S&P 500 closes lower as Microsoft tanks, software shares slide: Live updates

The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite closed with losses on Thursday.

The broad-based index fell 0.13% to 6,969.01, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq dropped 0.72% to 23,685.12. The Dow Jones Industrial Average, however, gained 55.96 points, or 0.11%, to 49,071.56.

— Sean Conlon

Starbucks shares were down more than 1% in premarket trading after a flat day Wednesday following a mixed earnings report. While the coffee chain's traffic grew for the first time in two years, it missed earnings estimates.

Analysts' first take on the report, though, sees CEO Biran Niccol's turnaround plan starting to deliver results. "We see a turning point in the SBUX narrative," wrote Wells Fargo analyst Zachary Fadem in a note.

The street particularly liked the same-store sales growth, which was 4% in the U.S. and 5% internationally. Morgan Stanley pointed out the same-store sales overperformance by "Green Apron Service" — Starbucks' largest investment ever in hospitality and store employees — program stores, and said further progress there will be key.

However, analysts were cautious on altering outlooks, with no major price target or rating changes, a move that could be explained by UBS Dennis Geiger's thinking. 

"We look to tomorrow's Investor Day for better visibility into the recovery trajectory in sales growth and margin & earnings power clarity to support valuation (32x Cons. CY27 EPS) before getting more constructive on share," he wrote.

Starbucks shares are up 10% in 2026, but down more than 7% in the past year.

— Davis Giangiulio

The cryptocurrency space is "weak, lifeless, uninspiring" and "apathetic," say analysts at Wolfe Research.

Coins face extreme market volatility in 2025. Bitcoin, for example, raalied during the first half of 2025, reached an all-time high in October and experienced a rapid reversal. The coin peaked at over $126,000 and fell shed thousands of dollars in days. Researchers say crypto "continues to trade sideways" into 2026.

The "stage is certainly set" for weak market conditions in 2026, they added.

— Itzel Franco

Shares of Royal Caribbean jumped 18% after the cruise operator's earnings guidance beat Wall Street's expectations.

Royal Caribbean expects adjusted earnings in a range of $3.18 to $3.28 per share for its first quarter, topping the $2.91 a share expected from analysts polled by LSEG.

It also reported fourth-quarter results, with its adjusted earnings of $2.80 per share in line with expectations. Its revenue of $4.25 billion fell short of the consensus estimate of $4.26 billion.

The news also helped its rivals. Carnival rose 9%, while Norwegian Cruise Line added nearly 10%.

— Michelle Fox

Retail investors are getting bullish on Apple ahead of the tech giant's earnings, according to JPMorgan.

Apple is expected to report first-quarter results after the bell Thursday. Shares have been hit this year, down 5% year to date.

"Marking a shift in trading pattern, retail investors turned the most positive on AAPL for the first time in 3 months," Arun Jain, head of JPMorgan's U.S. equity quant strategy, said in a note Wednesday.

Analysts polled by StreetAccount are expecting quarterly revenue of $138.4 billion and earnings of $2.68 per share.

— Michelle Fox

Morgan Stanley analyst Joseph Moore views Nvidia's lackluster gains so far this year as a result of overblown worries.

Moore, who has an overweight rating on the chipmaker, kept his $250 price target in a Thursday note to clients, which implies 30.5% potential upside. He believes Nvidia will be a key AI enabler as the large language model development race continues, and forecasts the company will be "very close to holding 85% revenue share this year" as demand for its Blackwell and Vera Rubin systems remains robust.

"NVIDIA's recent underperformance has happened while near-term expectations remain high, which is different; while there is a wall of worry to climb, we think a strong Vera Rubin ramp will mitigate any share concerns, and expect to see outperformance from here," Moore wrote. "

Shares of Nvidia are up 2% this year, slightly outperforming the broader market but falling short of some 'Magnificent 7' peers.

— Pia Singh

President Donald Trump said Thursday he will announce his much-anticipated pick for the next Federal Reserve chair next week.

During an open segment of a Cabinet meeting, the president said "we're going to be announcing next week ... and it'll be a person that will, I think, do a good job."

The nominee will look to replace current Chair Jerome Powell, whose term expires in May. Traders on prediction markets Kalshi still expect BlackRock fixed income chief Rick Rieder to be selected.

Kalshi and CNBC have a commercial relationship.

— Jeff Cox

The Senate rejected advancing a funding bill to avoid a government shutdown set to start on Saturday at 12:01 a.m. ET. 

Seven Republicans joined Democrats in a 45-55 vote to filibuster the bill that would fund the departments of Homeland Security, Defense, Treasury, State Health and Human Services, Labor, Housing and Urban Development, Transportation and Education. Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., voted against the bill to allow for future reconsideration. 

Holding up the bill is Democrats' demand to strip it of funding for DHS, which they argue needs to be altered after two U.S. citizens were shot and killed by federal immigration enforcement agents this month in Minneapolis. 

Spending packages require 60 votes for passage in the Senate. 

Removing DHS funding from the package would require the House of Representatives to vote on government funding again after approving a spending plan last week. The House is currently in recess. 

Traders on the Kalshi predictions market think there's a 79% chance of a shutdown on Saturday.

— Davis Giangiulio

Gold dropped on Thursday as investors took profit on the metal following its parabolic run.

Spot gold slid more than 4% in midday trading. The metal slid into the red after notching a new record high near the $5,600 mark earlier in the day.

Gold has been on a tear amid rising geopolitical tensions and increased demand from central banks. The safe-haven asset recorded its best year since 1979 in 2025.

— Alex Harring

Bitcoin fell more than 5% on Thursday and hit levels not seen in nearly two months. The flagship digital currency hit a low of $84,221.89, it lowest level since Dec. 1 — when it touched $83,830. Bitcoin followed other risk assets, such as equities, which also struggled.

Thursday's loss puts bitcoin down 3.4% for the year and 19% lower over the past 12 months.

— Fred Imbert

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg plans to ramp up his company's spending on artificial intelligence in 2026. Wall Street seems fine with that strategy.

In its fourth-quarter earnings report on Wednesday, Meta beat on the top and bottom lines while also revealing that its AI-related capital expenditures this year will be between $115 billion and $135 billion. That's nearly twice the amount Meta spent on capex last year, when the company revamped its AI unit.

Although investors have previously expressed concern about Meta's AI spending spree, they took comfort in the company's latest results, which showed 24% year-over-year revenue growth, driven by online ads. Meta shares, which trailed the market last year, popped as much as 10% in after-hours trading.

"As we plan for the future, we will continue to invest very significantly in infrastructure to train leading models and deliver personal super intelligence to billions of people and businesses around the world," Zuckerberg told analysts during the earnings call. Read more.

— Jonathan Vanian

The price of copper, known in the market as "Dr. Copper" for its ability to predict the health of the economy, climbed to an all-time early Thursday.

March copper futures rose to $6.45 a pound, up more than 8%, extending the January gain alone to almost 13% and on pace for a sixth straight monthly advance for the first time since early 2011.

The Global X Copper Miners ETF (COPX), a collection of companies that mine and refine the metal, is 6% higher. So far in January, the ETF is ahead by more than 37%, the most in a month since it was launched in 2010, while Freeport-McMoRan, Sumitomo Metal and Southern Copper have soared by roughly 35% to 55%.

— Scott Schnipper, Gina Francolla

Analysts across Wall Street raised their Meta price targets after the technology giant showed in its latest earnings report that improving AI-driven advertising monetization helped offset concerns around higher operating and capital expenditures.

The "Magnificent Seven" titan delivered fourth-quarter earnings of $8.88 per share on revenue of $59.89 billion. Both those figures came in above LSEG estimates of $8.23 per share in earnings and $58.59 billion in revenue.

Meta also issued strong current-quarter guidance, expecting first-quarter sales to fall in the range of $53.5 billion to $56.5 billion. Consensus forecasts had estimated $51.41 billion.

One sore spot on Meta's earnings report was the $6.02 billion operating loss logged by its Reality Labs unit. Analysts had expected the business to record losses of $5.67 billion and sales of $940.8 million.

Nonetheless, Wall Street analysts didn't seem overly concerned with the losses, as Meta has indicated a switch in focus away from its metaverse and virtual reality businesses and towards growing its artificial intelligence business. CNBC Pro subscribers can read more here.

— Lisa Kailai Han

The S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average began Thursday's session higher.

The broad market index rose 0.2% shortly after the opening bell, and the blue-chip Dow gained 72 points, or 0.2%. The Nasdaq Composite, however, dropped 0.4%.

— Sean Conlon

Here are some of the names making the biggest moves before the opening bell:

• Meta Platforms — Shares popped nearly 9%. The social media giant called for first-quarter sales to range from $53.5 billion to $56.5 billion, topping the analysts' consensus call for $51.41 billion. Fourth-quarter earnings came in at $8.88 per share on revenue of $59.89 billion, while the LSEG consensus sought $8.23 per share and $58.59 billion.
• L3Harris — The defense contractor tumbled 4% after reporting revenue of $5.65 billion for the fourth-quarter, short of the $5.77 billion expected from analysts polled by FactSet. Its adjusted earnings of $2.86 per share, however, beat the $2.76 consensus estimate.
• Royal Caribbean — The cruise operator jumped 7.3% after guiding for first-quarter adjusted earnings in a range of $3.18 to $3.28 per share, topping the $2.91 a share expected from analysts polled by LSEG. Its fourth-quarter adjusted earnings of $2.80 per share was in line with expectations, while its revenue missed estimates.

To see more stocks making premarket moves, read the full story here.

— Michelle Fox

The U.S. deficit with its global trading partners nearly doubled in November as the shortfall with the European Union swelled, the Census Bureau reported Thursday.

Following a month where the trade deficit hit its lowest level since early 2009, it shot up to $56.8 billion, an increase of 94.6% from October. Of that gain, about one-third came with the European Union, where the deficit rose by $8.2 billion.

On a year-over-year basis, the deficit through November stood at $839.5 billion, or about 4% higher than the same period in 2024.

— Jeff Cox

Republican senators appear to be opening the door to preventing a partial government shutdown as the chamber prepares to start voting on a House-passed package to fully fund a group of federal agencies through the remaining fiscal year.

The Senate is set to start voting on the funding bills Thursday morning. If the chamber doesn't pass all of them, much of the federal government would shut down Saturday at 12:01 ET.

The bills would fund the Department of Homeland Security and several other agencies, including the Treasury and Defense departments. While the package once looked certain to clear the Senate and avoid a shutdown, the killing of U.S. citizen Alex Pretti by federal immigration agents Saturday in Minneapolis derailed it. Read more.

— Garrett Downs, Emily Wilkins

The Federal Reserve wrapped up a two-day policy meeting Wednesday, delivering pretty much what the market expected and no major surprises from Chair Jerome Powell's news conference. Here are five things worth remembering:

1. The decision: To no one's surprise, the rate-setting Federal Open Market Committee held its benchmark funds rate in a range between 3.5%-3.75%. The move broke a string of three straight cuts and could be a harbinger of a central bank not of a mind to ease again anytime soon.
2. The dissents: As has been the custom for the past six months or so, multiple committee members broke ranks. This time, Governors Stephen Miran and Christopher Waller wanted another quarter percentage point cut. For Miran, though, it represented a bit of a turn as he deviated from three prior dissents in favor of half-point reductions.
3. Powell's post-meeting news conference was, in a word, a snoozer. On five separate occasions, the chair delivered variations on "I have nothing for you on that" to questions from reporters looking to bait him into commenting on the multiple political kerfuffles surrounding the Fed. Asked for the advice he would give his successor, Powell responded, "Stay out of elected politics."

Read here for more key takeaways.

— Jeff Cox

Honeywell shares were down 0.8% in the premarket following the release of mixed fourth-quarter figures.

The company earned $2.59 per share, excluding certain items. That exceeded an LSEG estimate of $2.54 per share. Revenue of $9.76 billion was below the $9.85 billion consensus, however.

— Fred Imbert

Caterpillar shares were up more than 5% after the industrial giant posted much better-than-expected results for the fourth quarter.

The company earned an adjusted $5.26 per share on revenue of $19.13 billion. Analysts polled by LSEG expected a profit of $4.68 per share on revenue of $17.86 billion. The beat was driven by a 23% increase in power and energy sales.

— Fred Imbert

Shares of IBM were up more than 8% after the legacy tech giant reported fourth-quarter results that beat the Street. The company earned an adjusted $4.52 per share on revenue of $19.69 billion. Analysts polled by LSEG expected a profit of $4.32 per share on revenue of $19.23 billion.

"This capped a strong 2025 for IBM where we exceeded expectations for revenue, profit and free cash flow," CEO Arvind Krishna wrote.

— Fred Imbert

Spot gold surpassed $5,500 per ounce overnight on Wednesday night.

The yellow metal, long viewed as a safety asset, has been on a hot streak as of late. Earlier Wednesday, gold traded above $5,300 and ended the session up after the Federal Reserve held steady on interest rates.

The run higher in gold is occurring as the U.S. dollar weakens. On Tuesday, the greenback posted its worst one-day decline since April 2025, touching its lowest level since February 2022.

Spot gold was last up 2%.

— Darla Mercado

Tesla CEO Elon Musk said on Wednesday that the automaker is ending production of its Model S and X vehicles, and will use the factory in Fremont, California, to build Optimus humanoid robots.

"It's time to basically bring the Model S and X programs to an end with an honorable discharge," Musk said on the company's fourth-quarter earnings call. "If you're interested in buying a Model S and X, now would be the time to order it."

The two models are Tesla's oldest vehicles, and in recent years the company has slashed prices as global competition for electric vehicles has soared. Tesla started selling the Model S sedan in 2012, and the Model X SUV three years later. Tesla's far more popular models are the 3 and Y, which accounted for 97% of the company's 1.59 million deliveries last year.

In its earnings announcement on Wednesday, Tesla reported its first annual revenue decline on record, with sales falling in three of the past four quarters.

Shares of Tesla were 2.3% higher in extended trading Wednesday.

— Lora Kolodny, Ari Levi

Check out the companies making headlines in after-hours trading.

• Microsoft — Microsoft shares dropped almost 5% in extended trading. Capital expenditures and finance leases in the fiscal second quarter came in at $37.5 billion, surpassing the $34.31 billion consensus estimate from Visible Alpha. Adjusted earnings came out at $4.14 per share, higher than consensus expectations of $3.97 per share, according to LSEG. Microsoft's revenue of $81.27 billion for the quarter was also higher than the expected $80.27 billion.
• Southwest Airlines — Shares of the carrier jumped about 6% after Southwest Airlines forecasted a surge in 2026 profits on the back of its business model overhaul. Southwest said it expects to earn, at minimum, an adjusted $4 per share in 2026. That's higher than the $3.19 analysts expected, according to estimates from LSEG.
• Meta Platforms — Shares of Meta added 9%. The social media giant called for first-quarter sales to range from $53.5 billion to $56.5 billion, topping the analysts' consensus call for $51.41 billion. Fourth-quarter earnings came in at $8.88 per share on revenue of $59.89 billion, while the LSEG consensus sought $8.23 per share and $58.59 billion. Meta's Reality Labs unit recorded a greater operating loss than expected.

For the full list, read here.

— Pia Singh

Nasdaq 100 futures gained 0.4% shortly after 6 p.m. ET on Wednesday, lifted by strong earnings results from major tech giants. Futures tied to the S&P 500 rose 0.1%. Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 58 points, or about 0.1%.

— Pia Singh