Consumer Takes a Hit: Retail sales fell 0.6% in July, sharply missing expectations for a 0.1% gain, while the University of Michigan’s preliminary Consumer Sentiment Index dropped to 51.0 from 55.2 in July. The reading remains well below its long-term average of roughly 84, raising fresh concerns about the strength of the U.S. consumer.
Bulls Keep the Momentum: Despite Friday’s pullback, the S&P 500 finished the week higher, marking its third consecutive weekly gain and keeping the broader market rally alive.
Bond Yields Push Higher: Treasury yields climbed, particularly at the long end of the curve, with the 10-year yield approaching 4.7% and the 30-year yield reaching approximately 5.26%.
Inflation Expectations Tick Up: Consumers became slightly more concerned about inflation, with one-year expectations rising to 4.3% from 4.2%, while five- to 10-year expectations held steady at 3.3%.
Inflation Gives Wall Street Some Breathing Room: July CPI offered some relief, with headline inflation rising just 0.1% for the month and 3.4% year over year. Core CPI increased 0.2% in July and 2.5% from a year earlier, adding to hopes that price pressures are cooling.
Wholesale Prices Stay Cool: Producer prices provided another positive signal, with headline PPI unchanged in July and core PPI rising just 0.2%, below expectations.
AMAT Gets Punished Despite Strong Numbers: Applied Materials (AMAT) fell despite beating earnings estimates and delivering stronger-than-expected guidance, with investors apparently focusing on a $220 million unrealized investment loss recorded during the quarter.
Reddit Gets Its S&P 500 Moment: Reddit (RDDT) surged after the company was selected to join the S&P 500 next week, giving the social media stock another major catalyst.
Sandisk Rides the AI Wave: Sandisk (SNDK) jumped after JPMorgan initiated coverage with an Overweight rating, citing the company’s strong positioning to benefit from soaring NAND demand driven by AI inference.
Wayfair Gets a Wall Street Boost: Wayfair (W) gained after Bernstein upgraded the stock to Outperform, pointing to strong revenue performance and continued cost discipline.
Workday Goes Wild: Workday (WDAY) exploded nearly 18% after Reuters reported the software company is in discussions to be acquired by private-equity giant Silver Lake.
Buffett Goes BIG on Google: Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway boosted its Alphabet stake by 83%, signaling growing conviction in Google’s AI opportunity and making Alphabet one of Berkshire’s largest U.S. holdings.
Anthropic’s AI Revenue is Exploding: Anthropic reported preliminary second-quarter revenue of more than $11.5 billion, more than 14 times its year-ago figure, putting the Claude maker firmly in the middle of the AI arms race.
AI’s Memory Problem is Becoming a HUGE Opportunity: Sandisk is riding the AI infrastructure boom as Wall Street bets that surging demand for memory and storage will fuel another major leg of growth.
The Consumer is Feeling the Heat: Rising inflation expectations and weaker retail sales are putting fresh pressure on U.S. households and raising questions about whether consumer spending can maintain its momentum.
Volatility is Nowhere to Be Found: The VIX fell to a new 2026 low below 14.4 and remained near those levels at 14.52, showing that investors continue to have relatively little demand for downside protection.
Bezos Makes a Billion-Dollar Sports Bet: Amazon founder Jeff Bezos is expanding his investment empire into elite sports after joining a billionaire-backed consortium that acquired roughly 30% of Liverpool FC at a valuation of approximately $6 billion.
Anthropic is seeing explosive growth as demand for AI surges, with the Claude maker reporting more than $11.5 billion in second-quarter revenue—more than 14 times its revenue from the same period last year. According to documents reviewed by Bloomberg, Anthropic generated preliminary Q2 revenue of more than $11.5 billion, compared with $787 million a year earlier and $4.73 billion in the first quarter of 2026. The company also posted positive adjusted operating income for the quarter.
Sandisk Stock Surges as Wall Street Bets on AI-Driven Memory Boom
Sandisk (SNDK) jumped on Friday after Wall Street rallied behind the flash-memory maker’s bullish long-term outlook, extending a 13% gain from the previous session. The enthusiasm followed Sandisk’s investor day, where the company laid out ambitious targets for 2028 through 2030. Sandisk expects annual revenue growth in the mid-to-high teens and sees non-GAAP gross margins reaching approximately 80%.
Earnings Spotlight: Target (TGT)
Target Corporation (NYSE: TGT) is scheduled to release its second-quarter fiscal 2026 financial results on Wednesday, August 19, 2026, before the market opens. Wall Street consensus estimates project earnings of approximately $2.24 to $2.25 per share on expected quarterly revenues of around $26.06 billion.
What to Watch Ahead:
August 17: No major earnings or data expected. August 18: July housing starts and building permits, July industrial production, and expected earnings from Home Depot (HD), Baidu (BIDU), and Toll Brothers (TOL). August 19: FOMC minutes and expected earnings from Analog Devices (ADI), TJX Companies (TJX), Lowe's (LOW), Target (TGT), and Estee Lauder (EL). August 20: Conference Board Leading Indicators for July and expected earnings from Walmart (WMT), Alibaba (BABA), Deere (DE), NetEase (NTES), and Ross Stores (ROST).
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