Stocks closed higher Wednesday as growth-oriented names outperformed. Micron Technology (MU) was one of the day's biggest gainers after the memory chipmaker reported earnings and its CEO gave an upbeat outlook for the semiconductor market. Bank stocks helped boost markets, too, as Wall Street cheered news of UBS Group's (UBS, +4.3%) C-suite shake-up.
Taking a closer look at Micron, the company reported fiscal second-quarter earnings that were a far cry from last year's results. MU recorded a $2.3 billion loss for the three-month period vs a year-ago profit of $2.14 per share. Revenue slumped 53% to $3.7 billion.
However, the company guided for higher-than-expected current-quarter results. Additionally, CEO Sanjay Mehrotra said during the earnings call that he sees a "gradually improving supply/demand balance in the months ahead." MU shares rose 7.2% on the day, lifting fellow semiconductor stocks including Intel (INTC, +7.6%) and Nvidia (NVDA, +2.2%).
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Financial stocks were another pocket of strength today. Propping up the sector was news that UBS Group has brought back former CEO Sergio Ermotti to help guide the company following its takeover of rival Credit Suisse (CS, +2.8%). Ermotti formerly served as chief executive at UBS from 2011-2020, and he's credited with helping the company find its footing after the 2008 global financial crisis.
Also moving higher was Lululemon Athletica (LULU), which popped 12.7% after earnings. The athleisure apparel maker reported higher-than-expected fiscal fourth-quarter earnings of 94 cents per share on inline revenue of $2.8 billion. LULU also gave an upbeat revenue outlook for its new fiscal year.
At the close, the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite was up 1.8% at 11,926, the blue chip Dow Jones Industrial Average was 1.0% higher at 32,717, and the broader S&P 500 had gained 1.4% to 4,027.
The Kip 25: our favorite low-cost mutual funds
The month of March has been one for the history books. Indeed, over the past 30 days investors have had to contend with a Fed that was looking to ramp up the size of interest rate hikes suddenly face the worst banking crisis since the Great Recession – all of which sent government bond yields on a record-setting roller-coaster ride. Still, the S&P 500 and Nasdaq are poised to end the month higher.
"What we've seen so far this March has been unbelievable in so many ways," writes Ryan Detrick, chief market strategist at Carson Group, in a recent blog post. "In fact, at the start of the month, if someone would have told you all the incredible things that would happen, yet stocks would take it in stride, I'm not sure most of us would ever believe it."
If nothing else, this is a good reminder that those who keep calmer heads tend to prevail. That's why investors who struggle with shutting out the noise might want to let someone else guide them and their portfolios. We've recently updated our running list of the best low-cost mutual funds investors can buy. Several of our picks have changed over the last year to account for the changing dynamics of both the market and the economy, but one thing has stayed the same: Our Kiplinger 25 is made up of our favorite cheap funds managed by tenured stock pickers.
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