Markets
markets
Luke Kawa
7/16/25

Semiconductor industry keystone ASML tumbles after saying growth in 2026 isn’t guaranteed

Shares of ASML, the second-biggest company in Europe and a critical choke point in the semiconductor design process, are tumbling despite second-quarter results that surpassed every analyst’s estimates for both the top and bottom lines.

That’s because the Dutch company cautioned that it was unsure whether it would be growing next year, and said that revenues in the third quarter would come in between 7.4 billion euros and 7.9 billion euros. The Street was looking for something in the realm of 8.2 billion euros (1 EUR roughly = 1.16 USD).

The stock was recently down 8% in premarket trading.

“Looking at 2026, we see that our AI customers’ fundamentals remain strong,” President and CEO Christophe Fouquet said. “At the same time, we continue to see increasing uncertainty driven by macroeconomic and geopolitical developments. Therefore, while we still prepare for growth in 2026, we cannot confirm it at this stage.”

That’s walking back a statement made in the Q1 results from April, when Fouquet said that conversations with customers supported management’s expectation that 2025 and 2026 would be “growth years.”

Investors are increasingly looking forward to and pricing in expected 2026 results, RBC Capital Markets Chief US Equity Strategist Lori Calvasina said earlier this week, and the AI boom is a massive driver of S&P 500 earnings growth. This warning from ASML, however, must be balanced against the myriad commitments from the leaders of US megacap tech companies — like Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg — that their spending spree is poised to continue.

For what it’s worth, ASML’s pipeline does seem solid. Net bookings (the value of new contracts signed) surprised to the upside for both its extreme ultraviolet lithography machines (or EUV, needed for the most advanced AI chips) as well as its non-EUV equipment.

But CFO Roger Dassen said that clients are waiting to learn more about tariffs and export controls before making more purchasing commitments.

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S&P 500, Nasdaq 100 post record closing highs as nearly everything rallies

The benchmark US stock index ended up 0.9%, the Nasdaq 100 rose 0.6%, and the Russell 2000 outperformed with a 1.8% gain.

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Nia Warfield
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Warner Bros. Discovery jumps after Wells Fargo ups price target on dealmaking buzz

Warner Bros. Discovery shares popped 7% Tuesday after Wells Fargo raised its price target on the media giant to $14 from $13 while keeping an equal-weight rating.

The bank’s optimism stemmed largely from the media giant’s potential for dealmaking. In June, WBD announced that it would split its operations into two companies, with the Streaming & Studios division (home to Warner Bros. Television, DC Studios, HBO, and Max) standing alone from the networks side (CNN, TNT Sports, and Discovery).

That separation could make the Streaming & Studios unit more attractive to buyers, the analysts said. They valued the segment at about $65 billion, which could translate to a takeover price north of $21 a share. Potential suitors range from Amazon and Apple to Sony and Comcast, though analysts flagged Netflix as the “most compelling” option despite its limited acquisition track record:

“While NFLX has historically not been acquisitive, [streaming and studios’] $12bn in annual content spend + library + 100+ acre studio lot offers a lot. It kickstarts a theatrical IP strategy, quickly scales video games and most importantly provides premium content to members.”

At Goldman Sachs’ Communacopia + Technology Conference this week, CEO David Zaslav also highlighted growing traction at HBO Max and hinted at future crackdowns on password sharing.

WBD shares are up 26% year to date, and up more than 93% over the past 12 months.

markets
Matt Phillips
5h

Duolingo up on bullish note, hopes for a user rebound

Duolingo rose by the most in nearly a month after an analyst note painted a more bullish picture of the gamified language-learning company despite a dearth of news otherwise.

A quick check-in with analysts covering the stock on Wall Street found most of them otherwise flummoxed on the reason behind the uptick Thursday.

Some, however, suggested the rise may reflect optimism that the company has been able to reverse a monthslong downturn in daily active user metrics — a slump that set in after a social media backlash to a somewhat artless LinkedIn post from the company about its AI first strategy.

The bullish analyst note, published Thursday by Citizens JMP, suggested Duolingo could be a big beneficiary from a change to Apple’s rules governing its App Store driven by a ruling on a federal antitrust case against the company. The analysts wrote:

Given “Apple’s recent changes to U.S. App Store rules that allow developers to steer payments to the web where fees are similar to typical credit card fees rather than Apple’s 30% fee for in-app purchases and 30% fee on subscriptions for the first year and 15% thereafter, we expect mobile app companies including Duolingo, Life360, and Grindr Inc. to unlock meaningful cost benefits.”

At any rate, the next big event on the company’s calendar is its Duocon 2025 conference on Tuesday, where analysts are hoping to hear more hard information on all of the above topics.

markets
Max Knoblauch
6h

Jeep maker Stellantis surges as CEO says the automaker is in productive tariff talks with the US

Shares of Jeep and Dodge maker Stellantis are up more than 8% in Thursday afternoon trading, following comments from the automaker’s new CEO, Antonio Filosa, at a European auto conference.

On tariffs, Filosa said that Stellantis has had a “very productive exchange of ideas” with the Trump administration on the company’s manufacturing footprint and that the environment around the levies is “getting clearer and clearer.”

The US is Stellantis’ top priority, according to Filosa, and the company has taken efforts to turn things around in the market, where it’s struggled with sales in recent years. To fuel the turnaround, Stellantis is bringing back its popular Jeep Cherokee, which it discontinued in 2023.

As of 12:45 p.m. ET, Stellantis’ trading volume was at more than 140% of its average over the past 30 days.

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