Appreciate Newsletter

Market Watch

Nasdaq Hits Record High

The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite climbed to a fresh record high on Friday, powered by megacap tech stocks such as Meta Platforms, Amazon, and Microsoft. The index notched its seventh weekly gain in the process, advancing 0.2%.?

Comparatively, the S&P 500 and Dow snapped a six-week winning streak. The flagship S&P 500 lost almost 1% last week, while the decline for the Dow Jones index was higher at 2.7%.?

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Market Movers

McDonald’s- Not Lovin’ It

McDonald’s reported its worst weekly performance in over four years, falling close to 8% in the past five trading sessions.?

Source: Inc.com

On Friday, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed that a deadly E. coli outbreak linked to the fast-food giant’s Quarter Pounders has led to 75 cases in 13 states.?

Out of the information available for 61 patients, 22 have been hospitalized, while two have developed a serious condition that could lead to kidney failure. All 42 patients interviewed by the CDC reported eating at McDonald’s, 39 of whom reported eating a beef hamburger.?

The stock has been under pressure since the CDC announced the outbreak on Tuesday as its Quarter Pound hamburgers are a core menu for McDonald’s, raking in billions of dollars annually.?

Tesla Charges On

Last Thursday, Tesla reported its best trading session since 2013, rising over 20%, following its Q3 results.?

In the September quarter:

Tesla reported revenue of $25.18 billion, an increase of 8% year over year. However, it missed estimates of $25.37 billion. Notably, Tesla’s adjusted earnings of $0.72 per share crushed estimates of $0.58.?

The bottom line was boosted by $739 million in regulatory credits while it also earned $326 million from its full self-driving supervised system.?

Tesla CEO Elon Musk projected vehicle growth to range between 20% and 30% in 2025, driven by lower-cost vehicles, while analysts forecast delivery growth of 15%.?

Musk claimed that Tesla would conduct driverless ride-hailing in California and Texas next year in existing cars as it plans to begin manufacturing the recently unveiled robotaxi in 2026.?

The rally increased Musk’s net worth by $30 billion to $274 billion, putting him $60 billion ahead of Oracle Founder Larry Ellison.?

Luxury Merger Blocked

A U.S. federal judge blocked Tapestry’s acquisition of Capri following a brief trial in September. While Tapestry stock surged 10% after the order, Capri’s shares plunged roughly 50%.

Source: CNBC

The proposed merger would integrate two of the largest luxury houses in the U.S., bringing brands such as Michael Kors, Versace, Kate Spade, Coach, and Jimmy Choo under one company.?

The longtime competitors announced an acquisition deal valued at $8.5 billion in 2024, but the Federal Trade Commission blocked it in April. The regulatory body argued that the merger would harm consumers by making the affordable handbag market less accessible.?

Alternatively, Tapestry emphasized that the merger would benefit consumers as the combined entity would keep up with trends faster and offer better products and distribution.?

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Big Tech

Apple’s iPhone 16 Sales Are Tepid

According to investment firm KeyBanc Capital Markets, a recent consumer survey indicated a lack of growth for Apple, driving the stock lower by 1% in early market trading on Friday.?

KeyBanc analyst Brandon Nispel downgraded Apple shares to “underweight” from “sector weight” while lowering the target price to $200.?

Source: BusinessofApps

The survey showed that close to 60% of the respondents are interested in upgrading to the iPhone 16, 61% of which are also interested in the iPhone SE.?

Now, the iPhone SE is a lower-priced device and may not be purely additive to overall iPhone sales while weighing on profit margins. Additionally, Nispel warned that the iPhone SE could be “cannibalistic to iPhone 16 sales.”?

Satya Nadella Rakes In $30 Million

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella saw his total compensation increase by 63% or over $30 million in fiscal 2024, despite asking for a pay cut. Nadella earned $79.1 million in fiscal 2024 (which ended in June), most of which was paid in stock.?

CEO pay on Wall Street continues to outpace employee salaries in the U.S. In the past decade, CEO pay at S&P 500 companies rose by over $4 million to an average of $17.7 million in 2023.?

Comparatively, the U.S. worker saw a wage increase of $18,240, with an average pay of $65,470 in 2023.?

Broadcom’s CEO, Hock Tan, tops the CEO pay list with an annual compensation of $161.8 million in 2023.?

Alphabet Invests $5.6 Billion in Waymo

Google’s parent company, Alphabet, closed a $5.6 billion funding round in its autonomous vehicle venture, Waymo. Other investors in the series C investment included Andreessen Horowitz, Fidelity, Tiger Global, and Silver Lake.?

The funding round should help Waymo expand its robotaxi service beyond Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Phoenix, where it currently operates.

To date, Waymo has raised more than $11 billion, aiming to gain an early-mover advantage in the robotaxi space.?

While several other companies are investing heavily in autonomous vehicles, Waymo is the only company operating a commercial robotaxi fleet in multiple U.S. areas.?

With more than 100,000 weekly trips, Waymo recently partnered with Uber to launch the service in Austin, Texas.?