Mid-Morning Look: July 24, 2026

Mid-Morning Look

Friday, July 24, 2026

U.S. stock markets are mixed early as tech weakness drags the Nasdaq lower, Smallcaps are lower, but the S&P 500 holding up well as strength in most sectors help offset the early tech weakness. Real Estate (+2.3%), Energy (+1.4%) and Communications (+0.86%) are outperformers among S&P sector ETFs, while Consumer Discretionary (+0.15%), Financials (+0.25%) and Technology (-1.32%) pace the underperformers with 10 sectors gaining versus 1 declining. U.S. stocks close the week on a subdued note following days dominated by geopolitical headwinds, an earnings deluge, a weak tape and rising inflation expectations. Technology continues to dominate market narratives, as investors contend with a growing wall of worry over AI spending, rising competition from Chinese frontier models, and increasingly crowded positioning and seeing semiconductors pulling back further after a massive multi-year run.

In geopolitical news, U.S. threats to Iran keep a bid under oil prices, supporting U.S. Treasury yields, while tech/cons discretionary stocks continued to wobble post earnings results (large capex spending) and the USTR confirmed sweeping tariffs on trading partners. President Trump told Axios on Thursday that he is seriously considering restarting major combat operations in Iran including strikes that would be bigger than the ones carried out during Operation Epic Fury.

In trade news, the Trump administration is set to impose new 10% and 12.5% tariffs on 60 trading partners, including the European Union, over what it says is insufficient enforcement of forced labor restrictions. The measures take effect as the temporary 10% global tariff expires and represent another step toward President Donald Trump’s broader trade agenda after the U.S. Supreme Court earlier this year struck down portions of his reciprocal tariff framework.

• June single-family home sales 628K unit ann. Rate, (v. est. 610K) as June single-family home sales +1.6% vs. May -4.3%; June home sales Northeast +3.6%, Midwest +2.5%, South +9.9%, West -22.4%; June new home supply 9.3 months’ worth at current pace vs May 9.4 months.

• Telecom & Cable sector: VZ beat Q2 EPS ($1.30 vs. $1.27) and wireless service expectations, then raised its FY26 outlook as now sees adjusted EPS of $4.99-$5.04, up from a previous ceiling of $4.99; Q2 total operating revs $34.3B missed est. $35.16B, but Q2 postpaid phone net additions 184,000 topped estimates 103,900 with Q2 Broadband net additions 348,000. In cable, CHTR Q2 revs fell -1.7% y/y to $13.5B vs. est. $13.52B, as adj EBITDA declined 4.3% y/y -year to $5.4B as revenue fell and costs remained flat; Spectrum Internet customers declined by 172,000 in Q2, video customers decreased by 21,000 and fell by 107,000 y/y.
• In Oil Services: SLB beat Q2 Wall Street expectations for profit with EPS of $0.55 topping the $0.51 estimate on better revs $8.97B, lifting other service names (BKR, HAL), though the company flagged that Middle East first-half revenue declined on lower activity and conflict-related operational disruptions, with the timing of a full recovery remaining uncertain. Overall, the whole energy complex remains well bid this week as oil prices slip Friday, but up big on the week on Iran.  BP is in advanced talks to sell its solar business, Lightsource, to a consortium backed by Kuwait’s sovereign wealth fund, the Financial Times reported.

• BAH +14%; shares rallied on earnings results while forecasts FY adj. EPS to $6.00-$6.35 and revenue in the range of $11.2B-$11.70B vs analysts’ est of EPS $6.29/$11.64B.
• DLR +13%; shares jumped as Q2 revenue rises 29% y/y to $1.9B, lifts 2026 revenue outlook to $6.85B-$6.95B, and core FFO outlook on strong customer demand; posted record bookings and rental rate increases on renewal leases supported revenue and backlog growth.
• EW +3%; delivered an upside surprise on Q2 sales and EPS of 2% and 4% and was upgraded at Leerink saying co checks nearly all the boxes: 1) a positive earnings setup, 2) an attractive catalyst path including the final TAVR NCD update, 3) multiple underappreciated tailwinds for TAVR.
• RNG +20%; reported a beat & raise 2Q, with revenue of $657M, up 5.9% Y/Y, and operating margins of 23.4%, up 90bps Y/Y and number of customers using at least one paid AI product has doubled Y/Y
• SAP +7%; 2Q operating income missed Street estimates (partially from M&A expenses), and there are signs of revenue and margin growth deceleration, but Current Cloud Backlog continues showing strong growth, and management reaffirmed the 2026 FCF and 2027 top-line growth.
• SLB +8%; as the oil service giant beat Q2 Wall Street expectations for profit with EPS of $0.55 topping the $0.51 estimate on better revs $8.97B, lifting other service names.
• THC +21%; shares jumped on results/guidance as Q2 adj EPS $6.12 vs. est. $4.26 and Q2 revs $5.63B vs. est. $5.44B; now sees FY26 adjusted EPS $20.30-$21.69 above consensus $17.85 and year revs $21.9B-$22.5B, vs. consensus $21.98B (better than comp CYH results the day prior).
• VZ +3%; beat Q2 EPS ($1.30 vs. $1.27) and wireless service expectations, then raised its FY26 outlook; secured a deal worth more than $1 billion to provide dark fiber connectivity for GOOGL data centers

• CHTR -4%; Q2 revs fell -1.7% y/y to $13.5B vs. est. $13.52B, as adj EBITDA declined 4.3% y/y -year to $5.4B as revenue fell and costs remained flat; Spectrum Internet customers declined by 172,000 in Q2, video customers decreased by 21,000 and fell by 107,000 y/y.
• DECK -3%; posted in-line Q2 sales of $1.02B and maintained its FY sales outlook of $5.86B-$5.91B while raising GY26 EPS view by a nickel vs. prior view to $7.35-$7.50 though noted Q2 gross margin is expected to be down due to tariffs and rising freight cost
• HIG -3%; shares slipped after messy quarter as operating EPS of $3.42 topped ests $3.20 while underwriting was the primary source of weakness as the underlying loss ratio deteriorated 1.3pts y/y to 58.3%, with the pressure concentrated in Middle Market and National Accounts.
• INTC -3%; reverses overnight strength; posted its strongest revenue growth in more than fifteen years, with 2Q revenue of $16.1B (up 25% y/y), roughly $1.8B above the guidance midpoint, adj-GM of 41.8% (280bps above guide), and adj-EPS of $0.42 versus $0.20 guidance and $0.22 consensus.
• SMMT -8%; shares fell after announced up to $380M at the market equity sales program, with proceeds used to develop lead product candidate, ivonescimab, including clinical trials in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), colorectal cancer, other solid tumors; also posted Q2 net loss that narrowed
• WSE -6%; after the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency denied Wise’s application for a National Trust bank Charter as it was incompatible with Fed’s new policies for payment system access.
• ZVRA -20%; shares slide after the European Medicines Agency’s CHMP adopted a negative opinion on the co’s marketing application for arimoclomol, saying the treatment’s efficacy had not been sufficiently demonstrated.