markets

Luke Kawa5/13/25

Super Micro surges after Raymond James calls the AI server company a buy

Super Micro Computer is one of the top-performing stocks in the S&P 500 after Raymond James initiated coverage on the stock with a “buy” rating and price target of $41.

Per Bloomberg, analyst Simon Leopold said the company has “jumped into a lead with 9% of the AI platform market and 31% share among branded suppliers according to Dell’Oro.”

Super Micro remains in a unique, seemingly sweet, spot: even after its latest round of guidance cuts has spurred analysts to reduce 12-month forward earnings estimates to about $2.76 from $3.26, it’s still a relatively cheap stock, trading at a forward price-to-earnings ratio of 13.9x (versus 21.3x for the S&P 500). And it’s levered to the massive AI capex boom, which is growing far faster than the economy as a whole.

While recent missteps have surely reduced investors’ faith in the ability of the company to meet its near-term financial objectives (and its checkered history of accounting issues may deepen trust issues with management), above-average growth coupled with a below-average valuation can be a pretty simple formula to producing market-beating returns.

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Toby Bochan, Luke Kawa

US stocks go nowhere amid big rotation out of gold and into fake meat

The calmest session for the S&P 500 in over a month.

a sunny field

OpenAI releases Chrome-competitor browser “ChatGPT Atlas,” sending Google shares down

ChatGPT currently poses little threat to Google’s search business, but an OpenAI browser — and the data that comes with it — could change everything.

Screenshot of ChatGPT Atlas browser

markets

The no-fundamentals, high-volatility winning trades are reversing hard

The volatile, speculative momentum trades that have been on fire in recent months are getting smoked.

The SPDR Gold Shares ETF is on track for its biggest daily loss since April 2013, as of 10:28 a.m. ET.

And Goldman Sachs’ baskets of “high beta momentum longs” and “non-profitable tech” stocks, which have pretty much been the exact same line for two months, got dumped last Thursday and are down big again today.

D-Wave Quantum, Planet Labs, and Navitas Semiconductor are some of the stocks that feature in both of Goldman’s baskets and are down more than 2% as of 10:24 a.m. ET.

All of these groups have been handily outperforming the S&P 500 for an extended period of time despite by their very nature having more hype than actual track records — in terms of producing profits for shareholders — to speak of. Gold, obviously, generates no income. Nonprofitable tech stocks aren’t really in a position to spin off cash they don’t have to their owners. And, as mentioned, high-beta momentum and nonprofitable tech stocks have pretty much traded the same!

It’s difficult to pinpoint a fundamental catalyst for why speculative momentum trades suddenly turn on a dime, just as it’s often tricky to identify why they went on such a mammoth run in the first place. Perhaps the onset of earnings season — which gives us the opportunity to assess fundamental progress — means that right now, there’s more attention being paid to “line go up” when it comes to revenues and profits, and that’s taking away from the mindshare on “line go up” with respect to recent share price performance.

markets

Matt Phillips6h

Gold slumps, GLD and miners take lumps

The record-breaking rise in gold stalled Tuesday, with prices tumbling.

The sudden downdraft hammered popular plays on the price such as the SPDR Gold Shares ETF, the largest gold ETF, which is poised for its biggest daily drop since April 2013 as of 11:52 a.m. ET.

Miners like Newmont Corp., Agnico Eagle, Wheaton Precious Metals, and Anglogold Ashanti are similarly getting whacked along with a host of speculative, high-beta momentum trades.

While there’s no clear reason for the slump, theories and contributing factors may include:

Social media chatter about gold — which coincided with a spike in options activity — cooling off considerably, according to data provided by SwaggyStocks. JPMorgan strategist Arun Jain notes that retail demand for commodity ETFs has reversed course: after routinely registering in the upper 90th percentiles much of last week, it’s in just the 2nd percentile relative to its one-year average as of 11:00 a.m. ET, with retail having pulled more than $50 million from these products.
Less safe haven demand now amid a seeming reduction in China-US tensions.
A seasonal drop in demand out of India — the world’s second-largest gold market after China — that typically follows Diwali.
Jitters about the fact that weekly CFTC positioning data on the futures market, one of the best sources of hard data on the gold market, continues to be unavailable as a result of the US government shutdown.

But even after today’s slump, gold prices, as measured by New York futures prices, are up about 60% in 2025.

Gold Slumps Most in Four Years as Record-Breaking Rally Cools

Gold Slumps Most in Four Years as Record-Breaking Rally Cools

While there’s no clear reason for the slump, theories and contributing factors may include:

Social media chatter about gold — which coincided with a spike in options activity — cooling off considerably, according to data provided by SwaggyStocks. JPMorgan strategist Arun Jain notes that retail demand for commodity ETFs has reversed course: after routinely registering in the upper 90th percentiles much of last week, it’s in just the 2nd percentile relative to its one-year average as of 11:00 a.m. ET, with retail having pulled more than $50 million from these products.
Less safe haven demand now amid a seeming reduction in China-US tensions.
A seasonal drop in demand out of India — the world’s second-largest gold market after China — that typically follows Diwali.
Jitters about the fact that weekly CFTC positioning data on the futures market, one of the best sources of hard data on the gold market, continues to be unavailable as a result of the US government shutdown.

But even after today’s slump, gold prices, as measured by New York futures prices, are up about 60% in 2025.

markets

Max Knoblauch6h

Warner Bros. Discovery spikes after it says it’s gotten takeover interest from multiple parties

With a name like Warner Bros. Discovery, you wouldn’t expect WBD to be particularly anti-consolidation. As it fields interest from Paramount Skydance, the company said Tuesday it’s open to a sale.

Paramount Skydance isn’t the only party that’s interested, according to WBD. Shares of the HBO and CNN parent climbed 11% shortly after markets opened.

“It’s no surprise that the significant value of our portfolio is receiving increased recognition by others in the market. After receiving interest from multiple parties, we have initiated a comprehensive review of strategic alternatives to identify the best path forward to unlock the full value of our assets,” CEO David Zaslav said in a statement.

In June, Warner Bros. Discovery announced its plans to split into two separate publicly traded companies, unlinking its streaming and film studios business from its cable TV networks.

Warner Bros. Discovery Initiates Review of Potential Alternatives to Maximize Shareholder Value

Warner Bros. Discovery Initiates Review of Potential Alternatives to Maximize Shareholder Value

“It’s no surprise that the significant value of our portfolio is receiving increased recognition by others in the market. After receiving interest from multiple parties, we have initiated a comprehensive review of strategic alternatives to identify the best path forward to unlock the full value of our assets,” CEO David Zaslav said in a statement.

In June, Warner Bros. Discovery announced its plans to split into two separate publicly traded companies, unlinking its streaming and film studios business from its cable TV networks.

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