What Did the Stock Market Do Today? 3 Big Stories to Catch Up On.

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What a busy day in the stock market today. We saw another rush of interest in Reddit stocks, a huge reversal in the major indices and ongoing issues thanks to the blockage of the Suez Canal. Every corner of Wall Street seems to be offering up a story worth exploring. So with that in mind, what did the stock market do today?

Street sign for Wall Street pictured in front of several American flags representing american stocks

Source: Shutterstock

To start, investors should note that we witnessed a pretty impressive turnaround in the major indices. The S&P 5oo closed higher by 0.52%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.62%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite added 0.12% over the course of the day.

So what else did the stock market do today? Take a look at these three top stories.

What Did the Stock Market Do Today? Watch GameStop.

Investors are in a seriously on-again, off-again relationship with GameStop (NYSE:GME).

After selling off their shares earlier this week, GME stock rallied more than 50% in Thursday trading. Apparently, news last night from the video game retailer was enough to shake off fourth-quarter woes and stock offering fears.

So what happened? GameStop told the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission that eight of its board members will be resigning. This comes just as Chief Financial Officer Jim Bell is about to leave his post on Friday, March 26. Although that kind of shake-up could spook investors, it seems that market sentiment is quite the opposite. Instead, folks on r/WallStreetBets are seeing the big change as a sign Ryan Cohen is flexing more muscle. As he heads up his turnaround committee and pushes out the old guard, GME stock could fully embrace the Reddit dream.

And, as per usual, the GME stock frenzy lifted other Reddit stocks today too. AMC Entertainment (NYSE:AMC) gained just over 20%, also boosted by movie theater reopenings. Koss (NASDAQ:KOSS) soared nearly 60% on little news. However, as InvestorPlace contributor Chris MacDonald highlighted, there is a case that Covid-19 could give headphone sales a long-term nudge.

What should you do here? Take note of the volatile moves, and wait for the next chapter in the saga. It appears that the GameStop rocket has enough fuel to weather dilutive stock offerings and near-term earnings disappointments.

Move Over Winter, It’s IPO Season

As we wrote this morning, the last few months have brought an exponential rush of special purpose acquisition companies to Wall Street. But traditional initial public offerings are not missing out.

In fact, as Renaissance Capital highlighted, the first quarter of 2021 has been the best quarter for IPOs since 2000. The new report details how the quarter has delivered 102 public offerings that raised a cumulative $40.3 billion. That is no small sum of money, and the pace of new offerings is set to continue. Investors should note that healthcare debuts are largely responsible for the high volume of IPOs, but tech unicorns are bringing in the big bucks.

Top names thus far will all be familiar — Coupang (NYSE:CPNG), Roblox (NYSE:RBLX), Bumble (NASDAQ:BMBL) and Affirm (NASDAQ:AFRM). These companies promise to deliver more opportunities in everything from e-commerce to online dating and fintech solutions.

One potential takeaway here is that with SPACs under scrutiny, it is reassuring to know that the regular IPO market can still deliver some high-profile winners. Even this week, tech names like DigitalOcean (NYSE:DOCN) and Vizio (NYSE:VZIO) made their debuts.

Keep a close eye on the IPO space. Robinhood is set to come public soon, and it will no doubt rock the boat.

Novavax Faces Another Covid-19 Blow

Novavax (NASDAQ:NVAX) gave investors some terrible news today… and that news came at a particularly terrible time.

Essentially, Novavax says it is having a hard time acquiring necessary raw materials due to pandemic-driven supply shortages. In turn, the company cannot keep its production up to par, and NVAX stock is suffering as a result. As Novavax neared the end of negotiations with the European Union for a 100-million dose supply deal, the company had to delay talks. The supply shortages it faces are influential enough to keep Novavax from fulfilling its side of the bargain.

Unsurprisingly, NVAX stock slipped more than 10% in Thursday trading. Beyond the blow for the vaccine maker is a broader impact.

The European Union continues to revisit Covid-19 lockdowns, warning of the dangers of emerging strains. Plus, with the AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:AZN) vaccine raising doubts among consumers and investors, the E.U. vaccine rollout is already hurt. Without doses from Novavax, Reuters wrote that this vaccination plan now faces even more complications.

Keep an eye on this story, and on the vaccine rollout. National goals continue to improve, but companies like Novavax appear to face an uphill battle.

On the date of publication, Sarah Smith did not have (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article. 

Sarah Smith is a Web Content Producer with InvestorPlace.com. 


Article printed from InvestorPlace Media, https://investorplace.com/2021/03/what-did-the-stock-market-do-today-3-big-stories-gme-stock-nvax-stock-koss-amc-ipo-stocks/.

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