The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained as Microsoft (MSFT) rose amid a merger report. Tesla (TSLA) popped after CEO Elon Musk mocked a prominent investor for shorting the stock. Oracle (ORCL) jumped on an analyst call ahead of earnings.
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Meanwhile a trio of noteworthy names attempted breakouts. Intapp (INTA), W.W. Grainger (GWW) and Biogen (BIIB) all tested buy points.
Nasdaq Shines As IBD 50 Jumps
The Nasdaq was outperforming the other major indexes as it rose over 1%. Broadcom (AVGO) and Airbnb (ABNB) were strong here, rising nearly 6% and more than 5%, respectively.
The benchmark S&P 500 was also solid, rising 0.5%. Carnival (CCL) sailed almost 13% higher after a pair of bullish Wall Street calls.
The S&P 500 sectors were mixed. Technology and consumer discretionary were the top performers. Real estate and energy were the worst performers.
Small caps inched higher, with the Russell 2000 up 0.4%. Growth stocks excelled though, with the Innovator IBD 50 ETF (FFTY) popping over 1%.
Dow Jones Today: Microsoft Up Amid Merger Report
The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up less than 100 points heading into the close. This translates to a gain of 0.2%.
Microsoft stock was up 0.8% amid The Wall Street Journal reported that the Federal Trade Commission is going to move to block its mooted acquisition of video game giant Activision Blizzard (ATVI).
Citing a person familiar with the issue, the Journal said the FTC will file an injunction in federal court to block it from going forward. It had already sued to prevent the deal from going ahead.
It is just the latest snag for the proposed deal, with U.K.’s Competition and Markets Authority previously deciding to block the merger, though an appeal has been lodged.
MSFT was far from the strongest performer on the Dow Jones today. Intel (INTC) led the upside with a nearly 5% lift while Boeing (BA) rose almost 2%.
Boeing is the IBD Stock of the Day after it cleared a 221.33 entry. It was added to SwingTrader on Thursday.
Leaderboard stock Salesforce (CRM) was the worst Dow performer as it dipped more than 1%.
Tesla Stock Up After Elon Musk Mocks Short Seller
Tesla is going through its best win streak in history. The stock is on track to rise 12 consecutive days, roaring more than 35% over this period, according to Dow Jones Market Data. That makes it Tesla’s longest win streak and the best 12-day stretch since February 2023, when it made a 36.3% run.
Tesla CEO Musk has never been a fan of short sellers. And he could not resist mocking storied investor Bill Miller on Twitter.
Musk posted a laughing face emoji in response to a January video of the former hedge fund manager revealing a short position in the automaker.
“If it goes up I’ll short some more,” Miller said in the video, where he also said the EV behemoth “is now losing market share.”
It will have been an expensive trade if he stuck to his word. At the time he claimed Tesla is “not worth $380 billion.” In fact, its current market cap has now shot up to $778 billion.
Tesla stock is currently an IBD Leaderboard member. It is well extended from a 207.79 entry and is now up around 130% since the start of 2023.
Oracle Earnings Due, Stock Pops On Bullish Call
Results from Oracle are due after the close, but it jumped ahead of the report following a bullish analyst call.
Wolfe upgraded ORCL to outperform from peer perform, citing “accelerating top-line growth as well as margin expansion.” It called for margins to move back to the mid-40% range in time. His price target is 130.
The upgrade sent the stock higher, with Oracle stock up around 6%. ORCL is now up almost 39% so far in 2023.
JPMorgan also hiked its Oracle price target ahead of the report, raising it to 109. It maintained its buy rating.
EPS is expected to rise 3% to $1.58 a share, according to Zacks Investment Research. Revenue is seen rising 16% to $3.74 billion. This would be on the back of 18% revenue growth for three straight quarters.
Oracle has shown impressive relative strength since breaking out from a 91.22 entry in late March. ORCL stock has made excellent progress since then, finding support at the 21-day exponential moving average along the way.
It has also been reported that Oracle has made an investment in AI startup Cohere, which has also attracted investment from Nvidia (NVDA).
Outside Dow Jones: 3 Stocks Test Entries
With the market in a confirmed uptrend it is the ideal time to keep tabs on any breakouts.
Intapp is in a buy zone after it cleared a consolidation pattern buy point of 47.04, MarketSmith analysis shows. This is a first-stage pattern for the financial software stock, a plus.
It also saw its relative strength line move to fresh heights. Overall strong performance has netted INTA an IBD Composite Rating of 96 out of 99.
W.W. Grainger is also actionable after it cleared a flat base. The ideal entry point here is 709.21. Earnings are a particular strength for the building materials play, with its EPS Rating a might 96 out of 99.
Biogen is one to watch for now after it briefly cleared a weekly chart flat base entry of 319.74. It is now back below the buy point. Over performance is strong, but not ideal, which is reflected in its IBD Composite Rating of 87.
Please follow Michael Larkin on Twitter at @IBD_MLarkin for more analysis of growth stocks.
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