Early Look

Wednesday, September 24, 2025

U.S. stocks took a breather on Tuesday, as major averages finished in negative territory but another round of AI investment headlines overnight (from BABA, ORCL) and better Micron (MU) earnings/guidance in chips are again breathing life back into technology with U.S. futures looking higher. Stocks slipped on Tuesday as the AI momentum eased and volatility rose, leading to a tactical pullback ahead of quarter-end. Overbought conditions in tech stocks and concerns about margin risks weighed on equities more broadly (at least for a day). Gold touched another intraday record, topping $3,800 per ounce, and a gauge of stock market volatility rose to the highest in nearly three weeks after Fed Chair Jerome Powell reiterated there’s no risk-free policy path ahead, adding that uncertainty over the path of inflation remains high while the labor market sees meaningful weakness. Oil prices jumped, helping boost energy stocks, which were the leaders in the S&P 500. Geopolitics and defense stocks are also in focus after Trump said NATO nations should shoot down Russian aircraft that violated their airspace. In Asian markets, The Nikkei Index rose 136 points to 45,603, the Shanghai Index gained 31 points to 3,853, and the Hang Seng Index jumped 359 points to 26,518. In Europe, the German DAX is down -18 points to 23,593, while the FTSE 100 is down -10 points to 9,213. Are markets complacent? Perhaps as trade tensions, slowing growth, inflation fears and frothy valuations, none of it has stopped the torrid rally to record after record for the S&P 500 Index as Bloomberg noted the S&P 500 has gone 107 sessions without a drop of 2% or more (longest streak since July 2024), with every market dip immediately bought…today appears to be another case after market weakness Tuesday. Coming into today, the S&P 500 has notched 28 all-time highs this year.

• The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell -88.76 points, or 0.19%, to 46,292.78
• The Nasdaq Composite slid -215.50 points, or 0.95%, to 22,573.47
• The Russell 2000 Index declined -5.82 points, or 0.24% to 2,457.51

• 10:00 AM ET                New Home Sales M/M for August
• 10:30 AM ET                Weekly DOE Inventory Data
• 1:00 PM ET US Treasury to sell $70b in 5-year notes

• Earnings After the Close: FUL KBH SCS SFIX WS

• Jefferies inaugural AI Summit (virtual), 9/22-9/25
• Keybanc Industrial and Material Bus Tour, 9/23-9/24, in Cleveland
• Roth Capital 3rd Annual AI Summit, 9/22-9/25 (virtual)

• Amazon (AMZN) was upgraded to overweight from equal weight at Wells Fargo on greater conviction in the company’s Amazon Web Services division.
• MillerKnoll Inc. (MLKN) Q1 EPS $0.45 vs. est. $0.34 on revs $955.7M vs. est. $910.97M; guides Q2 EPS $0.38-$0.44 vs. est. $0.41 on revs $926M-$966M vs. est. $960.6M.
• Thor Industries (THO) Q4 EPS $2.36 vs. est. $1.24; Q4 revs $2.52B vs. consensus $2.32B; sees FY26 EPS $3.75-$4.25, vs. consensus $4.30 and sees FY26 revenue $9B-$9.5B, vs. consensus $9.62B.

• Lithium America (LAC) shares surged after Reuters reported Trump officials seek equity stake in Lithium Americas as part of renegotiation of $2.26B loan for Thacker pass lithium project. The co has offered Trump administration no-cost warrants that would equate to 5%-10% of company’s common shares.
• Worthington Enterprises (WOR) Q1 adj EPS $0.74 vs est. $0.70 on revs $303.7Mm vs est. $291.8Mm; says had a strong start to fiscal year and well positioned for the future.

• Cyclerion Therapeutics (CYCN) shares rose after saying it is relaunching as a neuropsychiatric-focused firm after signing a licensing deal with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Its lead program targets treatment-resistant depression using anesthetic-based tech.
• Evolent Health (EVH) backs Q3 revenue view $460M-$480M vs. consensus $473.74M and also reaffirms its Q3 adjusted EBITDA view $34M-$42M; also backs Fy25 revs and Ebitda outlook.

• Micron Technologies (MU) Q4 adj EPS $3.03 vs est. $2.86 on revs $11.315B vs est. $11.223B; guides Q1 revs $12.5B above est. $11.941B, gross margin 50.5% to 52.5% vs. est. 45.7% and adj EPS $3.75 vs est. $3.06; said achieved all-time highs across our data center business and are entering fiscal 2026 with strong momentum and our most competitive portfolio to date.
• OpenAI, Oracle (ORCL), and Softbank (SFTBY) are announcing five new U.S. AI data center sites under Stargate, OpenAI’s overarching AI infrastructure platform. The combined capacity from these five new sites—along with our flagship site in Abilene, Texas, and ongoing projects with CoreWeave—brings Stargate to nearly 7 gigawatts of planned capacity and over $400B in investment over the next three years.
• ServiceNow (NOW) upgraded to Overweight from Equal Weight at Morgan Stanley and raise tgt to $1,250 from $1,040 saying the company’s consistent execution has been overshadowed by risks related to generative artificial intelligence and federal spending concerns.