Benzinga examined the prospects for many investors’ favorite stocks over the last week — here’s a look at some of our top stories.
U.S. stocks closed a volatile week mixed as investors navigated a hawkish Federal Reserve, surging Treasury yields and sharply divergent earnings from the biggest technology companies. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite ended the week under pressure after the Fed left interest rates unchanged but offered little clarity on the timing of future policy moves, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average lagged amid a broad bond selloff that pushed long-term Treasury yields to their highest levels since 2007. Despite the volatility, stronger-than-expected economic data reinforced confidence in the underlying economy even as markets adjusted to a higher-for-longer rate outlook.
Big Tech earnings dominated market sentiment, producing a clear divide between AI winners and losers. Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ:MSFT) surged after reporting robust Azure growth while maintaining its capital spending plans, and Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) also rallied on strong cloud results.
Looking ahead, investors remain focused on the intersection of monetary policy, inflation and corporate earnings. With major earnings reports, the monthly jobs report and additional inflation readings on deck, traders are watching to see whether strong AI-driven fundamentals can continue offsetting higher borrowing costs and renewed macroeconomic risks.
Benzinga provides daily reports on the stocks most popular with investors. Here are a few of this past week’s most bullish and bearish posts that are worth another look.
The Bulls
"Amazon Posts Double Beat In Q2, Fastest AWS Growth In 18 Quarters," by Adam Eckert, reports that Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) topped Wall Street’s second-quarter earnings and revenue estimates, fueled by its fastest Amazon Web Services (AWS) growth in 18 quarters as demand for AI infrastructure continued to accelerate. Amazon reported earnings of $5.75 per share on $200.61 billion in revenue, beating analyst expectations, while AWS revenue surged 37% year over year to $42.2 billion. CEO Andy Jassy said AWS, the company’s AI business and custom chips business each surpassed $25 billion annualized run rates, though heavy AI-related capital spending pushed trailing 12-month free cash flow to a $7.6 billion outflow..
"Microsoft Q4 Earnings Highlights: 14th Straight Double Beat, Cloud Revenue Up 27%," by Chris Katje, reports that Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ:MSFT) extended its streak to 14 consecutive quarterly earnings beats, reporting fiscal fourth-quarter revenue of $90.0 billion, up 18% year over year, and earnings of $4.74 per share, both ahead of Wall Street expectations. Microsoft Cloud revenue climbed 27% to $59.3 billion, while Azure and other cloud services revenue surged 43%, marking the first time Azure generated more than $100 billion in annual revenue. CEO Satya Nadella also said Microsoft 365 Copilot surpassed 30 million paid seats, underscoring strong enterprise AI adoption, while the company returned $10.2 billion to shareholders through dividends and share repurchases during the quarter.
"QUICK SPARK: Nvidia-Backed Nebius Could Be The AI Stock Investors Are Missing, This ETF CEO Says," by Surbhi Jain, reports that GraniteShares CEO Will Rhind believes Nebius Group N.V. (NASDAQ:NBIS) could be one of the most overlooked long-term AI investments, citing the company’s triple-digit revenue growth, Nvidia Corp.’s (NASDAQ:NVDA) $2 billion investment and its recent addition to the Nasdaq-100. Rhind argues that, unlike hyperscalers that primarily build AI infrastructure for their own ecosystems, Nebius focuses on renting AI compute capacity to customers, positioning it to benefit as demand for AI infrastructure continues to outstrip supply.
For additional bullish calls of the past week, check out the following:
Applied Digital Stock Climbs on Q4 Double Beat
Bloom Energy Blows Past Q2 Estimates, Shares Jump
The Bears
"SpaceX Wipes Out A Full Tesla’s Worth Of Market Value Since Peaking In June," by Chris Katje, reports that Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (NASDAQ:SPCX) has erased more than $1.2 trillion in market value since reaching its post-IPO peak in June, a decline roughly equivalent to the entire market capitalization of Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA). SpaceX shares have fallen sharply from their record high as investors reassess the company’s valuation following its historic public debut, with concerns around execution risks, upcoming earnings expectations and the scale of its future AI and space ambitions weighing on sentiment. The selloff has also contributed to a significant decline in Elon Musk’s net worth, while investors await SpaceX’s first earnings report as a public company and additional clarity on its long-term growth strategy.
"KLA Stock Dives Further After Q4 Report: Here’s Why," by Adam Eckert, reports that KLA Corp. (NASDAQ:KLAC) shares extended their decline despite the semiconductor equipment maker delivering a fourth-quarter earnings and revenue beat, as investors focused on elevated expectations and concerns about the company’s near-term growth outlook. KLA reported $3.66 billion in quarterly revenue and adjusted earnings of $1.05 per share, both ahead of Wall Street estimates, but analysts said the results were not strong enough relative to semiconductor equipment peers such as Lam Research Corp. (NASDAQ:LRCX) and Applied Materials Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT). The company forecast fiscal first-quarter revenue of $3.8 billion to $4.2 billion and adjusted earnings of $1.06 to $1.26 per share.
"Capricor Stock Dives — ‘Complete Fraud’ Says Pharma Bro Martin Shkreli," by Erica Kollmann, reports that Capricor Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ:CAPR) shares plunged after Martin Shkreli publicly accused the biotechnology company of being a "complete fraud" and alleged that legal action could follow against CEO Linda Marbán and a statistics consultant over the handling of patient data. Shkreli’s comments came as Capricor faced growing scrutiny over its deramiocel cell therapy for Duchenne muscular dystrophy after FDA briefing documents questioned whether data from the company’s Phase 3 HOPE-3 study met the agency’s standard for substantial evidence of effectiveness.
For more bearish takes, be sure to see these posts:
AMD Stock Drops: Why Chipmaker Shares Are Falling Ahead of August Earnings
Carvana’s Q2 Collision: Stock Tumbles Despite Earnings Beat
Sandisk Stock Extends Losses As AI Memory Trade Unravels
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