Stock Market Live May 14: S&P 500 (VOO) Rises as IPOs Return to Popularity
Key Points
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IPO market activity picks up on Wednesday.
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New IPOs are primarily in the fintech sphere, while analysts are growing bullish on defense stocks.
- Investors rethink ‘hands off’ investing and decide to start making real money
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Hump Day Ends With a Bump for The S&P 500
The Vanguard S&P 500 ETF closed today at 540.03, up 0.1%.
President Trump's Mideast Tour '25
President Trump continues to globe-trot across the the Middle East, signing trade deals everywhere his airplane alights. Yesterday, it was a promise to lift sanctions on Syria and “$600 billion” in deals with Saudi Arabia. Today, the President is in Qatar, and announcing a deal twice as big: $1.2 trillion potentially, in additional bilateral trade between the two countries.
Specifics, as always, are hard to nail down, but the deal apparently includes “an historic sale of Boeing (NYSE: BA) aircraft and GE Aerospace (NYSE: GE) engines to Qatar Airways.” And Qatar will buy $1 billion worth of “counter-drone capabilities” from RTX Corp (see below for earlier RTX news today).
Southwest Stock Flies Higher
S&P component company Southwest Airlines (NYSE: LUV) requested permission from the U.S. Department of Transportation to fly additional international routes, including to Europe, Latin America, Asia, and Africa. The company primarily flies domestic routes currently, as well as to Mexico, the Caribbean ,and Central America.
Southwest stock is up 2% on the news. The Voo, however, has turned red and is now down 0.2%.
AMD is Buying Itself Back
Advanced Micro Devices (Nasdaq: AMD) announced today a $6 billion stock buyback, lifting its stock 5.6% through 10:05 a.m. ET. The Vanguard S&P 500 ETF on the other hand is giving back some gains, now up only 0.1%.
This article will be updated throughout the day, so check back often for more daily updates.
Israeli cryptocurrency and stocks trading platform eToro priced its US IPO at $52 per share this morning, above its expected introduction in a range from $46 to $50. The new IPO will trade on the Nasdaq under ticker symbol “ETOR.” The company is selling 6 million shares for and raising $310 million, valuing it at $4.2 billion in market capitalization. Insiders will sell another 6 million shares and cash out in the IPO.
In related news, San Francisco-based fintech Chime has filed to IPO, also on the Nasdaq, under symbol “CHYM”. No IPO price has yet been set for that one.
BMO Capital Markets comments that “demand for US stocks is and should be robust,” and calls US stocks “the best assets” to own today with “the best reward” for investors. And it seems investors agree. The Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (NYSEMKT: VOO) opened up a modest 0.3% today.
Earnings
Among stocks that are already public, meanwhile, earnings news is muted today. Tower Semiconductor (Nasdaq: TSEM) missed earnings by a penny, reporting $0.45 per share this morning. McDonald’s franchisee Arcos Dorados (NYSE: ARCO) likewise missed. It’s $0.07 per share reported today was less than half of what analysts expected.
Analyst Calls
Upgrades and downgrades news is a bit more active. Benchmark upgraded defense contractor and S&P 500 component RTX Corp (NYSE: RTX) to buy with a $140 price target citing strong “engine / lease rates” and the potential to grow military sales under President Trump’s “Peace Through Strength global campaign.”
Fellow contractor and S&P component KKR (NYSE: KKR) got a bump to overweight from Morgan Stanley, which cited mostly macroeconomic factors encouraging it: “greater than expected tariff de-escalation with China,” “better than feared macro path ahead with lower recession probability,” and “less upward inflation pressure and reduced tail risk.”
On the other hand, Jefferies downgraded Rivian Automotive (Nasdaq: RIVN) to hold, citing a “downbeat demand outlook this year.”
© Drew Angerer / Getty Images News via Getty Images
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