Fed decision boosts stocks. Movers: Qualcomm, Lyft, Arm Holdings, more

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Stocks climbed for the second day post-election as the Fed lowered rates by 0.25 percentage point, pushing markets to another record level.

The S&P 500 rose 0.6%, while the Nasdaq Composite gained 1.3%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average edged down 0.05%, and the Russell 2000 Index lost 0.34%.

S&P 500 big stock movers today

Five S&P 500 stocks making big midday moves are:

  • Viatris  (VTRS)  +15.1%

  • Epam Systems  (EPAM)  +14.2%

  • Super Micro Computer  (SMCI)  +11.7%

  • Mckesson  (MCK)  +11.5%

  • Warner Bros Discovery  (WBD)  +10.4%

The worst-performing five S&P 500 stocks with the largest midday drop are:

  • Match Group  (MTCH)  -18.1%

  • APA (APA)  -9.2%

  • Steris  (STE)  -5.9%

  • Rockwell Automation  (ROK)  -5.6%

  • CVS Health  (CVS)  -5.5%

Stocks also worth noting include:

  • Nvidia  (NVDA)  +1.8%

  • Tesla  (TSLA)  3.5%

  • Qualcomm  (QCOM)  +0.1%

  • Arm Holdings  (ARM)  +4.3%

  • Lyft  (LYFT)  +22.9%

Qualcomm reported a 12% increase in handset chip sales to $6.1 billion.
Qualcomm reported a 12% increase in handset chip sales to $6.1 billion.

Arm Holdings pops after earnings beat

Arm Holdings gained 4% after the semiconductor company reported better-than-expected financial results.

Arm reported adjusted earnings per share of 30 cents on revenue of $844 million, while analysts were expecting a profit of 26 cents per share and revenue of $808 million.

Related: What's next for Arm's stock price after Apple's partnership?

The stock price has doubled this year. Arm said the company “is meeting the rising demand for energy-efficient compute in the data center.”

Arm's forecast for the current fiscal third quarter is in line with what analysts had hoped. The company projects revenue between $920 million and $970 million, with the midpoint at $945 million, compared with the $944.3 million analysts expected, according to LSEG data.

Lyft surges on strong bookings outlook

Lyft stock jumped more than 23% after a stronger-than-expected fourth-quarter outlook for its gross bookings.

The ride-share company expects gross bookings between $4.28 billion and $4.35 billion, higher than Wall Street's $4.23 billion projection. The company also projected adjusted earnings between $100 million and $105 million, beating the expected $85.1 million.

Related: Analysts rethink Lyft stock price targets after earnings

As more companies enforce return-to-office policies, weekday demand for Lyft and Uber is rising. Uber’s recent third-quarter revenue beat expectations, but its holiday outlook fell short.

Lyft introduced its Price Lock feature to help riders save on surge pricing during peak hours. CEO David Risher noted that Price Lock users take about four more rides per month on average.