Stock Market Today: Tesla's New Crossover SUV Leaves Investors Wanting More

Stocks ended the week on a high note after U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said he was "pleased" with progress made in recent trade talks with China. The S&P 500 (SNPINDEX: ^GSPC) and the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJINDICES: ^DJI) posted gains of about 0.5%.

Today's stock market

Tech stocks continued to outperform, driving the Technology Select Sector SPDR ETF (NYSEMKT: XLK) up 1.2%. Oil stocks dropped as the price of crude pulled back from a four-month high, leaving the SPDR S&P Oil & Gas Exploration & Production ETF (NYSEMKT: XOP) down 0.9%.

As for individual stocks, two in particular bucked the positive trend: Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) fell in the wake of unveiling its new Model Y crossover SUV, while Noodles & Company (NASDAQ: NDLS) slumped on earnings news.

Wall Street shrugs at Tesla's Model Y

Shares of Tesla declined 5% after the electric vehicle maker left analysts underwhelmed with last night's reveal of its new Model Y crossover SUV.

Around 10% larger than its Model 3 sedan, the Model Y will be priced between $39,000 and $60,000 (depending on your desired range and options), will accelerate from 0 to 60 in as little as 3.5 seconds, and comes with 66 cubic feet of storage space. CEO Elon Musk also boasted the Model Y was designed to be the world's safest midsize SUV, with deliveries for higher-end models expected to begin in fall 2020, followed by the lower-cost standard range version in spring 2021.

The problem? The planned event held no surprises for astute industry watchers. Worse yet, the long delivery time frame does little to ease investors' concerns over steadily increasing competition in the electric vehicle space.

Noodles & Company goes cold

Noodles & Company stock plunged 13.8% after the fast-casual restaurant chain announced disappointing fiscal fourth-quarter 2018 results.

Quarterly revenue rose 0.4% to $113.2 million, as a 4% increase in comparable-restaurant sales was partly offset by the impact of restaurant closures over the past year. That translated into adjusted net income of $0.5 million, or $0.01 per share, roughly flat from the year-ago period on a per-share basis. Analysts, on average, were expecting earnings of $0.03 per share on slightly higher revenue of $113.8 million.

But CEO Dave Boennighausen called it a "strong" quarter, arguing the company's positive comparable sales are "further evidence that our strategic initiatives are working."

"We have maintained momentum into 2019," added Executive Chairman Paul Murphy, "with our initiatives continuing to drive positive comparable sales despite the historically severe weather that has hampered the majority of our major markets."

As such, Noodles & Company expects 2019 revenue of $462 million to $470 million, comparable-sales growth of 2% to 4%, and adjusted earnings per share of $0.06 to $0.15. Most analysts were modeling 2019 earnings of $0.13 per share on revenue of roughly $464 million.

Offer from The Motley Fool: The 10 best stocks to buy nowMotley Fool co-founders Tom and David Gardner have spent more than a decade beating the market. In fact, the newsletter they run, Motley Fool Stock Advisor, has quadrupled the S&P 500!*

Tom and David just revealed their ten top stock picks for investors to buy right now.

Click here to get access to the full list!

*Stock Advisor returns as of Jan. 31, 2019.

Steve Symington has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Tesla. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.