[Market Summary]
On the 9th (local time), the three major U.S. indices finished slightly higher. Investor sentiment was bolstered by expectations that the ceasefire would hold following news of talks between the Israeli and Lebanese governments.
According to the Home Trading System (HTS), the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 275.88 points (0.58%) to close at 48,185.80. The S&P 500 increased by 41.85 points (0.62%) to 6,824.66, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite rose 187.422 points (0.83%) to 22,822.417.
The market and international oil prices showed high volatility throughout the session. Early in the day, indices fell following reports that Iran would limit ship passage through the Strait of Hormuz to 15 vessels per day. This move was a response to Israeli attacks on Hezbollah in Lebanon, raising fears that the two-week ceasefire agreement would collapse.
However, indices rebounded late in the day as Israel and the Lebanese government agreed to hold talks. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated he would negotiate directly with the Lebanese government for the disarmament of Hezbollah. This shift followed a request from President Donald Trump for Israel to reduce the scale of its attacks. Despite this, skepticism remains as Netanyahu signaled a continued hardline stance to domestic audiences.
International oil prices gave up some early gains. WTI for May delivery, which briefly topped $100 per barrel, closed up 3.66% at $97.87. Brent crude for June delivery rose 1.23% to $95.92.
On the economic front, the Core PCE Price Index rose 0.4% month-over-month in February, meeting expectations but suggesting a potential annual inflation rate over 4%. Conversely, Q4 GDP was finalized at 0.5% (annualized), missing the 0.7% estimate and showing a significant slowdown from Q3's 4.4%. The CME FedWatch Tool now reflects a 25% probability of a 25bp rate cut by year-end, up from 20.2%. The VIX (Fear Index) fell 7.37% to 19.49.
[Featured Stocks]
■ Amazon (AMZN)
Announced a massive $200 billion capex plan for 2026, focused on AI infrastructure.
AWS AI revenue exceeded $15 billion in Q1 2026, growing 260 times faster than AWS did at a similar stage.
The company plans to double its power capacity by late 2027. Its custom AI chip business (Graviton, Trainium) has surpassed $20 billion in annual revenue.
Separately, Amazon could benefit from a DOJ antitrust probe into the NFL’s media rights, potentially leading to lower broadcasting costs.
■ Tesla (TSLA)
Reportedly developing a new small, low-cost SUV (length: 4.28m, smaller than Model Y).
Production is expected to start in China before expanding to the U.S. and Europe.
■ Stellantis (STLA)
Italian production rose 9.5% YoY in Q1 2026 to 120,366 units, driven by new model launches. Passenger car production specifically jumped 22%.
■ Walt Disney (DIS)
Plans to cut up to 1,000 jobs (approx. 1% of staff), primarily in marketing, as part of "Project Imagine" to consolidate and reduce costs.
■ Oracle (ORCL)
Restructuring debt for its massive $16.3 billion data center project in Michigan. PIMCO is looking to sell some of the $14 billion debt to institutional investors.
■ FedEx (FDX)
Reached a tentative deal with pilots for a 40% hourly wage hike in 2026, followed by 3% annual increases through 2030.
■ CoreWeave (CRWV) & Meta (META)
Meta is investing an additional $21 billion in CoreWeave for AI infrastructure, bringing the total contract to $35 billion through 2032.
CoreWeave is shifting focus from AI training to inference and will deploy NVIDIA’s latest "Vera Rubin" platform.
■ Applied Digital (APLD)
Reported Q3 EPS of $0.09, crushing the estimated $0.16 loss. Revenue grew 139% YoY to $126.6M, driven by surging demand for AI data centers.
■ Eli Lilly (LLY)
Launching "Foundayo" (oral GLP-1 weight loss drug) in the U.S. It will be distributed through Amazon Pharmacy and LillyDirect.
The drug is a once-daily pill for obesity. Pricing is set at $149/month for cash payers, with Amazon offering same-day delivery in 3,000 cities.
■ Richardson Electronics (RELL)
Beat Q3 estimates with EPS of $0.07. Backlog reached $151.2M, the highest in three years, driven by semiconductor wafer manufacturing and RF products.
■ TSMC (TSM)
GF Securities expects a strong Q1 earnings report with gross margins hitting 67% (above guidance). 2026 revenue guidance is likely to be raised due to AI demand and N2/N3 utilization.
■ Alibaba (BABA)
Jefferies lowered its target to $185 from $212, citing high AI investment costs and losses in non-core segments, despite the success of its "Qwen" AI model.
■ Energy & Travel Sectors
Energy stocks (OXY, APA, COP, CVX, BP) rose alongside the rebound in oil.
Travel stocks (ALK, UAL, RCL, CCL) fell due to rising fuel cost concerns.
■ Datadog (DDOG)
Guggenheim upgraded to Buy, citing the massive growth in data volume driven by AI adoption.
■ Constellation Brands (STZ)
Beat Q4 expectations with EPS of $1.90 and revenue of $1.92 billion.
■ Texas Instruments (TXN)
Rose nearly 2% following a Stifel upgrade to Buy, noting the end of a major capex cycle and data center growth.
■ STAAR Surgical (STAA)
Surged after issuing Q1 revenue guidance of $90M+, well above the $67.6M analyst consensus.
■ Zscaler (ZS)
Downgraded to Neutral by BTIG due to intensifying competition from Cloudflare and SASE vendors.
■ Hormel Foods (HRL)
Downgraded to Neutral by JP Morgan. Rising freight costs and unfavorable pork prices are expected to pressure margins.
■ Intel (INTC)
Extended its partnership with Google Cloud to use Xeon 6 CPUs in AI data centers, a win for Intel in the competitive AI processor market.
■ Brown-Forman (BF.B)
Attracting M&A interest from Sazerac and Pernod Ricard, making the Jack Daniel's maker a key takeover target.
■ Marvell Technology (MRVL)
Upgraded to Overweight by Barclays. Analysts expect AI optical port demand to double annually for the next two years.
■ Costco (COST)
March sales rose 11.3% YoY to $28.41B. Analysts highlighted Costco’s ability to gain market share despite a volatile retail environment.
■ Corning (GLW)
Signed a $6 billion deal with Meta for optical cables and connectivity solutions. UBS raised its price target to $160.
■ Nio (NIO)
Unveiled the ES9 large SUV for June delivery. However, the stock fell on profit-taking and concerns over a 15% drop in overall China auto sales last month.
■ SanDisk (SNDK)
Bernstein raised its target to $1,250, dismissing fears that AI algorithm changes would reduce memory demand. A supply shortage is expected through mid-2028.
■ BlackBerry (BB)
Beat Q4 estimates with revenue up 10% YoY. Its QNX software is now in 275 million vehicles, with a $950M royalty backlog.
■ Circle (CRCL)
Downgraded to Sell by Compass Point due to a "margin crunch" as revenue-sharing with partners like Binance reduces overall profitability.
[After-Hours Headlines]
Super Micro Computer (SMCI): Launched the "Gold Series" pre-configured servers to shorten lead times for AI and enterprise customers. Shares rose 0.47% after-hours.
CoreWeave (CRWV): S&P upgraded its credit outlook to Positive (B+ rating) following massive multi-year contracts with OpenAI, NVIDIA, and Meta. (Backlog) exploded to $66.8 billion.
