Stock Market Live May 20: S&P 500 (VOO) Slumps, But Investors Are Bullish on CATL

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The Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (NYSEMKT: VOO) opened down 1% on Tuesday, but quickly bounced back to breakeven, and not all investors are pessimistic. Over in Hong Kong, Chinese battery giant Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., Limited, or “CATL,” has just conducted the largest IPO so far this year, and its stock closed up 16%.

CATL is not listed in the U.S., although it may be possible to buy shares anyway depending on your broker. The company raised $4.6 billion before fees, and closed at the Hong Kong dollar equivalent of $33.63 a share.

Earnings

Here in the U.S., S&P 500 index component Home Depot (NYSE: HD) reported just under $39.9 billion in Q1 revenue this morning, beating expectations. Adjusted earnings came in a bit light at $3.56 per share, but management told investors it still expects to earn more than the $15 consensus by the end of this year, predicting profits will be about $15.24.

Back overseas, business is booming for Israeli drone-maker Elbit Systems (Nasdaq: ESLT), which just reported $2.57 per share in profit, up 42% year over year, growth twice as good as the 22% improvement in its revenue to $1.9 billion.

Analyst Calls

S&P component Hewlett Packard Enterprise (NYSE: HPE) won an upgrade from Evercore ISI this morning. The banker expects HPE to close its acquisition of Juniper Networks (NYSE: JNPR) successfully, leading to “double-digit EPS growth in year 1 through $300M of cost synergies.” Even if the acquisition does not close, though, Evercore thinks “there’s value that could be unlocked” in the company.

A second S&P 500 stock, Kroger (NYSE: KR), won a slight upgrade to hold from Melius Research. Citing “share gains from widespread pharmacy closures,” “limited exposure to tariffs,” and “consistent free cash flow generation,” Melius is warming to the grocery stock, and no longer thinks it’s a sell. 

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