These Stocks Moved the Most Today: Figma, T. Rowe Price, Credo, Salesforce, American Eagle, HPE, Ciena, and More

Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. (Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)

Stocks rallied on Thursday, as the S&P 500 closed at a record after private sector hiring in the U.S. slowed sharply in August. The data pointed to labor marker weakness that Wall Street believes will prompt the Federal Reserve to lower interest rates at its mid-September meeting.

These stocks made notable moves on Thursday:

Figma slid 20%. The design-software company posted second-quarter earnings for the first time since going public on July 31 and missed analysts’ estimates. Revenue in the period rose 41% from a year earlier to $249.6 million, slightly below the $250 million Wall Street had anticipated. The company earned $846,000, or breakeven on a per-share basis, below calls for a profit of 9 cents a share.

Salesforce fell 4.9%. While second-quarter earnings and revenue at the cloud software company topped analysts’ forecasts, its outlook for the third quarter disappointed, especially for revenue and backlog growth. Salesforce said it expects third-quarter revenue of $10.24 billion to $10.29 billion versus the consensus estimate of $10.29 billion.

Fiscal third-quarter earnings at Hewlett Packard Enterprise were better than expected, sending shares up 1.5%. Network revenue jumped 54%, getting a lift from HPE’s acquisition of Juniper Networks in July. HPE raised its fiscal-year forecast for revenue growth to 14% to 16%, up from a range of 7% to 9%. The server and cloud-software company sees adjusted earnings of $1.88 to $1.92 a share, higher than previous calls for $1.78 to $1.90 a share. “We are raising guidance because we are consolidating the Juniper results into our numbers,” said CEO Antonio Neri.

Alphabet rose 0.7% to build on yesterday’s closing high. The was the best performer in the S&P 500 on Wednesday after a judge in the U.S. vs. Google antitrust case ruled the search company wouldn’t have to sell its Chrome web browser.

Shares of Apple were up 0.6%. The stock gained 3.8% on Wednesday after U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta said Alphabet’s Google wouldn’t be barred from paying Apple to make Google the default search provider on its devices. On Thursday, MoffettNathanson analysts upgraded shares of the tech giant to Neutral from Sell, arguing Apple wasn’t especially attractive from a valuation perspective despite the positive outcome in the antitrust case.

Credo Technology rose 7.4%. The company reported fiscal first-quarter adjusted earnings of 52 cents a share, beating analysts’ calls for 36 cents, as revenue rose 274% from a year earlier to $223.1 million and topped expectations. Credo, a leader in AI data-center connectivity, forecast a second-quarter revenue range that also topped estimates at the midpoint.

American Eagle Outfitters soared 38% after the apparel retailer reinstated guidance for the fiscal year that was better than analysts’ expectations. The company had withdrawn guidance for the fiscal year in May, citing macroeconomic uncertainty. The new guidance projects fiscal-year adjusted operating income in the range of $255 million to $265 million on an adjusted basis, above Wall Street projections of $176 million. American Eagle said the fall season was off to a positive start, fueled in part by an ad campaign with actress Sydney Sweeney and a separate partnership with Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce.

C3.ai, the enterprise-AI software company, fell 7.3% after guiding for second-quarter revenue between $72 million and $80 million, below analysts’ calls for $99.5 million. C3.ai announced that Stephen Ehikian, who served most recently as President Donald Trump’s appointee as acting administrator of the General Services Administration, had been appointed CEO, succeeding founder Thomas Siebel, who will continue as executive chairman.

Ciena jumped 23% after posting fiscal third-quarter earnings and revenue that beat Wall Street expectations. The networking-equipment company also issued an optimistic fourth-quarter outlook and said it would be laying off 4% to 5% of its workforce.

T. Rowe Price was up 5.8% after it was announced that Goldman Sachs plans to buy up to $1 billion of shares in the asset-management firm over time through a series of purchases in the open market. Goldman will buy up to 3.5% of T. Rowe’s outstanding stock. The companies also will partner to offer retirement and wealth management investors products that include privately held, so-called alternative assets. Shares of Goldman Sachs, separately, gained 2.5%.

GitLab, a provider of software development tools, tumbled 7.4% after second-quarter revenue missed analysts’ estimates and the company issued disappointing third-quarter earnings and revenue guidance. GitLab also said Chief Financial Officer Brian Robins was leaving the company for the same role at Snowflake.

Broadcom rose 1.2% ahead of fiscal third-quarter earnings from the semiconductor and software company. Broadcom’s report will be issued after the stock market closes Thursday.

NiSource, the regulated utility company, was down 4.7%. Citi Research analysts said Thursday the spinoff of a subsidiary from Northern Indiana Public Service Company, which is owned by NiSource, was less likely following a leadership shake-up at the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission.

Earnings reports were expected after the closing bell Thursday from Copart, Lululemon Athletica, Samsara, Guidewire Software, Docusign, and UiPath.

Write to Joe Woelfel at joseph.woelfel@barrons.com and Mackenzie Tatananni at mackenzie.tatananni@barrons.com