Trump-Musk spat could get ugly for Tesla, Intuit’s record high plus Broadcom, Dollar General

US markets moved tentatively higher this week amid weakening economic data as investors nervously await key monthly non-farm payrolls jobs data on Friday (6 June). There was also the spat between Donald Trump and his one-time cheerleader-in-chief Elon Musk over the former's so-called ‘Big Beautiful Bill’ to throw investors into a mild panic, especially since it promises to get worse.

It wiped nearly $200 billion off Musk’s Tesla valuation over the past week.

The private sector payrolls report from ADP painted a weakening jobs market on Wednesday (4 June) rising by just 37,000 in May, sharply undershooting economists’ forecasts.

Earnings season is winding down now, which may bring a little calmer to US markets, although it might easily prove the opposite, who can guess.

The Institute of Supply Management’s survey of the services sector, until recently a strength of the US economy, fell below 50, signalling contraction. This picture was echoed by the Fed’s ‘Beige Book’ which cited declining growth, rising prices and slow hiring.

Thursday’s weekly jobless claims rose for the second consecutive week, coming in at higher than expected 247,000, taking the rolling four-week average to 235,000, the highest level since October 2024.

Meanwhile the trade standoff between the US and China continues despite a 90-minute conversation between the two leaders on Thursday, which gave markets a slight boost.

Broadcom

Chipmaker and infrastructure software provider Broadcom posted a 20% jump in second-quarter revenue to $15 billion, above its guidance of $14.9 billion but in-line with analysts forecasts, which have risen sharply along with its share price.

EPS (earnings per share) were $1.58, marginally ahead of the $1.57 consensus, while the company guided for third-quarter revenue of around $15.8 billion, up 21% on last year and above the consensus forecast of $15.71 billion.

Broadcom is a key player in AI (artificial intelligence) hardware and has recently begun shipments of its new networking chip, the Tomahawk 6, which can process AI workloads at twice the speed of previous chip generations.

Chief executive Hock Tan said he expected growth in AI semiconductor revenue to accelerate to $5.1 billion in Q3, ‘delivering ten consecutive quarters of growth as our hyperscale partners continue to invest’.

However, given the impressive rally in the shares from their early April low of $145 to $260 ahead of the report, after-hours profit-taking knocked the stock 4% lower to $249.

Dollar General

Investors love a good turnaround story, and Tennessee-based Dollar General proves the point.

The shares darted 16% higher to $112.6 after the discount stores operator delivered (3 June) forecast-beating first-quarter sales and earnings and raised its full-year guidance, drawing confidence from market share gains with value-conscious shoppers.

For the quarter ended 2 May 2025, Dollar General’s 2.4% same-store sales growth beat Wall Street’s 1.5% estimate, with a 5.3% rise in total sales to $10.4 billion topping the $10.3 billion analysts were calling for.

Investors also welcomed management’s comments around store opening and remodeling plans and chief executive Todd Vasos’ insistence that his charge has reduced exposure to China and limited price hikes for cash-strapped shoppers, although tariffs could result in some price increases as a last resort.

Dollar General now expects full-year revenue growth of 3.7% to 4.7%, an upgrade on the previously-guided 3.4% to 4.4% range, with EPS (earnings per share) seen between $5.20 to $5.80 versus management’s prior outlook of $5.10 to $5.80.

Intuit

US economic volatility has plagued stock markets around the world this year, yet some products and services have a higher level of certainty built-in, like financials services. So it should, arguably, come as no surprise that Intuit closed at not only 52-week highs this week, but set a new all-time record of $766.81 (5 June).

The financial software giant, known for its TurboTax, QuickBooks, Credit Karma, and Mailchimp lines, has seen its stock surge 22% since May’s Q3 earnings topped estimates and raised full-year guidance across key financial metrics.

Mountain View, California-based Intuit reported third-quarter revenue of $7.75 billion, representing a 15% year-on-year increase and handily beating consensus estimates of $7.56 billion, according to Investing.com data.

Earnings also topped estimates, the company posting $11.65 per share, up from $9.88 a year earlier, and ahead of consensus $10.90 projections.

Analyst consensus currently sees the stock nudging $785 levels over the next year, although the most bullish think $875 is possible.