It was a mixed finish for stocks Thursday as investors took in the latest jobs data. While financials outperformed, tech shares lagged as ugly guidance from Mobileye Global (MBLY) sent shockwaves across the semiconductor industry.
Mobileye shares plummeted 24.6% Thursday after the company, which makes processors for self-driving cars, said it expects first-quarter revenue to fall 50% year-over-year due to "excess inventory at our customers" to the tune of 6.7 million chips. Analysts had been expecting MBLY to report top-line growth of 12.6% in Q1.
According to Mobileye, customers built up inventory levels following "supply chain constraints in 2021 and 2022" and amid "a desire to avoid part shortages." It expects the issue to resolve itself in the first quarter.
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Fellow semiconductor stocks NXP Semiconductors (NXPI, -3.9%) and ON Semiconductor (ON, -3.9%) also closed lower today, as did Intel (INTC, -0.4%) which owns 88% of Mobileye.
Walgreens sinks after slashing dividend
Elsewhere, Walgreens Boots Alliance (WBA) this morning disclosed higher-than-expected fiscal first-quarter earnings and revenue. However, shares of the blue chip stock – one of 2024's Dogs of the Dow – fell 5.1% after the drugstore chain slashed its quarterly dividend by 48%.
WBA has long been seen as one of Wall Street's best dividend stocks for dependable dividend growth, having increased its annual payout for 47 straight years. As a result of today's move, Walgreens is at risk of losing its place in the Dividend Aristocrats, an index of S&P 500 stocks that have raised their dividends every year for at least 25 years.
The move comes as Walgreens aims to "free up capital to drive growth and pay down debt," says CFRA Research analyst Arun Sundaram (Hold). "WBA is on pace toward $1 billion of cost savings this fiscal year, in addition to about $600 million of lower capital expenditures and $500 million in working capital benefits."
Jobs data rolls in ahead of Friday's December payrolls report
Meanwhile, on the economic front, ADP said this morning that the U.S. added 164,000 private payrolls in December, more than the 130,000 economists were expecting. The data also showed that annual wage growth slowed to its lowest level since mid-2021 for both job stayers (+5.4%) and job changers (+8.0%).
"Along with a softer-than-expected weekly jobless claims total [202,000 total vs 219,000 estimated], the upside surprise in ADP suggests the labor market is still on solid ground," says Chris Larkin, managing director of trading and investing at E*TRADE from Morgan Stanley. "If tomorrow's numbers show the same kind of strength and the economy keeps rolling along, it's fair to wonder why the Fed would be in a rush to cut rates."
Friday's December jobs report from the government is expected to show 170,000 new jobs were added last month.
At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.03% at 37,440, while the S&P 500 had slipped 0.3% to 4,688. The Nasdaq Composite finished down 0.6% at 14,510 – its fifth straight loss and longest losing streak since October 2022.
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