Mid-Morning Look: September 24, 2026

Mid-Morning Look

Thursday, September 24, 2026

U.S. stock markets opened at the lows following another day of higher oil prices, rising Treasury yields and some weakness in the AI sector this time after Oracle news (more below), but has pared losses with gains in Healthcare, Energy and Communications sectors while technology and Materials lag. Philadelphia Federal Reserve President Anna Paulson said on Thursday additional interest rate hikes may be needed to bring high inflation back to the US central bank’s 2% target. Paulson, who is a voting member of the central bank’s rate-setting Federal Open Market Committee, said “looking ahead, if conditions evolve as I expect, some modest further tightening may be warranted” to help get inflation back to the desired levels.

The euro extended losses against the US dollar to fresh 2 month lows of 1.1362, while Treasury yields jumped early before paring gains; gold prices hit one week lows and oil prices resume their upward momentum. Oil prices rose as diplomatic talks between the US and Iran showed little sign of progress. The moves follow the Fed raising interest rates for the first time in three years last week, and signalled further rate hikes this year. The US 10-year and 30-year Treasury yields hovered at a near two-decade highs. Oracle (ORCL) shares fall alongside BE and OWL after Bloomberg reported that Oracle sent OWL, the developer of its data center being built in New Mexico, a notice citing force majeure. Shares of BE also declined in reaction as Project Jupiter — the New Mexico AI campus — is planned to run on a very large Bloom fuel-cell microgrid.

• New home sales up 6.4% from previous month to SAAR of 684,000 in August vs. est. 620K; sales of new single-family homes in the U.S. jumped 6.4% from the previous month to a seasonally adjusted annualized rate of 684,000 in August, marking the highest level of sales since the start of the year and beating market expectations of 620,000 homes.
• August building permits revised to -2.1% from -2.7%, annual rate to 1.403M units from 1.394M units.

• REIT Sector: JP Morgan made several changes this morning as they upgraded WELL, EGP, MAC and REG to Overweight while downgrading ARE to Underweight citing downside risk to 2027 FFO/share estimates and GLPI and COLD to Neutral in a sweeping REIT sector ratings reshuffle. WELL was raised arguing that Street focus has shifted back to the company’s multi-year outsized same-store NOI growth trajectory after a period of valuation-driven overhang. EGP upgraded on improving shallow-bay industrial leasing fundamentals and 2027–28 FFO growth potential it views as competitive across the REIT universe. SAFE was downgraded to Underweight as believes Safehold shares could be challenged in a “higher-for-longer” interest rate environment and SKT cut to Neutral from Overweight.
• Metals & Mining sector: KGC shares fell along with other gold and silver miners (AEM, AG, CDE, B, NEM) as precious metal prices decline again amid a rising US dollar and Treasury yields; separately, KGC said it now expects full-year 2026 and 2027 attributable production to be 2% to 3% below the low end of the previously disclosed guidance, with approximately 1.84 to 1.86M gold equivalent ounces (“Au eq. oz.”) expected per year.

• KNF +4%; after activist investor Starboard Value wants the company to commit to narrowing the gap between its EBITDA amortization margins and those of its peers in the next few years/wants them to evaluate strategic alternatives including a potential sale.
• META +2%; keynote from Connect last night showcase focused more on hardware (new Muse gadget +VR goggles + audio-only smart glasses) rather than genuine AI utility. META did announce more partnerships with retailers that Muse will seamless connect to.
• NBIS +4%; was upgraded to Outperform from Neutral at BNP Paribas and raised tgt to $399 from $260, while Bank America raised its FY27 and FY28 revenue estimates to $12.7B and $27.3B, above Street’s $12.2B and $24.9B, respectively.
• P +18%; unveiled a broader growth strategy and issued a preliminary FY2028 outlook above analyst expectations as sees FY28 revs of $7B-$7.3B, implying 39%-45% growth and above the $6.37B consensus estimate, while non-GAAP operating income is projected at $1.7B-$1.9B, up 80%-100%.

• DBX -4%; was downgraded to Sell from Neutral at Citigroup saying the stock’s current valuation reflects too much success for Dropbox’s pivot to AI storage infrastructure.
• DK -6%; shares fell after announces $400M convertible senior notes offering due 2031.
• MGM -10%; after Barry Diller’s People Inc (PPLI) withdrew its proposal to purchase all public shares of MGM. People Inc, which owns a ~27% stake in MGM, had proposed to buy remaining shares for $48.30 each, valuing company at more than $18 billion.
• ORCL -6%; after Bloomberg reported that Oracle sent OWL, the developer of its data center being built in New Mexico, a notice citing force majeure. Shares of BE also declined in reaction as Project Jupiter — the New Mexico AI campus — is planned to run on a very large Bloom fuel-cell microgrid.
• SFIX -22%; shares tumbled as Q4 revs rose 4.2% y/y to $324.4M slightly below est. $325.5M, while net loss narrows but guides Q1 revs $323M-$328M below the consensus $360.7M and guides year revs $1.31B-41.36B vs. est. $1.4B; said Q4 Active clients fell -1.4% y/y to 2,277,000.
• TRU -2%; announced that CFO Todd Cello will step down after 29 years with the company, including nine years in the role. Cello will remain CFO through December 31, 2026, and serve as a full-time advisor through March 1, 2027, to support the transition.
• VKTX -14%; after announced the pricing of its concurrent public offerings of 7.85M shares of common stock, at a public offering price of $35.00 per share (off $41.65 closing price), and $225.0 million aggregate principal amount of 2.00% convertible senior notes due 2032.