INTC260424P75000.US

• Dow futures fell while oil prices rose due to escalating attacks in Iran.

• Three U.S. servicemembers were killed in the attacks.

• Key earnings reports from Google, Tesla, Intel, and GE Vernova are upcoming.

• Gilead faces challenges with HIV treatments as patent expirations approach.

• Eli Lilly is highlighted for strong earnings performance and is in a buy zone.

• Intel prepares for its Q2 earnings report amid a chip market sell-off.

• Biotech stocks remain attractive to investors despite AI stock declines.

UMC, Taiwan’s 2nd biggest chip foundry, is looking to expand a fab in south Taiwan due to an overflow of advanced packaging and specialty AI-related orders (silicon interposers, DTC) from Qualcomm, Intel and SanDisk, media report, noting new plans for UMC’s Fab 12A P7 near Tainan, Taiwan, are under evaluation. Orders for power management chips (PMICs) for AI products are also booming.

UMC is working with Qualcomm on silicon interposers, DTC (deep trench capacitors), and wafer-to wafer hybrid bonding, while Intel and UMC have partnered on 12nm FinFET, and the UMC-SanDisk cooperation is for memory chip stacking. The story cites unnamed industry sources. $United Microelectronics(UMC.US) $Qualcomm(QCOM.US) $Sandisk(SNDK.US) $Intel(INTC.US) #semiconductors

Source: Dan Nystedt

Speedrun | Upcoming Events This Week - [July 20 - July 24, 2026]

Stay informed on events/news for the coming week.

Geopolitical & Market Outlook

> Iran Conflict: Tensions have escalated following an Iranian drone attack on a U.S. base in Jordan that resulted in the deaths of two U.S. service members. U.S. forces have responded with strikes on Iranian military coastal targets for eight consecutive nights.

> Energy Prices: The conflict has pushed crude oil prices above $80/barrel from a low of $68.55 on July 6th. This rise in energy costs poses a challenge to the Federal Reserve’s outlook and may impact future Consumer Price Index (CPI) reports.

> Momentum Unwind: High-beta momentum stocks have experienced a significant sell-off, with Goldman Sachs' High Beta Momentum basket dropping 32.8% in just three weeks since its June 22nd peak. This drawdown is compared to the market environment in late 2021, just prior to the 2022 bear market.

Earnings Calendar

This is a major week for earnings releases. Key companies to watch include:

> Google ($Alphabet(GOOGL.US)): Investors are focused on AI ROI, capital expenditure (CapEx) trends for 2026/2027, and memory cost pressures. There is concern that the market is not properly pricing in higher CapEx spending.

> Intel ($Intel(INTC.US)): As a major semiconductor company reporting this week, Intel will be watched for CPU demand trends related to agentic AI growth.

> Other Notable Releases: Tesla ($Tesla(TSLA.US)), Texas Instruments ($Texas Instruments(TXN.US)), GE Vernova ($GE Vernova(GEV.US)), Nokia ($Nokia Oyj(NOK.US)), STMicroelectronics ($STMicroelectronics NV(STM.US)), TE Connectivity ($TE Connectivity(TEL.US)), IBM ($IBM(IBM.US)), and ServiceNow ($ServiceNow(NOW.US)).

Sector Notes

> Semiconductors: The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index (SOX) is down 19% from its peak and is approaching oversold territory with an RSI of 40.62.

> Strategy: There is a suggestion to shift focus toward "quality names" for long-term survival, as the previous market trend of buying "anything" between April and June appears to have ended.

Check it out 👇

🏆 TOP 10 WEEKLY ANALYST RATINGS:

$Hut 8 Mining(HUT.US) $Palo Alto Networks(PANW.US) $Unitedhealth(UNH.US) $Intel(INTC.US) $CleanSpark(CLSK.US) $AMC ENT(AMC.US) $Aerovironment(AVAV.US) $Arm(ARM.US) $Circle(CRCL.US) $Apple(AAPL.US)

Next week will be huge...many big names reporting.

Texas Instruments $Texas Instruments(TXN.US)

Intel $Intel(INTC.US)

Tesla $Tesla(TSLA.US)

Google $Alphabet(GOOGL.US)

GE Vernova $GE Vernova(GEV.US)

Nokia $Nokia Oyj(NOK.US)

STMicroelectronics $STMicroelectronics NV(STM.US)

TE Connectivity $TE Connectivity(TEL.US)

IBM $IBM(IBM.US)

ServiceNow $ServiceNow(NOW.US)

Breaking: President Trump promoted more than 20 companies on his Truth Social account days after buying stock in those firms, per CNN

Here's the list:

US Steel $US Steel(X.US)

Tesla $Tesla(TSLA.US)

GE Aerospace $GE Aerospace(GE.US)

Eli Lilly $Eli Lilly(LLY.US)

Apple $Apple(AAPL.US)

Meta $Meta Platforms(META.US)

Nvidia $NVIDIA(NVDA.US)

American Eagle $American Eagle Outfitters(AEO.US)

Intel $Intel(INTC.US)

Boeing $Boeing(BA.US)

RTX $RTX(RTX.US)

Northrop Grumman $Northrop Grumman(NOC.US)

Dell $Dell Tech(DELL.US)

Palantir $Palantir Tech(PLTR.US)

Micron $Micron Tech(MU.US)

Comcast $Comcast(CMCSA.US)

Microsoft $Microsoft(MSFT.US)

Thermo Fisher $Thermo Fisher Scentific(TMO.US)

Amazon $Amazon(AMZN.US)

Broadcom $Broadcom(AVGO.US)

A TON OF THINGS HAPPENED IN THE STOCK MARKET TODAY.

Here's a full recap:

1. Momentum stocks are getting crushed in July. Goldman Sachs’ High-Beta Momentum Index is down 24% month-to-date through the first half of the month, its worst stretch since April 2009. Morgan Stanley’s Tech Momentum Index is also seeing its sharpest breakdown on record, with its 17-day rate of change down 35%, the worst move in its 27-year history. But the broader market is holding up better, with the S&P 500 green today as hyperscalers rallied, showing the market may be broadening out beyond the hardest-hit momentum names.

2. PPI came in cooler than expected across the board. Headline PPI was 5.5% YoY vs 6.2% expected, while PPI fell 0.3% MoM vs expectations for 0.0%. Core PPI was 4.7% YoY vs 5.1% expected, with Core PPI rising 0.2% MoM vs 0.3% expected.

3. The top 10 most active options today by contracts traded were $NVIDIA(NVDA.US) with 3.7M contracts, $Tesla(TSLA.US) with 2.8M contracts, $Apple(AAPL.US) with 2.5M contracts, $Micron Tech(MU.US) with 1.1M contracts, $Amazon(AMZN.US) with 1.0M contracts, $Microsoft(MSFT.US) with 895K contracts, $Meta Platforms(META.US) with 815K contracts, $Intel(INTC.US) with 754K contracts, $Alphabet(GOOGL.US) with 717K contracts, and $SpaceX(SPCX.US) with 506K contracts.

4. Nvidia $NVIDIA(NVDA.US) is expanding its Toyota partnership beyond autonomous driving, supplying AI hardware and software for smart cities, traffic systems, and factories. Toyota will use Nvidia technology in Woven City, along with Omniverse for assembly-line digital twins, Isaac robotics, and Nemotron LLMs.

5. CoreWeave $Coreweave(CRWV.US) is exploring financial hedges to protect against a future decline in memory and storage chip prices, per Reuters. Put options and other derivative instruments have reportedly been discussed, though talks are still early and no hedges have been executed. The issue: AI cloud providers have signed long-term supply deals with companies like Micron and SanDisk that include price floors for DRAM and storage chips. That protects chipmakers if prices fall, but could leave cloud buyers stuck paying above-market rates.

6. Anthropic is preparing investor meetings ahead of a potential IPO as soon as October, per Bloomberg. Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, and JPMorgan are reportedly working on the listing. The Claude maker was valued at $965B after its May funding round, reportedly surpassing OpenAI.

7. Stripe and Advent have reportedly offered to buy PayPal $Paypal(PYPL.US) for $60.50/share, valuing the company at more than $53B, per Reuters. The offer is backed by roughly $50B in committed bank financing. Stripe and Advent would jointly own PayPal with equal stakes, rather than breaking the company up.

8. Apple $Apple(AAPL.US) is reportedly looking at AI chip acquisitions to strengthen its server-chip strategy, per The Information. The company has spoken with bankers and approached semiconductor startups as its current M2 Ultra-based AI servers struggle with more advanced AI workloads. Apple is also relying on Nvidia chips inside Google Cloud for heavier tasks, including parts of the revamped Siri. A future Apple AI server chip, code-named Baltra, was expected this year but has reportedly been delayed.

9. Nokia $Nokia Oyj(NOK.US) will begin selling Nvidia-powered AI mobile network gear starting in 2027. The new AI-driven RAN platform is expected to improve spectrum efficiency by 50% next year and allow operators to transmit 2x more data over the same airwaves by 2028. The platform will also support software upgrades toward 6G and work with Open RAN standards.

10. Nebius $Nebius(NBIS.US) introduced an asset-light AI cloud model built through infrastructure partnerships. Under the model, partners will finance, own, and operate the data centers and hardware, while Nebius provides the architecture, software stack, supply-chain access, and sells the capacity through its own sales team. Nebius expects to generate revenue through revenue-sharing, licensing fees, commissions, and committed capacity agreements, with minimal incremental capital required.

11. ASML $ASML(ASML.US) reported a massive Q2 beat and raised FY26 guidance. Net sales came in at €9.33B vs €8.85B expected, EPS was €7.59 vs €6.90, and gross margin reached 54.0% vs 52% expected. ASML said customers are accelerating capex plans, visibility is stronger than usual, and it is already close to receiving all required 2027 EUV orders. Memory is expected to drive major growth, with FY26 memory revenue up roughly 75%, EUV revenue up 45%, and Installed Base Management revenue up more than 30%. The company also said its updated guidance includes expected demand from Elon Musk’s Terafab project, with ASML expecting to collaborate with Musk’s team as AI drives more advanced Logic and Memory lithography demand.

12. Leveraged ETFs are flooding the U.S. market. There are now a record 700 U.S.-listed leveraged ETFs, more than twice the count at the end of 2024, with 400+ tied to individual stocks. Roughly 210 new leveraged funds have launched this year, already exceeding the ~205 launched during all of 2025. Leveraged and inverse products represented 31% of U.S. ETF launches in the first half of 2026, up from 22% last year. June alone saw 117 leveraged or inverse ETF debuts, nearly half of all 239 ETFs launched in the U.S. that month.

WALL STREET IS THE GREATEST SHOW ON EARTH.

Source: amit

TSMC 2nd quarter (Q2) conference on Thursday (7/16), media report expectations:

Q2 revenue NT$1.27 trillion (already known, US$ not known)

-Net profit seen up 59% to NT$632.6 billion (US$19.6B), 10th straight quarter of growth

-Gross margin could exceed 68%

-Operating margin seen hitting new high

-R&D expense seen hitting record high due to advanced process investments

Q3 revenue forecast seen +9%-12% vs Q2 in USD terms (some 15% estimates)

Full Year

-Raise full year revenue to mid-30s% increase from current ‘above 30%’ growth, most bullish scenario sees 40%

-Unlikely to raise 2026 capex (some see $58B-$60B) but could discuss plan for next 3-years

5-year CAGR forecast 2024-2029:

-AI semiconductor revenue CAGR for 2024–2029 seen raised to 70%-80% from mid-to-high 50% now

TSMC Official Q2 Guidance

-Revenue US$39.0B to $40.2B

-Gross Margin: 65.5% to 67.5%

-Operating Margin: 56.5% to 58.5%

-Exchange rate forecast NT$31.7 per US dollar.

What investors want to know:

-Overall AI demand health

-CoWoS packaging capacity expansion

-N2/N3 ramp and pricing

-Is memory shortage hurting demand for logic chips?

-Update on global construction projects

-Update on advanced processes and packaging (CoPoS, SoIC, etc) R&D

-TSMC view on intensified competition from Intel, Samsung

-Will TSMC raise prices again in 2027? (5%-10% increase expected)

-Gross margin projections for 2026 and 2027

-Capex strategy for next 3-years

-Semiconductor industry outlook

Links:

Source: Dan Nystedt