Early Look

Monday, September 14, 2026

U.S. stock futures are lower as oil prices surge further with Brent crude up around 3% to $107.65 per barrel after Saudi Arabia shut a key pipeline that bypasses the Strait of Hormuz, while technology stocks are broadly under pressure amid weakness in semiconductor chip and Ai related stocks after prominent AI executives called for a slower pace of frontier AI development amid concerns over potential risks to humanity. Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei said AI model progress should be slowed, with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman agreeing that the industry needs to “pace the frontier,” while Elon Musk also backed Amodei's view. The selling spread across the AI and semiconductor complex. The commentary has technology stocks down across the board with chips (NVDA, AMD, AVGO, TSM), optical (LITE, AAOI, CIEN, COHR), data centers/Neo clouds (NBIS, CRWV, IREN, HUT, CIFR, WULF) and power plays (BE, VST, TLN, SMR) all lower. In Asian markets, The Nikkei Index fell -518 points to 63,492, the Shanghai Index dipped -2 points to 3,885, and the Hang Seng Index rose 111 points to 24,917. The South Korea Kospi falls -3.6% to 1,050. In Europe, the German DAX is down -128 points to 25,440, while the FTSE 100 rises 75 points to 10,726. Last week was dominated by U.S. inflation data as both CPI and PPI showed no sign of sliding, raising expectations the Fed could raise rates this Wednesday. The FOMC policy meeting is this week’s key event. The other top stories were oil as WTI crude jumped another 8% and U.S. Treasury yields surging with the 10-year yield almost reaching 5% before the Federal Reserve meeting. The 2-year yield rose 26.3 bps this week to 4.642%. The 10-year yield rose 19.1 bps to 4.974%, hitting its highest yield since October 2023 this Friday. The 30-year yield rose 10.8 bps for the week to 5.354%.

• The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 509.19 points, or 0.98%, to 52,753.29
• The Nasdaq Composite jumped 251.31 points, or 0.96%, to 26,333.04
• The Russell 2000 Index advanced 13.00 points, or 0.45% to 2,903.94

• Earnings After the Close: HYFT KMTS PLAY RLGT

• H.C. Wainwright & Co., LLC 28th Annual Global Investment Conference, 9/14-9/16, in New York
• Morgan Stanley 24th Annual Global Healthcare Conference, 9/14-9/16 in New York, NY
• Piper 5th Annual Growth Frontiers Conference, 9/14-9/15 in Nashville
• China Retail Sales, Industrial Output, Houe Prices data

• President Donald Trump however dismissed mounting warnings about artificial intelligence, arguing that slowing development could jeopardize the United States’ lead over China, Bloomberg News reported. “We’re leading China in AI. We’re the most sophisticated country in the world, and frankly, I want to keep it that way because whoever wins AI wins,” Trump told reporters Sunday at the Irish Open. “And we can put guardrails. We can do this and that. But I think you have a lot of negative forces that are bringing it up that shouldn’t be bringing it up.”
• The European Union said it is in favour of developing innovation in artificial intelligence, but companies have to prove their services are safe for citizens to operate in the bloc, EU Commission spokesperson Thomas Regnier said on Monday.

• Stellantis (STLA) was downgraded to Underweight from Equal Weight at Morgan Stanley and cut tgt to $5.20 from $8 saying the product pipeline is lagging behind peers, implying limited capacity to reduce investments to adapt to lower cash generation.
• Tesla (TSLA) has reclaimed more than half of the U.S. electric-vehicle market as traditional automakers scale back their money-losing EV operations. Tesla captured 52% of U.S. EV sales through August, up from 43% a year earlier, The Wall Street Journal reported. The gain reflects Tesla’s (TSLA) relative resilience rather than a return to growth. Its domestic sales fell 16% to 325,351 vehicles while the overall EV market contracted 30%.

• Franco-Nevada (FNV) has agreed to provide an additional A$200M to Minerals 260 to support development of the Bullabulling Gold Project in Western Australia. The package includes A$170M for an additional 1.45% gross royalty, taking Franco-Nevada’s total royalty interest in Bullabulling to 3.90%
• Venture Global (VG) and China Gas have signed a new 20-year sales and purchase agreement under which China Gas will purchase 0.5M tonnes per annum of U.S. liquefied natural gas from Venture Global starting in 2030.
• ZIM Integrated (ZIM) upgraded to Equal Weight from Underweight at Barclays

• WisdomTree (WT) reported monthly metrics for August 2026 showing record assets under management of approximately $174 billion globally and more than $12 billion of net inflows year-to-date. Total AUM at the end of August was approximately $173.7 billion up from $163B at the start of the month with an average total AUM of $170.969B for the month.
• In crypto sector, the Senate is set to hold a key procedural vote Tuesday on the Clarity Act, which would establish a new regulatory framework for cryptocurrencies and other digital assets. The measure needs Democratic support to overcome a filibuster, with ethics restrictions involving President Donald Trump’s crypto interests among the major sticking points.

• BioNTech (BNTX) said its experimental drug gotistobart nearly doubled the median survival of patients with an aggressive form of lung cancer compared to chemotherapy. Patients treated with gotistobart lived for a median 18.5 months, compared with 10 months for those given the standard-of-care chemotherapy, BioNTech said in a release.
• Cellectis (CLLS) to advance two lead in vivo programs .HEAL-101 and .HEAL-201 in severe dyslipidemias with preliminary Phase 1 data planned in H2 2027 and H1 2028, respectively. Transformation supported by continuing existing cell therapy partnerships while exiting lasme-cel and eti-cel development.
• GSK Plc (GSK) shares rose after the company reported that its investigational lung cancer therapy Jideytro met its primary endpoint, demonstrating complete or partial tumor shrinkage in 94% of trial participants. In a separate late-stage study, GSK announced that Ris-Rez, a small cell lung cancer drug licensed from Hansoh Pharmaceuticals, reduced the risk of death by 54% compared to standard chemotherapy in patients with relapsed disease.
• Scholar Rock Holding (SRRK) said late Friday the FDA approved isembyld, the company’s treatment for spinal muscular atrophy. Isembyld was approved for adults and children ages 2 and older who are already receiving a treatment targeting survival motor neuron 2, or SMN2.
• Summit Therapeutics (SMMT) said ivonescimab significantly extended survival compared with Merck’s (MRK) Keytruda in a late-stage lung cancer trial conducted by its partner Akeso in China. Ivonescimab reduced the risk of death by 27% compared with Keytruda among previously untreated patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer whose tumors expressed PD-L1. Median overall survival reached 30.8 months for patients receiving ivonescimab, compared with 22.6 months for the Keytruda group.

• HPE Inc. (HPE) downgraded to In Line from Outperform at Evercore ISI citing valuation following the recent appreciation in the shares. HPE shares are up 158.5% year-to-date, and Evercore believes the stock is fairly valued at current levels. It sees fewer near-term catalysts to drive additional multiple expansion, saying upside to profitability remains dependent on improved networking supply.
• Iren (IREN) double upgraded to Overweight from Underweight at JP Morgan and raised tgt to $65 from $46 saying the company is establishing itself as a top tier neocloud provider, backed by its strategic partnership with Nvidia, and has gained momentum in signing customers.
• Mara Holdings (MARA) was double downgraded to Underweight from Overweight at JP Morgan and cut tgt to $11 from $13 saying other companies offer more direct growth and value accretion from data center opportunities.
• Oracle (ORCL) Co-founder Larry Ellison has axed plans to sell up to $7.5B worth of shares in an about-face as his company comes under pressure over its all-in bet on Ai. Ellison had elected not to sell any Oracle stock after disclosures the previous day showed he planned to sell as many as 50M shares by the end of October.
• RUM Group (RUM) shares rises pre mkt after The Information reported on Sunday that Anthropic had signed a computing deal with RUM Group, that hosts U.S. President Donald Trump's Truth Social platform. RUM said on August 24 that it had signed a deal worth $13.7 billion with a U.S.-based cloud customer, without unveiling the name. Under the deal, the customer will get access to GPUs and related services from RUM Group's Georgia site.
• Surf Air Mobility (SRFM) said its Mokulele Airlines Wins $19.4M Four-Year U.S. DOT Contract for Lanaʻi Service; contract provides $19.4M in EAS subsidies through August 2030, excluding additional passenger fare revenue.

Mid-Morning Look

Monday, September 14, 2026

U.S. stock markets open lower as the same issues that plagued Wall Street last week (higher oil and rising Treasury yields) remain an issue to start the week, while adding a new wrinkle as weaker AI data plays hit tech stocks as AI leaders have called for a slower pace of development. The highlight of the week remains the FOMC policy meeting on Wednesday where expectations have grown for a 25 bps rate hike following stubbornly high inflation data (CPI, PPI) and surging energy prices with oil surging and diesel prices making new all-time highs daily. The tech space, specifically the semiconductor, data center, power related plays are seeing sharp declines this morning after Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei said this weekend that the progress of improving AI model capabilities should be slowed down, while OpenAI CEO Altman responded to Amodei's essay on X saying he “agree with Dario that we need to pace the frontier. In his own X post, Elon Musk, founder of SpaceXAI (previously xAI), wrote, "Dario is right."

AI stocks absolutely crushed today after Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei dropped a gloomy essay this weekend that rattled investor confidence across the entire semiconductor and AI infrastructure complex. Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei said this weekend, and was backed by comments from OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Elon Musk as well saying that they must slow the pace at which they improve the capabilities of A.I. models. Progress will still seem fast, and we must make wise use of the time we gain. Altman followed Amodei original comment with one of his own overnight saying "There are two ways AI progress could go very badly, and that we must avoid. First, we could lose control of the future to AI. This is unacceptable; we are unapologetically on Team Humanity, and AI must always serve people. To ensure that, we need ways to ensure that alignment and safety techniques stay ahead of progress in model capabilities," Altman said. "Second, we could end up in a world with too much concentration of power. If an extraordinarily powerful AI is used by one person or company to impress their worldview onto everyone else, the results could be extremely dystopian. Avoiding these two threats requires walking a narrow middle path; for example, one country could gain too much power. Another example is one lab ending up with too much power."

Meanwhile inflation fears mount ahead of the FOMC policy meeting as Brent crude prices have jumped to $109 a barrel after Saudi Arabia shut a key oil pipeline as fighting in the Middle East escalates. Saudi Arabia’s East-West oil pipeline could remain largely offline for 3–5 weeks following last week’s drone attack, AP reports. The pipeline can carry up to 7M barrels per day to the Red Sea, bypassing the Strait of Hormuz. Also the 10-year Treasury yield is at 4.97%, while the Federal Reserve is expected to raise interest rates this week. Stocks are trying to bounce after falling last week where the Dow slid -1.6%, marking its biggest weekly loss since March and the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite shed about -0.8% and -0.7%, respectively.

• Industrial sector: LII was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Deutsche Bank saying while the shares now trade at a meaningful discount to history and MI/EE peers, sees limited scope for a near-term Re-rating until there is clearer evidence of a material US residential HVAC volume recovery. ELMT shares rose after saying one of its units won a ~$2B contract from the U.S. Defense Logistics Agency which includes a guaranteed $150M commitment to supply tungsten for rebuilding the U.S. National Defense Stockpile, reducing dependence on China and Russia for critical minerals. Citigroup named CAT an "upside 90-day catalyst watch" as believes data center buildout concerns are overblown while yellow iron used prices are moving higher.
• Cable, Towers & Telecom: CCI was downgraded to Underweight at JP Morgan saying the company is now a standalone macro Tower company, but industry activity has stayed low and does not seem to be improving in the near term. The firm looks for Crown Castle's organic Tower revenue growth to be just 3.0% over the next few years given its low level of new leasing activity of 1.8%, churn of 1.4% and escalators of 2.6%. CHTR was downgraded to Underperform from Peer Perform at Wolfe Research saying they believe broadband industry dynamics look worse in 2027 and 2028 due to exploding satellite capacity and fiber pricing; cuts estimates.

• BNTX +2%; said its experimental drug gotistobart nearly doubled the median survival of patients with an aggressive form of lung cancer compared to chemo. Patients treated with gotistobart lived for a median 18.5 months, compared with 10 months for those given the standard-of-care chemotherapy
• CRBP +5%; after saying its experimental obesity drug helped patients lose avg 5of body weight over 12 weeks in early-stage study; nearly half of patients on highest 60 mg dose lost at least 5% body weight, 6.7% lost more than 7.5%; said the drug CRB-913 caused fewer stomach-related side effects, like nausea, vomiting, than in published studies of oral GLP-1 obesity drugs.
• ELMT +30%; after saying one of its units won a ~$2B contract from the U.S. Defense Logistics Agency which includes a guaranteed $150M commitment to supply tungsten for rebuilding the U.S. National Defense Stockpile, reducing dependence on China and Russia for critical minerals.
• RUM +15%; after The Information reported on Sunday that Anthropic had signed a computing deal with RUM Group, that hosts U.S. President Trump's Truth Social platform. RUM said on August 24 that it had signed a deal worth $13.7B with a U.S.-based cloud customer, without unveiling the name.
• SMMT +6%; said ivonescimab significantly extended survival compared with MRK’s Keytruda in a late-stage lung cancer trial conducted by its partner Akeso in China. Ivonescimab reduced the risk of death by 27% compared with Keytruda as Median overall survival reached 30.8 months for patients receiving ivonescimab, compared with 22.6 months for the Keytruda group.

• GEV -6%; after GLJ Research initiated GEV at a new sell and $470 PT (vs today open price $957) as acknowledges that Ai needs power, but doesn't believe that justifies shares trading at 26 times estimated 2027 earnings before EBITDA (also down on broader Ai concerns).
• GLW -10%; after announced it entered into an equity distribution agreement to sell up to $2B in shares via an “at the market” equity offering program; opticals also broadly lower (AAOI, CIEN, LITE, COHR and others declined due in part to concerns about slowing artificial intelligence spending.
• NVDA -3%; as shares of semis, data centers, power and other key players in the AI race come under pressure after leaders of the biggest AI companies warned of risks from rapid development as Anthropic CEO Amodei called on AI companies to slow the rate which they advance model capabilities

Closing Recap

Friday, September 11, 2026

U.S. stocks opened higher and stayed there throughout the trading day, snapping the 4 day losing streak for the S&P 500, Dow and Nasdaq, but still ended the week with declines ahead of next week’s FOMC policy meeting. Economic data was not favorable for a “dovish” interest rate outlook as this morning’s August CPI report was mostly in line, although monthly core inflation rose 0.3% versus 0.2% expected. Michigan Sentiment missed estimates at 47.8, and 1-Year Inflation Expectations were higher than forecast at 4.6%. The data followed a slightly hotter producer price index (PPI) on Thursday that sunk markets. Treasury yields remained higher, while the dollar was little changed and oil pulled back. Nine of eleven S&P sectors finished higher led by technology (XLK), Industrials (XLI) and Communications (XLC) all up over 1% while Healthcare (XLV) and utilities (XLU) lagged. For the week, the S&P 500 fell 0.8%, the Dow fell 1.6% and the Nasdaq fell 0.7%.

After the ECB raised interest rates this week as expected, several key Central bank meetings are coming up this week. The FOMC rate decision in Wednesday after 2 day meeting and now seen a 90% chance of a rate hike. Also next week on Wednesday the BCB policy announcement, on Thursday 9/17 The Bank of England policy announcement and Friday the Bank of Japan rate news (hike expected). U.S. data highlights for next week include the September New York and Philly Fed indices, August retail sales, industrial production and weekly jobless claims. The yen rallied to a seven-month high against the U.S. dollar this week, driven by expectations of faster Bank of Japan policy tightening.

Interesting stats: U.S. investors recorded net sales of $32.27 billion in equity funds during the week, their largest since $52.45 billion in disposals in the week to December 17, 2025, per LSEG Lipper data. U.S. large-cap funds posted record weekly outflows of $40.44 billion, while mid-cap funds recorded net sales of $682 million. In contrast, multi-cap funds attracted $3.52 billion and small-cap funds drew $274 million in inflows. 2) @Kobeissi Letter noted, "US housing affordability is rapidly deteriorating: The annual Income needed to afford an average home in the US surged +$4,107 in May, to a record $124,674 per year. This Marks the 3rd consecutive monthly increase, totaling +$9,734. By comparison, US median household Income stands at $86,159 per year. This brings the Gap between median household Income and the Income needed to afford an average home to $38,515, the largest Gap since July 2025. This is just $2,288 below the $40,803 record set in June 2024."

• University of Michigan surveys of consumers sentiment prelim Sept slipped to 47.8 (vs. consensus 51.0) and vs final Aug 51.7; the current conditions index prelim Sept 50.9 (consensus 51.3) vs final Aug 51.9 and the expectations index prelim Sept 45.8 (consensus 50.5) vs final Aug 51.5. UoM surveys of consumers 1-year inflation outlook prelim Sept 4.6% vs final Aug 4.0%. University of Michigan surveys of consumers 5-year inflation outlook prelim Sept 3.4% vs final Aug 3.3%.
• The U.S. federal budget deficit for August shrank to $167 billion due to smaller outlays including for ongoing refunds on illegally collected tariffs, a rare drop in interest payments and some calendar shifts in benefit payments. The budget gap for the 11 months through August exceeds the full-year fiscal 2025 deficit of $1.775 trillion. For August alone the budget gap was down 52% from a year earlier. Unadjusted outlays in August fell by 24%, to $527 billion. Interest payments on the federal debt fell by $14 billion. A Treasury official said the drop was due to changes in inflation accruals, and pointed to the fiscal year-to-date data showing an increase of $143 billion, or 13%.

• Gold prices ended flattish, rising $1.60 to settle at $4,408.90 an ounce and December silver gained $0.26 of 0.4% to finish at $65.19 an ounce in a quiet day for metals, but for the week gold and silver prices both finished with losses. Prices fell nearly 2% on Thursday after the U.S. Producer Price Index data showed prices increased in line with expectations in August.

• Treasury yields aren’t just hitting multi year highs in the U.S. but globally as the German 10yr highest since 2009 above 3.51%, while the Japan 10 year yield hit 2.985%, its highest since 1996. The European Central Bank (ECB) raised rates yesterday at its policy meeting while Nagel said that interest rates may have to be raised further to bring inflation under control. The FOMC policy meeting is next week and there is a better than 50% chance of a rate hike per fed fund futures heading into the meeting.

• Auto Retail sector: ACVA shares jumped CPRT agreed to acquire the digital dealer auction platform for $10.50 per share in cash, implying an equity value of about $1.9B. The offer represents a roughly 45% premium. Copart will fund the acquisition with cash on hand, with the deal expected to be neutral to EPS in the first full-year and accretive in FY2028 and beyond.
• Specialty Retail sector: ZUMZ shares tumbled after posting a wider Q2 loss and weaker-than-expected sales (EPS loss -$0.17 was missed by $0.03, while revenue fell 2.5% y/y to $208.96M); Q2 comparable sales declined -2.1% and the net loss widened to $2.7M from $1M a year earlier. GME president, CEO, and chairman Ryan Cohen acquired 1M shares of Class A common stock on the open market for around $20.38M, boosting his direct ownership to 39.3M shares.
• Food & Grocer sector: KR posted Q2 non-GAAP EPS of $1.09 which beats by $0.04 and revs rose 2.1% y/y to $34.6B, also topping consensus while identical sales increased 0.1% y/y; backs FY26 adjusted EPS view $5.10-$5.30 (est. $5.20) but lowers FY26 identical sales w/o fuel growth to 0.2%-0.8% from 1%-2%; SG shares advanced after the CDC said the cyclospora outbreak linked to more than 12,000 cases this summer has ended.

• Utilities and nuclear power sector: SMR was downgraded to Sell from Neutral at UBS and cut its price target to $6 from $10 as competitors move toward construction while NuScale's estimated 5+ year build timeline and lack of firm customer commitments present meaningful challenges. UBS now assumes only one project begins construction in 2028 and forecast approximately $700M of cumulative 2026-28 cash burn. OKLO terminates prior equity distribution agreement with sales agents on Sept 10, 2026, while enters equity distribution agreement with ten sales agents on Sept 11 saying they may offer Class A common stock with aggregate gross proceeds up to $1B.

• 1) AB said preliminary assets under management increased to $919 billion as of August 31, 2026, from $908 billion at the end of July. The 1.2% increase in AUM was driven by market appreciation, partially offset by net outflows.
• 2) APAM preliminary assets under management totaled $183.5 billion. Artisan Funds and Artisan Global Funds accounted for $94.5 billion of total firm AUM, while separate accounts and other AUM accounted for $89.0 billion.
• 3) IVZ prelim month-end assets under management of $2,562.1 billion, an increase of 4.7% versus previous month-end.
• 4) LAZ prelim assets under management totaled approximately $290.3 billion. The month's AUM included market appreciation of $3.7 billion, net outflows of $1.8 billion and FX appreciation of $1.5 billion.
• 5) TROW August month-end assets under management of $1.90 trillion. Net outflows for August 2026 were $7.9 billion.
• 6) VCTR reported Total Assets Under Management of $356.5B, other Assets of $3.7B, and Total Client Assets of $360.2B, as of August 31.
• 7) VRTS preliminary assets under management (AUM) of $147.5 billion and other fee earning assets of $1.7 billion for total client assets of $149.2 billion as of August 31, 2026.
• Private equity sector: BLK said withdrawal requests as their flagship private credit fund slowed in the third quarter, according to a regulatory filing on Friday. Investors in BlackRock's HPS Corporate Lending Fund sought to pull roughly 11.5% of shares, compared with 13.3% in the prior quarter. It will repurchase 5% of shares or roughly $600 million, the customary threshold ⁠for such vehicles.

• GSK said it will be shutting down a vaccine factory in Dresden, Germany, in the summer of 2027,citing decreasing demand for traditional egg-based flu vaccines. The closure would put 641 jobs at risk, according to German trade union.
• MedTech space remains weak with RMD falling for a 9th straight day; SYK down for a 9th straight day as Medtech remains weak spot; MTD up slightly after falling 7 straight days. SYK shares hit 52-week lows after saying earlier in the week at the Wells Fargo conference they are seeing manufacturing issues in peripheral Vascular business beyond Q3 as now expect it to continue a little bit into the fourth quarter as well.

• Metals & Mining: a rollercoaster ride this week for metals, as gold and silver prices rebound on Friday after tumbling on Thursday as Treasury yields ease off multi-year highs following today’s CPI data.
• Paper & Containerboard sector: IP was upgraded from Neutral to Buy at Bank America and raised tgt to $46 from $34 as continues to make forecast and rating changes heading into 2026's home stretch. The firm raises containerboard price forecasts, along with other grades.

• Also in software: ADBE shares fell as Q2 results were roughly in line with expectations, and net new ARR declined by ~38% Y/y; Q2 adj EPS of $6.13 beat by $0.05, while revenue rose 13% y/y to $6.76B, $60M above consensus, with subscription revenue at $6.58B and ARR reaching $27.5B. FY2026 adjusted EPS guidance was raised to $24.45-$24.50 from $24.35-$24.45, while mgmt maintained conservative FY26 total ARR guidance at 10.2%, hinting at another quarter of declining new net ARR.
• Cyber security: Wedbush assumed coverage of the cybersecurity sector with a positive stance on AI-native platform vendors and a negative stance on standalone vulnerability management vendors. Their view is not that AI-driven threat escalation converts into larger cybersecurity budgets, but rather that the budget is being re-distributed. With this spending concentrated across some platforms, note that vendor results are now starting to show that a handful of cyber platforms are emerging as long-term winners. Add PANW, RBRK to Best ideas list, downgrade VRNS.
• Memory sector got a boost early from ORCL results (MU, SNDK, SKHY, WDC), as Oracle reported that sales from its cloud infrastructure segment, which rents out AI servers over the internet, rose 121% in the fiscal first quarter to $7.4 billion. Oracle's cloud infrastructure unit also represents the majority of the company's $664 billion backlog. Cloud infrastructure for AI uses both NAND and DRAM memory architectures to deliver ultra-high performance. Out of the two memory types, DRAM provides the high-speed working memory while NAND flash offers the dense, non-volatile long-term data storage. Shares were volatile as ORCL shares pulled back off highs and memory fell alongside.

Street Recommendations

Monday, September 14, 2026

• SRRK BMO Capital raised the firm's price target on Scholar Rock to $84 from $76 and keeps an Outperform rating on the shares. The FDA approval of isembyld, coupled with a broad label, positions the drug as the first muscle-targeted treatment used on top of SMN2-targeted therapy, the analyst tells investors in a research note. With the launch underway and product expected to ship in coming days, investor focus now shifts from regulatory risk to launch execution, the firm added.

• RBLX BofA raised the firm's price target on Roblox to $48 from $44 and keeps a Neutral rating on the shares after management "re-articulated its content discovery philosophy in a more nuanced framing that feels less penalizing to viral hits" at the company's annual Roblox Developers Conference. "Steal an Egg's" rise may reflect such fine-tuning, which bodes well for the firm's Q4 and 2027 estimates given that launch velocity remains elevated, the analyst tells investors.
• LEN BofA lowered the firm's price target on Lennar to $70 from $77 and keeps an Underperform rating on the shares ahead of the company's scheduled fiscal Q3 earnings report due Wednesday after market close. The firm, which expects Q3 orders to decline modestly year-over-year, sees margin pressures as likely to extend into FY27 and reduced its FY26, FY27 and FY28 EPS estimates. The firm notes that its FY26 view is broadly in line with consensus, but its FY27 and FY28 forecasts are 6% and 11% below consensus, respectively.

• URI Citi added an "upside 90-day catalyst watch" on United Rentals while keeping a Buy rating on the shares with a $1,330 price target. The firm believes the company is seeing better than expected momentum on rental rates and utilization.
• NKE Citi lowered the firm's price target on Nike to $39 from $45 and keeps a Neutral rating on the shares. The firm believes the company's fiscal Q1 benefited from global football strength. However, Nike's Q2 guidance could disappoint on elevated promotions and tough America comparisons, the analyst tells investors in a research note.
• APH Citi analyst Asiya Merchant added an "upside 90-day catalyst watch" on Amphenol while keeping a Buy rating on the shares with a $105 price target. The firm believes the company should benefit from "strong" AI and data center investment as well as an expanding interconnect content.
• AZO Citi analyst Steven Zaccone lowered the firm's price target on AutoZone to $3,450 from $3,700 and keeps a Buy rating on the shares ahead of the fiscal Q4 report on September 22. The Street is expecting a same-store-sales miss, the analyst tells investors in a research note. Citi says the "bad news seems priced in" following AutoZone's recent selloff.
• ELF Citi raised the firm's price target on Elf Beauty to $118 from $100 and keeps a Buy rating on the shares.
• ACVA Citi raised the firm's price target on ACV Auctions (ACVA) to $10.50 from $8.50 and keeps a Neutral rating on the shares after the company agreed to be acquired by Copart (CPRT) for $10.50 per share in cash.

• MARA JPMorgan double downgraded Mara Holdings to Underweight from Overweight with a price target of $11, down from $13. Other companies offer more direct growth and value accretion from data center opportunities, the analyst tells investors in a research note. JPMorgan says that while many legacy bitcoin miners have pivoted their business models to redirect existing power capacity to high powered compute, Mara has opted to pursue a capital-light strategy. The firm "diluted value creation" from the company's joint venture strategy to convert its powered land assets to data center capacity.
• IREN JPMorgan analyst Richard Choe double upgraded Iren to Overweight from Underweight with a price target of $65, up from $46. Iren is establishing itself as a "top tier" neocloud provider, backed by its strategic partnership with Nvidia, the analyst tells investors in a research note. The firm says Iren has gained momentum in signing customers while industry pricing has moved up substantially. It believes the company's deal signings and 2027 capacity could drive share upside.

• JMSB Keefe Bruyette raised the firm's price target on John Marshall Bancorp to $26 from $25 and keeps an Outperform rating on the shares.

• CHTR Morgan Stanley resumed coverage of Charter with an Equal Weight rating and $150 price target. Following the close of the Cox and concurrent Liberty transactions, the firm acknowledges the benefits of greater scale, but continues to view the combined business as "broadly ex-growth." However, the stock is being priced for secular challenges and it "doesn't take much for a potential re-rating" if there is a turn in broadband net adds or potential value enhancing partnerships, the analyst tells investors.
• MCD Morgan Stanley lowered the firm's price target on McDonald's to $308 from $319 and keeps an Equal Weight rating on the shares. Demand remains a challenge, says the analyst, who trimmed the firm's Q3 U.S. same-store sales growth forecast to flat in conjunction with the firm's investor day preview. The event on September 23 should flesh out strategies the company has been discussing, with detail on timing and cost, the analyst tells investors.
• PUMP Morgan Stanley initiated coverage of ProPetro Holding with an Equal Weight rating and $13 price target. ProPetro combines a Permian-focused completions franchise with a rapidly growing distributed-power platform, notes the analyst. Completions provides a stable base, but the firm sees limited upside to consensus estimates, adding that while PROPWR offers "a compelling growth opportunity," deployment is still early.

• GSIT Needham analyst David Williams initiated coverage of GSI Technology with a Buy rating and $9 price target. The company is transitioning from static random-access memory solutions towards an internally developed associative processor unit for edge AI applications with a leading power to performance advantage, the analyst tells investors in a research note. Needham believes GSI has a "uniquely positioned" opportunity across a broad range of edge AI, vision, and machine learning use cases.

• SRRK Truist raised the firm's price target on Scholar Rock to $76 from $55 and keeps a Buy rating on the shares. The company's lead asset apitegromab has been approved for treatment of SMA patients 2 years or older., and the approval came ahead of schedule with a broad label in-line with expectations and its commentary, the analyst tells investors in a research note. Truist adds that it continues to believe in broad uptake of the drug in combination with SMN2 regulators , having updated its model to reflect approval, the firm added.

• UMBF UBS initiated coverage of UMB Financial with a Neutral rating and $155 price target. The firm sees slower net interest income and fee growth, coupled with rising large financial institution-related expenses, pressuring the bank's operating leverage trends through 2027. After the recent rally, UBS sees limited near-term upside in UMB shares.
• FNB UBS analyst Timur Braziler initiated coverage of F.N.B. with a Neutral rating and $20 price target. The firm believes the longer-term narrative that FNB can generate "increasingly diversified and efficient" earnings remains intact. However, the stock's current valuation likely limits near-term upside, the analyst tells investors in a research note. UBS sees little near-term opportunity for a meaningful re-rating, saying the shares already trade in line with historical and peer valuations.
• ZION UBS upgraded Zions Bancorp to Buy from Neutral with a price target of $78, up from $66, after resuming coverage of the name. Higher interest rates add to Zions' "already underappreciated" net interest income outlook, the analyst tells investors in a research note. UBS says Zions has one of clearest paths to positive operating leverage in 2027. It expect positive earnings revisions to drive the shares higher.
• BANC UBS initiated coverage of Banc of California with a Neutral rating and $20 price target. The firm says credit concerns have kept the bank's valuation range-bound. With the shares "back in the penalty box," Banc of California is unlikely to see multiple expansion unit it demonstrates sustained credit and profitability improvement, the analyst tells investors in a research note.
• GM UBS raised the firm's price target on General Motors to $114 from $102 and keeps a Buy rating on the shares. GM's underappreciated digital business could command a higher multiple than its cyclical core, with connected vehicles enabling recurring, higher-margin revenue to grow from $3.2B in 2026E to $9.6B by 2036E and profit contribution rising from $2.7B to $7.8B, the analyst tells investors in a research note.

• OKTA Wells Fargo analyst Richard Poland raised the firm's price target on Okta to $200 from $180 and keeps an Overweight rating on the shares. The firm sees Okta as one of the cleaner ways to own early/indirect AI tailwinds without requiring meaningful near-term contribution from AI-specific SKUs, which would be upside to the gradual path towards mid-teens and beyond growth.
• RBLX Wells Fargo raised the firm's price target on Roblox to $64 from $46 and keeps an Overweight rating on the shares. The firm says business has bottomed out, and a positive inflection is underway. Game discovery algo is gaining sophistication, enabling higher frequency of hits such as "Steal an Egg." New 18-plus initiatives and extensions off-platform expand addressable game market, adds Wells.

Rating abbreviations…

***OP = Outperform

***SP = Sector Perform

***UP = Underperform

***OW = Overweight

***EW = Equal-weight

***UW = Underweight

***Report powered by thefly.com***

What’s on Tap Weekly Calendar

• Earnings After the Close: HYFT KMTS PLAY RLGT

• H.C. Wainwright & Co., LLC 28th Annual Global Investment Conference, 9/14-9/16, in New York
• Morgan Stanley 24th Annual Global Healthcare Conference, 9/14-9/16 in New York, NY
• Piper 5th Annual Growth Frontiers Conference, 9/14-9/15 in Nashville
• China Retail Sales, Industrial Output, Houe Prices data

• 8:30 AM ET                   Empire Manufacturing data for September
• 8:55 AM ET                   Johnson/Redbook Weekly Sales
• 1:00 PM ET U.S. Treasury sells $18B in 20-yr notes
• 2:00 PM ET FOMC Policy rate meeting (two day meeting)     
• 4:30 PM ET API Weekly Inventory Data

• Earnings After the Close: EPM TCOM

• Goldman Sachs Global Retailing Conference, 9/14-9/15
• H.C. Wainwright & Co., LLC 28th Annual Global Investment Conference, 9/14-9/16, in New York
• Morgan Stanley 24th Annual Global Healthcare Conference, 9/14-9/16 in New York, NY
• Oppenheimer Fintech Leaders Conference, 9/15 in New York
• Oppenheimer AI Infrastructure Conference, 9/15 in New York
• Piper 5th Annual Growth Frontiers Conference, 9/14-9/15 in Nashville
• Stifel Immunology and Inflammation Forum, 9/15-9/16 (virtual)
• Truist Technology Conference - AI Transformation & Evolving Enterprise Debates, 9/15

• 8:30 AM ET                   Import Prices M/M for August
• 8:30 AM ET                   Export Prices M/M for August
• 8:30 AM ET                   Retail Sales M/M for August
• 8:30 AM ET                   Retail Sales M/M Ex: Autos for Aug
• 10:00 AM ET                 Business inventories for July
• 10:00 AM ET NAHB Housing Market Index for September
• 10:30 AM ET                 Weekly EIA Inventory Data
• 2:00 PM ET FOMC Policy rate meeting (two day meeting concludes)
• 4:00 PM ET                    Net Long-term TIC flows for July

• Earnings After the Close: ALMU LEN

• H.C. Wainwright & Co., LLC 28th Annual Global Investment Conference, 9/14-9/16, in New York
• Morgan Stanley 24th Annual Global Healthcare Conference, 9/14-9/16 in New York, NY
• Stifel Immunology and Inflammation Forum, 9/15-9/16 (virtual)
• Wells Fargo PP Texas Power & Gas Tour, 9/16-9/17, in Houston, TX

• 8:30 AM ET                   Continuing Claims
• 8:30 AM ET                   Housing Starts M/M for August
• 8:30 AM ET                   Building Permits M/M for August
• 8:30 AM ET                   Philly Fed Business Index for September
• 10:00 AM ET                 Pending Home Sales M/M for August
• 10:30 AM ET                 Weekly EIA Natural Gas Inventory Data

• Earnings After the Close: None

• Bank America 2026 Global Real Estate Conference, 9/15-9/17
• Oppenheimer 4th Annual Targeted Radiopharma Therapies in Oncology Summit, 9/17 in New York
• Wells Fargo PP Texas Power & Gas Tour, 9/16-9/17, in Houston, TX

• 9:15 AM ET                   Capacity Utilization for August
• 10:00 AM ET                 Leading Index M/M for August
• 1:00 PM ET                    Baker Hughes Weekly rig count data

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