Nvidia Climbs Ahead of Earnings; GE Vernova Powers Higher

Major U.S. equities indexes ticked higher Wednesday, with Nvidia (NVDA) rising 2.9% to lead chip stocks higher ahead of the AI darling’s highly anticipated quarterly results after the bell.

The S&P 500 rose 0.4%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average inched up 0.1% and the Nasdaq advanced 0.6%. See here for Investopedia’s full daily market summary. 

Shares of GE Vernova (GEV), the energy technology company spun off from GE in April 2024, surged 7.3% after the company announced its first wind repower upgrade agreement outside the U.S. Under the deal, GE Vernova will provide 25 wind repower upgrade kits, used to modernize and extend the operational life of aging wind turbines, to Taiwan Power Company.

Constellation Energy (CEG) shares jumped 5.3% after the Department of Energy said it had provided a $1 billion loan to fund the utility company’s plan to restart a decommissioned nuclear reactor at the Pennsylvania site formerly known as Three Mile Island. Constellation entered a deal last year with Microsoft (MSFT) to resume operations at the nuclear facility to help power the software giant’s energy-intensive data centers.

Lowe’s Companies (LOW) reported better-than-expected adjusted profit for the third quarter, and shares of the home improvement retailer climbed 4%. The company highlighted an increase in online sales, strength in its business with professional contractors, and growth in “home services,” a program that connects customers with licensed professionals for help with installation and remodeling projects. The strong report from Lowe’s came a day after rival Home Depot (HD) missed quarterly earnings forecasts and cut its outlook, citing headwinds related to economic uncertainty and the housing market.

Shares of Google parent Alphabet (GOOGL, GOOG) gained 2.8% to close at an all-time high after the tech giant launched Gemini 3, its latest artificial intelligence model. Several analysts praised the newest version, saying it competes with state-of-the-art models from competitors like OpenAI and Anthropic. Wednesday’s move into record territory followed gains earlier in the week after Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A, BRK.B) disclosed a stake in Alphabet.

Eversource Energy (ES) stock dropped 12.5%, losing the most of any stock in the S&P 500, after regulators in Connecticut rejected the utility company’s proposed sale of its Aquarion Water subsidiary to a newly created quasi-public entity for $2.4 billion. The state’s Public Utilities Regulatory Authority voted unanimously to block the transaction, determining that it failed to meet the proper standards for managerial sustainability.

A pair of agricultural giants came under pressure following reports that the Trump administration may delay proposed cuts to incentives for biofuel imports. Shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland (ADM) and Bunge (BG), which process commodities like corn and soybeans into biofuel, slipped 3.8% and 3.1%, respectively.