Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) on April 29, 2025 in New York City.
Angela Weiss | Afp | Getty Images
Stock futures tied to the S&P 500 were slightly lower early Wednesday as traders prepared for a blast of economic data to wrap up a tumultuous month of trading.
S&P 500 futures were off 0.4%, while Nasdaq 100 futures lost 0.7%. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures added 33 points, or 0.1%.
Stocks came under pressure after private payroll growth slowed in April, ADP reported Wednesday, with payrolls in the private sector rising by only 62,000 during the month. That’s well below the Dow Jones consensus estimate of 120,000 and down from the 147,000 in March.
Shares of artificial intelligence chip darling Nvidia fell more than 2% in the premarket in sympathy with Super Micro Computer’s more than 17% decline. That comes after Super Micro issued weak preliminary results for the fiscal third quarter, fanning concerns of weaker demand for AI servers.
The major averages ended Tuesday higher after Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick told CNBC that the White House was close to announcing a trade deal, but didn’t name the country. Later in the afternoon, President Donald Trump said that tariff negotiations with India are “coming along great” and that the U.S. could soon strike an agreement with the nation.
In the previous session, the 30-stock Dow climbed 300 points, while the S&P 500 gained 0.58%. It was the sixth straight winning day for both indexes, the longest since July for the Dow and since November for the S&P 500. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite gained 0.55%.
April has been a rocky month for markets. Trump’s sweeping “reciprocal” tariff announcement on April 2 set off a bout of volatile trading, but the major averages have been gradually narrowing the month’s losses. Consider that the S&P 500 briefly entered a bear market on April 7 but has since made a comeback, and is down just 0.9% this month. The Dow is on pace for a 3.5% loss in April, while the Nasdaq is about 0.9% higher.
“U.S. equities have picked up the pace as April 30 rapidly approaches, aiming for the monthly flatline and recouping losses following President Donald Trump’s tariff barrage,” said Jeff Buchbinder, LPL Financial chief equity strategist.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent noted on Tuesday that “individual investors have held tight, while institutional investors have panicked” in the recent market turmoil. These mom-and-pop investors have been buyers of this month’s sell-off.
Etsy gains after revenue beat
Etsy shares jumped more than 1% in premarket trading on the heels of the company’s first-quarter revenue topping Wall Street’s expectations.
The company posted $651 million in revenue for the period, above the $643 million that analysts surveyed by LSEG were expecting.
It also said that it’s “staying nimble in the face of uncertainty given recent tariff announcements and the fluid state of consumer confidence in our core markets.”
ETSY, 1-day
— Annie Palmer, Sean Conlon
Oddity Tech shares soar after earnings beat
Shares of beauty and tech retailer Oddity Tech surged about 17% in the premarket after its first-quarter earnings and revenue surpassed analyst estimates.
The company also raised its earnings and revenue forecast for 2025, saying that the headwinds related to President Donald Trump’s tariffs are “expected to be manageable and largely offset by cost efficiencies.”
The stock is on pace to close out April with gains, having risen about 9% month to date. The S&P 500, by comparison, has fallen about 1% in the same period.
ODD, 1-day
— Gabrielle Fonrouge, Sean Conlon
Citi upgrades Warby Parker to neutral rating
In a Wednesday note, Citi analyst Paul Lejuez upgraded eyewear retailer Warby Parker to a neutral rating from sell. However, Lejuez simultaneously lowered his target price to $17 from $23.
The analyst’s revised forecast is approximately 8% above where the stock closed on Tuesday. Shares of Warby Parker have plunged 35% so far this year. The analyst said that the stock’s recent pullback may be nearing its bottom.
WRBY YTD chart
“With shares down 41% since Feb 5, we believe the market has priced in near-term tariff pressures,” he wrote.
Lejuez added: “WRBY sells products that are medically necessary, and their optical labs are located in the U.S. However, 20% of WRBY’s COGS are sourced from China, and their mitigation efforts will likely set the stage for the rest of F25, as they will need to shift sourcing geographies for frames and/or increase price to offset the impact from tariffs. This is likely to cause some near-term margin pressure and volatility in results, which we believe the market now appropriately reflects, resulting in a more balanced risk/reward.”
— Lisa Kailai Han
Bad news for cookouts: Live cattle futures hit all-time high Tuesday
June live cattle futures rose to an all-time high of $2.10975 per pound on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange on Tuesday, bringing the year-to-date advance to 12.2%.
Each of the contacts, which began trading in late 1964, represents 40,000 pounds of live cattle.
June live cattle futures over the past year.
— Scott Schnipper, Gina Francolla
Starbucks, First Solar among stocks moving after hours
Several companies were making headlines after Tuesday’s market close. Here are a few:
- Starbucks — Shares of the coffee giant slipped 4% after Starbucks missed earnings and revenue estimates for its fiscal second quarter. The company also reported same-store sales figures that reflected a decline for the fifth straight quarter. Starbucks posted adjusted earnings per share of 41 cents on $8.76 billion in revenue, while analysts polled by LSEG expected 49 cents in earnings per share on $8.82 billion in revenue.
- First Solar — Shares of the solar technology company dropped 10% after First Solar offered weak guidance for the full year. The company sees earnings for the period ranging between $12.50 and $17.50 per share, while analysts polled by LSEG sought $18.14 per share. First-quarter earnings also missed the mark.
- Booking Holdings — Shares of the online travel booking services provider shed 3%. Gross bookings for the first quarter came in at $46.7 billion, only narrowly topping the $46.53 billion StreetAccount consensus estimate. Booking Holdings’ top- and bottom-line results for the period firmly beat expectations, however
For the full list, read here.
— Pia Singh
