Mid-Morning Look: April 24, 2026

Mid-Morning Look

Friday, April 24, 2026

U.S. stocks are mixed, with the Nasdaq and S&P 500 buoyed once again by technology and semiconductor stocks as the Nasdaq 100 and SOX index each hit fresh record highs, led by shares of chip maker INTC, as shares surge 25% on massive beat and raise quarter/guidance, lifting the whole semi complex and tech in general. AMD, QCOM, ARM, among biggest movers to upside in chips behind INTC results, as the semiconductor index (SOX) remains on track for its 18^th straight day of gains. Names like AMD seeing massive gains as seen as among those best positioned with CPU, FPGA, and GPUs. Broader market also helped by renewed hopes for U.S.-Iran negotiations to end the war lifting sentiment. Oil prices ease for the first time in 5 days following a report that Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi is expected to arrive in Islamabad on Friday night with a small team, and peace talks with the U.S. are likely to take place. President Donald Trump said yesterday that Israel and Lebanon agreed to extend their ceasefire. The U.S. dollar dipped on Friday but remained on pace for a weekly gain, up about +0.5% while Treasury yields also advance this week. Strong earnings from a series of corporations also offered some support ahead of a massive earnings week coming up with shares of AAPL, AMZN, GOOGL, META, MSFT reporting next week in big cap tech. Oil prices remain the biggest source of uncertainty, as Brent crude futures still around 44% above pre-war levels because of disruption in the crucial Strait of Hormuz.

• University of Michigan surveys of consumers 1-year inflation outlook final April 4.7% vs prelim 4.8% and final March 3.8% and 5-year inflation outlook final April 3.5% vs prelim 3.4% and final March 3.2%

• In Casinos & Gaming: BYD shares slumped after Q1 EPS and revs both fell short of consensus estimates ($1.60/$997.4M vs. est. $1.71/$1.0B); SRAD was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Jefferies saying they expect recent scrutiny of SRAD’s business practices to continue to weigh in on shares @ – notes short reports have widened the debate on SRAD’s revenue quality and customer management and sees risk of examination by regulatory bodies in the future. DKNG was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Moffett (tgt to $27 from $38) noting they are very late to downgrading name, and the firm no longer sees the clouds lifting on these stocks until there is some regulatory clarity on prediction markets.
• In Refiners: Morgan Stanley upgraded PSX to Overweight (from EW) in refiners preview and said key stocks include MPC, DINO noting U.S. cracks have doubled since the start of the ME conflict. Even if the Strait of Hormuz reopens, margins unlikely to return to pre-conflict levels anytime soon. Updating for latest forward cracks, 2026 EBITDA for large caps sits ~7% above consensus. CLMT was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Goldman Sachs after its shares returned +227% over the past year (vs. XLE +39% and S&P 500 +33%) and says stock now better reflects improving renewable diesel fundamentals, rising D4 RIN prices, and company’s balance sheet strength.

• FIX +7%; as results show acceleration in DC theme with +56.5% revenue Y/y and Tech revenue (where DC activity sits) +139% Y/y, the strongest thus far and Keybanc noted that tech now makes up 56% of total revenue, vs 45% in 2025; Backlog was +4% q/q, still impressive after doubling last year.
• INTC +23%; after posted strong Q126 results and guided Q226 solidly above as upside in the quarter was driven by strong server CPU demand driven by agentic Ai with DCAI growing 22% Y/y, while price increases and improving 18A yields resulted in almost a 500 bp improvement in GM to 41%; guidance well above ests.
• MXL +66%; shares jumped on results and guidance while Needham upgraded to Buy from Hold with $60 tgt saying the company’s business has reached an inflection point following the results/ guidance. Infrastructure has surpassed broadband as MaxLinear’s largest revenue contributor, and this should drive multiple expansion.
• OGN +19%; after the Economic Times reported that Sun Pharma is planning to submit a binding offer of $13 billion to acquire the US-based pharmaceutical company
• SNDK +6%; Memory and HDD stocks (MU, WDC, STX) and optical stocks (AAOI, LITE, COHR) with another surge as upside momentum continues in two of the most popular sectors to start the year (and adding to 2025 gains).
• TSM +3%; along with strength in INTC results, but also as Taiwan regulators eased the limit on how much funds can invest in a single stock, allowing fund managers to pile in the world’s largest contract chip maker.
• WKC +11%; on better results and guidance; Q1 adj EPS $0.75 vs est $0.31 on revs $9.685B vs est $8.71B; guides FY adj EPS $2.65-2.85 vs est $2.18 and prior $2.20-2.40.

• COUR -15%; shares declined after reported in-line Q1 revenue and EBITDA results as Enterprise growth was better and accelerated to 7%, while Consumer came in slightly lower on greater than expected annual subscription adoption and issued slightly lower Q2 guidance mainly due to the annual sub adoption Dynamics.
• HCA -7%; after saying it did not experience a typical volume increase Associated with the flu season in Q1 as respiratory-related admissions fell 42%, and respiratory-related emergency room visits were down 32% Y/y.
• HIG -2%; core Q1 EPS miss estimates ($3.09 vs. est $3.39) due to a $70M legacy general liability reserve charge which is more one-time in nature. Cantor noted what is more significant is the weak risk results in group disability, a line that has long over-earned and didn’t this quarter – and it’s economically sensitive.
• LLY -3%; on news its recently launched oral weight loss pill, Foundayo, recorded 3,707 U.S. prescriptions in its second week after launch, up from 1,390 in its first week while rival NVO oral Wegovy pill had 18,410 prescriptions in its second week, compared with 3,071 in its debut week.
• LMT -3%; on track for 9th straight day of declines as defense stocks pressured post earnings.