Market close: The S&P 500 closed up 0.1 percent as growing scrutiny of proxy advisers and a high profile expansion of autonomous ride service from Waymo reshuffled market attention. Short term traders parsed corporate governance headlines and a handful of stock-specific moves. Over the longer term, regulatory pressure on proxy firms and gains in autonomous mobility and data center demand could change governance norms and capital allocation. The story matters in the US and for global investors with exposure to tech and financial names. Recent votes and big company moves provide a useful point of comparison with bouts of governance activism seen in prior years.
Markets at close and the immediate drivers
The US large cap market closed mildly higher with the S&P 500 up 0.1 percent. The session reflected a mix of governance headlines, company-level momentum and select tech optimism. Retail and discretionary pockets showed volatility after an outsized move in On Holding (NYSE:ONON), which jumped 18 percent after raising full year guidance for the third straight reporting period and signaling it will keep a premium pricing stance without holiday discounts. That move underscored investor appetite for brands that can preserve margins while growing sales.
Elsewhere, shares of Advanced Micro Devices (NASDAQ:AMD) moved higher after management outlined expectations for a 60 percent rise in data center revenue over the next three to five years. That projection propelled interest in semiconductors and cloud-related hardware names, and it helped offset some of the pressure coming from governance-related stories that weighed on several financial and industrial names.
Proxy advisers under the microscope and what investors are doing
The White House has reportedly been discussing limits on shareholder advisory services, and the issue grabbed headlines when the Wall Street Journal signaled possible executive actions. That matters now because institutional recommendations historically influenced high-profile votes on pay, board seats and shareholder resolutions. Pressure is now mounting on firms such as Institutional Shareholder Services and Glass Lewis after a string of high-profile votes where their recommendations did not determine outcomes.
Investors recently ignored adviser recommendations on several major items. Shareholders backed Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) on CEO pay despite both firms advising against the package. BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) executives saw support even after advisers recommended otherwise. Activist Nelson Peltz’s bid for a board seat at Disney (NYSE:DIS) drew another mismatch when an adviser endorsement failed to translate into shareholder approval. The series of outcomes has reduced the near-term sway of proxy firms and escalated regulatory interest in how these advice platforms operate.
Corporate leaders have amplified criticism. Tesla CEO Elon Musk used aggressive language on investor calls. JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon, of JPMorgan Chase (NYSE:JPM), publicly faulted adviser competence and suggested the services could be driving companies away from public markets. Regulators are now scrutinizing potential antitrust concerns while the White House explores policy options. That combination of corporate pushback and regulatory attention creates a governance story that investors cannot ignore today.
Mobility, payments and chip demand keep tech in focus
Waymo is moving from city streets onto freeways and will offer autonomous freeway rides without a safety driver to certain paid riders in San Francisco, Phoenix and Los Angeles. The company said it spent more than a year testing freeway operations with employees and guests to build the system’s safety and reliability. That operational expansion matters now because it signals the next phase of on-road commercialization for autonomous ride-hailing and touches supply chains, mapping services and insurers as operators scale freeway usage.
On the payments front, Visa (NYSE:V) is testing stablecoin payments for business-to-worker flows in the gig economy. This trial reflects growing corporate interest in digital cash rails and could influence how payroll and gig payments evolve for large payment processors. Meanwhile, Advanced Micro Devices’s forward-looking data center revenue outlook drew investor attention to chip makers that serve cloud providers. The data center theme is driving sector rotation toward firms that cater to AI workloads and hyperscale compute.
Autonomous trucking remains on the market radar as well. Swedish company Einride announced plans for an initial public offering through a special purpose acquisition vehicle. The deal would value Einride at about $1.8 billion and highlights investor appetite for freight electrification and automated logistics, even as execution risks remain for commercial rollouts.
Market implications for portfolios and the broader cycle
The session reinforced that governance headlines can produce outsized moves in individual names and can influence investor risk appetite beyond headline sectors. Companies that show steady revenue upgrades and disciplined margin management drew demand. On Holding demonstrated how premium positioning with repeated guidance upgrades can attract rapid re-rating. Semiconductor firms emphasizing data center growth continue to see favorable repositioning from investors focused on infrastructure for cloud and AI workloads.
Regulatory and governance developments matter for investors with global exposure. US policy moves could ripple through European and Asian markets where institutional investors and index managers play central roles in shareholder voting. If scrutiny of proxy advisers leads to rule changes, corporate governance norms may shift over time and affect proxy contests, board strategy and executive compensation frameworks worldwide.
Finally, the mobility and payments trials on display show companies moving from proof of concept to limited commercial operations. Waymo’s expansion onto freeways and Visa’s stablecoin pilot reveal a testing phase that could reveal operational and regulatory friction points as these services scale. Those operational tests are not market guarantees, but they do frame investor expectations about which companies are preparing for broader deployment.
Overall, today’s market finished with a modest gain while news flow centered on governance scrutiny, targeted company upgrades and further commercialization steps in mobility and payments. The combination created a session that rewarded select growth stories and raised fresh questions about the influence of proxy advisers on shareholder outcomes.
