news

S&P 500 Closes Higher to End Longest Losing Streak Since October

CNBC

Stocks rose Thursday as the S&P 500 broke its longest losing streak since October and Wall Street evaluated the odds of a recession ahead.

The S&P added 0.75% to finish at 3,963.51. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 183.56 points, or 0.55%, to settle at 33,781.48, while the Nasdaq Composite rallied 1.13% to end at 11,082.00.

Despite Thursday's gains, stocks are on pace for a losing week, with the Dow down 1.88%. The S&P and Nasdaq are slated to finish 2.66% and 3.31% lower, respectively.

"We had a strong selloff over the last few days and it doesn't take much to create even the underpinnings for a modest rally," said Quincy Krosby, LPL Financial's chief global strategist, referring to Thursday's jobless claims — specifically continuing claims —as the likely catalyst for the market action.

The data showed a modest uptick in claims{

Jobless claims edge up, continuing claims hit highest since February

Jobless claims showed a slight bounce higher last week to 230,000, which was exactly in line with the Dow Jones estimate, the Labor Department said Thursday.

The total for the week ended Dec. 3 represented an increase of 4,000 from the previous period and also matched the four-week moving average computed to smooth out weekly volatility.

Continuing claims, which run a week behind, rose 62,000 to 1.671 million, an increase of 62,000 to the highest level since Feb. 5.

Stock market futures nudged higher following the release.

—Jeff Cox

"Again, we're back to bad news being good news," Krosby said.

Semiconductor and technology stocks that have struggled during this year's selloff also gained during Thursday's session, with Nvidia and Amazon adding 6.5% and 2.1%, respectively. Activision Blizzard fell as the FTC sued to block its acquisition{

FTC sues to block Microsoft's Activision deal

The Federal Trade Commission is suing to block Microsoft's takeover of Activision Blizzard, the regulator announced Thursday.

Microsoft agreed to buy the video game company for $95 per share in January, though the deal has always been viewed with skepticism on Wall Street. Activision's stock has consistently traded well below the offer price, suggesting that many investors expected a challenge from antitrust regulators.

Microsoft was last up less than 1%, while Activision Blizzard fell more than 2%.

— Jesse Pound

GameStop rises after earnings

GameStop shares gained more than 6% on Thursday after posting results for its recent fiscal quarter.

The retailer, that's been widely connected with the meme stock craze, shared a decline in sales for its fiscal third quarter and reported a downdraft in its cash pile.

GameStop's CEO Matthew Furlong said on a call with investors Wednesday the company "is attempting to accomplish something unprecedented in retail ... seeking to transform a legacy business once on the brink of bankruptcy."

GameStop has attempted to rehabilitate its brick-and-mortar retail business and focus on its digital business as it works toward profitability.

Baird's Colin Sebastian, one of the few analysts still covering the retailer, suspended his rating and price target on the stock, predicting more store closures and workforce reductions ahead.

He said that "share price volatility is tied more closely to non-fundamental trading, social media influences and other factors that make it difficult, at least in the near term, to make a reasonable stock rating recommendation to institutional investors."

The stock is down about 35% this year.

— Samantha Subin, Lillian Rizzo

Investor attention remains laser-focused on next week's Federal Reserve policy meeting, where the central bank is widely expected to issue a 50 basis point interest rate hike. It's a smaller increase than the prior four rate hikes, but may do little to alleviate recession fears as the Fed attempt to squash surging prices.

Next week's November consumer price index should also provide more clarity on the direction of inflation, along with the producer price index slated for Friday.

Lea la cobertura del mercado de hoy en español aquí.

Stocks finish higher, S&P 500 breaks 5-day losing streak

Stocks closed higher, with the S&P 500 snapping its longest losing streak since October.

The S&P added 0.75% to finish at 3,963.51. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 183.56 points, or 0.55%, to settle at 33,781.48, while the Nasdaq Composite rallied 1.13% to end at 11,082.00.

— Samantha Subin

Market wants 'stable' rates, BTIG's Krinsky says

Investors are searching for stability following the recent move in bond yields, according to BTIG's Jonathan Krinsky.

"The market is still trying to decide if it wants higher or lower rates, but right now it likely just wants 'stable' rates," he wrote in a note to clients Thursday. "Bonds are extremely overbought by most metrics on a daily timeframe, so a pullback (higher rates) is likely in the near term. It will be interesting to see how equities react in that scenario."

Yields popped Thursday as equities rose, with the yield on the 10-year Treasury last trading up by 9 basis points to 3.498%. The 2-year Treasury yield was last up by 6 basis points at 4.32%.

Krinsky added that Thursday's bounce in equities isn't unusual, especially after the recent selloff and ahead of more inflation data.

"With that said, we would be surprised if things run too far to the upside, and expect 3,985-4,000 to cap any further rallies today," he wrote.

— Samantha Subin

Ned Davis Research shifts 5% of exposure to stocks from cash

Ned Davis Research is increasing its exposure to stocks, the firm said Wednesday.

The firm is now recommending moving 5% of allocations to stocks from cash, bringing its overall distribution to 55% stocks, 35% bonds and 10% cash.

Ed Clissold, the firm's chief U.S. strategist, said the decision weighed both October's short-term technical lifts being weighed and the fact that intermediate- and long-term breadth indicators did not confirm a new bull market. Intra-month models showing improvement were also part of the decision, he said.

But Clissold said the firm still recommends staying below the U.S. asset allocation model's 64.2% exposure to stocks. Clissold said the decision not to match the model stemmed from the lack of confirmation of a bull market from the intermediate and long-term indicators on top of broader concerns about the economy.

The model has the highest exposure to stocks since December 2021.

— Alex Harring

Stocks higher as final trading hour begins

Stocks were higher as the final hour of trading kicked off Thursday.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 100 points higher, or 0.3%. The S&P 500 added 0.5%, while the Nasdaq Composite rallied 0.9%.

— Samantha Subin

UBS names PVH a top-pick stock for 2023

The fashion company behind brands such as Calvin Klein and Tommy Hilfiger is a top pick at UBS.

The firm said PVH is one of the most likely to beat expectations for earnings next year out of the 40 stocks covered. Analyst Jay Sole reiterated the stock as a buy with a target of $100. That presents an upside of 37.3% over where it closed Wednesday.

Driving the optimism is a new plan to transform the business model. The stock is up 3.7% following the UBS note.

"PVH's new management team is simply modernizing a company that has fallen behind peers in some areas," Sole said in a note to clients.

CNBC Pro subscribers can read more here.

— Alex Harring

FTC sues to block Microsoft's Activision deal

The Federal Trade Commission is suing to block Microsoft's takeover of Activision Blizzard, the regulator announced Thursday.

Microsoft agreed to buy the video game company for $95 per share in January, though the deal has always been viewed with skepticism on Wall Street. Activision's stock has consistently traded well below the offer price, suggesting that many investors expected a challenge from antitrust regulators.

Microsoft was last up less than 1%, while Activision Blizzard fell more than 2%.

— Jesse Pound

Cowen bullish on Boeing heading into 2023

Cowen named Boeing one of its favorite plays in the aerospace & defense industry, saying in a note to clients that improving industry fundamentals should boost its orderbook.

Analyst Cai von Rumohr wrote that aircraft orders could see a steady recovery next year as global travel continues to rebound from the pandemic.

"Widebody orders should pick up in 2023 as international traffic recovers and replacement becomes a larger issue, particularly for widebodies, where populations are older. We think investors could bid up aerospace valuations as they realize this is more than just a short cyclical upswing," the note said.

Boeing could see cash margins on its 787 planes top 2018 levels, Cowen said.

"BA has leveraged earnings/cash upside from volume recovery and current headcounts geared for much higher production rates," the note said.

Cowen has an outperform rating on the stock and sees upside to $230 per share. Boeing was trading at around $181 per share on Thursday afternoon.

— Jesse Pound, Michael Bloom

BofA sees Fed changing longer-term outlook on interest rates

The Federal Reserve next week will raise its benchmark borrowing rate by half a percentage point and indicate that it will hike more than its last estimate, according to Bank of America projections.

Keeping with market expectations, the bank's economic team sees the rate-setting Federal Open Market Committee approving a 0.5 percentage point move that would take the fed funds rate to a target range of 4.25%-4.5%.

Other than that, BofA sees little change to the post-meeting statement and expects most estimates in the FOMC's updated Summary of Economic Projections to change little for GDP, inflation and unemployment.

However, the economists think the big change will be in how are officials expect to see rates climbing and how long they'll stay elevated. BofA thinks the Fed will hike half a point in December and February, followed by a quarter-point move in March before pausing, taking the terminal rate to a range of 5%-5.25%.

The bank also sees Fed Chairman Jerome Powell to take a hawkish tone at his post-meeting news conference.

"We expect Chair Powell to push back against easing in financial conditions and remind investors that a slower pace of hikes does not mean a lower terminal rate, and the Fed's job is far from done," the economists said in a client note.

—Jeff Cox

Piper Sandler calls JPMorgan Chase `gold standard' of banking, initiates with buy rating, $150 target

Jamie Dimon, CEO of JP Morgan Chase, appears on CNBC's Squawk Box at the 2020 World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland on Jan. 22nd, 2020.
Adam Galica | CNBC
Jamie Dimon, CEO of JP Morgan Chase, appears on CNBC's Squawk Box at the 2020 World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland on Jan. 22nd, 2020.

Piper Sandler analyst R. Scott Siefers called JPMorgan Chase his top pick among the largest U.S. banks.

He kicked off his coverage of JPMorgan on Thursday  with an "overweight" rating and a price target of $150. He also initiated coverage of Bank of America and Citigroup with "neutral" ratings and reiterated his "overweight" rating on Wells Fargo.

JPMorgan is the "gold standard in banking, and worth the well-deserved premium," Siefers said.

"To us, JPM represents the strongest and most complete banking franchise in the country, if not the world," he said. "Retail, commercial, investment banking, asset management, payments, technological innovation; it holds a leading position nearly across the board."

Shares of JPMorgan have held up relatively well this year; they are down about 17%, compared with the 25% decline of the KBW Bank Index.

JPMorgan and Bank of America are the country's two most complete banking franchises, while Citigroup and Wells Fargo are turnaround stories, he said. Together, they hold nearly 40% of the country's deposits, he noted. 

— Hugh Son

Chipotle is a top pick in 2023 for Bernstein

While investors might overlook Chipotle, it's a top 2023 pick for Bernstein, analyst Danilo Gargiulo wrote in a Dec. 8 note.

The company is much more recession proof that it initially appears, and there are low-hanging fruit in 2023 for the chain as the lower-income cohort grows and inflation eases that should boost margins.

"Attracting high-income consumers, leveraging a strong debt-free balance sheet to fuel growth, and with a track-record of growth stickiness during past recessions, CMG should compound even in softer macro conditions," Gargiulo wrote.

Currently, Chipotle's valuation provides an attractive entry point - the stock is down nearly 14% year to date. Beyond short-term opportunities, Bernstein also sees the long-term growth algorithm intact for Chipotle.

Bernstein has an outperform rating and $1,900 price target on shares of the restaurant. That implies a more than 25% upside.

—Carmen Reinicke

Goldman says holiday spending is 'flattish' and prices are falling

Expectations for a more promotional holiday season are playing out, according to Goldman Sachs.

The firm is still finalizing its retail sales estimates, but it is starting to look like a 0.2% decline in November retail sales from October and a flat reading for December, Chief Economist Jan Hatzius wrote in a research note Thursday.

Adobe's panel of online retailers suggests a below-trend report for November, Hatzius said. Adobe found online spending rose 4% year-over-year during the week of Black Friday. That's better than last year, but below the 10.8% pace of this year's third-quarter e-commerce growth from the Commerce Department.

Fiserv's credit card spending and Redbook's department store panel, which are helpful gauges of spending at brick-and-mortar stores, showed that shoppers turned up to hunt bargins during the Black Friday week. However, sales weren't enough to offset the weak start to the month. This means November growth will be modest compared with October.

Retailers pulled demand forward into October, Hatzius said. Amazon hosted a second Prime Day sale and rivals responded with their own competing promotions. The month's sales also were helped by stimulus checks in California.

Discounting has been fierce, based on work by Goldman's retail analysts and Adobe data. Take online apparel prices. In November, prices fell 15.5%, Adobe said. That could put pressure on retail profits.

—Christina Cheddar Berk

Lowe's is 'attractive' and can rally another 34%, says Bank of America

Lowe's is one of the more attractive stories in hardline retail when it comes to total shareholder return, according to Bank of America.

The home improvement retailer outlined scenarios for 2023 and beyond during its analyst and investor conference on Wednesday. Lowe's said it is expecting a moderate or robust market scenario with a range of $8 billion to $92 billion in sales for its U.S. operations and same-store sales growth between -4% and 2% in 2023, BofA Securities analyst Elizabeth Suzuki wrote in a note Wednesday.

Suzuki is estimating 1% same-store-sales growth and operating margins in-line with the retailer's assumption of 13.3% and 13.9%. However, even in more bearish scenarios, Lowe's still looks cheap, she said. If home improvement sales normalize to pre-Covid levels, the implied change in year-over-year home improvement sales would be -16%. Add a housing crisis to the mix and sales could fall 25% year over year, she said.

"LOW shares, which are currently trading at a P/E of 14.2x our 2023E, are 2.6 turns cheaper than the 10-year pre-COVID average 1-year forward P/E of 16.8x. This suggests that LOW shares are already baking in a full reversion back to pre-COVID home improvement trends," Suzuki said.

Her price target of $278 implies more than 34% upside from Wednesday's close.

— Michelle Fox

Interest on 30-year fixed rate mortgages falls

The cost of financing a home has ticked lower for a fourth consecutive week, according to Freddie Mac.

The weekly average rate on a 30-year mortgage is now 6.33%, down from 6.49% last week. Over the past month, the interest rate on these loans has come down about 75 basis points: On Nov. 10, the average rate on a fixed 30-year mortgage was 7.08%.

Even with the decline in the short term, the cost of financing a home loan is up significantly from a year ago. Last year at this time, the rate on a 30-year mortgage averaged 3.1%.

Despite the decline in rates, demand for home loans continues to decline. Mortgage application volume slid 1.9% last week, compared to the week before that, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

Darla Mercado, Diana Olick

UBS upgrades Hershey, expects company to keep beating expectations

UBS upgraded Hershey, calling attention to its pattern of beating expectations for a quarter and raising expectations for future runs through 2025.

Analyst Cody Ross upped the stock to buy from neutral and increased the price target to $269, which implies a 13.7% upside from Wednesday's close.

Near-term confidence "is underpinned by wrap-around price benefits in 2023 coupled with capacity additions," he said in a note to clients. Meanwhile, long-term expectations are "driven by a more accommodative operating environment in Confection and a long runway of growth for sizable Snacks business."

The candy giant was trading up 1.6% Thursday. Its stock has gained 22.3% since the start of 2022, bucking the broader market downturn.

— Alex Harring

Baird downgrades Salesforce, says leadership departures and future hiring outlook could hurt software company

Baird downgraded Salesforce to neutral from outperform, noting a recent exodus of leadership and that the economic outlook going forward will hurt the stock.

Analyst Rob Oliver slashed his target to $150 from $200, which implies an upside of about 15% compared with where it closed Wednesday. He said the company will be particularly hurt by layoffs or slowed hiring within corporate America, as the software's success is based on as many employees of companies using it as possible.

"We believe the combination of macro headwinds and seat-based software pressure (driven by recent workforce cuts/hiring slowdown) could pressure revenue growth near term," Oliver said in a note to clients. "The increase in executive turnover ... in aggregate are a surprise and could portend execution risk."

Salesforce fell slightly Thursday. The stock has lost about 48.7% since the start of 2022.

CNBC Pro subscribers can read more about Oliver's downgrade here.

— Alex Harring

Oil futures give up big gains, shrugging off Keystone pipeline shutdown

Oil futures erased early sharp gains as concerns faded that a shutdown of the Keystone Pipeline would have a significant impact on supplies.

According to news reports, Canada's TC Energy said Thursday it shut the Keystone after an oil spill into a Kansas creek. It is unclear how long the line will be closed. The pipeline is the main artery for the shipment of Canadian oil from Alberta to Gulf Coast and Midwest refineries.

"It's not expected to last or have a meaningful impact on supplies," said John Kilduff of Again Capital.

West Texas Intermediate oil futures were flat at $72.04 per barrel, after trading as high as $75.39. Oil had also been higher, as investors were optimistic about a pick-up in demand due to the anticipated reopening of the Chinese economy. Oil also rose as there were signs that some tankers filled by Russian crude were delayed due to new G-7 price caps.

— Patti Domm

Two thirds of Thursday's S&P 500 52-week highs are also at all-time records

Six of the nine 52-week highs in the S&P 500 Thursday have also reached all-time highs, among them a pair of consumer staples makers and one stock that's also in the Dow Jones Industrial Average (Merck).

  • Ulta (ULTA): trading at all-time high, going back to 2007 IPO
  • Campbell Soup (CPB): highest since March 2020
  • General Mills (GIS): highest ever, going back to 1927
  • Hershey (HSY): all-time high
  • Arch Capital (ACGL): all-time high back to when it began trading on Nasdaq in 2000
  • Cigna (CI): all-time high back to 1972 IPO
  • Merck (MRK): all-time high
  • Air Products (APD): highest since Nov. 2020
  • Las Vegas Sands Corp (LVS): highest since July 2021

There were also three 52-week lows in the S&P 500 Thursday, one of them also appearing in the Dow Industrials (Salesforce).

  • Lincoln National (LNC): lowest since Oct. 2020
  • Salesforce.com (CRM): lowest since March 2020
  • NRG Energy (NRG): lowest since June 2021

— Scott Schnipper, Christopher Hayes

Part of the yield curve is now most inverted since 2001

The inversion of the 3-month and 10-year Treasury yield curve is now the deepest since January 2001 at nearly 90 basis points, according to CNBC data. The short end of the curve soared to 4.30% from just 0.05% at the beginning of the year as traders priced in higher interest rates.

The yield curve inverts when shorter-term Treasury rates rise above longer-term yields. Many economists view the 2-year 10-year part of the yield curve as more predictive of a potential recession.

Cathie Wood pointed to that part of the yield curve, which is the most inverted since the early 1980s. The popular investor said the bond market is signaling that the Federal Reserve is making a "serious mistake" with its jumbo rate hikes.

— Yun Li

Information technology, energy lead S&P 500 higher

The S&P 500 traded higher Thursday, boosted by gains from information technology and energy, which rallied more than 1% each.

Information technology benefitted thanks to gains from semiconductor stocks such as Nvidia, Applied Materials, Qualcomm and Micron Technology.

Gains from Chevron, Exxon, and Halliburton bolstered energy.

The rally in tech stocks also pushed the Nasdaq Composite up 1%, as names like Apple, Amazon and Meta Platforms pushed higher. The S&P last traded about 1% higher after five straight days of losses.

— Samantha Subin

GameStop rises after earnings

GameStop shares gained more than 6% on Thursday after posting results for its recent fiscal quarter.

The retailer, that's been widely connected with the meme stock craze, shared a decline in sales for its fiscal third quarter and reported a downdraft in its cash pile.

GameStop's CEO Matthew Furlong said on a call with investors Wednesday the company "is attempting to accomplish something unprecedented in retail ... seeking to transform a legacy business once on the brink of bankruptcy."

GameStop has attempted to rehabilitate its brick-and-mortar retail business and focus on its digital business as it works toward profitability.

Baird's Colin Sebastian, one of the few analysts still covering the retailer, suspended his rating and price target on the stock, predicting more store closures and workforce reductions ahead.

He said that "share price volatility is tied more closely to non-fundamental trading, social media influences and other factors that make it difficult, at least in the near term, to make a reasonable stock rating recommendation to institutional investors."

The stock is down about 35% this year.

— Samantha Subin, Lillian Rizzo

Boeing, Chevron boost Dow

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rallied Thursday, last trading up 190 points, or about 0.6%, thanks to gains from Boeing and Chevron.

Boeing's stock added 4%, while Chevron rose 2% after upping its capital spending budget.

Caterpillar, Cisco, Nike and 3M built on the Dow's rally, rising more than 1% each.

— Samantha Subin

Stocks open higher, S&P 500 attempts to snap five days of losses

Stocks opened higher Thursday after the S&P 500 posted five days of losses.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average futures rose 126 points, or 0.4%. Both the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite added 0.4%.

— Samantha Subin

Argus upgrades AT&T to a buy, calls wireless business a 'star'

Argus upgraded shares of AT&T to a buy from a hold rating, saying the telecom stock could rally on the expansion of its customer base and increased spending in 5G.

"Investment spending on 5G and fiber broadband networks in addition to debt reduction are its critical strategic priorities in the near term, toward creating the underlying framework for sustainable long-term growth," wrote analyst Joseph Bonner in a note to clients Wednesday.

The company's spinoff of WarnerMedia to Discovery also enables it to focus on its telecommunications business. Recent attention toward debt reduction and refinancing will also help AT&T weather the current macro picture, he said.

"AT&T's wireless business has been a star in 2022 as the company has added substantial numbers of subscribers despite a price increase," Bonner wrote. "Although it has not gained as many subscribers as industry leader T-Mobile, it has done better than Verizon's subscriber losses and anemic numbers."

AT&T's stock has performed solidly this year despite the broader market shakeup, with shares up nearly 4%. The firm's $24 price target suggests a more than 24% potential upside from Wednesday's close.

— Samantha Subin

Jobless claims edge up, continuing claims hit highest since February

Jobless claims showed a slight bounce higher last week to 230,000, which was exactly in line with the Dow Jones estimate, the Labor Department said Thursday.

The total for the week ended Dec. 3 represented an increase of 4,000 from the previous period and also matched the four-week moving average computed to smooth out weekly volatility.

Continuing claims, which run a week behind, rose 62,000 to 1.671 million, an increase of 62,000 to the highest level since Feb. 5.

Stock market futures nudged higher following the release.

—Jeff Cox

Stocks to watch before the bell

These are some of the stocks moving before the bell Thursday:

Ciena – The networking equipment maker's stock surged more than 17% after a substantial top and bottom line beat in its latest quarter.

GameStop – GameStop reported a wider-than-expected quarterly loss and sales that fell short of predictions. CEO Matt Furlong said the company had completed necessary investments and would be very judicious in future spending. GameStop moved between gains and losses in premarket trading.

Rent The Runway – Rent The Runway surged more than 16% after its quarterly revenue came in well above Wall Street forecasts and the fashion rental company issued an upbeat sales forecast. The company also said its restructuring process was substantially complete.

Read the full list of stocks moving here.

— Peter Schacknow, Samantha Subin

Tesla shares fall after report on Shanghai factory updates

Tesla shares fell almost 2% in premarket trading following a Bloomberg report that the company will shorten factory shifts in its factory in Shanghai and delay new hires.

Shifts will be reduced to 9.5 hours from 11.5 hours, effective Monday, according to the report. The news has investors worried that Chinese demand for electric cars isn't meeting expectations. Tesla recently lowered prices in China to help drum up demand.

— Tanaya Macheel

Chevron rises as company ups capital spending

Chevron gained 1.3% during Thursday's premarket after the company lifted its capital spending expectations for 2023.

The company said Wednesday it will assign $17 billion to its capital expenditures budget next year. That's near the top end of the itss guidance expectations.

— Samantha Subin

Exxon shares rise as oil giant boosts buyback

Exxon shares gained more than 1% before the bell Thursday after the company boosted its stock buybacks and shared plans to potentially double earnings and cash flows by 2027.

The oil giant said it would repurchase $50 billion worth of stock through 2024. That includes $15 billion by the end of this year.

— Samantha Subin

Poor PC demand in 2023 will continue to weigh on Intel, Citi says

The pain may not be over for shares of Intel, according to Citi.

"It appears the share gains of Intel's CPU business in 3Q22 have reversed and we expect AMD to gain back market share in 4Q22," opening a negative catalyst watch on the chipmaker. "However, we expect a poor PC environment to persist into 2023 and downside to consensus estimates for Intel and AMD from the PC and data center food chains."

It's been a difficult year for the personal computer market as companies grapple with dwindling demand and sizeable inventories. Now, orders within the data center end market are fading, with a correction likely to occur during the first half of next year, wrote analyst Christopher Danely in a note to clients Thursday.

Within this area, Danely sees the biggest downside risks stemming from the enterprise market. While cautious on shares of Advanced Micro Devices, Danely called it one of the bank's "favored names" coming out of the pending recession.

Intel shares are down 45% this year.

— Samantha Subin

UBS upgrades Hershey

Hershey shares rose more than 1% after UBS upgraded the candy giant to buy from hold.

"Our [near-term] confidence is underpinned by wrap-around price benefits in 2023 coupled with capacity additions, while our [long-term] confidence is driven by a more accommodative operating environment in Confection and a long runway of growth for sizable Snacks business," UBS said in a note Wednesday.

CNBC Pro subscribers can read the full story here.

— Alex Harring

Retail traders think stocks will bottom in 2023 — and they plan to load up on Big Tech, survey says

Retail investors haven't been frightened away by the comedown in stocks this year.

In 2023, most individual investors plan to invest the same amount or more despite the cost-of-living crisis, according to a new survey from London-based investing insights platform Finimize.

The majority (72%) of the traders plan to back individual stocks next year, with 64% favoring Big Tech names like AppleMicrosoftGoogle and Meta.

Read the full story here.

CNBC Pro: Bank of America says these two global chip stocks could rise by 75% on EV car sales

A shortage of semiconductors during a boom in electric-vehicle sales could help raise profits at a handful of chip makers, according to Bank of America.

The Wall Street bank predicted that two chip stocks could see their share prices rise by more than 75% on the back of that trend.

CNBC Pro subscribers can read more here.

— Ganesh Rao

GameStop shares rise after earnings

GameStop reported a decline in revenue in its most recent quarter, as well as a sharp drop in its cash pile, as the video game retailer attempts to build up its digital strategy. The earnings results can't be compared with estimates as too few analysts cover the company.

Still, the retail stock was up more than 4% in extended trading Wednesday.

— Sarah Min, Lillian Rizzo

Jerome Powell 'can't pause' now, SoFi's Liz Young says

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell can't pause in his rate hiking campaign now, according to SoFi's Liz Young.

"If you're suggesting that him saving us would be a pause, a pivot, a downshift — something dovish — that would be the wrong move at this point. We still have CPI at about 7%. He's backed into a corner," Young said Wednesday on CNBC's "Closing Bell: Overtime."

The head of investment strategy at SoFi pointed to November's jobs report, which showed higher wage growth than expected. Average hourly earnings rose 0.6% last month, which was double what was forecasted by economists.

"That was not good news. So then you've got this fear of a wage price spiral that is still here hanging over our heads," Young said.

"He can't pause. He definitely can't pivot. I don't think he can pause yet, either. So that's where I get to the point where it's difficult for me to not see a recession in this scenario," she added.

— Sarah Min

CNBC Pro: Is Apple a stock to buy or avoid? Two investors face off

It's been a tumultuous year for tech companies, as investors flee growth stocks in the face of rising interest rates, and other headwinds.

Apple has held up better amid the tech carnage, although there have been some headwinds.

Two investors faced off on CNBC's "Street Signs Asia" on Wednesday to make a case for and against buying the stock.

CNBC Pro subscribers can read more here.

— Weizhen Tan

Rent the Runway shares surge after earnings

Shares of Rent the Runway soared more than 22% in after-hours trading Wednesday after the online retailer topped revenue expectations in its latest quarter, and raised its guidance for the year. Rising inflation spurred shoppers to save money with borrowed designer clothes.

During the regular session Wednesday, the stock closed at $1.36.

— Sarah Min, Melissa Repko

Stock futures open little changed

U.S. stock futures were little changed on Wednesday night following a fifth straight day of losses for the S&P 500 as Wall Street weighed the likelihood of a recession.

Dow Jones Industrial Average futures dropped 9 points, or 0.03%. S&P 500 futures lost 0.03%, while Nasdaq 100 futures slipped 0.02%.

— Sarah Min

Copyright CNBC
Contact Us