Stock Market Today: S&P 500, Dow, Nasdaq Pull Back From Records as IBM and NOW Tumble, Hormuz Tensions Flare

The main US equity benchmarks surrendered ground Thursday morning, giving back a slice of the remarkable advance that had carried both the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite to fresh closing records the prior session. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was hovering near 49,463.16, down about 26.87 points, while the S&P 500 oscillated around 7,141.74 with prints flickering between a gain of 0.03% and a loss of 0.1%, barely clinging to the flat line throughout the opening stretch. The Nasdaq Composite changed hands near 24,633.18, off approximately 24.39 points, or 0.14%, with intraday swings reaching as deep as 0.5% before the bid returned. The Russell 2000 bucked the broader softness with a gain of 4.87 points to 2,790.25, a quiet signal that small-caps — so often left behind during megacap-led rallies — were drawing selective buying interest. The Barron's 400 added 0.72 to 1,526.12, reinforcing the notion that the pullback was not a broad-based capitulation but a concentrated reset in a handful of names that dominate index weightings. The context matters: Wednesday delivered a 1.05% pop in the S&P 500, a 1.64% jump in the Nasdaq and a 340.65-point gain in the Dow worth 0.69%, with the Nasdaq and S&P 500 notching their fourth record closes across six sessions and the Nasdaq registering its fifth intraday high in that span.

Hormuz Standoff Drives the Risk-Off Tape and Pushes Brent Toward $105

Appetite for risk was handicapped by a fresh flare-up in the Strait of Hormuz that dismantled the assumption that Tuesday's extension of the US-Iran ceasefire would steady the complex. US forces reportedly boarded at least one sanctioned vessel in the Indian Ocean carrying Iranian crude, and separate reporting out of Asia suggested as many as three Iranian tankers were intercepted in regional waters. The rhetoric escalated after a Truth Social post ordered the US Navy to "shoot and kill any boat" suspected of laying mines in the Strait, arriving less than 24 hours after Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy seized two container ships "for violating protocols." Vice President JD Vance reportedly paused his trip to the peace talks after Tehran negotiators signaled they would not attend, with Iranian state media describing further dialogue with Washington as a "waste of time." The oil complex responded with conviction. West Texas Intermediate futures (CL00) traded at $93.30 a barrel, up 0.34, after briefly reaching higher levels earlier in the session, while Brent (BRN00) added 0.55% to $102.47, having punched above $105 at the peak of the morning's anxiety before paring. International Energy Agency chief Fatih Birol, speaking from Singapore, framed the backdrop in stark language — the world is facing the "biggest energy security threat in history," with European jet fuel supplies set for difficult days ahead. That characterization is not idle commentary; it reinforces why the tape cannot shrug off Hormuz headlines the way it did earlier in April.

Dollar Climbs to a 10-Day High as Treasury Yields Reverse Overnight Selling

The US Dollar Index (DXY) firmed to roughly 98.55 to 98.65, a 10-day high, propelled by a combination of safe-haven demand and America's position as a net oil exporter — a status that increasingly functions as a structural tailwind for the greenback whenever the Middle East erupts. The 10-year Treasury yield hovered near 4.29%, down about 1.6 basis points from Wednesday's 4.31% close, as buyers stepped in to fade the overnight selloff once the softer jobless claims print and broader geopolitical caution shifted sentiment toward duration. Gold futures (GC00) held near $4,751.10, off a marginal 0.04%, with some prints registering $4,740, reflecting consolidation rather than capitulation for a metal that has ridden the entire geopolitical cycle to elevated territory. The combination of a firm dollar, gold at elevated levels and a 10-year yield refusing to break meaningfully in either direction tells a nuanced story: the bond market is not pricing a growth shock, the currency market is pricing a modest flight to quality and the metals complex is pricing persistence of geopolitical friction well beyond any near-term ceasefire headlines.

IBM Strips Roughly 135 Points From the Dow Despite a Double Beat

International Business Machines (IBM) was the most destructive force on the blue-chip index, printing $231.12 and shedding $20.74, an 8.23% decline that, on its own, accounted for roughly 135 points of downside on the price-weighted Dow. The reaction looked counterintuitive at first glance because the quarter itself was a double beat. Big Blue reported adjusted earnings of $1.91 per share on revenue of $15.9 billion, both ahead of consensus, and the Software and Consulting segments delivered results that should have supported sentiment. The friction point lived in the guidance. Management held the full-year framing at revenue growth of at least 5%, consistent with prior messaging, and the market had been positioned for a beat-and-raise sequence given the strength of the first-quarter print. When the raise did not materialize, the crowd that had been layering into the name through the early-April rally hit the exits. The sell-side response fractured in a way that tells the story of a mature franchise in transition. Goldman Sachs kept its buy rating while trimming the price target to $335 from $365, with analyst James Schneider highlighting operational efficiency programs that are offsetting dilution from the Confluent acquisition closed in March and projecting free cash flow to drift higher through the year. Bank of America stayed with a buy. Morgan Stanley's Erik Woodring held at equal-weight, writing that the first-quarter results did not move the narrative in either direction. UBS maintained a neutral posture, pointing to concerns that the as-expected guide does not address long-term AI-related pressure on the software franchise. The technical setup puts the stock close to levels that should invite disciplined accumulation. The verdict here is Hold with a bias to add on a retest of the $225 area, since the fundamentals do not support the punishment the tape is handing out, though momentum needs proof before buyers can realistically target the $260 zone again. Notable: IBM had already entered the session down 15% year-to-date, which means a fresh 8% leg lower is compounding an existing drawdown — that kind of setup tends to produce sharp reflex rallies once forced selling exhausts itself.

ServiceNow (NOW) Sinks 16% as Subscription Guidance Disappoints the AI Bulls

ServiceNow (NOW) was the most punished name across the entire S&P 500, collapsing 16.21% to $86.37, a loss of $16.71 per share. On the numbers, the quarter was a beat: first-quarter adjusted EPS of 97 cents topped the 96-cent consensus, and revenue of $3.77 billion edged the $3.74 billion bar analysts polled by LSEG had set. Yet the reaction function exposed how rarefied the air has become around AI-leveraged enterprise software. Management attributed softer-than-hoped subscription revenue growth to the "ongoing conflict in the region," and a cut to margin guidance amplified the selling pressure. Goldman Sachs analyst Gabriela Borges warned that a durable catalyst for a software sector rally may now be pushed into the second half of the year, after a 12-day stretch delivered a roughly 19% bounce in the software cohort that appears to have exhausted its runway on this print. The broader read-through extends well beyond NOW itself — Borges flagged that several of the themes from the call will likely recur through earnings season, making it "challenging for the group to collectively outperform." The longer-tail message is harder: it is still early to see AI-driven product cycles move the needle on the large SaaS revenue bases that define this cohort. That said, 30 of 49 sell-side analysts tracked by CNBC's consensus tool still carry a buy rating, and 14 of those rate it a strong buy. The stock is now trading at levels that price in a worst-case continuation of the theme. For a franchise with proven AI product traction, even if monetization is arriving more slowly than bulls hoped, this looks like an overshoot. The call is Buy on weakness, favoring scaled entries rather than a single print, with the first technical test of resilience sitting near $83 and a recovery path that requires a clean move above $95 to neutralize the damage.

Tesla (TSLA) Beats the Quarter but Musk's $25 Billion Capex Warning Rattles Holders

Tesla (TSLA) printed $376.15, down $11.36, or 2.93%, with intraday declines reaching 5% as the tape digested a split narrative. The headline quarter was solid. Adjusted earnings of 41 cents per share beat the 37-cent consensus estimate compiled by LSEG, and the initial post-close reaction sent shares up 4% in extended trading. That gain evaporated once Elon Musk signaled on the call that capital expenditure would rise "substantially" to $25 billion this year, funding the dual-track pivot into AI-enabled self-driving vehicles and humanoid robotics. For a name that is priced on future cash generation rather than near-term earnings, a capex expansion of that scale forces a re-underwriting of the free cash flow profile in the intermediate term. Option implied moves into the print had telegraphed a wide band, and the stock delivered one — just in the opposite direction from what the pre-close pop suggested. The stance on Tesla is Hold, acknowledging that the Optimus humanoid and Robotaxi optionality remains tangible but demanding discipline on entry given the valuation has to absorb the spend. A break below $360 would reset the risk/reward calculus in a way that favors adding exposure. A reclaim of $400 with confirmed Cybercab or Optimus operational milestones would reopen the bull case and justify fresh capital commitment.

Microsoft (MSFT) and the Tech Sector Drag the S&P 500 Lower

Microsoft (MSFT) dropped 2.74% to $421.04, an $11.88 decline that positioned it as the single heaviest weight pulling down the S&P 500 information technology sector. That segment was down 0.9%, per FactSet data at last check, establishing itself as the worst-performing group in the benchmark on the session. Given that MSFT still has its own earnings print on the forward calendar, the magnitude of the move looks more like pre-earnings de-risking and broader tech rotation than a fundamental deterioration in the franchise. That creates opportunity. The call is Buy on any dip toward the $415 area. UBS analysis underlines why the tape is this sensitive to individual tech names right now: the technology sector has accounted for roughly 57% of the rebound off the March lows despite carrying just a 35% weight in the index. Concentration of that magnitude means every earnings miss in the complex has an outsized impact, and every guidance disappointment has amplified consequences across the cohort. The firm also notes that of the 4.2-percentage-point increase in MSCI US earnings revisions year-to-date, 78% is attributable to the technology sector. When leadership narrows this aggressively, the tape gets fragile, and the risk management discipline that matters most is scaling positions to the volatility rather than to the conviction.

Intel (INTC) Climbs Into Its Print as Options Market Braces for Volatility

Intel (INTC) added $2.08, or 3.19%, to $67.35, building momentum into a post-close earnings report where the options market was pricing a chunky implied move. The setup is interesting in a specific way — the stock has rallied directly into the number and is trading near resistance, so the risk/reward skew favors caution into the event rather than adding conviction. The stance is a trading Hold into results with readiness to fade a gap-up above $72 and willingness to accumulate on any post-print weakness that respects the $62 level. The semiconductor complex around INTC remains extended — the VanEck Semiconductor ETF (SMH) was trading at $486.31, up 1.99% on the session, capping a 31% rally over just 16 sessions that has Fundstrat's Mark Newton warning explicitly about near-term exhaustion. That kind of trajectory demands respect on the tape even with the thematic tailwinds intact. The call on semis as a cohort is Trim and rotate — take partial profits in the most extended names and redeploy toward laggards in the financial and industrial complex where the rally has been less frothy and the multiples less demanding.

Lululemon (LULU) Dives on CEO Succession That Bypasses Elliott's Preferred Candidate

Lululemon Athletica (LULU) sank 6% in pre-market trading after naming longtime Nike executive Heidi O'Neill as its next chief executive, effective September 8, bypassing the candidate favored by Elliott Investment Management. Elliott reportedly holds a stake north of $1 billion in the Vancouver-based athleisure company and had advocated for former Ralph Lauren CFO Jane Nielsen to replace departing CEO Calvin McDonald after his roughly eight-year tenure concluded at the end of January. The stock had entered the session already down 21% year-to-date and has surrendered more than two-thirds of its value from the December 2023 peak above $500. The activist pressure from Elliott will not evaporate, and founder Chip Wilson has been publicly critical of recent board decisions, calling the appointment of director Chip Bergh "underwhelming" and arguing that the company's outlook demonstrates the need for strategic changes to return to consistent US sales growth. The fiscal 2026 plan to sell more merchandise at full price, announced during the fourth-quarter call, temporarily lifted the stock last month but has not changed the underlying trajectory. The softer US consumer backdrop compounds the governance overhang. The call is Sell into any strength — the succession outcome does not solve the growth problem and the activist dynamic could get uglier before it produces constructive change.

Notable Movers Across the Tape — Netflix, Nokia, United Rentals, QuantumScape

Netflix (NFLX) advanced more than 1% after a regulatory filing revealed an additional $25 billion share repurchase authorization. That is a staggering capital return commitment — the kind of buyback scale that aligns management incentives with shareholders and functions as a close cousin to insider accumulation. When a board authorizes $25 billion in repurchases, it is delivering a blunt signal about forward cash generation and valuation. The call is Buy with a medium-term bias as the cash flow engine funds the program without squeezing the content slate. Nokia ADR (NOK) jumped 6.34% to $10.48, reaching a 16-year high, after network infrastructure sales surged on AI and data-center demand. The read-through to the broader AI capex theme is constructive and the call is Buy with a first target near $11.25. United Rentals (URI) soared 20.80% to $969.76 after a well-received first-quarter print and a raised 2026 profit outlook — a blowout move for a large-cap industrial that validates the cyclical recovery thesis. Buy, with trailing stops below $900 given the magnitude of the gap. QuantumScape (QS) surged 6.09% to $7.76 after signaling plans to expand its battery technology beyond the automotive end-market. Hold — the story is getting more interesting but commercialization timing remains the binding constraint. STMicroelectronics (STM) stood out among the pre-bell movers, rallying 11.93% to $50.21 on a print that cut against the broader softness in the semiconductor complex. Buy with a target near $55 as the chip cyclical rotation broadens beyond the megacap names.