Mid-Morning Look: August 28, 2026

Mid-Morning Look

Friday, August 28, 2026

U.S. stocks opened flat to higher ahead of today’s key catalyst, as all eyes and ears on Fed Chairman Kevin Warsh speaking at the Jackson Hole Symposim this morning who signaled the central bank may not be done fighting inflation, saying financing conditions didn’t look restrictive to him and that better price readings recently hadn’t convinced him the trend was improving. So far, a muted reaction to his speech as Warsh stopped short of saying whether he would support raising rates when the Fed meets next month and offered no path for policy, in keeping with his approach to how the central bank should communicate less about coming moves. “I stand here today committed to a discipline, not to a decision,” he said. He described an economy showing few signs of restraint from the Fed’s current rate of around 3.6%. Warsh said the 2% PCE target is “firm and fixed,” adding that if underlying inflation isn’t moving toward it fast enough, “we have work to do.” Note three officials voted last month to raise rates, and others have signaled they are open to joining them. The U.S. Dollar index further continues gains to session high of 99.45, last up 0.34% at 99.43 while gold and silver process also declined as Warsh continued speaking. US Short-term interest-rate futures fall as traders add to bets on Fed rate hike after speech as US two-year Treasury yields climb to 4.286%, highest since July 31

In stocks news, the dominant single-stock story heading into the session is PayPal (PYPL), as shares fall over -1% after Advent and Stripe abandoned their reported $60.50-per-share takeover bid — a deal that had valued the company at more than $53 billion — with PayPal’s board having previously deemed the offer inadequate. On the tech side, Marvell Technology (MRVL) is weighing on AI-adjacent names despite reporting data-center revenue growth of 46% in its second quarter, dragging Coherent (COHR) and Lumentum (LITE) lower in sympathy; Marvell had surged 184% year-to-date heading into the print. Shares of software companies Autodesk (ADSK), Rubrik (RBRK), SentinelOne (S) declined on results as well.

• University of Michigan surveys of consumers sentiment final Aug 51.7 (consensus 51.0) vs preliminary Aug 51.0 and final July 55.2 while the current conditions index final Aug 51.9 (consensus 51.8) vs prelim Aug 51.8 and final July 54.8 and the expectations index final Aug 51.5 vs prelim Aug 50.6 and final July 55.4.
• University of Michigan surveys of consumers 1-year inflation outlook final Aug 4.0% vs prelim 4.3% and final July 4.2% and University of Michigan surveys of consumers 5-year inflation outlook final Aug 3.3% vs prelim 3.3% and final July 3.3%.
• U.S. labor dept notes preliminary estimate of Nonfarm payrolls Benchmark revision would decrease March 2026 level of employment by 79,000 or 0.1%

• Shipping sector (SBLK, GOGL, GNK, SHIP, NMM, SB): The Baltic Exchange’s dry bulk sea freight index rose to its highest level in nearly three months on Friday, posting a 12.1% weekly rise. The main Baltic index was up 79 points, or 2.5%, at 3,186, its highest level since June 2. The Capesize index gained 198 points, or 3.9%, to 5,336, also its highest level since June 2 (+17.2% this week). The panamax index was up 23 points, or 1%, at 2,315, marking its highest level since June 2.
• Application/Enterprise Software sector: ADSK reported a solid Q2 beat and organic growth raise while MaintainX is now in the outlook; guidance was raised on an organic basis, margin dilution around MaintainX was absorbed into prior FY/27 guidance; raises FY27 billings guidance to a range of $8.575B-$8.65B and raised FY27 revs view to $8.295B-$8.345B with unchanged operating margin view. WDAY reported in-line Q2 results and mixed guidance as the FQ3 cRPO growth guide of ~11.5% is a downtick, as is the initial FY28 subscription growth of 11%, but 2pt margin expansion implied by the FY28 33% OM outlook.
• Data/Security software sector: RBRK reported a strong $20M FQ2 ARR beat and $25M raise to the FY ARR guide as ARR accelerated 1pt to 33% and NNARR accelerated to 35% from 16% last quarter. ESTC shares soar as Q1 results were strong, showing a slight acceleration across key top-line metrics and consistent 20% cRPO growth. Management raised its FY2027 outlook, calling for revenue of $1.998B-$2.010B vs. $1.99B consensus and adjusted EPS of $3.29-$3.37, above the $3.24 estimate and Full-year sales-led subscription revenue is expected to grow 17.4%. SentinelOne (S) shares slid as forecasts FY26 adj. EPS $0.30-$0.32, missing the $0.34 estimate and guided Q3 revs/EPS below consensus as well after posting a modest beat for Q2 $0.08/$292M vs. $0.07/$290.2M).

• ESTC +21%; as Q1 results were strong, showing a slight acceleration across key top-line metrics and consistent 20% cRPO growth. Management raised its FY2027 outlook, calling for revenue of $1.998B-$2.010B vs. $1.99B consensus and adjusted EPS of $3.29-$3.37, above the $3.24 estimate.
• GAP +17%; shares rose after Q2 print came in better than feared, with EPS ex. tariff refunds modestly ahead of Street expectations (52c vs 48c), as stronger GM & less SG&A deleverage offset Old Navy-driven topline downside.
• KLAR +4%; as CEO Sebastian Siemiatkowski buys 692,506 shares for $9.9M at $14.37 per share.
• QNRX +50%; after saying its drug, QRX003, significantly improves disease severity in 4 of 6 Netherton syndrome patients after 12 weeks of treatment, as per interim mid-to-late stage trial data. The treatment shows no serious safety concerns, and the company expects to finish enrolling all 20 patients by end of 2026; also raises up to $50 million from institutional investors.
• SOLS +16%; after the company and ESI mutually agree to scrap their $14.5 billion merger, saying both sets of shareholders preferred the cos retain their independence and existing strategies.

• BNTX -7%; shares declined after terminates phase 2 clinical trial of autogene cevumeran in colorectal cancer; said DSMB identified numerical imbalance in overall survival between treatment arms in specific patient population and recommended discontinuing treatment.
• BTAI -73%; after entered into an asset sale agreement with TEVA for substantially all of the Company’s assets; BioXcel Therapeutics and its subsidiaries, OnkosXcel Therapeutics, LLC and OnkosXcel Employee Holdings, LLC, have commenced voluntary Chapter 11 proceedings
• IREN -8%; after costs tied to its shift from bitcoin mining to AI cloud services pushed it to a quarterly loss; reported a Q4 net loss of (-$684M) vs. net income of $$176.9M y/y; said its 2026 compute capacity is largely sold out, and it is in late-stage talks for 2027 capacity
• MRVL -6%; despite beat and raise as the company reported Q2 adj EPS $0.94 as revs rose 37% y/y to $2.74B topping est. $0.92/$2.72B and Q2 Data center revenue climbed 46% y/y to $2.17B while raised FY27/FY28 revenue outlook and now sees 45%/50% growth vs 40%/45% previously.
• PYPL -11%; after a consortium of buyout firms Advent and Stripe has dropped its pursuit of the Co, Bloomberg News reported. The consortium had reportedly offered $60.50 per share, which valued PYPL at more than $53B. PayPal’s board viewed the takeover bid as inadequate, per prior reports.