- Technology company shares rallied following Nvidia's strong growth projections of 70% revenue growth by fiscal year 2028, which eased investor concerns regarding artificial-intelligence demand.
- Salesforce also experienced a surge in shares after reporting robust second-quarter earnings growth and forming a joint venture with Anthropic, driving sympathy gains across other software makers.
- Sandisk and Kioxia Holdings agreed to invest over $31 billion in Japan to expand chip production capacities in anticipation of a prolonged artificial-intelligence boom.
- Major US indices advanced on Thursday, led by a 0.8% rise in the S&P 500 and a nearly 1% rally in the Nasdaq 100.
- Technology was the only S&P 500 sector in the green, driven by a staggering rally in cybersecurity stocks and Nvidia Corp.'s strong revenue forecast.
- Robust economic data, including a drop in initial jobless claims to 203,000, supported market gains while individual tech movers like Okta Inc. and Salesforce Inc. posted significant earnings-driven surges.
- U.S. stocks mostly advanced on Thursday, driven by strong quarterly financial results and raised guidance from multiple major companies.
- Synopsys reported third-quarter earnings of $3.91 per share and revenue of $2.48 billion, pushing its shares up 8.5% to $445.06.
- Other major firms such as Okta, Veeva Systems, and Salesforce also recorded significant share price gains following better-than-expected earnings reports.
- Wall Street analysts updated their price targets and ratings for several major companies across the technology and health sectors.
- Raymond James raised NVIDIA Corp's price target to $515 from $352 while maintaining a Strong Buy rating.
- Other notable adjustments included Evercore ISI Group raising Salesforce Inc's price target to $290 and Needham increasing Nutanix Inc's target to $85.