Frontier Airlines shares surged 17%, trading late morning at the highest level since July 2023, after its upbeat outlook and swing to a profit for the last three months of 2024.

The ultralow-cost airline is tweaking its business model to offer roomier, first-class seats and other perks as consumers repeatedly show a willingness to pay higher fares for more room on board.

Frontier posted a $54 million profit in the last three months of the year from a $37 million loss a year earlier. The carrier is also trying to merge with bankrupt rival Spirit Airlines, but the two sides have not yet reached a deal.

ULCC, 1-day

During Friday’s market sell-off, just one out of the 11 GICS sectors was trading positive: energy stocks.

But on a weekly basis, 6 out of the 11 sectors were still on pace for a gain. Consumer staples, up 1.7% on the week, led the advance, followed by energy stocks, up 1.3%, and the information technology cohort, up 1.1%.

The health-care sector was trading around flat on the week, but was last marginally lower.

Consumer discretionary stocks were the worst-performing sector and on pace for a 3% weekly plunge, followed by the communication services sector, down 2%.

— Lisa Kailai Han

All but one of the 11 S&P 500 sectors were falling in morning trading.

The index’s move lower was led by consumer discretionary and communication services, which fell 1.9% and 1.1%, respectively.

Those two sectors were then followed by information technology, materials and real estate. Information technology and materials slid 0.8%, while real estate fell 0.6%.

Meanwhile, energy was the only gainer, as that sector rose about 0.3%.

— Sean Conlon

The U.S. economy added just 143,000 jobs in January, but the unemployment rate fell to 4%, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Jobs growth in January was down significantly from an upwardly revised 307,000 in December and missed Dow Jones consensus expectations of 169,000 for the month.

The report made significant revisions to 2024 totals. The revisions, which the BLS does each year, reduced the jobs count by 589,000. A preliminary adjustment back in August 2024 had indicated 818,000 fewer jobs.

— Jeff Cox, Spencer Kimball

HSBC analyst Meredith Prichard Jensen is optimistic on Expedia stock following the company’s fourth-quarter results.

The firm upgraded the online booking stock to buy in a Thursday note, and raised its target price to $215 per share from $195. HSBC’s forecast calls for about 25% upside from Thursday’s $172.57 close. 

“In our view, 4Q24 provided sequential confirmation that the Vrbo turnaround is on track with system room night growth +11.6% [year-over-year] driving lodging gross bookings +12.5% [year-over-year], which in our view, broadly reflect pricing trends for the broader market,” the analyst said. 

— Brian Evans

Deckers Brands at the New York Stock Exchange on Dec. 4, 2024.

NYSE

In a Friday note to clients, Citi analyst Paul Lejuez upgraded shares of Deckers Outdoor to a buy rating from neutral.

Shares of the footwear designer and distributor have surged 24% over the past 12 months. Lejuez’s $215 price target is approximately 25% above where the stock closed Thursday afternoon.

DECK 1Y chart

“We believe the 24% sell off in shares post 3Q is unwarranted, and largely driven by fears of slowing Hoka growth, which we view as misunderstood/overblown,” he wrote. “We believe underlying demand remains strong … DECK trades at an F26E P/E multiple of 24x, below other high-growth peers, suggesting a favorable risk/reward,” the analyst added.

Lejuez elaborated that he still believes Hoka can achieve 20% growth in fiscal 2026, something the market fears the brand cannot pull off. The analyst added that the Ugg brand’s more consistent growth gives him confidence that 2026 will be “another year of strong performance,” especially when considering the product pipeline ahead.

— Lisa Kailai Han

Wells Fargo analyst Mike Mayo lifted his price target for JPMorgan to $300 from $270, citing the second Trump administration as a catalyst.

Shares of JPMorgan have soared 58% over the past 12 months. Mayo’s revised price target now implies potential upside of 8% ahead for the stock.

JPM 1Y chart

“JPM reflects ‘Goliath is Winning’ given mkt share gains, best-in-class performance, and what we see as the most positive regulatory inflection in 3 decades,” the analyst wrote. “We remind that Treasury Sec. Bessent has stated that a regulatory overhaul ‘will encourage more lending and reinvigorate banks’ — which is important given the lull in loan growth this decade,” the analyst added.

Mayo added that other possible positives for the stock include pretax margin on capital markets and greater-than-expected return of loan growth.

— Lisa Kailai Han

PINS 5D chart

In its last quarter, Pinterest reported adjusted EBITDA of $470.9 million, beating FactSet’s estimate of $445.9 million. Pinterest’s $1.15 billion revenue was also slightly above the expected $1.14 billion.

In a note to clients, Bernstein analyst Mark Shmulik accompanied his upgrade to outperform from market perform by lifting his price target to $47 from $34. This implies a potential upside of approximately 40% ahead for the social media stock.

“Pinterest grew adj. EBITDA margins by 5ppts Y/Y to 28% in 2024 with management re-iterating room for further margin expansion despite AI investments,” Shmulik wrote. “It’s possible that this quarter was a one-off, though we see enough evidence in execution to believe the pace of progress is sustainable,” the analyst added.

Shares of Pinterest have declined 18% over the past 12 months.

— Lisa Kailai Han

Hershey’s chocolate bars and Hershey Co. Reese’s brand peanut butter cups at a store in Crockett, California, on Dec. 9, 2024.

David Paul Morris | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Citi upgraded Hershey to a neutral rating from sell following the chocolate confectionary manufacturer’s latest earnings report.

On Thursday, Hershey reported a fourth-quarter adjusted earnings and revenue beat. Citi upgraded the stock in the aftermath but lowered its price target to $154 from $159, now implying upside of just 1%.

“We do not see much near-term upside in the stock price — not when the shares trade at>25x this year’s earnings and cocoa remains persistently high. But we think yesterday’s 2025 guidance (of $6.00-6.18) sets a reasonable floor off which the company is likely to grow in 2026, even if cocoa prices do not decline,” wrote analyst Thomas Palmer. “And when considering the assumptions under-pinning the guidance HSY laid out for 2025, we think there are more potential upside drivers (especially incremental pricing, or lower elasticity) than risk items (cocoa is locked in),” the analyst added.

Meanwhile, Palmer also pointed out that underlying sales trends have improved, both in terms of pricing and volume.

Shares of Hershey have shed 22% over the past 12 months. The stock was last set to open Friday’s trading session 1% higher.

HSY 1Y chart

The bear, a symbol of falling stock market prices, stands as a bronze sculpture in front of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange building on Aug. 6, 2024.

Picture Alliance | Picture Alliance | Getty Images

Individual investors are the most bearish toward U.S. stocks in 15 months, since November 2023, according to the latest weekly survey from the American Association of Individual Investors. Pessimism on the outlook for stocks over the next six months jumped to 42.9% of respondents from 34.0% last week.

The historical bearish average is just 31.0%.

Bullishness toward stocks tumbled to 33.3%, down from 41.0% last week, only the lowest in three weeks, since mid-January. The historical average of bullishness is 37.5%. Those who are neutral on stocks accounted for the balance.

Investors were asked a special question this week, and the majority, 52.5%, said U.S. stocks are overvalued. Slightly more than a third, 36.9%, said valuations are mixed, with some areas expensive and others cheap. Only 7.1% said stocks are fairly valued and 1.4% said stocks are undervalued.

— Scott Schnipper

The recent interplay among stocks, bonds, currencies and crypto assets might best be described as “Cat in The Hat Markets,” according to Peter Atwater of Financial Insyghts.

In a note out Wednesday responding to last week’s DeepSeek-induced panic and Monday’s brief, tariff-induced slump in stocks, Atwater also described the current market as “The Cat in The Hat Goes to Washington.”

“We’ve reached the point where we have Mom and Dad leave for the day before the markets open,” wrote Atwater, an adjunct professor at the College of William & Mary. “Chaos ensues at 9:30, yet before the market closes and moments before they come back, everything is put back in place. If you like to trade intraday volatility, I suppose it is exciting. What troubles me is that having successfully lived through this experience twice (with DeepSeek and now tariffs), the bulls expect the game to continue. They believe Trump is all bark and no bite. BTFD. It may not be this week or even next, but at some point in the not too distant future, the Cat In the Hat is going to leave a mess, not because he wants to, but because that is the consequence,” Atwater wrote.

— Scott Schnipper

U.S. stock futures slipped Thursday night.

Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 49 points, or 0.1%. S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 futures inched down around 0.2% each.

— Hakyung Kim