Mid-Morning Look: April 15, 2026

Mid-Morning Look

Wednesday, April 15, 2026

Tax day today – don’t forget! U.S. stock markets adding to its recent rally, as the S&P 500 Index looks to close at its first record high since January, as investors add to recent rally amid optimism over the ceasefire between the US and Iran and robust corporate fundamentals thus far in the early stages of earnings season. Reminder S&P 500 (SPX) all time high levels stand at: Record-high close on January 27 of 6,978.60 with its intraday record high standing at 7,002.28 (reached Jan 28th). Meanwhile, technology (XLK) continues to be the market leader, pushing along as the Nasdaq 100 (QQQ) is trying for an 11^th straight day of upside, led today by beaten up software (IGV), as semis (SOX) are mixed after all-time highs yesterday. Consumer Staples (XLP) the biggest drag in the S&P early along with other defensive sectors like REITs (XLRE) and Utilities (XLU), while Materials (XLB) slide the most.

Wall Street rallied sharply on Monday and Tuesday as crude oil prices have fallen from highs below $100 per barrel in absence of major new developments in the Middle East. However, there are many unanswered questions ahead of a potential second round of talks with Iran, including the future of their uranium enrichment/nuclear program as well as the Strait of Hormuz shipping passage. Rate cut hopes by the Fed dimmed this morning after Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland President Beth Hammack said on CNBC this morning that while she sees no imminent need for the central bank to change its interest rate target setting, it’s possible cuts or even hikes could lie ahead. “I think that rates are in a good place,” Hammack said on CNBC. “ Oil prices dipping again while Iran’s military warns it will block all trade in the Red Sea, Gulf and Sea of Oman if the US naval blockade continues, saying any threat to its ships would be “a prelude” to violating the ceasefire.

This morning the President said on Trust Social: realDonaldTrump tweets: “China is very Happy that I am permanently opening the Strait of Hormuz. I am doing it for them, also – And the World. This situation will never happen again. They have agreed not to send weapons to Iran. President Xi will give me a big, Fat, hug when I get there in a few weeks. We are working together smartly, and very well! Doesn’t that beat fighting??? BUT REMEMBER, we are very good at fighting, if we have to – far better than anyone else!!! President DJT“

• NY Fed’s Empire State current business conditions index +11.0 in April well above the consensus for negative reading of -0.5 and vs -0.2 in March; new orders index +19.3 in April vs +6.4 in March; prices paid index +51.0 in April vs +36.6 in March; employment index at +9.8 in April vs +5.8 in March and the NY Fed’s Empire State six-month business conditions index +19.6 in April vs +31.0 in March.
• NAHB April index of current single-family home sales 37 versus revised 41 in March (previous 42); U.S. April NAHB Housing market index 34 (consensus 37) versus 38 in March (previous 38); Aril index of home sales over next six months 42 versus 49 in March (previous 49) and prospective buyers 22 versus 25 in March (previous 25).

• In Solar: Reuters reported that China is considering restricting exports of advanced solar panel manufacturing Equipment to the U.S., which could disrupt American clean energy investments and slow efforts to expand domestic solar production. Such ​a clampdown would risk investments by U.S. firms and set back a race for space-based computing. https://tinyurl.com/2s4w4skd ; SEDG was downgraded from Neutral to Sell at Goldman Sachs and lowered tgt to $31 from $36 primarily based on its fundamental view that SEDG’s core end markets are not growing nearly as fast as current consensus expectations imply and it thinks the company’s sales/margin recovery is more than fully appreciated in the current valuation.
• More large cap banks reporting this morning:  BAC reported Q1 EPS $1.11 vs. est. $1.01 on revs $30.43B vs. est. $29.93B; Q1 FICC Trading revs ex DVA $3.5B vs. est. $3.78B; Q1 equity trading revs $2.83B vs. est. $2.51B; Q1 provision for credit losses of $1.3B; Q1 net interest Income grew 9% YoY to $15.7B; Q1 Net Income of $8.6B; EPS of $1.11, up 25% YoY; disclosed it has about $20B in private-credit exposure. MS reported Q1 EPS $3.43 tops consensus $2.98 on revs rising 16% y/y to $20.6B vs. est. $19.71B; Q1 Investment Banking Revenue $2.12B vs. est. $2.04B, Q1 FICC Trading Revenue $3.36B vs. est. $2.89B; Q1 provision for Credit Losses $98M vs. est. $80.2M; Q1 Wealth Management revenue $8.5B, record quarter; Q1 FICC sales & trading rev $3.36B, est. $2.89B; says with respect to investment management, private credit is less than 1% of our total aum, well under $20B.
• In Ai News: Bloomberg reported last night that Anthropic has received several offers from investors for a new round that could value them at $800B or higher. Discussions still early and no deal has been reached, October still discussed as a potential IPO timing. https://tinyurl.com/3jaz8ecv . The Information noted last night that Anthropic has shifted Claude Enterprise to usage-based billing, raising costs for heavy users. Another report in The Information said OpenAI plans to start pricing some ChatGPT ads based on whether people click on the ads rather than just how many people see them, an agency executive who spoke with OpenAI employees and works with ChatGPT advertisers said https://tinyurl.com/3tbfn54b

• GTLB +5%; as collaborates with Google Cloud to bring Agentic DevSecOps to enterprise teams using Vertex AI.
• HOOD +4%; along with gains in BULL after the SEC officially approved the termination of the Pattern Day Trader rule, which previously required a minimum account balance of $25,000 for day trading.
• IONQ +15%; along with gains in RGTI, QBTS, QMCO after NVDA unveiled a suite of new open-source AI models aimed at accelerating progress within quantum computing. Nvidia’s new Ising artificial intelligence model launched late Tuesday in Asia.
• NET +4%; was upgraded to Overweight from Neutral based on: 1) Cloudflare’s infrastructure positioning across multiple growth opportunities across Delivery, AppSec, Naas, SASE, IaaS, AIaaS; 2) Q1 inputs are solid; 3) the landscape is shifting more towards EDPs, with Cloudflare a dominant player here.
• SNAP +14%; said it would lay off around 16% of its workforce, weeks after activist investor Irenic Capital Management pushed the Snapchat parent to optimize its portfolio and improve performance; estimates Q1 2026 revenue of $1.529B and adj EBITDA of $233M and estimates pre-tax charges of $95M-$130M
• SYM +5%; was upgraded to Buy from Neutral at DA Davidson and raised its tgt to $70 from $57 saying the company has an unparalleled AI-enabled technology moat which is years beyond its closest peers. Symbotic’s visibility remains unparalleled and its balance sheet is “flush with cash”.

• ASML -5%; posted stronger-than-expected Q1 earnings and lifted its 2026 revenue outlook as AI boosts demand for its equipment; said 2026 revenue will now be between 36B-400B euros ($42B-$47B), up from a previous forecast of 34B-39B euros (ests $37.7B), but guided Q2 revs 8.4B-9.0B euros vs ests 9.07B euros
• DOO -34%; Canadian recreational vehicle manufacturer DOO withdrew its financial outlook for the 2027 fiscal year, saying it faces a C$500M ($363M) hit from recent changes by the Trump administration to its tariffs (shares of rival RV maker PII also declined in sympathy)
• SEDG -5%; after being downgraded from Neutral to Sell at Goldman Sachs and lowered tgt to $31 from $36 primarily based on its fundamental view that SEDG’s core end markets are not growing nearly as fast as current consensus expectations imply
• WULF -6%; said it expects Q1 2026 revenue of $30M-$35M vs. consensus of $39.1M and adj EBITDA of $0-$3M; had cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash of $3.1B and total debt of $5.8B; TeraWulf 47.4M share Spot Secondary priced at $19.00 as the deal size was increased to $900M from $800M.