Market Review: July 24, 2026

Closing Recap

Friday, July 24, 2026

U.S. stocks finished mixed as oil prices fell on news of a Pakistan-driven mediation between the US/Iran through help with China and indications that some tankers are making it through the two maritime chokepoints. After a bounce this morning on the peace headlines, technology stocks sputtered amid a late day sell-off, adding to weekly declines as the Semi index (SOX) fell -4.25%. Nearly all eleven S&P 500 sectors finished higher, led by REITs, Materials, Healthcare and Consumer Staples, but the tech heavy Technology weakness pushed major averages lower despite the positive market breadth. Treasury yields fell today but surged to 18-month highs this week and crude oil surged on the week amid increased U.S./Iran tensions, hitting highest levels in 7-weeks and renewing inflation concerns into next week’s FOMC policy meeting on Wednesday. Markets await a catalyst filled window in the coming week as Wednesday (META, MSFT) and Thursday (AAPL, AMZN) out with mega-cap tech earnings and FOMC driving market direction with its policy meeting, though no rate changes are anticipated. In trade news, the Trump administration is set to impose new 10% and 12.5% tariffs on 60 trading partners, including the European Union, over what it says is insufficient enforcement of forced labor restrictions. The measures take effect as the temporary 10% global tariff expires and represent another step toward President Trump’s broader trade agenda after the U.S. Supreme Court earlier this year struck down portions of his reciprocal tariff framework. For the week, the S&P 500 fell 0.6%, the Dow fell 0.4% and the Nasdaq fell 2.1%.

• June single-family home sales 628K unit ann. Rate, (v. est. 610K) as June single-family home sales +1.6% vs. May -4.3%; June home sales Northeast +3.6%, Midwest +2.5%, South +9.9%, West -22.4%; June new home supply 9.3 months’ worth at current pace vs May 9.4 months.

• Treasury yields down on day, but up big on week hitting 18-month highs on Thursday. @bespokeinvestnoted on X, “The 2-year Treasury yield has risen nearly a full percentage point up to 4.32% since the Iran War began. It’s predicting that fed funds (currently at 3.5-3.75%) is headed higher.” The 2-year note yield, which typically moves in step with Fed rate expectations, fell -3 basis points to 4.33%, its largest one-week basis point increase since May 11 at 16 basis points. The yield on benchmark U.S. 10-year notes fell -2.5 basis points to 4.679% today but posted its largest weekly increase since May 11 with a gain of 14 basis points.

• Apparel/Footwear retail: DECK posted in-line Q2 sales of $1.02B and maintained its FY sales outlook of $5.86B-$5.91B while raising GY26 EPS view by a nickel vs. prior view to $7.35-$7.50 though noted Q2 gross margin is expected to be down due to tariffs and rising freight cost. GOOS was downgraded to Sell at Williams Trading saying there is a great risk that Canada Goose will cut or pull its FY27 guidance due to the potential additional 50% tariff on goods shipped to the U.S.

• Lodging & Travel: B Riley said takeaways from STR expert call on online travel indicates U.S. saw healthy demand growth in Q2 while Europe softened. U.S. STR ADRs were +6.4%/+8.1% Y/Y for Q2/pacing Q3 with occupancy +2.1%/-0.8% Y/Y, respectively, while Europe STR ADRs (Euro denominated) were flat/+2% Y/Y for Q2/pacing Q3, with occupancy -1.1%/-4.1% Y/Y, respectively. ABNB led in STR share shifts across both markets, gaining +580 bps/+570 bps Y/Y in U.S./Europe share of bookings, respectively, with EXPE seeing STR booking share gains of +110 bps/+10 bps Y/Y in U.S./Europe and BKNG seeing STR bookings share gains of +50 bps/+260 bps Y/Y in U.S./Europe.

• In Defense: PLTR shares bounced after the U.S. withdraws military intelligence contract bid after Palantir protest, Bloomberg reported. A U.S. government agency has withdrawn a solicitation to upgrade a military intelligence system used in lethal targeting after a protest filed by Palantir. BAH shares rallied on earnings results while forecasts FY adj. EPS to $6.00-$6.35 and revenue in the range of $11.2B-$11.70B vs analysts’ est of EPS $6.29/$11.64B.
• Paper & Packaging stocks outperformed after Truist noted earlier that PKG to raise containerboard prices; note shares of IP and SW were also notably higher on the day in Paper sector. Truist said the company announced a $140 per ton containerboard price increase to customers effective September 1^st. In wallboard sector (CSL, OC, EXP), Truist noted Wallboard shipments, according to the major industry trade group, increased about 1% y/y during the second quarter, and increased about 2% when only looking at domestic destinations.

• Mortgage sector remains pressured as names like RKT and ZG face mounting headwinds as the 30-year fixed mortgage rate climbed to 6.58%, its highest level in nearly a year, driven by rising oil prices and Middle East tensions stoking inflation fears.
• Consumer Finance: AXP shares fall; Q2 revenue rose 10% y/y to $19.64B vs. est. $19.69B driven by higher card member spending while EPS of $4.53 topped the $4.41 estimate; raised full-year 2026 revenue growth guidance to 10% and maintains FY 2026 EPS guidance at $17.30 to $17.90.
• FinTech: the WSJ reported Stripe is in talks to acquire OpenRouter, a startup that helps developers choose between artificial-intelligence models. The exact price being discussed couldn’t be learned, but some of the people said the business could fetch about $10 billion in a sale – WSJ reported.
• Financial Services: WSE shares fell after the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency denied Wise’s application for a National Trust bank Charter as it was incompatible with Fed’s new policies for payment system access; UPST receives conditional OCC approval to establish Upstart Bank, N.A., a nationally chartered bank built on AI-powered underwriting, following its March 2026 application.
• Payments sector: FLYW was downgraded to Hold at Truist after the stock’s strong performance (up +50% since it launched coverage last June) and as it expects revenue growth to decelerate, and PYPL was upgraded to Hold following the recent M&A news (it factors in a 75% probability that PayPal is purchased by Advent/Stripe at $62 per share in its price target). Truist is tactically more bullish on DLO and tactically more bearish on BILL.

• MNKD said the FDA approved its single-use injection Furoscix ReadyFlow to treat fluid buildup or edema, in adults with heart failure or chronic kidney disease; the autoinjector delivers the drug furosemide under the skin, with IV-equivalent exposure, providing symptom relief in an hour or less
• MRK reached voluntary licensing deals with seven companies to make generic versions of an experimental, once-a-month HIV prevention pill in 129 low- and middle-income countries.
• NVO ‌said it is seeking a preliminary U.S. court injunction to immediately block obesity and diabetes drug advertisements by LLY.
• OTLK said the FDA approved Lytenava for the treatment of neovascular age-related macular degeneration, commonly known as wet AMD.
• SMMT announced up to $380M ATM equity sales program, with proceeds used to develop lead product candidate, ivonescimab, including clinical trials in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), colorectal cancer; also posted Q2 net loss that narrowed to $215.7M, from $565.7M y/y.
• SNY announced that, as part of an ongoing R&D review, amlitelimab will be discontinued in Atopic Dermatitis despite positive results from the ESTURY trial, as the data were not seen as sufficient to represent a meaningful improvement over the standard of care for patients with Atopic Dermatitis.
• ZVRA shares slide after the European Medicines Agency’s CHMP adopted a negative opinion on the co’s marketing application for arimoclomol, saying the treatment’s efficacy had not been sufficiently demonstrated.

• Medical technology: EW shares rose after delivered an upside surprise on Q2 sales and EPS of 2% and 4% and was upgraded at Leerink saying co checks nearly all the boxes: 1) a positive earnings setup alongside continued commercial momentum and share gains in TAVR & TMTT, 2) an attractive catalyst path including the final TAVR NCD update, the high impact PROGRESS readout at TCT, and several upcoming TMTT launches, 3) multiple underappreciated tailwinds for TAVR
• Healthcare Services: GEHC announced preliminary 2Q revenues of $5.295B vs. Street $5.264B estimate, or growth of 5.7% y/y (organic growth 3.5%) with adj. EPS performance ahead of expectation, and said CFO Jay Saccaro is to step down, remaining with the company thru Aug 14th

• Telecom & Cable sector: VZ beat Q2 EPS ($1.30 vs. $1.27) and wireless service expectations, then raised its FY26 outlook as now sees adjusted EPS of $4.99-$5.04, up from a previous ceiling of $4.99; Q2 total operating revs $34.3B missed est. $35.16B, but Q2 postpaid phone net additions 184,000 topped estimates 103,900 with Q2 Broadband net additions 348,000. In cable, CHTR Q2 revs fell -1.7% y/y to $13.5B vs. est. $13.52B, as adj EBITDA declined 4.3% y/y -year to $5.4B as revenue fell and costs remained flat; Spectrum Internet customers declined by 172,000 in Q2, video customers decreased by 21,000 and fell by 107,000 y/y.

• AMKR announced multi-year, $1.5B agreement with NVDA to expand advanced chip packaging and test capacity in the U.S.; partnership includes a prepayment from NVDA to support expansion of AMKR’s U.S. advanced packaging operations, including capacity in Arizona.
• MXL posted Q2 revenue of $168.8M (+23.1% q/q) came ahead of $165.0M sales estimate, with growth driven primarily by data center Optical interconnects within Infrastructure while Q3 revenue guided to a midpoint of $215.0M (+27.3% q/q; raised its CY26E Optical data center revenue guide to $210M-$230M (previously $150M-$170M).