Closing Recap

Wednesday, July 15, 2026

Green across the board again! U.S. stocks finished the day higher following a midday dip as strength in several of Mag 7 mega caps (AMZN, AAPL, GOOGL, META, MSFT), which are heavily weighted in major indices, did the heavy lifting with all posting 2% or better returns in a move back to leadership. At the same time, financials were stronger with several names hitting 52-week highs today including BAC, BNY (after earnings), GS and JPM (both new record highs after earnings Tuesday), MTB, MS among others and BLK after earnings. A second “cooler” than expected inflation reading in as many days also helped market sentiment as the June producer price index (PPI) echoed the softer consumer price index (CPI) data from Tuesday. The popular semiconductor sector (SOX) saw strong selling pressure early amid the rotation into software and large cap tech but pared losses to finish well off their lows. Healthcare was in focus as JNJ slipped on results and managed care pulled back despite better ELV results following a good run in the sector into earnings and ahead of UNH tomorrow morning. Precious metals remain in a downdraft after record highs a few months back despite the weaker PPI report and the dollar slipped. Aerospace stocks saw general weakness as the recent high profile SPCX IPO broke below its $135 IPO price this morning before ending just above late day.

• NY Fed’s Empire State current business conditions index +15.6 in July above the consensus +8.8 and vs +5.7 in June; new orders index surges +22.2 in July vs +3.5 in June, employment index at +11.4 in July vs +9.6 in June, six-month business conditions index +27.9 in July vs +30.1 in June while prices paid index drops to +52.3 in July vs +61.0 in June in a strong reading.
• China Q2 GDP reported at +0.9% q/q in-line with estimates and 4.3% y/y vs 4.5% consensus and its weakest reading pace since 2022. China June Unemployment Rate 5% vs 5.1% consensus; June Retail Sales +1% y/y vs -0.1% consensus and Industrial output +5.3% y/y vs 4.7% consensus.

• After another round of “cooler” inflation data in the form of June Producer Prices (PPI), the US dollar added to prior day declines and Treasury yields eased slightly on expectations the Fed will stay the course, not raising rates in the near-term. The Canadian dollar strengthens 0.1% to a four-week high at 1.4036 per US dollar. The euro jumped late day rising over +0.5% to 1.148.
• Gold prices trimmed losses on Wednesday after U.S. producer prices unexpectedly fell in June, although worries about inflation and elevated interest rates remained due to escalating tensions in the Middle East. August gold declined -$17.90/oz, or -0.44%, to settle at $4,051.80 an ounce while September Silver falls -$1.67/oz, or -2.83%, to finish at $57.43 an ounce. Bitcoin advanced moving back above $65,000.

• Beverage sector: Piper said COCO, KDP, and KO look well-positioned into C2Q26. They see ~2.5-3.5pp of upside to KDP’s USRB organic sales growth estimate, and $60-70M to our JDEP sales estimate and 22% upside to our PT. They see upside to COCO estimates, consensus, and guidance. KO looks well-positioned, with good momentum broadly. MNST is set up well, but valuation suggests expectations are high.
• Restaurant sector: CAVA was upgraded from Equal Weight to Overweight at Morgan Stanley noting shares have faded recently on weaker credit card data, and there is now upside to its new price target. This is a shift somewhat consistent with the industry, and not at odds with MSCO’s current numbers. Keybanc previewed the quarter for the sector as expects ongoing focus on the financial health of the consumer, even as overall industry trends have remained encouragingly resilient; raised its tgt on EAT.

• Auto Dealers: Auto Dealers Q2 Earnings Preview at Barclays as the firm says tough comps create challenging quarter, but traffic may be clearing. The firm adjusted targets in the Auto dealers space as part of a Q2 earnings preview. Estimates move higher for SAH but flat-to-lower for other dealers; ABG likely to be most challenged given Tekion DMS conversion; GPI earnings could be near inflection point.
• In Housing: shares of SKY and CVCO getting a bounce, helped by recent passing of Housing Bill law; the homebuilders in general also getting a bounce the last two days KBH, DHI, MTH, PHM, TOL post lower CPI, PPI inflation readings, helping ease interest rate hike fears by the Fed this year.

• Coal & Nat gas sector: CNX was upgraded to Hold from Sell at Truist with 435 tgt noting the stock is down 13% year-to-date, which compares to the firm’s natural gas coverage down 10% on average, and contends that CNX now screens largely in-line compared to nat gas peers.
• Utility sector: Late Tuesday, PJM released its BRA auction results for the 2028/2029 planning year earlier today, with prices reaching the cap across all PJM zones which was in line with Keybanc’s expectations while the company continues to view IPPs (CEG, VST) as the clear beneficiaries, although it will likely result in minimal earnings uplift vs current expectations.

• BNY Q2 adj EPS $2.46 vs. est. $2.22; Q2 revs $5.70B vs. est. $5.40B; Q2 net interest Income $1.45B; Q2 CET1 ratio 11.0%; guides 2026 total revs up 10-11% YoY vs prior forecast up 5% +/- YoY and 2026 expenses up 6-7% YoY.
• BLK Q2 EPS $13.91 vs. est. $12.67; Q2 revs rose 31% y/y to $7.08B vs. est. $6.82B; Q2 AUM $15,34T vs. est. $15.19T, up from $12.53T a year earlier and $13.89 trillion in the first quarter; attributed revenue growth to higher base fees, positive market performance, and strong inflows.
• GS raised $10B from a high-grade bond sale, bolstered by investor demand that equaled about three times that size on the same day it posted record Q2 stock-trading results, according to Bloomberg; debt offering drew orders of about $32B at its peak per the report.
• MS reported a rise in Q2 profit, with EPS $3.46 vs. est. $2.93, driven by strong mergers and acquisitions activity; Q2 investment banking revenue soared to $2.44B from $1.54B y/y boosted by a rise in M&A advisory fees; Q2 revs $21.3B topped ests $19.67B; Q2 provision for credit losses $98M; raised its quarterly dividend by 15 cents to $1.15/share, and approved a new $20B share repurchase program.
• PNC Q2 profit jumped 25% to $2.06B, or $4.81 per share, as revs increased 21% to $6.88B vs. est. $6.5B; Q2 net interest income jumped 11% y/y to $4.107B vs. est. $4.106B driven by strong loan growth, the FirstBank acquisition and lower deposit costs; Q2 capital markets and advisory revenue surged 80% over the year earlier to $577M; sees Q3 net interest Income up 3%-3.5% vs Q2.
• The Depository Trust & Clearing Corp., a leading trade processor, plans to convert a batch of shares and Treasuries into digital tokens, the clearinghouse’s latest step toward a fully digital Wall Street. Almost 40 financial firms and tech providers, from JPMorgan Chase and Goldman Sachs to Blackrock, Vanguard and the NYSE, will take part in a trial run to tokenize securities that Wall Street firms keep at DTCC. The tokens will be stored at the clearinghouse on the Blockchain. The assets set to tokenize in Wednesday’s process include shares of Microsoft, Circle Internet Group, Invesco QQQ Trust, State Street SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust and iShares 0-3 Month Treasury Bond ETF, as well as Treasury’s of different tenors.

• AXSM announces FDA Acceptance of new drug application for AXS-12 for the treatment of cataplexy in narcolepsy; FDA sets PDUFA target action date of May 1, 2027, for AXS-12 NDA while the FDA does not plan advisory committee meeting for AXS-12 NDA
• CELC shares fell after rising late Tuesday when the FDA approved its drug for an advanced form of breast cancer, making it the company’s first product to gain market entry… but the company delayed the launch until late 3Q26, which weighed on sentiment.
• CRDF said it sold 8.57M shares and accompanying warrants at $1.05 in registered direct offering and said certain insiders and directors to buy 731,707 shares and warrants at $1.435; the co intends to use net offering proceeds for working capital and general purposes.
• MANE said its oral, extended-release formulation of minoxidil induced hair growth in women with mild-to-moderate pattern hair loss, achieving the goal of a single-arm mid-stage study. The company is enrolling female participants in a Phase 2/3 study with results expected next year.
• MRK announced KEYTRUDA as monotherapy significantly improved progression-free survival versus chemotherapy in certain patients with advanced or recurrent endometrial cancer with dMMR tumors.
• NVO shares rallied after the WSJ reported overnight in the weight-loss wars, Novo’s obesity pill is pulling way ahead of LLY’s. The market leader in obesity shots, Lilly hasn’t made a major dent in the pill market yet https://tinyurl.com/ycyc8929

• Healthcare Facilities: Keybanc noted CMS released the proposed rule for the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (PFS) for CY27. Key takeaways: 1) estimate the Technical Component for key advanced Imaging procedures like MRI and CT will increase by 3-4% under the proposal, before changes to the Cf (Keybanc said they view this as directionally positive for RDNT). 2) CMS is proposing to make several updates to the MSSP program designed to "strengthen financial incentives for ACOs." These changes are somewhat technical in nature but, on balance, seem positive for PRVA said Keybanc. 3) The Cf is expected to decrease by 1.19% for qualifying APM providers and 1.68% for non-qualifying APM providers (per current law).

• Heavy Machinery/Industrial sector: WNC shares tumbled after the company announced a private offering of $100M in convertible senior unsecured notes due 2032, with an option for initial purchasers to buy an additional $15M. Wabash plans to use the proceeds for general corporate purposes

• In Data center sector: WULF shares fell yesterday following news that New York became the first State to impose a statewide moratorium on large data center development, pausing certain environmental permits for projects using 50 MW or more while the State develops standards addressing Grid, Water and ratepayer impacts. Cantor noted today it was not expecting WULF to lease out Lake Hawkeye until the end of 2027/early 2028; thus, this moratorium might not impact that timing; DLR was upgraded at Guggenheim and Oppenheimer raised estimates for it and EQIX  as anticipate another strong quarter for Ai infrastructure providers driven by unprecedented demand for compute capacity.
• Internet & Media sector: LION is considering a sale and has attracted takeover interest from Bollore Group amid accelerating consolidation in the media industry, Reuters reported saying the company has been working with an investment bank to evaluate inbound approaches https://tinyurl.com/3rn3jy2n  ; BABA shares rallied after AAPL’s on-device artificial Intelligence system got its long-awaited approval for release in China, integrating Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.’s Qwen Ai into the iPhone experience.

• In Robotics sector: XPEV aims to build monthly production capacity of more than 1,000 IRON robots by the end of this year, WSJ reported citing people familiar with the matter. XPeng introduced the IRON humanoid robot concept in November as part of its broader physical AI strategy.

• ASML said it now expects full year 2026 total net sales to be between EU43B and EU45B (midpoint at EU44B), compared to the prior forecast range of EU36B and EU40B (midpoint at EU38B); sees gross margin to be between 54% and 56% versus the prior forecast range of 51% and 53%.
• Memory stocks give back a little of prior day gains (MU, SNDK, SKHY). On Tuesday, SKHY shares jumped 27%; server maker DELL climbed 7%; and storage play SanDisk rose 5%.
• AAPL is on the lookout for acquisitions of chip companies to boost its efforts to build server chips for running AI, people familiar with the company’s efforts told The Information. The iPhone maker has talked with bankers about possible deals in recent months and has also approached semiconductor startups to gauge their interest in selling themselves https://tinyurl.com/5n84ars3