S&P 500 closes little changed Friday, posts weekly loss amid raft of Trump comments: Live updates

The three major averages closed a bit lower on Friday.

The S&P 500 dropped 0.06% to 6,940.01. The Nasdaq Composite also slipped 0.06%, settling at 23,515.39. The Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 83.11 points, or 0.17%, to 49,359.33.

— Sean Conlon

Chinese electric vehicle manufacturer Nio appears to have an edge against peer automakers in China, according to Macquarie Equity Research.

Analyst Eugene Hsiao upgraded Nio to outperform from neutral in a Friday note to clients, citing the company's Battery-as-a-Service as a key differentiator, with more than 80% of customers opting to lease the battery rather than purchase it outright. This model means rising lithium costs could have a lower direct impact on margins for Nio, Hsiao said.

"Volumes remain challenging, but we think NIO is at a point where high upfront spending on battery swapping and service centers provides an edge. A unique BaaS offering provides a strong alternative to traditional EV ownership; rising Onvo sales could provide a lifeline," the analyst wrote.

— Pia Singh

Jefferies reiterated its buy rating on Nvidia in a Thursday note and raised its price target to $275 from $250.

Shares of Nvidia have climbed 40% over the past 12 months. Jefferies analyst Blayne Curtis' revised price forecast implies that the stock could surge another 47% from here.

Curtis applauded Nvidia's Blackwell chip and Rubin chip platform as tailwinds for the company.

"Industry checks suggest further upside with beats continuing as Blackwell ramps," he wrote. "See increased systems sales with the ramp of the Rubin, further increasing the competitive moat."

In the analyst's base case, he sees Nvidia remaining the dominant supplier of acceleration solutions for data centers, while its gaming total addressable market expands at a double-digit compound annual growth rate.

— Lisa Kailai Han

Benchmark moved off the sidelines on Dave & Buster's on Friday ahead of what could be its first positive same-store sales quarter in years.

Analyst Mike Hickey upgraded shares of the family entertainment chain's stock to buy from hold. Hickey set a $30 price target, implying a 55.3% increase over Thursday's closing level.

Dave & Buster's could see same-store sales growth for the first time in around 13 quarters, according to Hickey. The analyst said that the Dallas-based company has been improving its food and beverage execution and seeing more traffic from a half-price promotion that launched earlier this month.

— Alex Harring

Small caps have been outperforming to an extent that hasn't been seen in more than a decade.

The Russell 2000 is on track to post a better daily move than the S&P 500 for an 11th straight session on Friday. That would mark the longest such period since a 13-day streak recorded in June 2008.

The Russell 2000 has climbed more than 8% in 2026, while the S&P 500 has added 1.5%. That marks a turn for small-cap index, which has lagged the broader market over the last several years.

— Alex Harring, Nick Wells

In a Friday note, Evercore ISI added a tactical outperform rating to Dollar Tree, meaning it expects the stock to outperform in the short term. However, over a longer time horizon the firm still has an in-line rating on the stock.

Shares of Dollar Tree have jumped 96% in the past year. Analyst Michael Montani's price forecast of $165, up from $125, implies an additional upside of 17% from here.

Montani said that his conviction in Dollar Tree's ability to execute rose following an Orlando store tour and deep dive with CFO Steward Glendinning.

"We see Dollar Tree's multi-price point merchandising strategy as a way to drive newness and relevance in its assortment. A further comp driver is the rollout of enhanced store standards which should increase customer satisfaction, sustain share gain and enhance margin performance," the analyst wrote.

— Lisa Kailai Han

President Donald Trump said Friday he may impose tariffs on countries "if they don't go along with Greenland."

"We need Greenland for national security. So I may do that," Trump said at the White House during a health-care-related event.

The comments show Trump, whose push to acquire Greenland for the U.S. has grown increasingly aggressive in recent months, turning to one of his favorite tools for leveraging power over foreign nations. Read more.

— Kevin Breuninger

Check out some of the companies making headlines in midday trading:

• Novo Nordisk — The maker of the Wegovy obesity treatment jumped more than 4% as sales of its oral weight loss treatment got off to a strong start. In the first week of its launch, about 1.3% of Wegovy prescriptions were for the oral version.
• Regions Financial — Shares of the Birmingham, Ala.-based regional bank fell nearly 3% after it reported disappointing fourth-quarter earnings. Regions earned 57 cents per share excluding items. That was below the 61 cents per share prediction from analysts surveyed by FactSet.
• Energy stocks — The Trump administration is pushing for technology companies to bankroll power plants amid a rise in energy-guzzling data centers. Companies tied to electric utility infrastructure rose, including GE Vernova and Bloom Energy, which both gained about 6%, and Quanta Services, which advanced about 5%. Independent power producers, however, tumbled, with Constellation Energy dropping nearly 10% and Vistra falling 7%.

Read here for the full list.

— Christina Cheddar Berk, Liz Napolitano

Federal Reserve Governor Michelle Bowman on Friday indicated that there is room ahead for more interest rate cuts as the central bank should prioritize getting ahead of potential weakness in the labor market.

Speaking at an economic forum in Foxborough, Mass., the policymaker advocated a forward-looking approach based on "informed" forecasts rather than the solely data-dependent policy many of her fellow officials back.

"Absent a clear and sustained improvement in labor market conditions, we should remain ready to adjust policy to bring it closer to neutral," Bowman said. "We should also avoid signaling that we will pause without identifying that conditions have changed. Doing so will indicate that we are not attentive or responsive to the recent and expected path of the labor market."

The central bank official added that she sees inflation "on a sustained trajectory" to the Fed's 2% goal countered by "growing labor market fragility" that the Fed should head move to "preemptively stabilize."

Bowman is under consideration for to take over the chair position when Jerome Powell's term expires in May, though prediction markets rate her to be an extreme longshot.

— Jeff Cox

Former Federal Reserve Governor Kevin Warsh on Friday vaulted to the front of the pack in the race for central bank chair following remarks from President Donald Trump, according to a closely watched prediction market.

Traders on Kalshi pushed Warsh well ahead of the person seen as his closest competitor, National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett.

In remarks delivered Friday morning, Trump, without explicitly stating his decision, said he'd prefer to keep Hassett in his position as top economic advisor.

"I see Kevin's in the audience, and I just want to thank you. You ⁠were fantastic on television today," Trump said during remarks in the White House. "I actually want to keep you where you are, if you want to know the truth." Read more.

— Jeff Cox

Novo Nordisk is seeing strong demand for its oral obesity treatment in its first week of sales, sending the stock up more than 4% in trading on Friday. That brings the drugmaker's year-to-date gains to nearly 18%, marking a big turnaround in the stock's performance.

Shares remain down 27% over the past 12 months as Novo Nordisk lost some of its first-mover advantage to Eli Lilly, which markets rival weight loss drug Zepbound.

Evercore ISI analyst Umer Raffat said Novo's weight loss pill accounted for about 1.3% of all Wegovy prescriptions in its very first week of launch. Raffat said that demand, which came during a holiday week, bodes well for not only Novo Nordisk but also for Eli Lilly, which hopes to bring its own oral obesity drug to market in April.

— Christina Cheddar Berk

Bank of America Securities downgraded ConocoPhillips to underperform from neutral on Tuesday, saying it sees better opportunities elsewhere.

ConocoPhillips's oil breakeven is $53 U.S. West Texas Intermediate, which is materially higher than other oil and gas names, analyst Kalei Akamine said in a note to clients. An oil breakeven price is essentially the minimum price a company needs to cover its costs. In addition, the company's debt-adjusted free cash flow yield is an uncompetitive 4.4%, he said.

"These headwinds are being driven in part by long-cycle spending on Port Arthur LNG and Willow, with start-up still two and four years away, respectively," Akamine wrote. "At our forecast of $57 WTI, we do not believe COP can sustain its recent pace of returning 45% of cash flow."

At the same time, Akamine upgraded Magnolia Oil & Gas to buy on the strength of its oil breakeven price of $37. He also said there is "the potential for a stronger‑than‑expected oil guide driven by what we view as solid operating momentum exiting 4Q25."

Akamine raised his price target to $28 from $26, implying 24.5% upside from Thursday's close.

— Michelle Fox

Despite the early gains at the index level, the number of declining stocks was greater than those advancing. FactSet data showed 1,590 New York Stock Exchange-listed names were lower, while around 850 were higher.

— Fred Imbert

The S&P 500 climbed 0.3%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 100 points, or 0.2%. The Nasdaq Composite gained 0.5%.

— Fred Imbert

Bank of America has maintained its buy rating on Delta Air Lines, despite the airline issuing more conservative guidance earlier this week.

On Tuesday, the airline revised its earnings guidance to $6.50-$7.50 per share for 2026, or below the Street's consensus estimate of about $7.30, according to a Bank of America note to clients dated Friday.

However, analysts shook off the downward revision following a call with investors and Delta CFO Dan Janki this week. They stressed that the firm's strong cash generation and focus on premium travel are reasons to remain bullish on the stock.

"The call reinforced our thesis that DAL is a key structural leader in the airline industry given its premium revenue focus, strong cash generation, low leverage, and diversified revenue streams (loyalty, MRO)," analyst Andrew Didora said in the note.

He added that Delta "remains positive on fundamentals," as its customers, particularly clients that opt for its premium services, prove resilient to rising macroeconomic volatility.

— Liz Napolitano

Here are some of the stocks moving before the bell:

ImmunityBio — The biotech company rallied 22%, adding to a 30% rally in the previous session that was sparked by strong guidance for its bladder cancer drug Anktiva. ImmunityBio expects full-year revenue for the drug to jump 700%.

Coupang — Shares rose more than 3% after Deutsche Bank upgraded the Korean retail giant to buy, saying most of the regulatory uncertainty has been priced in.

PNC — The bank rose 3% after posting better-than-expected fourth-quarter results and promising guidance. PNC reported revenue of $5.96 billion versus an LSEG consensus estimate of $5.89 billion. Earnings of $4.88 per share also exceeded a forecast of $4.22 per share. PNC also put its total revenue growth by the end of 2026 at roughly 11%, topping the 8.7% estimated by analysts.

Read more here.

— Liz Napolitano

Equinor has been cleared by a judge in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to resume work on its Empire Wind project, which stopped at the end of last year when the Trump administration halted five major offshore wind developments.

Equinor's share price was last seen 0.36% higher.

 — Tasmin Lockwood

European stocks were slightly lower on Friday as investors continue to monitor geopolitical tensions.

The pan-European Stoxx 600 was 0.2% lower at 8:50 a.m. (3:50 a.m. ET), with major bourses and most sectors in negative territory.

— Tasmin Lockwood

Shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services dropped 4% in extended trading Thursday after the logistics company reported a 2% decline in fourth-quarter revenue on a year-over-year basis. Its final mile services revenue fell, "driven by general soft demand across many of the end markets served and a change in mix," management said.

J.B. Hunt still beat Wall Street's earnings forecast. The company reported earnings of $1.90 per share, while analysts polled by LSEG expected earnings of $1.81 per share. Revenue of $3.10 billion matched consensus expectations, according to LSEG.

Shares of J.B. Hunt rose 0.3% during Thursday's regular session, reaching a fresh 52-week high. The stock is up about 6.3% this year.

— Pia Singh

Shortly after 6 p.m. ET on Thursday, futures tied to the S&P 500 and Nasdaq-100 futures each gained less than 0.1%. Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 17 points, hovering near the flatline.

— Pia Singh