Mid-Morning Look

Wednesday, August 06, 2025

U.S. stocks open higher as earnings results from several companies help give markets a little boost after slipping and settling near lows on Tuesday. Weakening US economy concerns remain given the recent weaker jobs data (and lower revisions) and ISM services miss yesterday, as well as tariff fears especially regarding whether Trump imposes increased tariffs on countries buying energy from Russia/what pharma and semi tariffs will look like (announced nigher tariffs India today/confirming prior). Though Wall Street hopes rising on a possible deal with China with the President saying he was “very close to a deal” to extend the trade truce while Fed rate cut hopes for September also provide upbeat sentiment. Stocks off to a god start initially but has pared gains since early highs as the S&P 500 back to the 6,300 level. Recap of some top earnings-related movers below. The US dollar index (DXY) slips to a 9-day low after Minneapolis Fed President Neel Kashkari earlier hinted at the prospect of the Federal Reserve resuming interest rates soon. Kashkari said it might become appropriate to start adjusting rates in the near term as data show the economy is slowing. San Francisco Fed President Mary Daly on Monday also suggested an imminent rate cut was possible. It comes after weaker-than-forecast U.S. jobs data on Friday boosted expectations for the Fed to cut rates in September. U.S. money markets now price a 91% chance of a September rate cut.

• In Chemicals: CC Beat on EPS, revenue and EBITDA in qtr but guided Q3 well below and lowered FY adj EBITDA guidance. DOW, LYB shares were weaker as PE prices settled flat for July, but net discounting appeared more and settled down 3 cents vs. expectations of being flat. MOS shares weak as missed on EBITDA in qtr driven by higher operating expenses; unexpectedly higher provisions / idle time / turnaround expenses drove the miss; Q2 adj EPS $0.51 vs. est. $0.73; Q2 revs $3.0B vs. est. $3.1B. VVV reported EPS and revenue in line, adj EBITDA came in better; narrowed FY EPS and revenue guidance ~in line with consensus estimates.
•  Vaccine makers (MRNA, PFE, NVAX, BNTX) shares volatile after The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced that the government’s emergency preparedness agency will no longer fund work on messenger RNA vaccines, under the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, including the cancellation and de-scoping of various contracts and solicitations.
• In Media: DIS dominates headlines after earnings and both NFL and WWE headlines. 1) ESPN and the NFL have reached new licensing agreements, extending ESPN’s NFL Draft rights and, separately, adding NFL programming and content to ESPN’s upcoming Direct-to-Consumer service, as well as to Disney+. The agreement also includes the opportunity for fans to bundle ESPN’s DTC service with NFL+ Premium. Beginning with the 2026 NFL Draft, Disney+ and Hulu will also stream ESPN, ABC, and ESPN Deportes’ trio of Draft presentations. ESPN will acquire NFL Network and certain other media assets owned and controlled by the NFL – including NFL’s linear RedZone Channel, and NFL Fantasy – in exchange for a 10% equity stake in ESPN. ESPN said it would launch the new ESPN’s direct-to-consumer streaming service on August 21, priced at $29.99 per month. 2) ESPN will also become the exclusive home for all WWE events, including WrestleMania, from 2026 in the U.S., the company said. The WSJ reports that ESPN and the WWE reach landmark rights agreement as ESPN platforms become exclusive U.S. domestic home of all WWE premium live events, including WrestleMania, starting in 2026. The WSJ reports the deal is a 5-year deal valued at $1.6B for the deal with TKO Sports (TKO).

• ALAB +25%; reported beat and raise quarter led by continued Scorpio P strength; CAPEX was guided up to $78M from ~$74M due to continued R&D investments in the product portfolio while revenue for September was guided to $270M vs the Street at ~$180M.
• ANET +14%; reported a strong Q2 driven by ‘Product’ rev of $1.88B, ~6% above consensus $1.78 as hyperscaler demand outpaced market fears and updated the CY25 rev outlook to ~25% vs the prior 17% guide; product deferred revenue grew 57% QoQ ending the qtr at ~ $1.9B.
• CPRI +15%; after Q1 results topped consensus; Q2 revs fell -6% y/y to $797M but above est. $793M while guides Q2 revs $815M-$835M vs. est. $819.1M; Capri is undergoing a turnaround that includes the recent sale of its underperforming Versace label to Italy’s Prada.
• GO +28%; after Q2 results, raised its FY25 adjusted EPS view to $0.75-$0.80 from $0.70-$0.75 prompting upgraded at both Craig Hallum and Morgan Stanley.
• GPN +5%; Q2 profit above consensus at $3.10 EPS vs. est. $3.06, helped by strong growth and margin improvement in its merchant and issuer solutions businesses; adjusted net revenue rose 5% on a constant currency basis in the quarter ended June 30; now expects FY adj profit to be at the upper end of its previous growth forecast of 10% to 11%.
• KVYO +15%; shares rose after the company raised annual revenue forecast for the second time this year to $1.195B-$1.203B above its prior target of $1.171B-$1.179B and better Q3 revs $297M-$301M vs. est. $289.7B.
• MCD +2%; posted Q2 adj EPS $3.19 vs. est. 43.15 on revs $6.843B vs. EST $6.704B as Q2 global comparable sales up 3.8% vs est. up 2.38% with US comparable sales up 2.5% and Q2 systemwide sales up 8%.
• NEM +1%; among gold miners hitting 52-week highs today along with AEM, AU, EGO, GFI, WPM.
• RNG +27%; reported solid Q2 results with beats across the board, and management modestly raised its FY25 EPS and FCF guidance 100-150bps; operating margins have more than doubled from ~10% to over 20% in the past 5 years and Oppenheimer upgraded to Outperform as expects 50-100bps annual expansion.
• SHOP +20%; shares jump on results as Q2 revs rose 31% y/y to $2.68B top consensus $2.54B as Q2 Operating Income: $291M (vs. Est. $247.7M), GMV $87.8B rising +30.6% y/y; guides Q3 revenue up at mid-to-high 20s percentage rate y/y, above consensus of 21.5%.

• EMR -11%; posted quarterly sales just below consensus in qtr, EPS in line and narrows FY EPS guidance on lower sales.
• FUN -18%; posted a Q2 net loss of $99.6 million, or (-$0.99) with items, compared with a profit of $55.6 million, or $1.08 a share, in the same quarter a year ago; said attendance of 14.2M guests was down 9%, or 1.4M visits y/y; lower FY adj Ebitda to be between $860-$910M for the year, down from a previous expectation of between $1.08B-$1.12B.
• MOS -10%; as missed on EBITDA in qtr driven by higher operating expenses; unexpectedly higher provisions / idle time / turnaround expenses drove the miss; Q2 adj EPS $0.51 vs. est. $0.73; Q2 revs $3.0B vs. est. $3.1B.
• NRG -12%; falls after rev beat, in-line Ebitda and only reaffirming guidance in nuclear space.
• OPEN 15%; shares slide after guiding Q3 revenue in the range of $800M-$875M, well below consensus of $1.2B while Q2 revs rose 4% y/y to $1.6B vs. est. $1.5B and posted a smaller-than-expected Q2 loss.
• SMCI -19%; after announced FQ425 revenue and NG GM that came in below the Street’s expectations attributed to a lack of access to sufficient capital, which hindered the company’s ability to accelerate to volume production said Needham.
• SNAP -19%; shares fall following 2Q25 earnings as advertising revenue grew just 4% Y/Y in 2Q25, while North American DAU fell 1M Q/Q for the second consecutive quarter (shares downgraded at Citizens)