Mid-Morning Look: June 22, 2026

Mid-Morning Look

Monday, June 22, 2026

U.S. stocks opened higher before paring gains, as Wall Street awaits key PCE inflation data later this week, and digests commentary on the U.S./Iran headlines over the weekend. US Vice President Vance said negotiations with Iran are proceeding very smoothly and have yielded many positive developments. U.S. Vice President Vance said Washington has established a mechanism to keep the Strait of Hormuz open. Vice President JD Vance stated that Iran has agreed to allow International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspectors back into the country. Two supertankers enter into the Gulf through the Strait of Hormuz to load 4mln barrels of oil, and of the tankers heading to Iraqi port of Basra. Oil prices dropped on Monday after U.S. Vice President JD Vance said progress has been made in talks with Iran and that the Strait of Hormuz was open. Treasury yields remain elevated as markets continue reassessing the Federal Reserve’s path which showed higher chances of rate hikes this year and no chances for rate cuts. The 10-Year Treasury: 4.49% and 2-Year Treasury: 4.22%. Memory stocks surged early, adding to recent gains ahead of Micron (MU) earnings mid-week. Communications and Consumer Discretionary stocks are weak early while most other S&P sectors are higher led by REITs and Financials. Few M&A headlines grabbing attention with ABBV making a $10B purchase of biotech APGE and a deal in building products space (CRH/ACA). Space stocks are falling along with SPCX weakness.

• Oil Equipment & Services: APA, COP, FANG, MGY, MTDR, PR, and SM all upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Roth Capital saying they think oil prices are close to a near-term bottom with a potential Iran ceasefire seeming tenuous. Roth doesn’t see lasting damage to key Middle East oil infrastructure, and it expects more oil can start transiting the Strait of Hormuz, but it thinks this is priced in. All of these stocks have been down roughly 15-22% since the war started on February 28 and are well below 52-week highs. OVV was upgraded to Overweight and $180 PT at Wels Fargo saying with portfolio transformation now complete, OVV is shifting to delivery, supported by deep inventory & strong execution. The firm sees a more durable FCF profile not fully reflected in valuation, W/ shares trading at a discount to peers.
• Paper & Packaging: Wells Fargo noted Containerboard up $50/ton in June (+$100 YTD) on tight supply, elevated costs and slight demand uptick. Boxboard held flat, W/ URB leading on snug S/D and July +$60/ton hikes underway. Other grades mixed (SBS improving; CRB softer), limiting NT realization. Downstream box demand remains mixed, while containerboard supply has tightened meaningfully, with mill backlogs extending to 5-8 weeks from ~5 weeks last month. Wells says the update a positive for IP, PKG, and SW while GPK could lag on lack of price recognition.
• In Casino & Gaming: MLCO was downgraded to Equal Weight from Overweight at Morgan Stanley saying while Macau stocks “look cheap,” estimate revisions remain negative, and despite Melco Resorts’ inexpensive valuation, it sees negative estimate revisions continuing. The firm upgraded MGM China to OW and remain OW on Wynn Macau, reflecting strong EBITDA seen for 2Q, share gains, and high dividend yields. BYD was initiated Buy and $100 PT at Benchmark as the firm said they believe Boyd offers investors a compelling combination of durable regional Gaming cash flows, significant capital return potential, one of the largest Las Vegas locals’ portfolios in the public market, and multiple embedded growth opportunities.

• APGE +46%; to be acquired by ABBV for $135.11 per share in cash. The transaction values Apogee at a total equity value of approximately $10.9B. The boards of directors of both companies have unanimously approved the transaction.
• DFTX +48%; after saying DT120, an experimental oral drug for major depressive disorder met main goal in late-stage study; says patients showed 8.1-point greater improvement in depression scores vs placebo after six weeks; says benefit seen within one week and remained significant at 12 weeks
• FRVO +14%; along with NVDA, and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory announced a partnership to develop EGS-Twin, an AI-powered digital twin platform for enhanced geothermal systems
• GETY 99%; after announcing a display partnership with OpenAI. The agreement will integrate Getty Images licensed visual content into ChatGPT search and discovery tools, helping power richer visual experiences for users.
• MLTX +14%; said a late-stage trial of its treatment for moderate-to-severe hidradenitis suppurativa showed consistent and further improvement in all clinical scores at 52 weeks, compared with an earlier readout at 16 weeks; said the data supports the treatment’s, sonelokimab, potential best-in-class and best-in-disease profile.
• RGNX +16%; WSJ said citing company that the FDA has agreed to reverse its rejection of Regenxbio’s experimental Gene therapy for a rare and fatal brain disease. Regenxbio plans to refile its application seeking approval of its Navsunli Gene therapy in Q3, after it holds a formal meeting to resolve disputes with the FDA that is expected in July.
• SMCI +13%; delivers NVDA’s Vera Rubin NVL4 end-to-end DCBBS blueprint with native FP64 performance for converged HPC and AI Infrastructure; was also upgraded to Buy from Hold at GF Securities with $48 tgt.
• VC +9%; was upgraded to Overweight from Neutral and raise PT to $165 at JP Morgan saying slate of new business wins should support visible growth over the next 3 to 5 years, highlighting Toyota launches, Honda two-wheelers, TRATON, China Ai-HPC programs and India expansion (was also upgraded at Barclays).

• GOOGL -3%; after Nobel Prize-winning scientist John Jumper, a key Vice President and engineering fellow at Alphabet’s Google DeepMind, is leaving to join Anthropic. Best known as the Co-creator of the groundbreaking AlphaFold Ai model, Jumper’s exit represents a massive win for Anthropic in the ongoing battle for top-tier artificial Intelligence talent.
• MRNA -7%; after shares surged around 40% in the last six trading days.
• NFLX -3%; trades to 52-week lows, talking out its February 23rd low of $75.01.
• ONDS -2%; sees offering of 6.1M shares of common stock offered by selling stockholders, per filing this morning.
• SPCX -5%; after settling on Thursday at $185 (still up from $135 IPO pricing but down from $225.64 high on 6/16); said on Monday it launched an offering of senior unsecured notes and disclosed that it held about $100.8 billion in cash and cash equivalents as of June 19 (broad weakness in space stocks VOYG, YSS, PL, RDW, ASTS).