S&P 500 Gains and Losses Today: Darden Restaurants Stock Sizzles After Sales Beat

Company Performance - Lamb Weston reported an unexpected quarterly loss, leading to a 20% drop in its shares due to weak international demand and a lowered full-year outlook [4] - Darden Restaurants experienced a significant surge of nearly 15% in its stock price after posting better-than-expected sales and adjusted profits, driven by strong same-restaurant sales growth from its LongHorn Steakhouse chain [6] - Accenture's shares jumped 7.1% following a beat-and-raise quarter, with revenue and net income exceeding forecasts and an increased full-year sales outlook, bolstered by growth in artificial intelligence bookings [7] - Vertex Pharmaceuticals saw its shares fall 11% after mixed results from a Phase 2 clinical trial for a treatment related to leg and back pain, despite meeting its primary endpoint [5] - Micron Technology's shares tumbled 16% after providing lower-than-expected sales guidance, citing soft demand in consumer-oriented markets and pricing pressure in the memory chip market [4] Market Overview - Major U.S. equities indexes finished little changed after a sharp sell-off, with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite both down 0.1%, while the Dow managed a slight gain of less than 0.1% [2][3] - The S&P 500 slipped 0.1% as stocks struggled to recover from the previous day's sell-off, despite positive economic growth data indicating resilience in the U.S. economy [1][2] - GE Vernova's shares advanced 4.9%, benefiting from strong performance since its spin-off from General Electric and increasing demand for clean energy, particularly from AI data centers [8]