Market Review: August 14, 2026

Closing Recap

Friday, August 14, 2026

Friday was a yawner of a trading session as stocks opened near their best levels and the S&P 500 moved back above the 7,800 for a second straight day…but also failed to close above the 7,800 a second straight day, as stocks slipped slowly throughout to end down modestly on light volume and little changed on the week. The S&P 500 traded in a narrow 15 point trading range all afternoon and for the week the S&P 500 climbed 0.4%, the Dow fell 0.6% and the Nasdaq climbed 0.1%. The Smallcap Russell 2000 made it 4 straight up days, closing at a new all-time high as reduced interest rate hike concerns helped buoy the sector. Fears of a Fed rate hike in September eased this week behind another round of softer economic data points and cooler inflation readings. Consumer prices (CPI) and producer prices (PPI) came in lower than expected this week easing some inflation concerns, while today consumer sentiment fell along with a drop in retail sales. Despite the weaker data and reduced Fed rate hike bets, Treasury yields still finished near their highs as oil prices rose. With over 460 S&P 500 companies having reported this quarter, markets are in the home stretch, but there are some key retailers reporting next week: Tuesday 8/18: HD, Wednesday 8/19: LOW, TGT, TJX and Thursday 8/20: WMT, BABA, and ROST are reporting. Note the CBOE Volatility index (VIX) closed at its lowest level in 2026.

• University of Michigan surveys of consumers sentiment prelim Aug 51.0 (consensus 54.5) vs final July 55.2 while the current conditions index prelim Aug 51.8 (consensus 55.0) vs final July 54.8 and the expectations index prelim Aug 50.6 (consensus 55.2) vs final July 55.4.
• University of Michigan surveys of consumers 1-year inflation outlook prelim Aug 4.3% vs final July 4.2% and University of Michigan surveys of consumers 5-year inflation outlook prelim Aug 3.3% vs final July 3.3%
• U.S. June Business Inventories unchanged; U.S. June inventory/sales ratio 1.30 months’ worth vs May 1.28 months; U.S. June business sales -1.1% vs May +2.1% (prev +2.1%).

• U.S. Treasuries fell as yields edged higher despite weaker-than-expected retail sales data, while persistent Middle East tensions kept investors on edge with crude prices turning higher. Consumer sentiment, as measured by the University of Michigan gauge, unexpectedly declines, another data point in a strong of weak reports showing signs that the economy may not be overheated. After falling this week on cooler CPI, PPI inflation readings, The 2-yr Treasury yield rose 3.1bps on the day but fell -3.2bps on the week to finish at 4.17%, now down 3 straight weeks (off recent 52-week highs 4.358% on 7/23/26. The 10-yr yield rose 5.6bps today and was up 3.8bps on the week to finish at 4.695% as the yield is up 5 of the last 7 weeks and just 4.8bps from its 52-week high of 4.743% on 7/31/26.
• The U.S. dollar fell (DXY) to a one-week low on Friday after an unexpected drop in U.S. retail sales in July. The Japanese Yen slid back toward 160, erasing half its gains from this month’s historic US-Japan intervention. The euro gained after briefly rising above its 100-DMA at 1.1566 to a two-month high, while Sterling briefly hit a three-month high above 1.35 and remains biased higher.

• Home Improvement Retail sector: Wayfair (W) was upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform at Bernstein (tgt to $125 from $100) saying they left the Q2 earnings call more constructive on Wayfair’s U.S. e-commerce. Bernstein sees a disconnect in the consensus numbers and the current trajectory of the business. WSM price tgt raised to $260 from $192 at RBC Capital and raise Q2 comp estimate to +4.9% (cons. +4.0%) on improved industry trends and site traffic/transaction data.
• Education Services: KLC shares fall after Q2 miss and lower guidance as Q2 adj EPS $0.08 missed the est. $0.10 while cuts its FY26 EPS view to $0.05-$0.15 from $0.15-$0.25 (est. $0.20) and lowers FY26 revenue view to $2.66B-$2.7B from $2.7B-$2.75B which was below consensus $2.71B.

• Drone sector: the group with strength after President Trump bolsters national security and strengthens U.S. supply chains by imposing tariffs on drones and their parts and components. A proclamation signed by Trump imposes a 100% ad valorem tariff on drones of a certain size or with certain capabilities that are particularly sensitive for national security purposes, the White House said, adding that a tariff of 25% will be imposed on drones that are smaller in size (drone names AVAV, DPRO, ONDS, RCAT, UMAC, DRNZ rallied) and rebuilds the U.S. Navy and America’s Shipbuilding industrial base (watch shares of HII).
• Rare Earth and critical mineral stocks also saw big gains ALOY, METC, MP, USAR in a move that appears linked to President Trump’s late-Thursday announcement of tariffs on drone imports and components. Drones are becoming a significant source of demand for rare earth magnets. Separately, UUUU shares rallied after BMO Capital initiated at Outperform and an $18 price target.

• Payments sector: IMXI shares jumped after the company gained approval from New York regulators to be acquired by WU. The New York State Department of Financial Services is allowing the deal between the two cross-border payment companies on certain conditions.
• Bank sector: NU shares rose after Q2 net profit of $1.06B topped consensus of $967.2M on revenue of $5.88B versus estimates of $5.60B, with return on equity of 33% and a 90-day default ratio of 6.9% on a $39.4B consolidated loan book.

• BMY’s Zenbexus wins accelerated approval in multiple myeloma, marking the debut of a new class of medicine for the blood cancer and the first drug cleared by U.S. regulators using a more sensitive measure of remission.
• CAPR shares soar after saying the FDA agreed to review new data on its Duchenne muscular dystrophy therapy, deramiocel. The company plans to submit additional trial data showing benefits in upper limb muscle function. The agency’s decision was expected by August 22.
• ETON shares rise on results as Q2 adj. EPS $0.43 tops est. $0.10 and revenue $37.6Mm vs. est. $27.1Mm; on better operating Income $12.8Mm vs est $3.927Mm and sees FY revenue guidance more than $145Mm vs. est. $121.3Mm; FY adj. EBITDA margin guidance at least 35%.
• NKTR reports Q2 revs of $10.1M, missing the $10.4M estimate and below $11.2M y/y while saying its lead experimental drug, rezpegaldesleukin, is in late-stage development for the treatment of a type of skin disease called atopic dermatitis; says it has cash runway that extends into Q3 2028
• SPRY shares fell on results Q2 EPS ($0.63) loss missed the est. loss ($0.49) amid higher operating expenses from media and sales expansion; though said shift from broad consumer marketing to targeted high-volume prescriber engagement supported neffy market share growth

• Medical Research sector: VALN shares jumped after the European Medicines Agency validated the marketing application for its Lyme disease vaccine candidate, developed with partner PFE
• Animal Health sector: PETS Q1 revs $41M and adj Ebitda (-$3.4M) with EPS loss (-$0.28); Q1 operating loss (-$6.23M) and Q1 operating expenses were $17.6M; said acquired 70,000 new customers while reducing our cost of acquiring a new customer by 15% y/y.

• Media Sector: FOXA was upgraded to Overweight at Wells Fargo and JP Morgan with $80 and $82 price tgts respectively as positive view reflects factors at both core Fox and from the pending transaction with ROKU saying FOXA is a beat/raise story & Roku is a growth/cash machine. NMAX shares jumped on Q2 results that topped consensus Q2 EPS $0.02 vs. est. loss (-$0.03); Q2 revs $54.11M vs. est. $48.6M; affirms FY sales guidance of $212M-$216M vs. est. $213.2M. PSKY advanced for an 11^th straight day and WBD 8 straight.
• Software sector: software sector giving back some of late day gains after the group surged on a Reuters report Thursday that Silver Lake is in talks to acquire WDAY. The headline helped buoy interest in the cloud, SaaS sector on Thursday but saw pullbacks in HUBS, MDB, TEAM, MNDY and others on Friday. ORCL shares fell after ET subsidiary Transwestern Pipeline disclosed in a regulatory filing that the Green Chile Project pipeline in New Mexico has pushed back its in-service date to February 1, 2027, from August 15, 2026. The Green Chile Project is a natural gas pipeline extension proposed by Energy Transfer to supply up to 400M cubic feet of gas per day to Oracle’s "Project Jupiter" AI data center campus in Dona Ana County
• AI Sector: According to the Financial Times, OpenAI and Anthropic are cutting prices on mid-tier AI models as Chinese rivals such as DeepSeek and Moonshot gain traction with cost-conscious enterprise customers. According to Bloomberg, OpenAI is on track to exceed a $40B annualized revenue run rate, roughly double YE25 levels, with July run-rate revenue up 20%+ m/m.
• IT Services & Consulting: GLOB shares fell as Q2 revenues came in above consensus, while EPS and margin results fell short on FX and utilization headwinds. Wedbush downgraded shares saying the co can no longer rebound over the next 12 months with the legacy T&M business continuing to see erosion from AI-driven processes.

• Memory sector: SKHY has approved a $38.3B investment in the construction of two new Semiconductor Fabrication facilities in South Korea. Within the specifics of the $880 bn plan, both Samsung and Sk Hynix plan to build multiple new facilities in the new hub outside of the capital City of Seoul. The $38.3B investment covers a new Yongin Y2 Fabrication plant at the Yongin. SNDK was initiated at Overweight and $2,250 PT after period of restriction coming out of the company’s 2026 Investor Day held in New York.
• Semis: AEHR was initiated Buy and $175 PT at Jefferies arguing the company has transformed from >90% SiC exposure in FY24 to AI becoming the dominant revenue driver, with AEHR uniquely positioned across both wafer- and package-level burn-in for AI production and sees ~52% FY25–28 revenue CAGR.