Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Open Higher; NVIDIA Earnings Top Expectations

Following the market opening Friday, the Dow traded up 0.38 percent to 24,834.64 while the NASDAQ climbed 0.04 percent to 7,407.72. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.21 percent to 2,728.86.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Friday morning, the telecommunication services shares rose 2.12 percent. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Intelsat S.A. I, up 4 percent, and Verizon Communications Inc. VZ up 3 percent.

In trading on Friday, information technology shares fell 0.33 percent.

Top Headline

NVIDIA Corporation NVDA reported better-than-expected results for its first quarter and issued strong second-quarter sales guidance on Thursday.

The company reported first-quarter earnings of $2.05, beating estimates by a whopping 60 cents. Sales came in at a record $3.21 billion, a 66 percent year-over-year gain, beating estimates by $320 million

The company issued strong second-quarter sales guidance of $3.1 billion and is projecting second-quarter adjusted gross margins of 63.5 percent.

Equities Trading UP

The Trade Desk, Inc. TTD shares shot up 35 percent to $71.25 after the company reported upbeat results for its first quarter. The company also issued strong second-quarter and FY18 sales guidance.

Shares of WideOpenWest, Inc. WOW got a boost, shooting up 24 percent to $8.37 after the company reported Q1 results.

Akcea Therapeutics, Inc. AKCA shares were also up, gaining 17 percent to $24.15. Akcea Therapeutics, an affiliate of Ionis Pharmaceuticals Inc IONS announced that the Endocrinologic and Metabolic Drugs Advisory Committee, which met to discuss the safety and efficacy of subcutaneously injected volanesoren solution for patients with familial chylomicronemia syndrome, voted 12-8 to support its approval.

Equities Trading DOWN

Stellar Biotechnologies, Inc. SBOT shares dropped 41 percent to $2.29 after dropping 31.45 percent on Thursday. Stellar Biotechnologies priced 2.075 million units at price of $2.65 per unit.

Shares of Obalon Therapeutics, Inc. OBLN were down 33 percent to $2.90 after the company reported downbeat Q1 results.

Symantec Corporation SYMC was down, falling around 32 percent to $19.75. Symantec reported better-than-expected earnings for its fourth quarter, but issued weak second-quarter guidance.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded down 0.01 percent to $71.35 while gold traded up 0.22 percent to $1,325.20.

Silver traded up 0.39 percent Friday to $16.825, while copper rose 0.19 to $3.116.
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Eurozone

European shares were mostly higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 gained 0.01 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index rose 0.13 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index rose 0.9436 percent. Meanwhile the German DAX fell 0.31 percent, and the French CAC 40 declined 0.29 percent while U.K. shares rose 0.06 percent.

Economics

U.S. import prices rose 0.3 percent for April, versus economists’ expectations for a 0.5 percent increase.

The University of Michigan's consumer sentiment index was unchanged at 98.80 for April, versus prior reading of 98.80. Economists expected a reading of 98.40.

The Baker Hughes North American rig count report for the latest week will be released at 1:00 p.m. ET.