Mid-Morning Look: August 13, 2026

Mid-Morning Look

Thursday, August 13, 2026

U.S. stocks off to another strong start as the S&P 500 hits a fresh intraday record high (S&P 500 tops 7,800 for first time) behind better PPI inflation data and more momentum buying as oil prices ease along with Treasury yields, and tech (XLK) outperforms again as the Nasdaq rises +1%. New record highs for the Russell 2000 index as well as Smallcaps being helped by another inflation report that came in “cooler” than expected (after CPI yesterday) and compared to prior month, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq both outperform in another broad based rally with defensive REITs, Consumer Staples and large cap tech outperforming the most. Following the CPI and PPI inflation readings back-to-back days, Fed rate hike chances have eased, boosting Treasury prices as the US Treasury 2-year yield continues to fall, hitting the lowest since mid-July; last down 6 bps at 4.13%. All systems go for Wall Street as stocks surging to highs and foreign markets also stay strong; Treasury yields and oil prices ease; precious metals have rebounded in July (down today) and market strength has been broad based with huge YTD gains for Energy and Tech (both over 30%), Materials +15% YTD, Consumer Staples (XLP) and REITS (XLRE) both up double digit percent YTD as Discretionary (XLY) and Commonly ones down on year. Brent crude futures shed 2% to trade at $86.98 per barrel, while WTI futures slid 2% to $81.14 per barrel.

• Weekly Jobless Claims climbed to 209,000 from 200,000 prior and vs consensus 202,000; the 4-week moving average unchanged at 199,000 (previous 198,750) while continued claims fell to 1.777M from 1.799M prior week (vs. consensus 1.795M).

• Mortgage Service sector: OPEN announces a $650M convertible offering of 0% convert Senior notes due 2030, a $158M repurchase of about 45.3M shares/conversion price ~$4.71, no net dilution below ~$10.38; BETR was downgraded to Neutral from Overweight at Cantor saying geopolitical uncertainty is likely to drive more persistent inflation and higher interest rates, resulting in a more challenging backdrop for its home lending products. Group benefited from lower rates today (COMP, RKT).
• Aerospace sector: SPCX gives back some recent gains after 40% run over 5 days; RKLB filed a prospectus supplement for a new equity distribution agreement allowing it to sell up to $1.944B of common stock from time to time; SPCE shares tumbled after Q2 revenue collapsed to $134,000 from $406,000 a year ago and the company pushed its first next-generation passenger spaceship commercial launch to February 2027 from Q4 2026, with positive quarterly cash flow now targeted within 2027. LUNR Q2 revenue of $206.17M missed the $216.33M estimate and posted a wider-than-expected quarterly net loss of (-$62.84M) vs estimates of (-$13.19M loss).
• Optical sector: after stellar results from LITE the day prior boosted the whole optical/photonics sector (CIEN, AAOI, COHR, GLW, FN), the group takes a breather today as COHR results, while strong, did not live up to the LITE results the day prior. Jefferies noted the gross margin guide of 40.5%, while ahead of Street, likely landed a touch softer than some expected given the higher revenue guide and the positive margin read-throughs from LITE last night.

• ARX +44%; to be acquired by private equity firm Thoma Bravo in an all-cash deal worth more than $4 billion deal, the insurance marketplace said.
• BIRK +16%; shares jumped after raising its full-year sales growth forecast to 15% above its prior 13%-15% range despite flagging a roughly 70-bps tariff headwind to margins in fiscal 2026 after Q3 sales of 719.5 million euros beat estimates.
• ENS +9%; rallied on earnings as Q2 adj EPS $3.66 crushed estimates of $2.83 and sales jumped to $935.6M from $893M y/y (est. $928M) saying growth was driven by strong demand in data centers, communications and aerospace & defense; Q2 EPS guide also above consensus.
• HLIT +16%; as Q2 beat and raise reflected accelerating ROM growth and improving customer diversification, supporting a higher FY26 revenue outlook and reinforcing the long-term cable architecture opportunity said Raymond James.
• IREN +9%; as delivers first 50MW Horizon Ai Cloud deployment to MSFT under five-year $9.7B contract. Three additional 50MW direct-to-chip liquid-cooled deployments are scheduled for delivery to Microsoft at the Childress, Texas campus in 2026.
• LNVGY +19%; after revenue jumped 43% to $26.94B, beating the $22.33B estimate; said it expects to reach its $100B annual revenue target ahead of schedule and plans to launch an AI PC powered by Nvidia RTX chips later this year (results boosted other PC makers DELL, HPQ).
• WWW +11%; beat Q2 estimates with adjusted EPS of $0.40 versus the $0.38 estimate on revenue of $506.4M vs $501M expected, while raises 2026 adj EPS view to $1.55-$1.65 from $1.43-$1.58 and ups its year sales outlook as well.
• XE +10%; after earnings results and CEO said that his company has been told by the U.S. Department of Energy that it will get up to another $1B in public funding for a project in Texas with DOW.

• CBRS -13%; shares fall on mixed results/guidance as Q2 revs $209.9M beat est. $190.6M while guides Q3 revs $214M-$216M vs. est. $210.2M; sees Q3 gross margins 38%-40% vs. est. 37% and FY GM’s 31%-43% above prior view 38%-41%; Q2 GAAP gross margin fell to 14%, down 16.9 percentage points and GAAP operating margin worsened; raises FY26 rev view to $880M-$890M from $855M-$865M.
• CLBT -36%; after in-line Q2 results but guides Q3 revenue $145M-$148M, vs. consensus $150.3M and cuts FY26 revenue view to $555M-$561M from $565M-$571M (est. $567.98M) and lowers FY26 ARR view to $550M-$560M from $567M-$573M, though raises FY26 adj EBITDA outlook; named new CEO.
• CSCO -6%; Q4 revenue beat consensus by 2.5% and EPS by >4% with upside broad based while FY27 guidance was better calling for 15% rev growth and 17.4% EPS growth, both above consensus but shares fell amid concern around sustainability of the growth acceleration and lower margins y/y.
• ONDS -7%; Q2 revs $83.8M vs. est. $68M while EPS loss of (-$0.19) missed the (-$0.08) loss estimate; posted backlog of approximately $613M as of June 30, 2026, and raised its 2026 revenue target to $525M-550M from prior at least $390M and vs. consensus of $525.03M.
• SPCE -5%; shares tumbled after Q2 revenue collapsed to $134,000 from $406,000 a year ago and the company pushed its first next-generation passenger spaceship commercial launch to February 2027 from Q4 2026, with positive quarterly cash flow now targeted within 2027.
• STUB -10%; shares fell after reported a second-quarter loss, as surging costs offset the boost in revenue that came from the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
• TPR -15%;  after guided FY27 revenue to $8.4-$8.5B (vs. est. $8.47B) and adj EPS to $7.80-$7.90 as weakness at Kate Spade and cautious spending in North America fueled concerns about momentum beyond its Coach brand.