Markets
Yiwen Lu

US stocks pull back from highs

The S&P 500 closed Wednesday down 0.2%, retreating from record highs. The Russell 2000 fell 1.2%. The Nasdaq 100, however, gained a modest 0.1% after wobbling between the positive and negative territory.

On the economic front, new home sales declined in August. Mortgage rates continued to drop, triggering a rise in refinancing activities to its highest level since April 2022.

Utilities and technology were the only two S&P sector ETFs that advanced. Utilities was up 0.5%, thanks to Vistra and Constellation Energy, both among the best individual performers of the day. Technology added 0.3% as hardware and semiconductor stocks, including Intel and AMD, rose. HP Enterprise also jumped 5.1% after Barclays upgraded their rating for the stock, citing demand from artificial intelligence data centers.

Among the S&P 500’s losers for Wednesday were GM and Ford, down 4.9% and 4.1% each. Morgan Stanley downgraded both stocks and lowered their price targets, citing competition from China.

Declines were widespread, as only 132 S&P 500 stocks gained. 

Treasury yields edged higher. Gold hit another record high. Oil prices pulled back from yesterday’s gain, as WTI crude for November delivery settled 2.6% down at $69.7 per barrel, while November Brent crude lost 2.3% to settle at $73.5 per barrel.

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Jake Lahut

Applied Digital inks new $7.5 billion lease with hyperscaler it first booked in April

Applied Digital saw its price soar after hours on news of a long-term lease agreement with the same “investment-grade” hyperscaler it struck a similar deal with in April.

The additional lease for 15 years in a take-or-pay arrangement is valued at $7.5 billion, and could rise to $18.2 billion if all options are exercised, according to the company's announcement.

This latest contract would bring Applied Digital's total contracted lease revenue to $31 billion, or $73 billion if all options are taken up.

The company also crowed about passing 1 GW of contracted capacity as it lands a customer for its fourth AI factory campus. The customer in question is not named, nor the exact location, just that the campus is “located in a northern state.”

The additional lease for 15 years in a take-or-pay arrangement is valued at $7.5 billion, and could rise to $18.2 billion if all options are exercised, according to the company's announcement.

This latest contract would bring Applied Digital's total contracted lease revenue to $31 billion, or $73 billion if all options are taken up.

The company also crowed about passing 1 GW of contracted capacity as it lands a customer for its fourth AI factory campus. The customer in question is not named, nor the exact location, just that the campus is “located in a northern state.”

markets

Intuit plummets after reporting slowing revenue growth

Is it a worse day to be an Intuit employee or an Intuit shareholder?

On Wednesday, the financial and business tech company announced third-quarter earnings and sweeping layoffs on the same day. The TurboTax parent company said it would cut 17% of its workers — approximately 3,000 people — to focus on its AI efforts, according to a memo obtained by Reuters.

The stock was down 3.8% during market hours. It dropped further when Intuit released third-quarter results after the bell showing the slowest year-over-year revenue growth since 2024, falling 10% after-hours.

Here are the numbers:

  • Q3 revenue of $8.56 billion (compared to analyst estimates of $8.54 billion).

  • Adjusted earnings per share of $12.80 (estimate: $12.54).

  • Raised full-year guidance for revenue of $21.34 billion to $21.37 billion (estimate: $21.24 billion).

“We delivered strong third-quarter results, driven by our AI-driven expert platform strategy,” said Sasan Goodarzi, chairman and CEO of Intuit. “As a result, we are raising our full-year revenue guidance for fiscal 2026.”

Shares of Intuit are down nearly 40% this year.

On Wednesday, the financial and business tech company announced third-quarter earnings and sweeping layoffs on the same day. The TurboTax parent company said it would cut 17% of its workers — approximately 3,000 people — to focus on its AI efforts, according to a memo obtained by Reuters.

The stock was down 3.8% during market hours. It dropped further when Intuit released third-quarter results after the bell showing the slowest year-over-year revenue growth since 2024, falling 10% after-hours.

Here are the numbers:

  • Q3 revenue of $8.56 billion (compared to analyst estimates of $8.54 billion).

  • Adjusted earnings per share of $12.80 (estimate: $12.54).

  • Raised full-year guidance for revenue of $21.34 billion to $21.37 billion (estimate: $21.24 billion).

“We delivered strong third-quarter results, driven by our AI-driven expert platform strategy,” said Sasan Goodarzi, chairman and CEO of Intuit. “As a result, we are raising our full-year revenue guidance for fiscal 2026.”

Shares of Intuit are down nearly 40% this year.

markets

T1 Energy spikes on record call volumes after Roth analyst calls short report a buying opportunity

Shares of T1 Energy are electric Wednesday afternoon, soaring more than 20% on record call volumes.

The stock had fallen over 13% at its lows on Tuesday after short-only fund Fuzzy Panda Research published a report calling the solar and battery storage company a “China Hustle” rather than a legitimate AI infrastructure investment, also alleging that the company has booked tax credits it won’t receive.

Retail traders have often used the dip that’s followed the announcement of a short report to load up on a company’s shares (see: POET Technologies in April).

Roth Capital Partners analyst Philip Shen responded to the report by calling T1 “a model for what the Trump administration may want in a domestic manufacturer that is transferring advanced technology and capacity to the US,” suggesting that the sell-off was a buying opportunity.

Earlier this week, T1 got an even more prominent vote of confidence when a 13F filing from Situational Awareness showed the hedge fund run by wunderkind Leopold Aschenbrenner held a 3.6% stake in the company at the end of Q1.

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