Closing Bell: Coinbase Rises, First Solar Soars, Hertz Tumbles

Listen for comprehensive cross-platform coverage of the US market close as heard on Bloomberg Television, Bloomberg Radio, and YouTube with Romaine Bostick, Alix Steel, Scarlet Fu, Carol Massar and Tim Stenovec.
 
- Coinbase (COIN) shares skyrocketed as much as 26% in trading, the biggest intraday gain since Nov. 6 to the highest level since February, after S&P Dow Jones Indices said the company will joins the S&P 500 before trading begins on May 19th. The company will replace Discover Financial Services in the index prior to the start of trading on May 19, S&P Dow Jones Indices said in a press release. The inclusion of Coinbase is viewed as a vindication by crypto faithfuls who helped President Donald Trump win the election in November.

- First Solar (FSLR) shares soared after JPMorgan analyst Mark Strouse said the US budget reconciliation bill is better than “the more bullish end of investor expectations” for solar, wind and geothermal firms. Strouse said First Solar is the “best positioned” name to benefit from the bill, which updates provisions of the Inflation Reduction Act.

- Hertz (HTZ) shares closed lower after the car-rental company posted a larger-than-expected loss in the first quarter, pressured by a slowdown in customer bookings. Revenue fell 13% in the period, contributing to an adjusted loss of $1.12 per share, the company said in a statement late Monday. Analysts had expected a 99-cent deficit on average, according to estimates compiled by Bloomberg. The company showed declines on multiple key metrics. While forward bookings from leisure customers were up from a year ago, demand from corporate and government customers has moderated.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:02):
Bloomberg Audio Studios, podcasts, radio News.

Speaker 2 (00:09):
This is a closing bell on the Stock Movers podcast.
The company's making moves at the close of US trading
with Carol Master, Tim Stenobeck, Romain Bostic, and Scarlet Food.

Speaker 3 (00:22):
Let's get to some of the individual gainers and check
it out because some of them kind of hitting a
most significant relative significant milestones to some extent. Let's go
to coinbase because it shares is they are up almost
twenty four percent here in today's session.

Speaker 4 (00:36):
We know what the news is.

Speaker 3 (00:37):
They're going to be set up.

Speaker 1 (00:38):
It's twenty three point ninety seven.

Speaker 3 (00:40):
I set twenty four percent, all right, so a big gain.
This company's going to join the S and P five
hundred that will happen on May nineteenth, kind of making
it legitimate.

Speaker 2 (00:49):
I don't know.

Speaker 3 (00:50):
We had a big conversation about crypto kind of going
into its legitimate phase because it just seems that way
S and P five hundred. Hey, folks, if you're in
an index fund, you now will start to own a
piece of crypto if you didn't before. Anyway, Coinbase best
day since the presidential election, So that was definitely some
outperformance there. Another one first Solar. I've been looking at
the all energy space in a big way for solar

(01:12):
guys of twenty two percent in the past five days,
this stock is up about fifty percent. Rounding it up
for you, remain up about fifty percent in the past
five days. So it has been on a tear in
this one, having its biggest gain in two years. A
couple of things going on. JP Morgan coming out saying
the US budget reconciliation build better than the more bullish
end of investor expectations for solar for win and geothermal firms. Also,

(01:36):
yet Wolf Research coming out upgrading the stock to outperform
and announcing it two hundred and twenty one dollar a
share price Target stock closing at one hundred and ninety
one and change. So really some outperformance and one more
for you, super Micro. It's up sixteen percent in today's session.
Raymond James initiating coverage the firm within outperform, saying it

(01:56):
has emerged as a market leader in AI optimized infrastructure
and the ANAS, also saying super Micro's positioned itself in
a sweet spot between branded IT suppliers such as Dell
and contract manufacturers like Quanta. Price Target said at forty one.
They say the share is undervalued. Stock closing at thirty
eight eighty nine to almost thirty nine dollars this year.

Speaker 4 (02:17):
Okay, you had the easy job with the gainers. Certainly
there were some prominent decliners. Do you want to start with?
United Health Group shares dragging the dow down today, shares
falling seventeen point eight percent, closing up the lowest going
back to February of twenty twenty one. This brings the
decline from its record down fifty percent. The company did

(02:38):
fall after it replaced in CEO Andrew Whittie with a
former CEO, Stephen Hemsley. It also suspended earning's guidance and
cited unexpected medical costs and challenges with its medicare strategy.
The company stock down about forty percent so far this year.
It also revised its forecast, and it raised questions about
its ability to anticipate and manage patient's expenses despite its
size and reach. Also hurts on my radar today, shares

(03:02):
falling about seventeen percent this after the company posted a
larger than expected loss in the first quarter, was driven
by a slowdown in customer bookings and a thirteen percent
revenue decline. Shares are up close to sixty percent so
far this year. Just a reminder, pershing at Square Capital
Management of Bill Ackman has amounced a nearly twenty percent
stake in Hurtz in a part that's a bet the

(03:23):
tariffs will drive up the value of Hertz's fleet once again.
Shares falling today by about seventeen percent. And this is
an interesting one. Igtus International Game Technology. They make slot
machines and other gambling tech. It's about a three point
three billion dollar market cap company out of Providence. Shares
fell about ten percent today, as much earlier in this session,

(03:43):
about fifteen percent this after the company said its full
year revenue will be at the lower end of previously
issued guidance.

Speaker 5 (03:49):
All right, let's go quickly to the bond market. Here,
not a lot happened, but what didn't happen was also
quite interesting. We hit that four percent level on the
two year and nothing and it stayed right there, despite
the fact that we got a weaker than expected a CPI,
which in theory could be good news. Right, if inflation's
less of a problem, maybe the Fed can actually cut
One would have thought that maybe a yield would be lower.
I also want to highlight the dollar, the Bloomberg dollar

(04:10):
in next guys, jumping a full one percentage point. That's
the biggest jump since April eleventh, so right around the
walk back from Liberation Day.

Speaker 1 (04:20):
And just want to point out too, when we talk
about just the shift and sentiment, you were going through
the decliners, tim and it's interesting to see most of
the decliners were a lot of those defensive names that
had been bid up with a lot of consumer staples,
obviously healthcare as well as some of those auto parts names.
But then also the shift and sentiment to the upside
that's having a material effect as well for the IPO market.
We're getting the headline right now that the fintech company

(04:40):
Chime but just a few weeks said it was going
to postpone its IPO now saying it's going forward. It
made the full filing now with the file on the Nasdaq.

Speaker 2 (04:49):
I remember, just.

Speaker 1 (04:51):
If I remember correctly get my dates right, just maybe
three weeks ago it had actually said that it was
not actually going to follow through with that at least
not any time soon, but now apparently back in play here.
So interesting shifting sentiment.

Speaker 3 (05:02):
Yeah, Bloomberg pointing out kind of late last year that
it had about a twenty five billion dollar valuation back
in twenty twenty one. That was the peak of kind
of the tech boom, and then that faded. So it'll
be interesting to see as we get more details in
terms of the financials on that one.

Speaker 2 (05:16):
The Stock Movers podcast from Bloomberg Radio. Check back with
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