S&P 500 Rollercoaster: Apple Soars While Eli Lilly Crashes on Failed Trial—Wall Street’s Mood Swings Strike Again

Tech titan Apple flexes its market muscle with a bullish surge, while pharma giant Eli Lilly tanks after a clinical trial flop. The S&P 500’s bipolar personality shines bright—another day, another drama for traders to overreact to.

Apple’s Gravity-Defying Climb

No surprises here—Apple’s stock does what Apple’s stock does: ignores macroeconomic gloom and grinds higher. The iPhone juggernaut keeps printing money while analysts nod sagely and whisper ‘innovation premium.’

Eli Lilly’s Painful Plunge

One failed trial, billions vaporized. The biotech darling’s stumble proves even the ‘safest’ bets aren’t immune to reality checks. Cue the downgrades and frantic damage-control PR.

Another day in Wall Street’s casino—where fundamentals are optional, and sentiment swings harder than a meme trader’s portfolio. Place your bets.

Key Takeaways

• The S&P 500 slid 0.1% on Thursday, Aug. 7, 2025, as new tariffs took effect, raising import duties on goods from numerous U.S. trading partners.
• Shares of pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly tumbled after the drugmaker reported disappointing results from a trial of its experimental weight-loss pill.
• Shares of Insulet, Beckton Dickinson, and Zimmer Biomet gained ground after all three medical technology firms posted better-than-expected earnings results.
  

Major U.S. equities indexes were mixed on the first day of trading after the overnight onset of President Trump's "reciprocal" tariffs, which increased the levies imposed on imports from a broad range of trading partners.

The S&P 500 slipped 0.1%, while the Dow ended Thursday's session 0.5% lower. The tech-heavy Nasdaq advanced almost 0.4%, notching a record closing high for the first time this month.

Fortinet (FTNT) shares fell the furthest of any stock in the S&P 500, plummeting 22% in the wake of the cybersecurity company's earnings release. Fortinet's quarterly sales and earnings came in ahead of expectations, but its outlook for the current quarter was level with consensus estimates, and failed to impress. Analysts at KeyBanc, Piper Sandler, and Morgan Stanley downgraded Fortinet stock following the report.

Shares of pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly (LLY) dropped 14.1%. The company posted stronger-than-expected sales and adjusted profit for the second quarter, boosted by sales of its GLP-1 weight-loss and diabetes treatments Zepbound and Mounjaro. However, Lilly reported underwhelming results from a Phase 3 clinical trial of orforglipron, its experimental oral GLP-1 drug.

Airbnb (ABNB) topped sales and profit estimates for the second quarter, but the online vacation-rental platform operator indicated that its margin for adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization WOULD be lower in the second half of 2025 compared with the year-ago period, reflecting spending on new business initiatives, including a planned $200 million outlay for the company's experiences and services segments. Airbnb shares lost 8% on Thursday.

Shares of Insulet (PODD), provider of an automated insulin delivery system designed to help patients managing diabetes, surged 9.5% to log Thursday's top performance in the S&P 500. The company achieved strong year-over-year revenue and profit growth in the second quarter, surpassing analysts' forecasts, and raised its full-year sales outlook.

Fellow medical technology firm Becton Dickinson (BDX) also reported better-than-expected quarterly earnings, and its shares jumped 8.9%. The company highlighted strong growth in its medical segment, driven by gains in its medication management solutions and pharmaceutical systems. BD also saw sales growth in its interventional segment, reflecting a strong performance from its urology and critical care units, as well as its surgery and peripheral intervention businesses.

Zimmer Biomet Holdings (ZBH), which focuses on orthopedic implants and digital healthcare technologies, joined its medtech peers by beating quarterly sales and profit estimates. The company achieved strong sales growth in its S.E.T. segment, which includes sports medicine, extremities, and trauma applications. Zimmer Biomet also lifted its full-year outlook for sales growth, and its shares added 8%.

Shares of Apple (AAPL) climbed over 3%, extending yesterday's gains after CEO Tim Cook joined President TRUMP at the White House to announce a $100 billion investment in U.S. production. Trump said Apple and other companies with commitments to manufacturing in the U.S. would be exempt from coming tariffs on chips, in what would be a win for Apple.