +29.19 | (0.43%) | | 10-yr Note |
|
|
|
| | NYSE | Adv 1898 | Dec 786 | Vol 458.19 mln | | Nasdaq | Adv 3091 | Dec 1219 | Vol 6.42 bln |
Industry Watch
| Strong: Energy, Materials, Financials, Consumer Discretionary, Health Care, Consumer Staples |
| | Weak: Information Technology, Utilities |
Moving the Market
--Improvements to tech and mega-cap names after early losses prompting gains at the index level
--Solid participation in the broader market
|
Tesla a notable mega-cap standout
03-Dec-25 15:25 ET
Dow +457.34 at 47931.59, Nasdaq +79.15 at 23492.86, S&P +29.19 at 6858.55
[BRIEFING.COM] The major averages look to close today's session with solid gains after weakness in mega-cap and tech names kept the major averages mixed for most of the morning.
The Vanguard Mega Cap Growth ETF (+0.2%) now trades modestly higher after holding a loss for roughly half of today's session.
Tesla (TSLA 446.50, +17.26, +4.02%) is a standout among mega-cap names, steadily trading higher throughout the day after Politico reported this morning that President Trump is considering an executive order next year to accelerate growth and development across the robotics industry.
Major averages move into positive week-to-date territory
03-Dec-25 14:55 ET
Dow +460.49 at 47934.74, Nasdaq +75.02 at 23488.73, S&P +30.87 at 6860.23
[BRIEFING.COM] Gains across the S&P 500 (+0.5%), Nasdaq Composite (+0.5%), and DJIA (+1.0%) push the major averages into positive territory for the week with just an hour left in today's action.
The major averages continue to tick higher as the information technology sector (-0.2%) moves closer to its flatline, while nine S&P 500 sectors trade in positive territory.
The industrials sector (+0.8%) holds another solid gain after outperforming yesterday with a 0.9% gain. Old Dominion (ODFL 149.57, +8.11, +5.73%) leads the strength today after the company reported its less-than-truckload (LTL) operating metrics for November.
While LTL shipments have been hurt by ongoing softness in the domestic economy, the carrier is showing signs of stabilization heading into the holiday stretch, a period where seasonal trends can help reset sentiment in an oversold industry.
Elsewhere in the sector, Uber (UBER 90.55, +2.98, +3.40%) also holds a nice gain, while airline names such as Delta Air Lines (DAL 67.41, +2.27, +3.48%) and United Airlines (UAL 108.08, +3.70, +3.54%) also trade higher.
S&P 500 rises 0.4% as Vertex, BMY lead gains; Sandisk, PSTG lag on NAND delays and weak earnings
03-Dec-25 14:30 ET
Dow +452.27 at 47926.52, Nasdaq +59.58 at 23473.29, S&P +27.53 at 6856.89
[BRIEFING.COM] The S&P 500 (+0.40%) is in second place on Wednesday afternoon, up about 28 points.
Briefly, S&P 500 constituents onsemi (ON 55.89, +4.41, +8.57%), Vertex Pharma (VRTX 462.13, +28.98, +6.69%), and Bristol-Myers (BMY 51.19, +2.94, +6.09%) dot the top of the standings. VRTX is being helped today by a Morgan Stanley upgrade to Overweight citing kidney pipeline optimism, while BMY jumps as the company moves forward with additional patient enrollment in its ADEPT-2 study after FDA-approved data adjustments, signaling continued progress for its potential first-in-class Cobenfy treatment for agitation and psychosis.
Meanwhile, storage firm Sandisk (SNDK 189.05, -16.30, -7.94%) is one of today's worst laggards; the stock appears to be being hit on a report out of TrendForce suggesting the company and Samsung (SSNLF 65.21, flat) have delayed NAND delivery to Transcend, resulting in a price hike. Also applying pressure is today's steep losses from all-flash storage firm Pure Storage (PSTG 69.25, -25.47, -26.89%) post earnings.
Gold edges up 0.3% to $4,232 amid softer dollar and Fed rate-cut bets
03-Dec-25 14:00 ET
Dow +429.10 at 47903.35, Nasdaq +62.14 at 23475.85, S&P +27.16 at 6856.52
[BRIEFING.COM] The Nasdaq Composite (+0.27%) is up about 62 points this afternoon, albeit at the bottom of the major averages.
Gold futures settled $11.70 higher (+0.3%) at $4,232.50/oz, reflecting stronger bets on upcoming Fed rate cuts and a softer dollar, both of which boost demand for non-yielding assets. Traders are also positioning ahead of key U.S. economic data, keeping gold supported as a hedge against policy uncertainty.
Meanwhile, the U.S. Dollar Index is down now about -0.5% to $98.87.
Dow Leads Market as UNH, AXP, GS Power Gains; Boeing Lags
03-Dec-25 13:30 ET
Dow +347.26 at 47821.51, Nasdaq +35.44 at 23449.15, S&P +19.75 at 6849.11
[BRIEFING.COM] The Dow Jones Industrial Average (+0.73%) is comfortably in front of the major averages this afternoon, up more than 345 points.
A look inside the DJIA shows that UnitedHealth (UNH 338.08, +13.54, +4.17%), American Express (AXP 368.72, +8.02, +2.22%), and Goldman Sachs (GS 833.00, +17.79, +2.18%) hold solid gains.
Meanwhile, Boeing (BA 198.90, -6.48, -3.16%) is underperforming.
The DJIA is now +0.22% higher week-to-date.
Dollar Tree: A ‘Tree-mendous’ Turnaround: Higher-Income Shoppers Fuel DLTR’s Growth Spurt (DLTR)
Dollar Tree is trading higher after posting a strong Q3 (Oct) earnings report. The company delivered a sizable EPS beat with modest revenue upside, but the real catalyst is Q4 holiday guidance, where the midpoint of EPS expectations came in well ahead of consensus. DLTR also reaffirmed its full-year same-store sales outlook of +4-6%. This quarter also marks the first full period since Dollar Tree sold its struggling Family Dollar segment on July 7, 2025, allowing investors to evaluate the core Dollar Tree banner on a standalone basis.
- Q3 same-store sales: +4.2%, topping the prior quarter-to-date guide of +3.8% — a sign that October ended strong, boosted by a standout Halloween season.
- Discretionary categories, long a drag on comps, posted their first positive yr/yr mix shift since 1Q22. Strong performers included party supplies and home décor.
- Consumables remained solid, led by household cleaning, personal care, snacks, and cookies. Seasonal trends were strong throughout the back half of the quarter.
- Dollar Tree continues to attract more value-conscious shoppers across income levels: 3 mln additional households shopped DLTR in Q3. Of these new shoppers, 60% were higher-income households ($100K+), and 30% were middle-income ($60-100K). Lower-income households are also leaning more heavily on Dollar Tree, with average spend growing more than twice as fast as other categories.
Briefing.com Analyst Insight
Dollar Tree's Q3 results underscore a compelling turnaround narrative now that the underperforming Family Dollar unit is out of the picture. The core franchise is showing healthier traffic, better mix, and more consistent pricing leverage than we've seen in several years. The sharp improvement in discretionary categories — historically DLTR's Achilles heel — is particularly meaningful because it points to improving merchandise relevance and reduced drag on comps. The customer mix shift is another notable tailwind: higher-income shoppers trading down is a trend we expect to persist in a stretched consumer environment, while lower-income households remain highly dependent on value channels. With a clean segment portfolio, a strong Halloween/seasonal performance, and bullish holiday guidance, DLTR finally feels positioned to reassert itself as a pure-play value retail winner.
Pure Storage tumbles as in-line EPS, underwhelming guidance fail to impress (PSTG)
Pure Storage’s (PSTG) 3Q26 report landed more with a thud than a pop, as merely in-line EPS and only modest revenue upside are colliding with very high expectations and tough storage-sector comps. Shares are plunging in the wake of the release, reflecting disappointment that results and guidance did not break meaningfully above the reaffirmed outlook issued on November 4.
- Non-GAAP gross margin of 74.1% marked a solid level in absolute terms but represented softer profitability versus what some investors hoped for, contributing to the in-line EPS outcome.
- The margin profile suggests PSTG is not converting incremental AI and subscription growth into the same level of operating upside that peers are demonstrating, which is likely weighing on sentiment.
- Another overhang is competitive optics. Seagate (STX) and Western Digital (WDC) both posted very strong October results and outlooks, including record gross margins and high-teens to 20%+ revenue growth, setting a high bar for storage and memory names.
- Management also signaled that some of the upside from AI hyperscaler deals will be reinvested into R&D and sales and marketing, particularly to deepen its AI data platform capabilities and expand go-to-market reach.
- While strategically sensible, that reinvestment message raises concerns that margin and EPS expansion may be more muted over the next few quarters than top-line growth alone would imply.
- On the positive side, remaining performance obligations (RPO) increased a robust 24% yr/yr to $2.9 bln, highlighting strong underlying demand and growing multi-year commitments.
- That RPO growth is being driven by a mix of AI hyperscaler wins, large enterprise subscriptions, and expanding services and recurring software components embedded in Evergreen and PSTG’s broader storage-as-a-service model.
Briefing.com Analyst Insight:
PSTG’s 3Q26 results underscore that demand for its flash and AI-centric data platform remains healthy, as evidenced by strong RPO growth and continued traction with hyperscalers and large enterprises. However, in a backdrop where storage peers like STX and WDC are producing eye-catching beats, record margins, and upbeat guides, PSTG’s in-line EPS, only slightly better-than-expected revenue, and plans to reinvest AI upside into opex leave investors wanting more. The strategic choice to lean into R&D and sales and marketing should support differentiation and long-term growth, but it also introduces near-term margin uncertainty at exactly the moment the market was looking for operating leverage from AI. Against that setup, the post-earnings stock plunge looks driven less by a breakdown in the fundamental story and more by elevated expectations, tougher peer comparisons, and fresh concerns that AI tailwinds will not translate into the same near-term earnings power that some investors had penciled in.
Okta Delivers Strong Q3 Beat and Upbeat Year-End Guide, but No FY27 View Weighs (OKTA)
Okta (OKTA) is modestly higher today, bouncing back from early losses, after reporting its Q3 (Oct) results last night. The company beat expectations on the top and bottom line, with revenue increasing 11.6% yr/yr to $742 mln. It also raised its FY26 EPS and revenue guidance to $3.43-3.44 and $2.906-2.908 bln, respectively, both ahead of expectations and larger increases than the Q3 upside. Despite the beat and upbeat outlook, shares are relatively muted, which can reflect some disappointment as management declined to offer its preliminary view for next year, something it has typically provided in the past, leaving investors with less visibility heading into FY27.
- RPO increased 17% yr/yr to $4.292 bln, while cRPO increased 13% yr/yr to $2.328 bln, both holding relatively steady compared to Q2. It expects Q4 cRPO to grow about 9% yr/yr to $2.445-2.45 bln.
- Strength continued across its large customers, particularly with new products including governance, privileged access, device access, and identity posture management.
- It also saw steady momentum in the public sector, and importantly, the government shutdown did not meaningfully impact its Q3 results.
- AI is acting as a meaningful catalyzer, with management noting that many enterprises cannot safely scale their AI initiatives without a control plane to govern and secure AI agents. This need is driving strong interest in Okta's early offerings, likeAuth0 for AI agents.
- Management views this as a major long-term opportunity, but with contributions still early, the impact on near-term growth remains limited.
- The refrained FY27 outlook reflects the seasonality of Q4, its largest quarter, where offering an early view would require too much conservatism to be meaningful. Management said it simply needs to see how Q4 plays out first.
- Management instead underscored its momentum heading into Q4, driven by improving sales productivity and recent capacity additions.
Briefing.com Analyst Insight
On paper, this was a solid report from Okta. It beat expectations, raised full-year guidance, and showed sustained traction across large customers and new products, along with a growing pipeline around AI agent security. Even so, the stock's reaction is fairly muted, as the strong quarter is bumping up against the lack of an early FY27 outlook and limited near-term visibility into what AI-driven offerings will contribute. The long-term story still looks compelling, but Q4 cRPO guidance suggests growth remains steady rather than accelerating, keeping the focus on Q4 and whether newer initiatives can set up a clearer inflection heading into next year.
Marvell Connecting the Dots: Marvell Plugs Into Optical AI Boom With Celestial Boost (MRVL)
Marvell shares are surging despite Q3 (Oct) results and Q4 (Jan) guidance that were largely in line with expectations. Investor enthusiasm is being driven by exceptional Data Center performance, bullish long-term AI commentary, and the announcement that Marvell will acquire Celestial AI, a pioneer in disruptive Photonic Fabric optical interconnect technology.
- MRVEL recently sold its Automotive Ethernet business for $2.5 bln to focus resources on the multiyear AI opportunity; the Celestial AI deal accelerates this shift.
- Interconnects already make up ~50% of Data Center revenue, and Marvell sees optical as essential as copper approaches physical limits in scale-up AI systems.
- Beefing up its interconnects business makes a lot of sense. Recall that its AI interconnect peer, Credo (CRDO), reported massive results/guidance on Monday.
- Q3 Performance: Data Center revenue: $1.52 bln (+38% yr/yr) vs guidance for mid-30s% growth. Strong demand in PAM DSPs, TIAs, drivers, and other optical components; double-digit sequential growth across optical, storage, and switching. Q4 Data Center revenue expected to rise +20% yr/yr.
- Long-Term Outlook: Customers are planning major AI capacity expansions and working with Marvell on long-term road maps. Expected Data Center growth: FY26 +45%, FY27 +25%, FY28 +40%.
Briefing.com Analyst Insight
Marvell's near-term numbers were fine, but this story is all about the acceleration in AI infrastructure spending and Marvell's strategic positioning to capture it. The Celestial AI deal reinforces Marvell's identity not just as a semiconductor company but as a core enabler of AI-scale interconnects, an area already contributing half of its Data Center revenue and now entering a generational technology shift from copper to optical. The long-term growth targets (45% to 25% to 40%) reflect management's confidence in secular AI demand rather than cyclical noise, and the alignment with hyperscale customers on multiyear road maps adds credibility. Investors are correctly focusing on the strategic transformation rather than the in-line quarter. The risk, of course, is execution — integrating Celestial AI, delivering on optical road maps, and meeting aggressive AI cluster build-out expectations. Also, Celestial AI will take some time to make a meaningful revenue impact. But Marvell's momentum and positioning in the interconnect layer give it one of the cleaner AI infrastructure stories in semis right now.
CrowdStrike posts record ARR and a solid beat, but stretched valuation keeps shares in check (CRWD)
CrowdStrike (CRWD) delivered another impressive beat-and-raise quarter in 3Q26, but the stock's reaction is being tempered by an already stretched valuation and only modest upside in 4Q guidance. With shares up over 20% since the 2Q earnings release and trading at roughly 104x 1-year forward EPS, the bar was simply much higher this time. Such a rich multiple leaves little room for any perceived deceleration or even “just fine” guidance, helping explain the muted reaction in the stock
- CRWD's Q3 results were highlighted by record net new ARR, record operating income, and record free cash flow, underscoring the durability of its platform-led model.
- 4Q26 guidance falls into the “good, not spectacular” category. Non-GAAP EPS guided to $1.09-1.11 (modest beat vs. expectations); revenue of $1.290-1.300 bln implies 22-23% yr/yr growth and is essentially in line with consensus.
- Net new ARR reached a record $265 mln, up 73% yr/yr and more than 10 points above internal expectations. Ending ARR accelerated to 23% yr/yr at $4.92 bln, with FY26 ending ARR growth now at 23%.
- 2H26 net new ARR growth is now expected at least 50% yr/yr (up from prior 40%+). FY27 net new ARR growth was reaffirmed at least 20% off higher base.
- CRWD saw broad-based acceleration across cloud security, Next-Gen Identity, Next-Gen SIEM, and endpoint drove the surge.
- Endpoint accelerated on AI-driven demand at the device layer, with wins replacing legacy AV (e.g., 75,000-endpoint government agency deal).
- Falcon Cloud Security hit record net new ARR, with Wiz displacements and eight-figure AI infrastructure wins emphasizing runtime protection demand.
- Next-Gen Identity excelled, led by Falcon Shield (net new ARR up approximately 50% sequentially) for SaaS/non-human identity security.
- Falcon Flex ARR exceeded $1.35 bln, up over 200% yr/yr. Re-Flex accounts doubled to over 200, with some expanding more than 2x initial commitments.
- 49% of subscription customers use 6+ modules (24% use 8+), driving elevated net retention. Flex on track as standard licensing model.
Briefing.com Analyst Insight:
CRWD’s 3Q26 results reinforce its status as a premier cybersecurity franchise, with accelerating ARR, best-in-class profitability, and clear product leadership across endpoint, cloud, identity, SIEM, and AI-native SOC automation. Yet, at 104x forward EPS and after a strong pre-print run, even excellent execution and upgraded net new ARR assumptions translate into a more balanced near-term risk/reward, particularly with 4Q guidance that is solid but not explosive on revenue.
|
