Markets
markets
Luke Kawa

American Eagle spikes after Donald Trump says its Sydney Sweeney ad is the “HOTTEST” out there

Making products political is among the last thing management teams want (see: “Republicans buy sneakers too”), but American Eagle’s latest campaign has entered the public discourse in a major way since launch, leading the apparel maker to pull one of the ads from its social media channels.

Even so, I doubt American Eagle executives are bothered by their ad campaign with Sydney Sweeney receiving full-throated praise from none other than US President Donald Trump.

Trump Truth post on Sydney Sweeney

The stock surged following the launch of the retailer’s campaign featuring Sweeney amid a wave of retail buying, and conservative media outlets subsequently hit back at criticism of the ad campaign.

Now, the president looks to have spurred another buying spree. Shares are up nearly 16% as of 10:55 a.m. ET on volumes already 70% higher than their full-day average over the past month. Call volumes have topped 58,000 versus a full-day average of less than 18,000 over the past 20 sessions.

While attention may have focused on other areas, this ad campaign certainly seems to have legs.

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Luke Kawa
45m
In-line core CPI inflation a relief after recent history of January price spikes

The January CPI report is out.

People Holding Balloons
markets
Luke Kawa

Applied Materials soars as Wall Street scrambles to boost price targets after “narrative-changing quarter”

Wall Street has fresh conviction that Applied Materials is a winner as the AI boom forces an expansion of chipmaking capacity.

The semicap company reported a top and bottom line beat, along with Q2 guidance that exceeded estimates, after the close on Thursday, sending shares sharply higher. Applied Materials is trading up double-digits as of 8 am ET.

“This is finally the narrative-changing quarter that we have been waiting for,” writes Needham analyst Charles Shi, who boosted his price target to $440 from $390. “With AMAT shaking off the bad China narrative and returning to a strong AI-driven beat-and-raise cycle, we expect AMAT valuation gap vs. peers will narrow as AMAT should re-rate higher.”

The numbers speak for themselves, but the words on the conference call didn’t hurt either.

“Management’s decidedly more constructive tone on the call (relative to a more muted/conservative tone on the last call) we think was underpinned by a sharp acceleration in customer orders and activity levels in the quarter,” writes JPMorgan analyst Harlan Sur, who lifted his price target to $400 from $260.

He spotlighted the strong outlook for its advanced packaging business given “AMAT’s #1 position in HBM where spending is inflecting higher as the absorption of previously shipped equipment concludes and additional capacity/capability is required amid burgeoning demand growth and customers’ rapid technology transitions (HBM3e > HBM4 > HBM4e and beyond).”

Other sell-side shops that took a more more optimistic view and upped their price targets include:

  • Keybanc, up to $450 from $380,

  • Barclays, up to $450 from $360,

  • Wells Fargo, up to $435 from $350

  • Citi, up to $420 from $400

  • Morgan Stanley, up to $420 from $364

  • Mizuho, up to $410 from $370

Applied Materials jumps after posting better-than-expected Q1 results, strong Q2 outlook

Applied Materials jumps after posting better-than-expected Q1 results, strong Q2 outlook

“This is finally the narrative-changing quarter that we have been waiting for,” writes Needham analyst Charles Shi, who boosted his price target to $440 from $390. “With AMAT shaking off the bad China narrative and returning to a strong AI-driven beat-and-raise cycle, we expect AMAT valuation gap vs. peers will narrow as AMAT should re-rate higher.”

The numbers speak for themselves, but the words on the conference call didn’t hurt either.

“Management’s decidedly more constructive tone on the call (relative to a more muted/conservative tone on the last call) we think was underpinned by a sharp acceleration in customer orders and activity levels in the quarter,” writes JPMorgan analyst Harlan Sur, who lifted his price target to $400 from $260.

He spotlighted the strong outlook for its advanced packaging business given “AMAT’s #1 position in HBM where spending is inflecting higher as the absorption of previously shipped equipment concludes and additional capacity/capability is required amid burgeoning demand growth and customers’ rapid technology transitions (HBM3e > HBM4 > HBM4e and beyond).”

Other sell-side shops that took a more more optimistic view and upped their price targets include:

  • Keybanc, up to $450 from $380,

  • Barclays, up to $450 from $360,

  • Wells Fargo, up to $435 from $350

  • Citi, up to $420 from $400

  • Morgan Stanley, up to $420 from $364

  • Mizuho, up to $410 from $370

J. Edward Moreno
2h
Moderna reports Q4 earnings beat, upbeat 2026 outlook

The report comes after Moderna said the FDA is refusing to consider an application for its mRNA flu vaccine.

Moderna headquarters
markets
Luke Kawa

Plug Power wins shareholder approval to boost its share count, avoiding reverse split and paving the way for more dilution

After the close on Thursday, Plug Power revealed that it received sufficient shareholder support to increase its share count.

This approval paves the way for the hydrogen fuel cell company to raise more money via share offerings, something it’s announced 20 times since its IPO, according to data from Bloomberg.

Management had urged shareholders to vote in favor of this proposal. It’s a sign of how important retail investors are to Plug that CEO Andy Marsh even hosted an AMA on Reddit to build support among the community.

If this measure had failed to get a “yes” vote from the majority of shareholders, Plug warned that it would have been forced to proceed with a reverse stock split (which would have raised the per-share price) in order to issue more shares.

“Without additional authorized shares, the Company will not be able to: meet its contractual obligations to increase authorized shares of common stock by February 28, 2026; raise capital necessary for operations and growth; and execute on its business plans and strategy,” the company said in a November filing.

Plug is aiming to capitalize on the data center-driven bid for power by offering auxiliary solutions.

markets
Millie Giles

Pinterest plummets on disappointing Q1 sales forecast, as retailers pull back on ad spending

Shares of social media platform Pinterest are down about 20% in premarket trading on Friday, following fourth-quarter earnings after the bell on Thursday that fell short of expectations.

While revenue grew 14% to $1.32 billion in Q4, broadly in line with forecasts of $1.33 billion, the company reported earnings per share of $0.67, below the $0.69 projected. Pinterest forecast sales in Q1 2026 to fall between $951 million and $971 million, missing average analyst estimates of $980 million.

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Pinterest forecasts downbeat revenue as it battles for digital ad dollars; shares plunge

Pinterest forecasts downbeat revenue as it battles for digital ad dollars; shares plunge

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