Burlington surges after huge Q2 beat and raised outlook as shoppers keep bargain hunting

Intel is powering its way to a fresh 52-week high on a boatload of bullish options demand and little fundamental news.

Nearly 250,000 calls have changed hands an hour into the trading day, which is roughly equivalent to the 20-day average for a full session.

As of 10:30 a.m. ET, the stock’s daily put/call ratio is under 0.25, the lowest since August 14. That’s the day the stock surged on a report that the US government was considering taking an equity position in the struggling chipmaker, which it eventually went on to do.

It also probably doesn’t hurt, in terms of showing continued support for the tech ecosystem, that the Trump administration announced a $150 million investment in xLight, an upstart aiming to compete with ASML in the production of extreme ultraviolet lithography machines, which are needed to make advanced chips.

xLight, as it so happens, has former Intel CEO Pat Gelsigner as its executive chairman.

The smaller, more speculative AI-linked energy plays are back in full boom mode on Tuesday, driven by a speculative bid in the options market.

• Zero-revenues nuclear firm Oklo is up nearly 9% as of 10:10 a.m. ET. Its put/call ratio is below 0.3, compared to a 20-day average of 1.05.

• Fuel cell company Bloom Energy is likewise seeing mainly one-way traffic, with a put/call ratio of 0.3 versus a 20-day average of 0.7.

• The options action is even more lopsided in hydrogen fuel cell company and on-again, off-again meme stock Plug Power. Its put/call ratio is a paltry 0.05 compared to a 20-day average of 0.2.

For Plug and Oklo, the most actively traded contracts are calls that expire this Friday. For Bloom, it’s a call that expires on December 19.

These companies had all cratered amid a broad retrenchment in speculative stocks since mid-October as credit risk began to seep into the AI trade.

Shares of Dell are on the rise this morning after a colossal donation by the founder’s family was recognized in glowing terms by the president.

Michael Dell, CEO, chairman, and founder of the server company, and his wife, Susan, announced that they were gifting $6.25 billion to seed $250 into investment accounts for 25 million American children. So-called “Trump accounts” were part of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which sees the government provide $1,000 toward an investment account for each child born this year through 2028.

The donation from the duo will fund accounts for older kids who would not be eligible to receive this money.

Though news of the donation broke around 7:40 a.m. ET, the stock really caught a bid after President Trump posted this message on Truth Social praising the couple and the company.

Good deeds are their own reward, but investments also pay dividends. Both truisms apply to the Dell family this morning!

Shares of Boeing are surging on Tuesday after the plane maker’s CFO said the company’s recovery “is in full force” and it expects positive free cash flow next year. The stock climbed more than 6% in premarket trading.

“For next year, we absolutely expect to grow year over year in cash flow,” CFO Jay Malave said at a transportation conference on Tuesday. “I expect free cash flow to grow and as I mentioned before, I expect right now, anyway, free cash flow to be in the low positive single digits.”

Boeing turned cash flow positive in the third quarter for the first time since its door plug blowout early last year.

If the stock move holds through the day, it would mark just the sixth time Boeing closes up more than 5% in the past two years.