Mid-Morning Look: July 23, 2026

Mid-Morning Look

Thursday, July 23, 2026

U.S. stocks tumble on the open after closing lower overnight across the board, led by small caps as the Russell 2000 dropped 0.92%, while the Nasdaq fell 0.54% and the S&P 500 slipped 0.14% to 7,499 on Wednesday. Sentiment soured further following disappointing earnings prints from Tesla (TSLA) as shares fall -12% this morning on EPS miss and cash burn, while Alphabet (GOOGL) shares drop after raising its full-year capex guidance again this year (raises spending fears). Rising interest rate fears also hurt sentiment as Iranian-aligned Houthis struck two Saudi oil tankers in the Red Sea, while an explosion damaged a tanker navigating a mined route south of the Strait of Hormuz, sending oil prices surging with Brent above $100 per barrel and up 34% this month alone. Airlines and other transport stocks being hit by the spike in oil (AAL and LUV also slide on lower guides post earnings), though rails tocks (CSX, UNP) rise on earnings. The inflation fears lifting Treasury yields globally while the dollar rises as well post better jobs data. A busy night/morning of earnings with top movers to upside/downside noted below.

Oil surges as Brent tops $100 per barrel for highest levels since late May. Houthi drone-and-missile strikes on Saudi oil tankers, combined with Trump’s threat to bomb Iranian bridges and power plants if ships are targeted in the Strait of Hormuz, have pushed Brent crude above $100 for the first time since late May and WTI past $90. Crude oil prices rose for the seventh day of the past eight on Wednesday, to highs since early June. The Houthis, who control areas near the Bab el-Mandeb Strait on the opposite end of the Arabian Peninsula from the Strait of Hormuz, said on Monday they were imposing a naval blockade on Saudi Arabia.

Interest rate hike concerns back on the table as the U.S. dollar edged lower under a confluence of factors, including fiscal concerns surrounding the Iran war budget, renewed risks to Fed independence, and firm risk sentiment across Asian session trading. The Dollar/yen climbs to a fresh 40-year high of 163.75, last up 0.37% amid a surge in Treasury yields on inflation concerns. WTI crude oil tops $90/bbl and Brent above $98 per barrel after Houthis say they attacked Saudi tankers in the Red Sea. Treasury yields up across the board with the 10-year above 4.7%, 2-yr at 4.36% and 30-yr 5.18%. Stronger economic data today also not helping as weekly jobless claims dropped by 22,000 — the largest decline in three months — to a seasonally adjusted 187,000 for the week and the lowest level of new applications since September 1969.

In Central Banks, the European Central Bank (ECB) kept interest rates unchanged as expected on Thursday but held the door open to another increase in September, as a fresh jump in energy prices threatens to keep inflation well above its 2% target. The ECB raised rates in June and hinted at more to come but pulled back following a string of benign data on prices, wages, economic activity and inflation expectations. The FOMC meets next week where no changes to rates are expected.

• Software sector: small sigh of relief early as NOW posted a 21.5% CC cRPO beat by ~200bps for Q2 (vs. ~100bps Q/Q), driven by NNACV outperformance with particular strength in ITOM, Now Assist, and Armis/Security/Risk/CC Subscription revenue growth beat by ~150bps and delivered Q3 and Q4 CC cRPO guides of ~20% and 19.5%, respectively, both came ahead of consensus. PRGS agreed to acquire substantially all of the assets and assume certain liabilities of DOMO, including its AI and data products platform. Domo will add a customer base of over 2,400 businesses, as well as a global and strategic ecosystem of cloud data warehouse for $400M.
• Data Centers: among sectors benefitting from the increased capex spending by GOOG overnight (strength in CIFR, WULF, IREN, CLSK), as well as more positive analyst comments. Morgan Stanley initiated HUT at Overweight and $263 tgt and RIOT Overweight and $36 tgt while APLD initiated at EW and $36.50 price target on Bitcoin miners turned-high performance computing companies, which it calls powered shell providers, noting that it remains bullish despite the recent market pullback among such “PSPs.” Recent deals with hyperscalers show highly attractive terms.
• Utilities: PCG reported mixed Q2 results as EPS beat but revs of $59B missed consensus while backs FY core EPS view; in research, Keybanc upgraded AEE to Overweight saying increasing visibility around incremental load growth could position AEE for a meaningful earnings growth revision as early as this fall. The firm also downgraded CMS to Sector Weight going into the fall due to Michigan elections overhang and notes CMS has steadily been losing its premium in the runup to the 2H. Lastly they downgraded SO to Underweight on premium valuation and GA elections overhang where a Democratic win in District 5 could deliver a sustained PSC majority focused on affordability, driving greater scrutiny of GP proceedings.

• DOMO +37%; as PRGS agreed to acquire substantially all of the assets and assume certain liabilities of DOMO, including its AI and data products platform. Domo will add a customer base of over 2,400 businesses, as well as a global and strategic ecosystem of cloud data warehouse for $400M.
• IMAX +14%; shares jumped on Q2 EPS/rev beat ($0.43 vs. $0.28) and anticipates a strong slate of major releases in H2 2026; reported its highest Q2 box office since 2019.
• LMT +11%; along with gains in RTX as defense stocks rally on beats and raise quarters; LMT reported better-than-expected Q2 financial results and raised its FY26 guidance above estimates while RTX also had a beat and raise for Q2 and year as reports company backlog of $289B.
• MEDP +16%; after strong results; Q2 EPS $4.25 vs est $3.97, EBITDA $153.4Mm vs est $147.5Mm on revs $707.3Mm vs est $687.65Mm; guides FY revs $2.805-2.885B vs est $2.778B, EBITDA $618-642Mm vs est $616.6Mm and EPS $17.25-17.95 vs est $16.97.
• UNP +6%; and CSX +4% after earnings in railroads; reported stronger-than-expected Q2/26 results, driven primarily by robust productivity gains/raised 2026 guidance and UNP posted a top and bottom line beat for Q2 results and an operating ratio of 59.7% and adjusted OR of 59.2%.
• URI +12%; shares jumped after reported Q2 adj. EBITDA of $2.06B, above est. $1.91B, EBITDA margins of 46.6% beat est. of 45.5%, while the updated guide implies stronger revenue and margins in 2H26 vs consensus; total sales of $4.41B beat est. of $4.21B

• CYH -11%; shares fell on -9% earnings miss driven by soft elective surgeries and unfavorable payor mix, partially offset by supplemental payments in Indiana and Florida (Q2 revs $2.825B vs. est. $2.89B) and guides year EPS loss (-$1.25-$1.10) and revs $11.4B-$11.6B).
• GOOGL -6%; delivered another strong quarter, with consolidated revenue of $120B, up 24% y/y topping consensus, led by Search revenue growth of 17%, YouTube ad growth of 13%, and an 82% increase in Google Cloud revenue. Shares fell after the company raised its 2026 capex forecast
• LESL -46%; shares tumbled overnight after Bloomberg reported the company considers potential Chapter 11 Bankruptcy.
• MOH -10%; mixed results as EPS $1.51 vs. est. $1.44 while revs fell -4.8% y/y to $10.9B; MLR of 92.2% +170bps y/y was below consensus 92.4% and raised 2026 adj EPS $0.25 to at least $5.25 reflecting 1) +25c Medicaid upside, 2) +$1.50 Medicare upside, 3) -$1.50 HIX pressure.
• ROL -11%; was downgraded at RBC from Outperform to Sector Perform as performance over the last few quarters has fallen short of mid-term guidance. The firm noted after earnings last night that organic growth has underperformed mid-term guidance for three consecutive quarters
• STM -15%; as Q2 results topped expectations at $0.31/$3.49B vs. $0.27/$3.47B consensus, but guided Q3 revs around $3.7B, below the $3.78B consensus while expects a gross margin of 37%, plus or minus 200 basis points; now expects revenues from its data center to be above $1B.
• TSLA -12%; adj Q2 EPS of $0.33 missed consensus of $0.55, impacted by warranty & pricing as auto GM ex credits of 16.3% (19.2% in Q1) impacted by non-repeat of Q1 one-timers & price; also confirmed >$25B in 2026 CAPEX vs $8.5B last year & $8B YTD.