Mid-Morning Look: August 03, 2026

Mid-Morning Look

Monday, August 03, 2026

U.S. stocks off to a strong start to the week and new month, putting the S&P 500 (SPX) monthly loss behind it (fell the first time in July in 12 years, slipping -0.12%), as strength in mega cap tech and software helping the Nasdaq outperform rising over 1%, with AMZN hitting new all-time highs and big rebounds in hyperscalers like META, MSFT, GOOGL and ORCL. The easing of Treasury yields this morning amid a sharp pullback in oil prices is giving a boost to Small cap stocks (IWM) as well, which fell the most on Friday amid the spike in yields. Shares of interest rate sensitive sectors such as homebuilders, mortgage related names, and dividend paying sectors like REITs seeing strength early amid the pullback of Treasury yields. A good start to the week ahead another onslaught of corporate earnings )in what has been a stellar Q2 of results) and lots of jobs data.

AI stocks were mixed last week after GOOGL, AMZN and META all raised 2026 capex guidance, while MSFT maintained its spending outlook. The bigger picture remains that huge AI investment pledges are harder to swallow for investors when borrowing costs are rising. With 10-year Treasury yields hovering around 4.7% and the 30-year yield near a 19-year high. That was partially addressed this weekend as crude prices fell sharply after President Trump said the U.S. would begin talks with Iran aimed at limiting Tehran’s nuclear program and restoring safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz. Brent crude fell more than 5%, while West Texas Intermediate dropped about 6%, reversing part of last month’s rally that followed renewed U.S.-Iran tensions and attacks on tankers near Oman. Lower oil prices could ease inflation concerns. Trump stated that he postponed the impending attack at the explicit request of key American allies in the Gulf region.

Oil prices fall with WTI crude -6.15% or $5.20 to drop back below $80 per Barrel and Brent Crude falls -4.7% to $83.80 amid signs of de-escalation this weekend pushing oil prices lower after President Trump said late Sunday night he had decided to hold off what he called the ‘biggest attack since World War II’ at the request of allies. A deal on reopening the Strait of Hormuz may be close, Trump noted, also stating that US would continue to pursue a path to end Iran’s nuclear program. Meanwhile, Iran said there were no talks under way with the United States and no plans for any meetings, contradicting U.S. President Donald Trump comments.

Several M&A headlines in the Healthcare industry today including: 1) BMY shares rose after media reports they held preliminary talks about a possible merger with AZN that would create one of the world’s biggest Pharmaceutical companies with a combined value of nearly $400B; 2) ITGR to be acquired by KKR in $5.7B deal (which follows press reports Friday that sent shares +20%) as ITGR confirmed this morning that it will be acquired in a $5.7B enterprise value deal, with ITGR shareholders receiving $127/share; 3) SUPN/INDV announced a definitive agreement to combine in an all-stock merger; 4) LNTH to be acquired by Curium for up to $114.50 (breakdown for $102.50 cash/share and up to an additional $12 via a CVR).

• June construction spending fell -0.1% (consensus +0.2%) to $2.167 trln, vs May unchanged (prev +0.1%) while June private construction spending -0.1%, public spending unchanged.
• S&P Global U.S. Manufacturing PMI revised slightly higher to 53.9 in July from the preliminary estimate of 53.8, matching June’s reading and signaling another month of solid expansion in factory activity.

• Aerospace & Defense: SPCX faces lock-up selling pressure ahead of insider share unlocks; Insider lock-up expirations begin on August 6, with approximately 20–30% of locked shares initially becoming eligible for sale. Staggered unlocks are expected to increase the tradable float to roughly 40% by December 2026. NOC signed two multi-year framework agreements worth more than $3B with the U.S. Department of War and LMT to accelerate missile interceptor production; PSN was upgraded from Hold to Buy at Jefferies saying the recent stock reaction reflects a series of PR blunders dating back to the confidential program, through the FAA loss, and now to 3 items in what was supposed to be a clean Q2. LDOS authorizes new stock repurchase program for up to 20M shares.
• Chinese EV auto delivery data out for the month: BYD was the top seller, with 419,211 units sold last month, up 22% y/y as exports more than doubled last month to 180,538 new-energy vehicles, a category that includes EVs and hybrids. NIO also posted a strong performance, with its July vehicle deliveries surging 71% y/y to 35,934. Geely Automobile’s sales for the month rose 5.0% to 250,161 vehicles. XPeng (XPEV) delivered 38,027 vehicles in July, up 4.0% on year. Great Wall Motor’s July new-energy vehicle sales totaled 34,651, inching up from 34,593 a year earlier. Li Auto (LI) was among outliers posting softer July sales. It booked 30,468 vehicle sales in July, down -0.9% on year.

• ATKR +28%; after Prysmian (PRYMY) agreed to acquire the U.S.-based electrical products maker for $95 per share in cash, giving the company an implied enterprise value of around $3.8 billion. Atkore generated revenue of $2.85B and an EBITDA of $386M in FY25.
• BABA +5%; after the company unveiled what it said is its largest and most capable artificial-intelligence model, the Qwen3.8-Max, which is not far behind in size when compared with an offering from domestic rival Moonshot Ai launched last month.
• BOW +10%; after American Family Mutual Insurance Company said it will acquire the company in an all-cash deal valued at about $1.2 billion, expanding the insurer’s commercial insurance business. American Family, which already owns a stake in Bowhead, will pay $34 per share for the remaining shares.
• CNH +16%; after Q2 revs $4.8B topped $4.38B estimate and raised its FY adj EPS outlook to $0.41-$0.46 from prior view $0.35-$0.45 on cost cuts, leaner production & strong construction equipment demand.
• SUPN +5%; rises after merging with INDV as combined entity to be named Supernus, Inc. and Jack Khattar to serve as President and CEO; stockholders will get 1.5401 common shares of Indivior Pharmaceuticals for each share of Supernus Pharmaceuticals they own.
• TE +4%; signed an agreement to supply Clearway Energy Group with 641 MW of solar modules manufactured at its G1_Dallas facility using domestically produced cells from its G2_Austin fab.

• AZN -7%; on reports held preliminary talks about a possible merger with BMY that would create one of the world’s biggest Pharmaceutical companies with a combined value of nearly $400B, a person familiar with the situation told Reuters https://tinyurl.com/2bnv9ewt
• CRCL -6%; downgraded to Underweight at Morgan Stanley and cut its price target to $38 from $106 saying they expect weaker USDC reserve income as stablecoin balances decline and revenue shifts toward lower-margin transaction activity.
• GME -12%; as agreed to privately exchange approximately $1.4 billion of outstanding convertible senior notes for Class A common stock; transaction includes $400 million of 2030 notes and $1.0 billion
• LI -3%; after the Chinese EV maker reported July deliveries of 30,468 vehicles, down 0.9% Y/Y and ~15% lower sequentially, as a temporary headlight supply disruption reduced Li i6 production by about 4,000 units in the second half of the month.
• PLOW -7%; after Q2 revs rose 10% Y/y to $214.6M missing the $219.5M estimate and net Income fell to $25.4M from $26M Y/y, though adj EPS of $1.22 topped consensus.
• SRAD -18%; after Q2 revs rose 19% Y/y to EU378M missing consensus of EU440M and reported a net loss of EU3.5M, or EU0.01 per Class A share, compared with net Income of EU49M, or EU0.17 y/y.
• USO -6%; as oil prices fell -$4 a barrel after U.S. President Trump held off a fresh attack on Iran as he sought a quick deal that would halt Tehran’s nuclear ambitions and reopen the Strait of Hormuz.