S&P 500 Gains and Losses Today: UPS Stock Drops as Shipper Trims Amazon Deliveries

Major U.S. equities indexes moved higher as a report from the Bureau of Economic Analysis showed consumers continued to spend, despite the slight deceleration in gross domestic product (GDP) growth.

The S&P 500 advanced 0.5% on Thursday. The Dow was up 0.4%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq ended the session roughly 0.3% higher.

Shares of energy producer Vistra (VST) jumped 13.6%, logging the S&P 500’s top performance. With Thursday’s push higher, the utility stock clawed back some of the heavy losses posted earlier in the week as a cost-effective artificial intelligence (AI) model from Chinese startup DeepSeek casts a shadow on AI-related stocks. Optimism about Vistra’s opportunity to power AI data centers has helped the stock skyrocket about 330% over the past year.

IBM (IBM) stock surged 13.0% after the legacy tech giant topped earnings and sales estimates for the fourth quarter. “Big Blue” highlighted strong year-over-year growth in revenue from its software business, boosted by demand for AI technology and momentum from its Red Hat Linux operating system.

Las Vegas Sands (LVS) shares popped 11.1% after the casino operator’s quarterly report. Softness in the company’s Macao business weighed on profits, which came in below forecasts. However, fourth-quarter sales topped estimates, boosted by a strong performance from its Marina Bay Sands resort in Singapore. Las Vegas Sands also repurchased $450 million worth of shares during the period.

United Parcel Service (UPS) reported lower-than-expected fourth-quarter sales and profits, and shares of the package delivery company plunged 14.1%, losing the most ground of any S&P 500 stock on Thursday. UPS also announced an agreement to cut its volume of deliveries for Amazon (AMZN) by 50% by the end of next year. Although Amazon is the shipper’s largest customer, accounting for almost 12% of revenue in 2024, UPS said that winding down its collaboration with the e-commerce giant will allow for a shift toward more profitable projects, helping boost margins.

ServiceNow (NOW) shares tumbled 11.4% following the software and IT services firm’s fourth-quarter earnings release. Although adjusted profits topped forecasts and sales were in line with expectations, subscription revenue growth fell short of guidance. ServiceNow predicted a slight deceleration in the key metric during the first quarter.

Comcast (CMCSA) shares dropped 11.0% after the cable, internet, and content provider reported a wider-than-expected decline in broadband customers. Despite the slump in its subscriber base, the media giant beat profit and sales estimates, with record revenue and earnings per share driven by growth from its Peacock streaming service.