Kroger Stock Soars, Accenture Shares Drop

Major U.S. equities indexes were mixed on the day after the Juneteenth holiday, wrapping up the shortened trading week. The fighting between Israel and Iran remained in focus as President Donald Trump pointed to a two-week time frame for a decision on potential U.S. involvement in the conflict.

The S&P 500 slipped 0.2%, closing in negative territory for the third straight session. The Nasdaq was down 0.5%, but the Dow eked out a gain of 0.1%.

Accenture (ACN) shares tumbled 6.9%, falling the furthest of any S&P 500 stock, after the professional services firm’s bookings for its fiscal third quarter fell shy of analysts’ expectations. Although sales and profits for the quarter topped forecasts, boosted by demand related to artificial intelligence (AI) services, Accenture’s CEO noted that companies are holding off on hiring consultants in response to the uncertain global economic backdrop.

Shares of Albemarle (ALB), the world’s largest lithium miner, dropped 4.6% after analysts at UBS reaffirmed their cautious stance on the lithium market. The firm pointed to ongoing oversupply and pricing pressure for the key battery component, suggesting that joint venture structures and strong balance sheets have contributed to making lithium producers slow to make supply adjustments in response to the weak pricing environment.

Steel Dynamics (STLD) shares slipped 3.2%, extending losses posted this week after the steelmaker issued lower-than-expected profit guidance for the current quarter. Friday’s downtick came after Keybanc analysts trimmed their price target on the stock, citing expected softness in galvanized steel spreads.

Kroger (KR) shares surged 9.8%, notching the top performance in the S&P 500 on Friday. The operator of the largest chain of traditional grocery stores in the U.S. posted better-than-expected profit and identical sales growth for its fiscal first quarter. While Kroger’s chief financial officer discussed ongoing macroeconomic uncertainty, the company boosted its full-year identical sales growth forecast and maintained its other guidance. The food retailer did not provide an update on its search for a new CEO following the resignation of its previous leader in March amid a probe into alleged misconduct.

Shares of residential construction materials supplier Builders FirstSource (BLDR) jumped 7.5%. Although Wedbush analysts trimmed their price target on the stock, citing the potential for soft-oriented strand board pricing to weigh on Builders FirstSource’s second-quarter results, they maintained their “outperform” rating, suggesting that sales trends could be priced in at current levels following the stock’s year-to-date decline.

Used-car seller CarMax (KMX) topped quarterly profit estimates, and its shares rose 6.6%. Although sales came in slightly below expectations, total revenue was up 6% from the year-ago period, boosted by a 9% year-over-year gain in retail vehicle sales.