Stock Market Today: Nasdaq Leads Gains, Chip Play Blasts Past Entry; This Shoe Stock Surpasses New Buy Point

The Nasdaq gapped up at the open and shot more than 2% higher Thursday as Wall Street applauded superb results from Nvidia (NVDA), the leader within the Magnificent Seven megacap tech stocks. Roughly 45 minutes into trading on the stock market today, the composite index aimed to tackle resistance at 16,000 with a gain of nearly 400 points.

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At around 11:05 a.m. ET, the S&P 500 rallied 1.6%, ahead of a 0.6% rise by the Dow Jones Industrial Average.

Nvidia roared to a new all-time high in morning action, catapulting more than 15%. The leader in artificial intelligence chips said late Wednesday that fiscal fourth-quarter earnings came in at $5.16 a share on sales of $22.1 billion for the quarter ended Jan. 29. Wall Street predicted earnings of $4.59 a share on sales of $20.4 billion.

Meanwhile, sandal giant Birkenstock (BIRK) — a recent initial public offering — moved swiftly past a 52.12 correct buy point in its second base since its October IPO at $46 a share. Birkenstock shares rose more than 2% in volume running triple average levels on the stock market today .

The 5% buy zone from 52.12, the left-side high of a nearly 10-week consolidation pattern, goes up to 54.73. So for now, the shoe retailer remains in buy range.

Birkenstock shows a fine Relative Strength Rating of 88 on a scale of 1 to 99. The RS Rating normally tracks 12-month price action. Typically, new issues carry low relative strength scores, so BIRK’s high rating is unusual. In general, focus on growth stocks that score an 80 or higher.

Watch for Birkenstock earnings due on Feb. 29.

Also In Stock Market Today: Nasdaq Leader Nvidia Leads Techs Higher

Stock Market Today: Outside The Nasdaq

Elsewhere, tech play Synopsys (SNPS), which provides design verification for the chip industry, blasted past a cup with handle and its 554.57 entry point. The stock stumbled after an initial breakout attempt. The IBD Long-Term Leaders member reported 36% growth in first-quarter earnings to $3.56 a share. Revenue rose 21% to $1.65 billion.

But breakouts in the stock market across other industries took place as well.

Quanta Services (PWR), which specializes in construction and maintenance in the electric utility and oil pipeline markets, powered past a 219.17 entry in a nine-week cup without handle after issuing solid fourth-quarter results on the stock market today. Earnings jumped 21% to $2.04 a share on a 31% acceleration in revenue to $5.78 billion.

Index Analysis

At the early session high of 15,982, the Nasdaq has advanced 6.5% year to date, blowing past a 3% gain by the Dow Jones Industrial Average over the same time frame. That said, the blue-chip Dow is having a solid start to 2024 for sure.

At an early-trading high of 38,886 on the stock market today, it entertains a chance to finish at a year-to-date closing high.

Also, the Nasdaq, Dow Jones industrials and the S&P 500 also hold healthy cushions of gains above their rising 50-day moving averages.

The Russell 2000 lagged, up 0.4%. The Dow Jones transportation average climbed 0.6%, indicating buying demand in non-tech areas of the stock market remains healthy.

Tech Leads The Industry Groups

Looking at IBD’s 197 industry groups, tech certainly led the bullish way. Computer hardware, design software, fabless semiconductor and chip equipment stocks rallied at least 3%. Security software stocks rebounded 2.5%. Data storage climbed 2.4% as a group.

Breadth in the stock market stepped in the right direction. Early readings on Thinkorswim showed advancers exceed decliners on the Nasdaq by a roughly 3-2 margin.

Volume was running sharply higher vs. the same time Wednesday on both main exchanges on the stock market today.

Please follow Chung on X/Twitter: @saitochung and @IBD_DChung

Assistant Markets Editor Russ Britt contributed to this story.

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