by The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained like Microsoft (MSFT) rose during a merger report. Tesla (TSLA) dived after CEO Elon Musk mocked a prominent investor for shorting the stock. Oracle (ORCL) jumped on an analyst call ahead of earnings.
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Meanwhile, a trio of notable names tried to break out. Intapp (INTA), W. W. Grainger (GWW) and biogen (BIIB) all tested outlets.
Nasdaq shines as IBD jumps 50
The Nasdaq outperformed the other major indices, up more than 1%. Broadcom (AVGO) and Airbnb (ABNB) were strong here, rising nearly 6% and more than 5% respectively.
The benchmark S&P 500 was also solid, rising 0.5%. Carnival (CCL) sailed nearly 13% higher after a pair of bullish Wall Street calls.
The sectors of the S&P 500 were mixed. Technology and consumer discretionary were the best performers. Real estate and energy performed the worst.
Small caps rallied a bit higher, the Russell 2000 up 0.4%. Growth stocks excelled, however, with the Innovator IBD 50 ETF (FFTY) rising more than 1%.
Dow Jones Today: Microsoft Up Amid Merger Report
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose less than 100 points on its way to close. This translates into a gain of 0.2%.
Microsoft shares rose 0.8% as The Wall Street Journal reported that the Federal Trade Commission will take steps to block the video game giant’s announced takeover Activision Blizzard (ATVI).
Citing a person familiar with the matter, the Journal said the FTC will file an injunction in federal court to prevent it from going any further. It had already filed a lawsuit to prevent the deal from going through.
It’s just the latest caveat to the proposed deal, with Britain’s Competition and Markets Authority previously deciding to block the merger, though an appeal has been lodged.
MSFT was far from the strongest performer on the Dow Jones today. Intel (INTC) led the upside up nearly 5% while Boeing (BA) rose nearly 2%.
Boeing is the IBD stock of the day after it approved a 221.33 listing. It was added to SwingTrader on Thursday.
Stock ranking Sales team (CRM) was the worst Dow performer with a fall of more than 1%.
Tesla Stock Up after Elon Musk mocked Short Seller
Tesla is enjoying its best winning streak in history. According to Dow Jones Market Data, the stock is on track to rise for 12 consecutive days, rising more than 35% over the period. That makes it Tesla’s longest profit streak and best 12-day stretch since February 2023, when it made a 36.3% run.
Tesla CEO Musk has never been a fan of short sellers. And he couldn’t resist mocking legendary investor Bill Miller on Twitter.
Musk posted a smiling face emoji in response to a January video of the former hedge fund manager revealing a short position in the automaker.
“If it goes up, I’ll short some more,” Miller said in the video, where he also said the EV giant is “losing market share right now.”
It will have been an expensive trade if he kept his word. At the time, he claimed that Tesla “isn’t worth $380 billion”. In fact, the current market cap has now risen to $778 billion.
Tesla stock is currently a member of the IBD Leaderboard. It has expanded well from an entry of 207.79 and is now up about 130% since the start of 2023.
Oracle earnings due, shares appear on bullish call
Oracle’s results are expected post-close, but it jumped ahead of the report following a bullish analyst call.
Wolfe upgraded ORCL to outperform peers, citing “accelerated revenue growth and margin expansion”. It called for margins to return to the mid-40% over time. His price target is 130.
The upgrade sent the stock higher, with Oracle share about 6%. ORCL is now up nearly 39% year to date in 2023.
JPMorgan also raised its price target for Oracle ahead of the report, raising it to 109. It maintained its buy rating.
Earnings per share are expected to increase 3% to $1.58 per share, according to Zacks Investment Research. Sales are up 16% to $3.74 billion. This would be due to sales growth of 18% for three consecutive quarters.
Oracle has shown impressive relative strength since breaking out a 91.22 entry in late March. ORCL stocks have made excellent progress since then, finding support along the way at the 21-day exponential moving average.
It has also been reported that Oracle has invested in AI startup Cohere, which has also attracted investment from Nvidia (NVDA).
Beyond Dow Jones: 3 Stock Test Entries
With the market in a confirmed uptrend, now is the ideal time to keep an eye out for any breakouts.
Intapp is in a buy zone after clearing a buy point from the 47.04 consolidation pattern, MarketSmith’s analysis shows. This is a first stage pattern for the financial software stock, a plus.
It also saw its relative power line go to new heights. Overall, strong performance has earned INTA an IBD Composite Rating of 96 out of 99.
WW Grainger is also usable after removing a flat base. The ideal entry point here is 709.21. Revenue is a particularly strong point for the building materials game, with an EPS rating of perhaps 96 out of 99.
Biogen is now one to watch after briefly clearing a weekly flat base entry of 319.74 on the chart. It is now back below the buy point. Overperformance is strong, but not ideal, which is reflected in the IBD Composite Rating of 87.
Follow Michael Larkin on Twitter at @IBD_MLarkin for more analysis of growth stocks.
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