Stocks were a bit shaky Tuesday, the first day of trading in the second quarter, as investors waited with bated breath to hear about new tariffs announced by President Trump. The White House said the news would come Wednesday at 4 p.m. ET.
Some notable stock action on Tuesday is highlighted below:
Tesla stock rose 5.3%, reversing the 1.7% drop on Monday. The stock is still 36% lower so far this year—the worst ever for Tesla. The company will report how many cars it sold in the first quarter on Wednesday in around 380,000 vehicles. Some analysts have lowered their estimates following criticism directed against CEO Elon Musk for his support of Trump and involvement in a government ministry.
XPeng, China’s electric car manufacturer, rose 1.2% after it delivered over 33,000 vehicles last month—nearly three times as many it delivered in March a year ago. It now has five consecutive months of delivery volumes above 30,000. Other Chinese EV makers also rose: NIO rose 2.6%, and Li Auto rose 1.1%.
Ford dropped 1.9% after reporting that it had sold approximately 501,000 vehicles in the U.S. during the first quarter, a decline of 1.3% from last year. That wasn’t entirely surprising since the dealerships already had heavy inventories at the start of the year. General Motors was unchanged, with its U.S. sales rising 17%.
Nvidia, an AI chipmaker, slid 0.7%. Its shares have fallen more than 19% in the first quarter, the worst since late 2022. Investors fear that Trump’s tariffs will slow down economic growth and increase prices, which would negatively impact tech companies.
Johnson & Johnson fell 6.3% after a judge dismissed the company’s third bid to resolve lawsuits against its talc-based products (such as baby powder) through bankruptcy protection.
MicroStrategy, which sits on a large Bitcoin stash, rose 1.8% even as analysts lowered the stock, saying the company may not be able to buy more Bitcoin in the future.
PVH Corp., the parent of Calvin Klein and Tommy Hilfiger, jumped 18% after it reported strong earnings and said it sees sales being flat or increasing this year.
Progress Software soared 11% after it raised its profit guidance for the year, posting revenue up 29% on strong sales of its software tools.
Conservative media company Newsmax surged 124% to $187.26 on Tuesday following its explosive first day on the stock exchange. It traded at $10 and ended Monday at $83.51—a rise of 735%.
Southwest Airlines fell 6.8% after analysts downgraded the stock, citing softer summer travel demand. American Airlines dropped 3.9%, and Delta fell 4.1% for the same reason.
NCino, a cloud software company, is due to report earnings after markets close on Tuesday.
By editor-in-chief Timothy Gocklin, MBA, MSF
