Schaeffer's Top Stock Picks for '25

Stock Futures Shake Off Last Week's Losses

Despite the recent downturn, earnings have mostly bested expectations

Deputy Editor
Aug 21, 2023 at 9:09 AM
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Stock futures are higher Monday, as Wall Street returns from a down week. Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) and Nasdaq-100 Index (NDX) are both up more than 100 points. S&P 500 Index (SPX) futures are higher as well, as 95% of companies trading on the index have reported earnings, with roughly four-fifths besting analysts' expectations.

Continue reading for more on today's market, including: 

  • Chip sector stares at fork in the road.
  • Wall Street's August slump drags on.
  • Plus, Palo Alto's earnings, and 2 bull notes to watch.

Futures Chart August 212023

5 Things You Need to Know Today

  1. The Cboe Options Exchange (CBOE) saw more than 1.6 million call and 1.2 million put contracts exchanged on Friday. The single-session equity put/call ratio dropped to 0.76 and the 21-day moving average stayed at 0.65.
  2. Palo Alto Networks Inc (NASDAQ:PANW) is 12.7% higher before the opening bell, after the tech company's fiscal fourth-quarter earnings topped estimates. Today's pop, should it hold, will put PANW well above the +50% year-to-date level.
  3. HSBC reiterated its "buy" rating and upped its price target to $780 from $600 on artificial intelligence (AI) semiconductor darling NVIDIA Corp (NASDAQ:NVDA). The Wall Street analyst's new target price implies an 80% upside from Friday's close, and Baird named the equity a "top pick," to boot. Up 2.6% in electronic trading, NVDA is closing in on a 200% year-to-date lead.
  4. Boasting a 5.8% gain in premarket trading, Xpeng Inc (NYSE:XPEV) is looking to add to a 50.7% 2023 lead following a bull note. Specifically, Bank of American upgraded the shares of the China-based electric vehicle (EV) maker to "buy" from "neutral," citing the company's partnership with Volkswagen and bettering cost structure.  
  5. A quick look at this week's biggest earnings and economic data.

Buzz 0821

China's Central Bank Makes Rate Adjustment 

Asian markets finished Monday on both sides of the aisle, after the People’s Bank of China cut its one-year loan prime rate by 10 basis points to 3.45% but held its five-year rate at 4.2%. Analysts had expected cuts to both rates. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng led the losses with a 1.8% drop, while China’s Shanghai Composite fell 1.2%. Japan’s Nikkei added 0.4%, while the South Korean Kospi tacked on 0.2%.

European bourses are higher at last glance, though homebuilding stocks are weighing after a housing market warning from Crest Nelson. London’s FTSE 100 is up 0.4%, while the French CAC 40 and German DAX rise 1.2% and 0.8%, respectively.

 
 

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