NVIDIA (NVDA) led the trading volume on Wednesday, closing up 1.58%, with a turnover of $24.65 billion. The company expanded its partnership with consulting firm Accenture to drive enterprise adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) and increase orders for its products. Accenture will establish an NVIDIA business unit dedicated to helping clients use and scale generative AI tools.
In contrast, Tesla (TSLA) saw a decrease of 3.49% with a $23.13 billion trading volume. The company's third-quarter delivery figures showed the first quarterly vehicle sales growth this year, but still fell short of market expectations. Tesla delivered 462,890 vehicles, narrowly missing the market estimate of 463,897. However, benefiting from increased electric vehicle subsidies in China, Tesla's third-quarter vehicle sales rose by 6.4%.
Apple (AAPL) rose 0.25% with a turnover of $7.38 billion. The initial global sales of Apple's newly launched iPhone 16 series did not meet expectations, impacting display manufacturer LG Display. Analysts predict this trend may affect LG Display's performance in the second half of 2024. Meanwhile, the Irish government outlined plans to utilize the €13 billion ($14.4 billion) in back taxes recovered from Apple.
Microsoft (MSFT) fell by 0.85%, with a turnover of $6.71 billion. The company will invest €4.3 billion in Italy to expand its AI and cloud computing operations. Additionally, Microsoft invested $750 million in the latest funding round of OpenAI.
Alibaba (BABA) climbed 2.23%, with a $6.11 billion trading volume. Most U.S.-listed Chinese stocks gained, with the Nasdaq Golden Dragon China Index rising over 4.9%. Alibaba announced a $4.1 billion share buyback, totaling 414 million shares. The company still has $22 billion available for buybacks valid until March 2027.
Pinduoduo (PDD) surged 4.85%, with a $5.40 billion turnover. Analysts from Goldman Sachs noted that the Chinese internet sector's 12-month forward price-to-earnings ratio median is 14.3 times, presenting over a 40% discount compared to the U.S. internet sector. Companies like Alibaba, Pinduoduo, and JD.com have valuations between 9-12 times, indicating significant revaluation potential.
Other notable movements include Humana's 11.79% drop and Google A share's (GOOGL) 0.68% decline. Futu Holdings rose 4.94% after JPMorgan raised its target price from $88 to $160. Nike fell by 6.77% following its Q1 FY2025 earnings results, with revenue of $11.6 billion, down 10%. The company announced leadership changes and withdrew its annual performance guidance.
