Stocks Rise in Early Trading After 5 Straight Days of Declines for S&P 500 as Investors Brace for Powell Speech

Intuit Stock Sinks on Disappointing Results

5 minutes ago

Intuit (INTU) shares tumbled in early trading after the maker of tax and accounting software gave weaker-than-anticipated guidance on soft demand for its MailChimp marketing platform and TurboTax tax filing program.

The firm that also owns QuickBooks and Credit Karma sees fiscal 2026 first-quarter GAAP earnings per share (EPS) of $1.19 to $1.26 and revenue growth of 14% to 15%. Analysts surveyed by Visible Alpha were looking for EPS of $1.31 and revenue 16.2% higher. In addition, Intuit’s full-year EPS projection of $15.49 to $15.69 was short of forecasts.

The outlook offset strong fiscal 2025 fourth-quarter results. Intuit posted adjusted EPS of $2.75 on revenue that increased 20% year-over-year to $3.83 billion, with both beating estimates. CEO Sasan Goodarzi pointed to artificial intelligence for the gains, noting the use of the company’s “virtual team of AI agents and AI-enabled human experts.”

Intuit noted that revenue at its Global Business Solutions Group gained 18% to $3.0 billion and Online Ecosystem rose 21% to $2.2 billion. However, when MailChimp is excluded, those segments would have advanced 21% and 26%, respectively.

U.S. TurboTax units fell 2% to 39.2 million, which the company said was “due to yielding share with lower ARPR customers.” ARPR, or Average Revenue Per Return, refers to the money Intuit gets when a customer uses its tax software.

Intuit shares were down nearly 7% in recent trading, pacing decliners in the S&P 500. Heading into today’s session, the stock was up 11% year-to-date.

–Bill McColl

Nvidia Halts China Chip Production, Reports Say

22 minutes ago

Nvidia (NVDA) reportedly has told suppliers to suspend production of its H20 chip, after Beijing asked local firms to avoid using the chip tailored for the Chinese market due to security concerns.

Citing unidentified sources, The Information reported that Nvidia has instructed Samsung Electronics and Amkor Technology to halt production of the H20 chip, which are less powerful than its latest semiconductors. Reuters separately reported that Nvidia had asked Foxconn to suspend work related to the H20 chips. Foxconn, Samsung, and Amkor didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.

“We constantly manage our supply chain to address market conditions,” an Nvidia spokesperson told Investopedia.

Last month, Nvidia and rival Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) were given approval from the Trump administration to resume sales of key AI chips to China, with the condition that they pay 15% of their chip revenue generated there to the U.S. government in exchange for the export licenses. Beijing reportedly has raised concerns that the Nvidia chips contained “backdoors,” allowing remote access to or control of the chips, a charge the tech firm has denied.

“As both governments recognize, the H20 is not a military product or for government infrastructure. China won’t rely on American chips for government operations, just like the U.S. government would not rely on chips from China,” the Nvidia spokesperson said. “However, allowing U.S. chips for beneficial commercial business use is good for everyone.”

The spokesperson added, “Cybersecurity is critically important to us. NVIDIA does not have ‘backdoors’ in our chips that would give anyone a remote way to access or control them. The market can use the H20 with confidence.”

China is a key market for Nvidia. The chipmaker said in May that it took a $4.5 billion charge in the first quarter due to export curbs on H20 chips to the Asian country.

Nvidia shares, which entered Friday up 30% this year, were down about 1% in premarket trading.

–Nisha Gopalan

Futures Point to Slightly Higher Open for Major Indexes

22 minutes ago

Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average were up 0.3%.

S&P 500 futures added 0.2%.

Nasdaq 100 futures also rose 0.2%.