More than all of the daily returns in the S&P 500 were attributable to just two companies: Alphabet and Apple.

Your Evening Briefing

September 03, 2025

Two tech titans singlehandedly drag S&P 500 higher

The S&P 500 rose 0.5% and the Nasdaq 100 gained 0.8% while the Russell 2000 dipped 0.1% on Wednesday.

More than all of the daily returns in the S&P 500 were attributable to just two companies: Alphabet and Apple.

Google was the day’s top performer, up 9.1% after the tech giant avoided some of the worst-case antitrust scenarios tied to its dominant position in search. The court decision helped Apple a ton too: shares rose 3.8% amid Bank of America boosting its price target, saying the company will keep pulling in about $20 billion a year from Google to preload its apps as the default setting on iPhones. Near the close, Bloomberg reported that Apple is developing an AI web search tool for the new Siri, and reached an agreement with Google to test using its Gemini model to provide the underlying technology. Meanwhile, Dollar Tree led declines after the retailer handily beat Q2 expectations, but fresh sales guidance suggested weakening momentum in the second half.

  • Macy’s shares soared 20.6% after the department store chain posted knockout Q2 results and raised its full-year guidance.
  • Hims & Hers spiked 7.2% after a judge dismissed a lawsuit by Eli Lilly against a rival telehealth firm selling knockoff versions of its GLP-1 drugs.
  • Campbell’s stock climbed 7.2% after the soup maker ladled out solid Q4 results as more cash-strapped consumers cooked at home, but warned higher costs would weigh on margins.
  • Plug Power jumped in the premarket amid a surge of trading volume in the hydrogen fuel cell company before closing up 1.4%.
  • Oscar Health rose after it reiterated its annual guidance and offered positive commentary on cost trends at the Wells Fargo Healthcare Conference.
  • Oil names including ConocoPhillips, Phillips 66, APA Corporation, Diamondback Energy, Devon Energy, Halliburton, and EOG Resources all dipped after reports that OPEC+ is weighing another output hike of 1.65 million barrels-per-day.
  • Canopy Growth shares fell another 6.7%, extending Tuesday’s losses after the cannabis company filed for a $200 million equity raise on Friday.

— Luke Kawa, Markets Editor & Nia Warfield, Markets Writer

Behold the new AI trade: We call it software

As the AI trade broadens out from data center-driven hyperscalers and power providers, software shares could be poised to catch a lift, say Goldman Sachs analysts.

Read more.

The three technical charts raising jitters over the AI trade

Semis head and shoulders, Nvidia below the 50-day average, and September seasonality.

Check out these charts.

POST-MARKET SURGE

(Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)

American Eagle takes flight after crushing Q2 results and reinstating full-year guidance

American Eagle soared in after-hours trading Wednesday after the teen apparel retailer posted blowout Q2 earnings results and reinstated its full-year guidance.

Read more.

  • Google’s antitrust ruling left things pretty much the same: What that brave new world looks like
    Over the course of Google’s antitrust case, the landscape started shifting on its own thanks to AI tools like ChatGPT.
  • Google is reportedly pitching its AI chips to data centers
    Google has been reaching out to get its chips hosted in cloud providers’ data centers, according to a report from The Information. 
  • EVs power Ford to its sixth straight month of sales growth as tax credits wind down
    Ford’s EV sales grew more than 19% year over year in August.
  • Morgan Stanley: The next Google is still most likely Google
    Google’s monopoly case probably won’t hurt Google’s monopoly on the tech world.
  • The September stock market scaries reared their head — will the pattern hold?
    September has statistically been the stock market’s weakest month, across decades and even across borders.
  • Trump-backed American Bitcoin debuts on Nasdaq
    Eric Trump, Donald Trump Jr. , and other major shareholders like the Winklevoss brothers will own 98% of the new company.
  • Americans that live in colder states are more likely to sleep longer
    But most US adults still aren’t getting enough shut-eye.
  • Rocket Lab dives, as SpaceX receives FAA green light for additional Florida launches
    Retail favorite Rocket Lab tumbled today, despite a dearth of direct news on the private space company that has positioned itself as a rival to Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s SpaceX.
  • Bitcoin ETFs finally reverse trend, see over $330 million in inflows
    The coin’s price is trending up, too.
  • The Powerball jackpot has risen to $1.4 billion ahead of Wednesday’s draw
    Ten-figure prize pots are increasingly common.
 

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