Investing

Live Updates: Tech Leads Nasdaq Composite as Marvell (MRVL) & Salesforce (CRM) Soar

Eric Bleeker

Published: December 4, 2024 12:24 pm

Last Updated: December 4, 2024 12:52 pm

Live Updates

OpenAI Usage Continues Accelerating

12:51 pm

At the NY Times DealBook Summit, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman revealed the company’s ChatGPT service now has 300 million weekly active users. That’s up from $200 million in August.

This is another datapoint to add to Salesforce’s earnings last night that engagement with AI software is accelerating.

Sectors Doing the Best Today

12:18 pm

What parts of the market are doing the best today?

• Information Technology: +1.46%
• Consumer Discretionary: +.86%
• Healthcare: +.31%

On the other end of the market energy, financials, and materials are struggling today.

• Energy: -2.47%
• Financials: -.65%
• Materials: -.62%

Technology markets are ripping higher on Wednesday with the Nasdaq Composite up .96%. Let’s take a look at some of the major indexes and how they’re performing as of noon ET:

• Dow Jones Industrial Average: Up 234.04 (+.52%)
• S&P 500: Up 22.18 (.37%)
• Nasdaq-100: Up 184.73 (.95%)
• Russell 2000: Up 11.37 (+.47%)

Let’s check in on the main storylines in the market today.

Technology Stocks Salesforce and Marvell Lead the Market

Two of the most notable stocks in the market today are Marvell (Nasdaq: MRVL) and Salesforce (NYSE: CRM), which both reported earnings after the bell last night.

We hosted a live blog on Marvell’s earnings last night if you want more details, but the big picture is the company is seeing demand for its AI chips accelerate. Revenue for last quarter was $1.52 billion, which topped estimates of $1.46 billion. More important is that guidance for revenue next quarter came in at $1.8 billion vs expectations of $1.65 billion.

Marvell is seeing sales hit an inflection point thanks to a lucrative relationship with Amazon. The company not only helps design Amazon’s AI processors but recently announced an expanded partnership to design custom networking gear for Amazon’s cloud division as well.

Salesforce reported revenue of $9.44 billion, which was above estimates of $9.35 billion. Wall Street focused on commentary around Agentforce – the company’s push into AI – and a robust deal pipeline that includes 200 deals in its first week. It appears that Salesforce is re-rating higher on belief Agentforce will accelerate revenue in the coming years.

NVIDIA Accelerates Chip Plans?

Another interesting piece of AI news today is reports out of Taiwan that NVIDIA (Nasdaq: NVDA) may be plan on acceleration in the release of its next-generation chip, named Rubin. The report is notable because NVIDIA has already released a roadmap for flagship AI chips that’s extremely aggressive. They’re just beginning to scale production of their Blackwell chips.

Rubin would follow Blackwell, and reports from Taiwan are it could release in late 2025 vs. 2026. If NVIDIA were to pursue this release date it would be a risk – the company is releasing new, more powerful chips at an unprecedented rate – but also shows the relentlessness of NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang. He’s seen tech leaders in prior trends fail to keep innovating and is pushing NVIDIA to deliver on an aggressive schedule that leaves few inroads for competitors in the space.