Stock Market Live December 18, 2025: S&P 500 (SPY) Soaring on Micron Earnings

By Ian Cooper Published Dec 18, 9:46AM EST

Live Updates

November Consumer Prices Rose at 2.7% Annual Rate

Dec 18, 2025 at 9:27 AM EST

The November consumer price index (CPI) rose less than expected, offering some hope that inflation may be cooling enough for the Federal Reserve to continue cutting interest rates.

The CPI for November was 2.7%, which was below the estimated 3.1%. Core CPI, which excludes volatile food and energy prices, was up 2.6. That was below the estimate of 3%.

“A tame CPI will reinforce the Fed is focused on protecting the employment market. And that means a Fed ‘put’ is now in place for the economy,” Tom Lee, head of research at Fundstrat, said, as quoted by CNBC. “In other words, if the Fed is concerned about downside risks to the economy, the Fed ‘put’ comes into play, and this would be for stocks to rise.”

The major indices are exploding higher this morning.

The S&P 500 is up 52. The SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY) is up about $5.30. The Dow is up 227 points, as the Nasdaq rockets about 338 points higher.

Fueling a good deal of momentum and helping to rekindle the AI trade, Micron exploded on strong earnings and guidance. The stock is now up about 13%, or $31 a share, giving markets and AI stocks quite a boost.

Micron Explodes on Earnings and Guidance Beat

EPS of $4.78 beat by 82 cents. Revenue of $13.64 billion beat by $760 million.

Analysts were looking for $4.78 per share on revenue of $14.3 billion.

Moving forward, the company expects to earn between $8.22 and $8.62 per share. It also expects for revenue to be between $18.3 billion and $19.1 billion for the second quarter.

“Our Q2 outlook reflects substantial records across revenue, gross margin, EPS, and free cash flow, and we anticipate our business performance to continue strengthening through fiscal 2026,” added Sanjay Mehrotra, Chairman, President, and CEO of Micron, as quoted in an earnings release.

Fueling further upside, Micron says supply-demand issues could create a $100 billion high-bandwidth memory (HBM) market by 2028 – a milestone projected to arrive two years before the company’s previous outlook.

Helping, analysts at Bank of America upgraded MU to a buy rating with a $300 price target.

“We are changing our view about 1) durability of the memory cycle (persists into CY26E on restrained supply additions and AI demand and [high bandwidth memory] 3x by CY28E), and 2) quality of MU’s balance sheet (30% FCF margin, net cash positive, can start to buy back stock significantly in another year as Chips Act requirements get over),” said the firm, as quoted by CNBC.

This is quite a 180 from yesterday’s Oracle-induced pullback.

Barclays Just Reiterated Its Overweight Rating on Nvidia

Analysts at Barclays just reiterated a buy rating on Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA | NVDA Price Prediction), noting that it sees further, higher AI spending for the company in the new year.

“We are OW as the company has long-term sustainable growth led by a large lead in GPUs for AI in DC, with further Edge opportunities (autos, robots, etc.) and a competitive moat around a large portion of the market,” said the firm, as quoted by CNBC.

NVDA closed at $170.94 on Wednesday. From here, we’d like to see the tech giant rally back to $200 a share initially. Longer term, we’d like to see it rally to $250.

Bank of America just reiterated a buy rating on Meta Platforms (NASDAQ: META), citing higher ad growth from capacity expansion, new AI model launches, new AI content creation capabilities, and stronger AI positioning.

META closed at $649.50 yesterday. From here, we’d initially like to see it refill its bearish gap at around $760 a share. Longer term, given strong growth, we’d like to see it closer to $850 a share.

About the Author Ian Cooper →

Ian Cooper is a veteran market analyst and investment strategist with more than 20 years of experience covering stocks, commodities, and macro trends. Since 1999, he has helped investors identify market opportunities using a blend of technical analysis, fundamental research, and market sentiment.

He is the creator of the ADD News Flow Strategy, which focuses on trading market reactions to major news events and investor psychology. Cooper was also among the analysts who warned about the 2008 financial crisis and major financial institution collapses ahead of the broader market.

Before joining 247 Wall St., Cooper wrote extensively for InvestorPlace and other financial publications, covering market trends, trading strategies, and investment opportunities.