What’s News in Markets: Nvidia’s Big Buyback, Cruise Comeback, Egg Glut

Hey listeners, it's Saturday, October 3rd. I'm Imani Moise for the Wall Street Journal. And this is what's news in markets. Our look at the biggest stock moves of the week and the news that drove them. Let's dive in! Bonds stole the spotlight again this week as the third quarter wrapped up and the fourth began. The 10-year Treasury yield climbed to its highest level in 24 years, as investors worried that high oil prices and a resilient economy could keep inflation hot and interest rates higher for longer. Those forces have put pressure on stocks and started spilling into corporate America. Companies have delayed IPOs and deal making has slowed. But Friday brought some relief. A surprisingly weak jobs report sent stocks higher, with investors betting the Federal Reserve might not have to raise rates as aggressively. For the week, the NASDAQ increased about half a percent, while the S&P 500 slipped about a quarter percent, and the Dow ended the week 1.3 percent lower. As always, some stocks managed to make waves, while others got scrambled. You'll see what I mean. Let's get into it! First up, our winner of the week, Cruise Stocks. That might sound surprising because Cruise Lines sailed into the week, facing some pretty rough waters. Since the war in Iran sent the cost of fuel soaring, shares of the three biggest cruise operators, Carnival, Royal Caribbean, and Norwegian, had underperformed the S&P 500 by between 35 and 55 percent. Oil prices surged in the third quarter and ended the week above $102 a barrel. That's a big deal for Cruise Lines, which burned a lot of fuel, keeping their massive ships afloat. But Carnival gave the industry a lift this week. On Tuesday, the company reported better than expected quarterly results, profit rose to nearly $2 billion, and Carnival said strong demand and improvements to its operations, more than made up for higher fuel costs, and travelers are already lining up for next year. Carnival is about halfway booked for 2027 with both occupancy and prices at record levels. Carnival shares gained 16 percent this week, while Royal Caribbean and Norwegian rose more than 14 and 3 percent respectively. Next up, our loser of the week, America's biggest egg producer, Cal main foods. Remember last year, when eggs were so scarce, that grocery stores were rationing cartons, and restaurants were adding eggs surcharges? Well now, America has too many eggs. Eggs have regrown their flocks since last year. That's when a bird flu outbreak killed millions of hands and scent prices soaring. The number of egg laying hands in the U.S. was up more than 5 percent in September from a year ago, and all those extra eggs sent prices tumbling nearly 60 percent last month. That's great news for anyone buying eggs, but pretty terrible if your business is selling them. On Wednesday, Cal main said it lost nearly $59 million last quarter, compared with a nearly $200 million profit a year ago. Shares fell 1.1 percent this week. You may have already caught on, but we're trying something new this week, and we're calling this last segment "Number of the Week." Let us know what you think. This week's number of the week is $150 billion. That's how much Nvidia added to its stock buyback program, making it the largest buyback authorization in U.S. history. It blows past the previous record of 110 billion set by Apple in 2024. It's also how much was added to Nvidia's market cap after the announcement. Investors love the idea so much that Nvidia Shares jumped about 3 percent Monday morning. So to recap, Nvidia announced plans to spend $150 billion buying its own stock and almost instantly became $150 billion more valuable. But here's the thing, a buyback doesn't actually create that money. Nvidia uses its cash to buy shares from investors, reducing the number of shares outstanding. But buybacks can boost earnings per share, and signal that management is competent in the company. And $150 billion isn't really that big of a number for Nvidia. The company is worth more than $5 trillion, meaning that even the biggest buyback authorization in history is relatively small compared with Nvidia itself. Nvidia Shares wrapped up the week up 4 percent. And now you know what's news in markets this week. You can read about more stocks that moved on the week's news in our live markets coverage on WSJ.com. Today's show is produced by Anthony Bansi and Deputy Editor Chris Sinsley. I'm Emani Melise, have a great weekend, and see you next Saturday.