Markets
Nia Warfield, Luke Kawa

US stocks go nowhere with big week of earnings on tap

The grind higher continued on Monday, but at a snail’s pace ahead of earnings from megacap tech companies Microsoft, Apple, Amazon, and Meta this week.

The S&P 500 opened higher on the heels of this weekend’s trade deal with the European Union and hopes for an extension of the quasi-truce for cross-border commerce with China. The benchmark index gave back those gains throughout the day before creeping back into the green for another record close just before the end of trading.

The Nasdaq 100 rose 0.4% while the Russell 2000 ended 0.2% lower.

A Bloomberg index that tracks the Magnificent 7 closed at a record high for the first time since December 17.

Energy, technology, and consumer discretionary were the only S&P 500 sector ETFs to finish positive on the day, while real estate, materials, utilities, and consumer staples all fell at least 1%. The number of stocks that declined in the S&P 500 outnumbered those that advanced by 220.

The day’s paltry gains in the index were led by Super Micro Computer, which rose double digits, as well as Nike, which popped nearly 4% after JPMorgan analysts upgraded the stock to “overweight” and hiked their price target. Declines were led by Albemarle, which fell nearly 11%, as well as Revvity, which sank 8% after the medical equipment maker topped Q2 estimates but slashed its full-year profit forecast.

Meanwhile…

Shares of Samsung Electronics had their best day of the year, rising 6.8% during trading in South Korea after the electronics giant announced a $16.5 billion chip manufacturing deal that Elon Musk said was with Tesla. Tesla shares were up 3% on the news.

Energy companies including Cheniere Energy, Venture Global, APA Corporation, EOG Resources, and Diamondback Energy all jumped after the EU said it would purchase $750 billion in US energy products over the next three years as part of a trade agreement with the US.

Celcuity rose more than 150% after the biotech company reported positive results in late-stage trials for its breast cancer combination treatment.

Duolingo shares sank 6.5% after the language learning company got its price target cut to $450 from $475 by Citizens JMP as user engagement growth slows.

Opendoor shares initially popped after the real estate tech company (and retail favorite) postponed a shareholder vote relating to a planned reverse stock split, but gave all that back and then some to finish down 8%.

ChargePoint plunged nearly 19% after the EV charging company announced a 20-for-1 reverse stock split in an effort to stave off delisting from the New York Stock Exchange.

Shares of Centene slumped 5% after Cantor cut its rating on the stock to “neutral” and slashed its price target, citing uncertainty in the company’s key Medicaid and ACA exchange businesses. 

Palantir shares fell as much as 3% before closing down just 0.6% following a new report from The Information that federal agencies (like the Department of Defense) are testing AI to reduce reliance on contractors.

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Tasha Matsumoto
14h
Stocks eke out gains on hopes for a path forward for reopening the Strait of Hormuz

Stocks rebounded on news that Iran is drafting a protocol with Oman to “monitor transit” through the crucial Strait of Hormuz.

Bull cow in a field
markets
Matt Phillips

AI server cluster maker Penguin Solutions takes flight

Small-cap AI server cluster maker Penguin Solutions surged Thursday after posting better-than-expected Q2 revenue and profit numbers Wednesday after the close, along with an increase in full-year sales and profit guidance.

The company, which was known as Smart Global Holdings until July 2024, has positioned itself as a provider of “end-to-end AI infrastructure solutions.”

Its Advanced Computing division designs and sells computers, cabling, and cooling systems, the server racks and clusters of racks AI data centers need. Its other main division sells flash and DRAM memory products.

It’s a pretty small company, with a fully diluted market cap of just over $1 billion and roughly 2,900 employees, according to FactSet.

The stock is volatile. Penguin dove during last year’s tariff tantrum that followed “Liberation Day” in April. Then it turned tail and doubled through early October amid a surge of call options activity, which tends to reflect retail interest. From the October peak, it then plunged by about 50%, before Thursday’s renaissance.

For what it’s worth, call options activity in Penguin is pretty busy today, too — relatively speaking — with roughly 2,625 traded as of 1:15 p.m. ET. That’s the most since early January, when the company last reported quarterly numbers. The average volume over the previous 25 trading sessions is about 325 calls a day, FactSet data shows.

Penguin Solutions Stock Takes Off On AI Bolstered Outlook

Penguin Solutions Stock Takes Off On AI Bolstered Outlook

The company, which was known as Smart Global Holdings until July 2024, has positioned itself as a provider of “end-to-end AI infrastructure solutions.”

Its Advanced Computing division designs and sells computers, cabling, and cooling systems, the server racks and clusters of racks AI data centers need. Its other main division sells flash and DRAM memory products.

It’s a pretty small company, with a fully diluted market cap of just over $1 billion and roughly 2,900 employees, according to FactSet.

The stock is volatile. Penguin dove during last year’s tariff tantrum that followed “Liberation Day” in April. Then it turned tail and doubled through early October amid a surge of call options activity, which tends to reflect retail interest. From the October peak, it then plunged by about 50%, before Thursday’s renaissance.

For what it’s worth, call options activity in Penguin is pretty busy today, too — relatively speaking — with roughly 2,625 traded as of 1:15 p.m. ET. That’s the most since early January, when the company last reported quarterly numbers. The average volume over the previous 25 trading sessions is about 325 calls a day, FactSet data shows.

markets
Luke Kawa

Momentum returns to optics stocks as the release valve for AI optimism

Potentially imminent end to the war? Buy optics stocks.

Maybe not? Buy optics stocks anyway.

Effectively all the juice left in the AI trade is coming from optics (and memory) stocks. And the latter group is taking a bit of a breather today while the former continues to surge.

Shares of Ciena Corp., Lumentum, and Coherent are building on recent big gains and among the biggest gainers in the S&P 500 near midday, while Applied Optoelectronics is also surging on Thursday.

These companies all provide solutions that help information move around in data centers, and thus are key beneficiaries of the aggressive capex plans of hyperscalers. Nvidia has invested $2 billion apiece in Coherent and Lumentum in deals that also include purchase commitments.

markets
Matt Phillips

Space stocks rip during a topsy-turvy day for the equity market

Satellite-services-from-space stocks surged Thursday after reports that Amazon is in talks to buy Globalstar, which provides voice and connectivity services from its satellite network. It also can’t hurt that the general mood around space is ebullient, following the successful launch of Artemis II on Thursday.

Planet Labs and ViaSat also soared on the news.

The gains for EchoStar — seen as a backdoor play at pre-IPO SpaceX exposure — and Rocket Lab were more muted, perhaps because a deep-pocketed competitor like Jeff Bezos getting serious about space services could complicate the plans of the two largest commercial space launch companies.

Rocket Lab and SpaceX see launch services as key to their aspirations of being major providers of voice and data services from low-Earth orbit satellites.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s SpaceX is the dominant provider of such services, and the early rumors on the company’s planned IPO — expected to be the largest ever — suggest the market is very excited about the prospects for the industry.

Elsewhere in the space stock world, Intuitive Machines — a maker of space infrastructure that provides services to NASA for lunar missions — also rose.

Globalstar surges after FT reports that Amazon is in talks to buy the satellite group

Globalstar surges after FT reports that Amazon is in talks to buy the satellite group

The gains for EchoStar — seen as a backdoor play at pre-IPO SpaceX exposure — and Rocket Lab were more muted, perhaps because a deep-pocketed competitor like Jeff Bezos getting serious about space services could complicate the plans of the two largest commercial space launch companies.

Rocket Lab and SpaceX see launch services as key to their aspirations of being major providers of voice and data services from low-Earth orbit satellites.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s SpaceX is the dominant provider of such services, and the early rumors on the company’s planned IPO — expected to be the largest ever — suggest the market is very excited about the prospects for the industry.

Elsewhere in the space stock world, Intuitive Machines — a maker of space infrastructure that provides services to NASA for lunar missions — also rose.

Hyunsoo Rim, David Crowther
Can Sandisk do the double?
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The S&P 500 just had its worst quarter in years. Here are the biggest winners and losers.

Sandisk and energy stocks soared while software names sank amid a broad sell-off in tech stocks.

Balancing balls of different sizes on pink seesaws creating equilibrium

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