Markets
Luke Kawa

US stocks notch another gain and new record on narrow rally

The S&P 500 eked out another closing record and the Nasdaq 100 rose 0.3%, while the Russell 2000 slumped 0.7% on Tuesday.

The benchmark US stock index rose for back-to-back sessions despite once again having more constituents that declined than advanced. The narrow, small rally saw technology and communication services as the only two S&P sectors to go positive on the day. Utilities and financials were the largest decliners.

Despite the strong showing from tech, two semiconductor companies were at the bottom of the S&P 500 leaderboard. Intel slumped 6.1% as markets continue to doubt the company’s turnaround prospects following the exit of its CEO. Microchip Technology tumbled 7% after announcing it was shuttering a factory in Arizona due to weak demand.

On the other side of the spectrum, Palantir was the best-performing S&P 500 stock, gaining 6.9% after enhancing its ability to sell cloud services to the US government

AT&T rose 4.6% after authorizing a $20 billion share buyback plan.

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Corning spikes after Nvidia invests $500 million in the fiber-optics company

Corning is spiking after Nvidia dropped $500 million for the right to buy up to 18 million of its shares.

The deal comes as part of a multiyear partnership that will see Corning “increase its U.S.-based optical connectivity manufacturing capacity by 10x and expand its U.S. fiber production capacity by more than 50% to meet the accelerating demand driven by AI factory buildouts,” per the press release.

The deal is structured around Corning issuing Nvidia two types of warrants:

  • “Pre-funded” warrants for 3 million Corning shares (which account for the bulk of the $500 million to the fiber-optics company).

  • “Traditional” warrants that enable Nvidia to buy 15 million shares at $180, thereby benefiting from Corning’s share price trading above that level within three years’ time (unless this partnership is terminated or Corning makes a “fundamental transaction” before that). If and when Nvidia exercises those warrants in full, CEO Jensen Huang will be cutting a much heftier check to Corning.

So while on the surface this deal may not look as big as Nvidia’s recent $2 billion investments in Marvell Technology, Coherent, and Lumentum, once all the dust settles, it could turn out to be considerably more!

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AMC gains as strong Q1 results give breathing room for balance sheet improvements

AMC shares are rising in early Wednesday trading after the theater chain reported Q1 earnings results with revenue exceeding estimates after the bell Tuesday.

Key numbers:

  • Revenue of $1.05 billion (compared to analyst estimates of $972.6 million).

  • Adjusted EBITDA of $38.3 million (estimate: $7.7 million).

Attendance reached 30.7 million in the US and 16.9 million internationally, with improving demand thanks to recently released movies like Project Hail Mary, The Super Mario Galaxy Movie, and Michael.

A prolonged string of positive operating results like these will be needed to improve AMC’s balance sheet over time. AMC is still carrying around $4 billion in debt, which management is aiming to refinance and pay down over time.

Refinancing has bought time to delever amid the stop-and-go box-office rebound as film supply is set to improve, Bloomberg Intelligence analysts Kevin Near and Geetha Ranganathan wrote in the wake of this release. AMC expects to close more underperforming theaters this year and hinted that positive free cash flow may hinge on a strong 2027 movie slate.

Analysts at Benchmark upgraded the stock to buyfrom hold following these Q1 results.

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Disney rises after quarterly revenue beat, boosted by streaming and theme park growth

Disney reported its second-quarter results before markets opened on Wednesday.

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