Mid-Morning Look: July 08, 2026

Mid-Morning Look

Wednesday, July 08, 2026

Global stock markets tumbled overnight after President Trump said the ceasefire truce between the U.S. and Iran is over. Washington launched a fresh wave of strikes against the Tehran and tightened sanctions, escalating tensions between the two nations while Iran targeted U.S. military sites in Bahrain and Kuwait on Wednesday in response to the attacks. The move by the U.S. comes 2 days after Iran targeted three commercial vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz. Cue a rise in oil prices on the news, rising over 6%, reigniting inflationary concerns and worries about rising interest rates seen as bad news for companies borrowing to spend on AI, prompting the follow thru selling in AI/hyperscalers/data centers/power stocks. Treasury yields rose on the higher oil prices, while energy stocks bounced. Despite the sharp selling overnight in tech (Nasdaq futures fell over -1.5%), Wall Street was once again quick to snap up beaten stocks, as the Nasdaq pared losses to -0.25% this morning. No major economic data today, no Fed speakers as markets await the Fed minutes at 2:00 pm from June, which was Chairman Warsh first meeting.  Ten of eleven S&P sectors are in the red early with energy the only gainer.

• Hospital operators: Barclays downgraded CYH to Underweight from Equal Weight and both HCA and UHS to Equal Weight following a strong three-year bull run driven by ACA membership growth, Medicaid state-directed payments, and widening revenue-cost spreads, the fundamental and regulatory backdrop for acute hospitals is turning more negative and the firm can no longer recommend the group on an unqualified basis.
• In Transports: ODFL was upgraded to Overweight at Wells Fargo (tgt to $250 from $235) as believes the company is well positioned vs. the market’s concern about over-earning on fuel and should benefit from increasing service failures across the less-than-truckload landscape as volume shifts back from truckload. Old Dominion should also beat Q2 results, and Wells sees upside in Q3 and 2027. Stephens resumes coverage on U.S. railroad operators, with UNP, CSX at Overweight and NSC Equal Weight saying rising truckload rates could drive more Freight to Rail as shippers seek lower-cost transport options. Adds that Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern merger review is moving forward, but approval is unlikely before the second half of 2027.

• BABA +11%; after company update with analysts pointed to cloud revs growing by 45% up from 38% in March q with low teens EBITDA better than March q’s 9% while domestic e-comm EBITA better than feared as food delivery subsidy war largely reduced.
• BZH +14%; after Bloomberg reported DFH is now offering $32 a share in an all-cash deal for BZH, boosting its Beazer bid to $875M.
• OXY +3%; helped by spike in oil prices boosting the energy complex; also, was upgraded to Outperform from In Line at Evercore and raise tgt to $65.
• PENG +18%; reported strong Q3 results well ahead of elevated expectations, with revenue of $478.7M, up 48% Y/y (consensus $407.5M), driven by Integrated Memory revenue of $275.1M, up 111% Y/y (consensus $222.1M, up 71% Y/y), and non-GAAP EPS of $0.84 (consensus $0.54).

• BBWI -5%; was downgraded to Sell from Neutral at Goldman Sachs saying the company is in an investment year, with focus on the core business and finding new avenues for growth, but sentiment is trending below historical levels.
• FCEL -15%; announced the launch of an underwritten public offering of $200M of shares of its common stock; priced 10.7M share Spot Secondary priced at $21.00.
• KRUS -3%; shares fell after Q3 revs $85.92M vs. consensus $86.46M; Q3 adj Ebitda $6.6M vs. est. $6.42M; and cuts FY26 revenue view to $330.5M-$331.5M from $333M-$335M.
• NVTS -5%; after WOLF filed a patent infringement lawsuit alleging multiple Navitas GaN and SiC power semiconductor products infringe its patents & saying it intends to protect decades of R&D and intellectual property.
• OLLI -4%; downgraded to Neutral from Overweight at JP Morgan following recent fieldwork and access, as sees a Q226 same-store-sales miss (lowering to negative low-single-digits vs positive low-single digit guide) and 2H26 same-store-sales cut (lowering to Flat vs +2% implied guide).
• ORCL -1%; below $140 and now down 20 of the last 25 days for almost -50% (June highs $250.25).
• RIVN -3%; as 75M share Secondary priced at $15.50.