Markets
Nia Warfield
8/12/25

Stocks hit record high as July inflation data bolsters rate cut bets

Stocks shot to fresh intraday records Tuesday after in-line July inflation data fortified bets that the Federal Reserve would deliver its first interest rate cut of 2025 next month. The S&P 500 rose 1.1%, the Nasdaq 100 climbed 1.3%, and the Russell 2000 soared 2.9%.

That marked the S&P 500’s first record close of August, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 booking a record close as well.

All 11 S&P 500 sector ETFs went positive on the day, with communication services, tech, and materials leading the way.

Gains on the day were led by chip stocks NXP and On Semiconductor, which jumped 7.2% and 6.1%, respectively. Declines were led by law enforcement equipment maker Axon Enterprise, which fell 6.1%. Elsewhere…

Meta jumped 3.1%, ending the day at $790 — its highest closing price in history. The stock has been on a tear following a series of excellent earnings reports.

Shares of On Holding leapt 8.9% after the Swiss sneaker maker reported strong Q2 sales and offered a sunny outlook as the brand gains traction in the “RTO apparel” market.

D-Wave Quantum were up 6.5% to close the day. Sherwood News spoke with its CEO, following the quantum computing company’s Q2 sales beat last week, about its potential to expand into AI model training.

e.l.f. Beauty shares rose another 4.5% after Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of the popular cosmetics brand to “overweight” and hiked its price target to $134 from $114 on Monday.

Five Below shares also bounced 4.5% after Loop Capital hiked its rating on the stock from “hold” to “buy” and lifted its price target to $165.

Tilray shares climbed 3.2%, extending a rally, as investors continue to pile into the cannabis company, fueled by a report that President Trump is considering weed reform.

Circle shares ticked up 1.3%, paring back from a 15% premarket surge after the fintech firm’s first earnings report as a public company topped revenue estimates but missed on earnings per share.

Nvidia closed largely flat despite a new report from The Information saying that China’s internet regulator has ordered local tech companies to suspend their purchases of Nvidia chips.

Spirit Airlines shares plunged 40% after the discount airliner issued a dire warning about its ability to survive as a going concern without more cash. Rival airlines including Delta, American, Southwest, and JetBlue were all up amid this news and inflation data showing a jump in ticket prices for July.

Plug Power dipped 3.4% after the hydrogen fuel cell developer reported mixed second-quarter results after the bell on Monday, but said it plans to achieve gross margin breakeven in Q4.

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Luke Kawa
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AppLovin gets new Street-high price target from BofA, as it's "likely to become a required channel" for DTC e-commerce companies

AppLovin CEO Adam Foroughi said the real “fun” starts today, as the company opens its self-service ad portal on a referral basis to onboard new advertisers.

In this photo illustration, an AppLovin logo is displayed on...
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Reddit sinks on heavy volumes, social media chatter of reduced referral traffic from ChatGPT

ChatGPT thinks OpenAI’s recent model tweak is a plausible explanation.

Reddit listing day
markets
Matt Phillips

Analysts weigh in on DraftKings’ tumble: One sees a “back up the truck” opportunity to buy the dip

Wall Street analysts are reacting to the sharp slide of online gambling stocks DraftKings and Flutter Entertainment Tuesday, after prediction markets company Kalshi introduced a product mimicking the parlay bets on the betting apps, intensifying concerns about the competitive pressures prediction markets pose.

Citi analysts snipped their Q3 estimates and price target for DraftKings — while maintaining a “buy” rating — after Tuesday’s tumble. They wrote:

“We are lowering our 3Q25 estimates and now forecast 2025 to come in toward the lower end of the firm’s guide. Along with results, we believe investors will be focusing on initial trends since the start of the NFL season, the evolving prediction market landscape, the firm’s recent NBCU partnership, and recent product enhancements.”

BMO Capital, however, kept its “overweight” rating on the stock, which it calls a “top pick,” seeing Tuesday’s nearly 12% drop as a chance to buy the dip: 

“While bears will point to product enhancements (parlays) and trade volume momentum by prediction markets, we believe legal [online sports betting] vendors continue to control the lion’s share of betting volume in the legal betting markets. We view today’s sell-off, in particular, as a ‘back up the truck’ opportunity.”

markets
Luke Kawa

Lithium Americas spikes on plans for the Department of Energy to take 5% stake in exchange for early access to financing and deferred debt service

Shares of Lithium Americas are up more than 30% as of 7:35 a.m. ET after the miner announced a nonbinding agreement for the US government to receive an equity position in the company, in exchange for providing accelerated funding of a loan and offering more favorable repayment terms.

The DOE would get a 5% equity stake in the company via warrants in exchange for advancing $435 million of its previously announced loan (now worth a total of $2.23 billion) to Lithium Americas this quarter, as well as deferring interest payments on $182 million of those funds for five years.

“There can be no assurances that definitive documentation memorializing the First Draw Terms will be completed on the terms currently contemplated or at all,” the Vancouver-based company cautioned in its press release.

The first draw of Lithium Americas’ loan from the DOE is slated to be used to advance its joint venture with General Motors, a mine being developed in northern Nevada. GM is also amending the terms of this joint venture to facilitate the sale of production it does not expect to purchase. The DOE will also receive a 5% nonvoting, nontransferable economic stake in this particular project, also via warrants.

This planned pact comes on the heels of separate deals earlier this year that saw the government receive an equity stake in MP Materials and Intel, which has helped spur massive gains in those stocks.

“This proposed stake is another example of the Trump Administration taking equity stakes with American companies to promote industries seen as critical to national security with the majority of lithium reserves coming from foreign adversaries, especially China with the Thacker Pass Facility Buildout seen as crucial to national security,” Wedbush Securities analyst Dan Ives wrote. “This is important as the Trump Administration is now looking far and wide (globally) for stakes in strategic companies, not just US names.”

As we’ve written, why follow the Fed when you can just follow the feds?

markets
Nia Warfield

Nike pops on Q1 earnings beat and surprise revenue jump

Nike was trading as much as 3.7% higher early on Wednesday after the company topped first-quarter estimates after the bell on Tuesday.

Adjusted earnings per share came in at $0.49, nearly double the $0.27 expected by Wall Street. Revenue rose to $11.7 billion, also handily beating analyst forecasts of $11 billion, suggesting that the company’s turnaround plan is beginning to bear fruit in both footwear and apparel, which beat consensus estimates by 6% and 13%, respectively. Wholesale revenues rose 7% to $6.8 billion.

On Friday, the sneaker giant rolled out its first collaboration with Kim Kardashian’s Skims, betting that the brand’s popularity and star power will help expand its female customer base.

Ahead of earnings, Nike shares were down over 5% year to date.

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