Wall Street Today | S&P 500 Breaches Record, Nearing 5,000 as Meta Surges

The $S&P 500 Index(.SPX.US)$ inched closer to the pivotal 5,000 level, extending its record-breaking rally that was fueled by the surge in Magnificent Seven stocks. This time around, it's $Meta Platforms(META.US)$'s time to shine, with shares climbing a whopping 20% buoyed by its earnings blowout.

The S&P 500 rose 1.1% to close at an all-time high of 4,9958.61 while the tech-heavy $Nasdaq Composite Index(.IXIC.US)$ gained 1.7%. The $Dow Jones Industrial Average(.DJI.US)$ advanced 0.4% to 38,654.42, also a record.

Friday's surge for Meta shares added about $200 billion to the social media giant's market value and spurred positive investor sentiment for its peers. The company's better-than-expected fourth quarter financial results, dividend plans and its 2024 outlook that reflects its plans for artificial intelligence puts Meta in the same elite league as $Microsoft(MSFT.US)$and $NVIDIA(NVDA.US)$, MarketWatch reported, citing Raymond James analyst Josh Beck.

$Amazon(AMZN.US)$ also dominated, advancing after better-than-expected financial results. The tech giant's cloud business, the Amazon Web Services, saw revenue growth accelerate, prompting analysts to raise their price target on the stock.

West Texas Intermediate (WTI) $Crude Oil Futures(JUN4)(CLmain.US)$ closed down US$1.54 to settle at US$72,28 per barrel, a three-week low, while April Brent crude, the global benchmark, was last seen down US$1.28 to US$77.42.

$Tesla(TSLA.US)$Tesla shares slipped 3% Friday after reports that the electric vehicle maker has cut prices on some car models sold in Canada by as much as 6.9%. Benzinga reported that Tesla cut prices on both the rear-wheel drive and the long-range version of the Model Y by C$4000 (about $2,990). While the rear-wheel drive version of the vehicle now starts at C$53,990, the long-range version starts at C$63,990, according to the report.

$NVIDIA(NVDA.US)$ shares advanced 5.6% after Bank of America Securities raised its price target on the stock on expectations that the chipmaker could see "notable" improvement in revenue in the first quarter.

$Charter Communications(CHTR.US)$ shares slumped 16% after the company saw a net reduction in pay TV subscribers and internet customers in its fourth quarter, dragging earnings lower.

Gen Digital's Disappointing Results
$Gen Digital(GEN.US)$ shares plunged 18% after the company reported fiscal third adjusted quarter earnings that trailed analysts' estimates.