Stocks Pause for Nvidia Earnings, Warsh Remarks: Stock Market Today
Investors, traders and speculators expect direction from the leaders of the AI revolution and the world's most important central bank.
Stocks were mixed at the beginning of a big week for the AI trade and long-term monetary policy, with an uneasy stalemate holding in the Middle East and a trade war widening in North America. Relatively few management teams are scheduled to report financial results and offer guidance this week, but the biggest company in the world by market cap is among them. We'll also hear from Fed Chair Kevin Warsh on Friday.
At the closing bell, the blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.3% at 53,417. But the broad-based S&P 500 was down 0.3% to 7,652, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite had declined 0.8% to 25,980.
This week will be defined by the earnings calendar, with Nvidia (NVDA, -2.9%) reporting fiscal 2027 second-quarter results and management sharing its vision of where the artificial intelligence (AI) revolution goes from here after the closing bell on Wednesday.
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"Geopolitics, oil prices, high yields, and tech volatility all contributed to last week's stock market pullback, and they all look to be in play this week, too," writes E*TRADE from Morgan Stanley Managing Director Chris Larkin.
Larkin notes that U.S. economic sanctions on Iran, the Treasury's attempts to lower long-term yields and incoming data, including the Federal Reserve's preferred inflation gauge, may shape sentiment. "But," he concludes," Nvidia and other tech earnings are positioned to be a major weight on the market's momentum scale."
At the same time, with Treasury yields across the maturity spectrum trending higher, the week could be redefined by the economic calendar, beginning on Friday at 10 am Eastern Standard Time.
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That's when Warsh makes his first keynote speech as the leader of the most important central bank in the world at the Kansas City Fed's annual Jackson Hole Economic Symposium.
The yield on the 2-year Treasury inched up to 4.240% vs 4.234% on Friday. The 2-year yield was 3.379% on February 27, the day before the war in the Middle East between the U.S. and Iran began.
The 10-year Treasury yield ticked down to 4.706% from 4.738%, but is up from 3.960% on February 27. The 30-year Treasury yield declined to 5.235% vs 5.276% last week and 4.630% before the war.
The other chip stock on the earnings calendar
Marvell Technology (MRVL, -3.3%) follows fellow semiconductor stock Nvidia in the reporting-season order when it steps up after the closing bell on Thursday. But Marvell is ahead of Nvidia when it comes to year-to-date share-price performance, with MRVL up 179.3% vs 15.3% for NVDA (and 13.0% for the S&P 500) through Friday.
Wall Street expects MRVL management to report year-over-year earnings growth of 39% on revenue growth of 35%, pale compared to 99% and 97% growth anticipated for NVDA. Of course, much of Marvell's run is rooted in a $2 billion investment from Nvidia announced on March 31.
And there is significant demand elsewhere for its custom application-specific chips, and Wall Street is bullish. Indeed, Wells Fargo analyst Aaron Rakers reiterated his Outperform (Buy) rating and raised his 12-month target price on the tech stock from $240 to $310, citing its opportunity in custom silicon.
Meanwhile, Morgan Stanley analyst Joseph Moore maintained his Equal Weight (Hold) rating but raised his 12-month target price from $195 to $224.
The iShares Semiconductor ETF (SOXX, -2.7%), up 72.9% through Friday, was also down on Monday, as investors, traders and speculators continue to moderate their optimism with incoming data and updated guidance from Nvidia on the way.
Micron Technology (MU, -5.8%), which was up nearly 240% year to date through Friday, and Advanced Micro Devices (AMD, -3.5%), up 121% in 2026, posted big red numbers.
Expedia is on the move again
Expedia (EXPE, +5.4%) was the top-performing S&P 500 stock on Monday after Evercore ISI analyst Mark Mahaney reiterated his Outperform (Buy) rating and raised his 12-month target price for the online travel agency from $375 to $430.
Mahaney had reiterated his rating and raised his target from $350 to $375 on August 6 following a beat-and-raise second-quarter report from management of the consumer discretionary stock. His current target is now the highest among 35 analysts who provide one.
Since hitting a 52-week low of $185.34 intraday on February 23, EXPE is up more than 70%, far outpacing a gain of about 14% for the S&P 500. Mahaney still sees upside of almost 30% from here.
The travel stock has split the Wall Street analyst community, reflected in 17 Buy ratings vs 20 Holds and 1 Sell. The average 12-month target price through August 21 was $336.23.
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