Morning Preview: August 14, 2026

Early Look

Friday, August 14, 2026

Another day, another record for Wall Street as the S&P 500 ended the day at yet another all-time high, the 27th of the year, just closing shy of 7,800 for the first time after hitting a fresh intraday high of 7,816.70 on broad strength, but technology was again the leader with the XLK now up 32.5% year-to date. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq are on track for weekly gains and looking higher overnight ahead of key monthly retail sales data at 8:30 am et. Slightly cooler PPI and CPI inflation data the last few days has sparked more buying interest as the data renewed hopes that Fed rate hikes are pushed out (which followed weaker employment data last Friday). In Asian markets, The Nikkei Index advanced 405 points to 68,713, the Shanghai Index was little changed at 3,927, and the Hang Seng Index fell -279 points to 25,116. In Europe, the German DAX is up 181 points to 26,481, while the FTSE 100 slips -8 points to 10,764. In tech overnight, shares of semi equipment maker AMAT declines despite stronger quarterly results. In defense, drone stocks are rising after President Trump bolsters National Security and strengthens U.S. supply chains by imposing tariffs on drones and their Parts and components. Overall, a strong week for energy (XLE) rising over 6% and more than 1% gains for Healthcare (XLV), Tech (XLK) and Financials (XLF).

• The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 69.72 points, or 0.13%, to 53,839.99
• The Nasdaq Composite gained 214.54 points, or 0.81%, to 26,803.03
• The Russell 2000 Index advanced 7.37 points, or 0.24% to 3,052.86

• 8:30 AM ET                  Retail Sales Ex: Autos M/m for July…est. +0.2% (prior -0.2%)
• 10:00 AM ET                Business Inventories M/M for June…est. +0.1%
• 10:00 AM ET                University of Michigan Confidence Aug-prelim…est. 54.5
• 10:00 AM ET                University of Michigan 1-yr and 5-yr inflation expectations
• 1:00 PM ET                   Baker Hughes Weekly rig count data

• Tyson Foods (TSN) noted it is closing beef plant in Joslin, Illinois; selling plant in Pasco, Washington; and shuttering case-ready facility in Eagle Mountain, Utah; will consolidate beef business at its locations in Amarillo, Texas; Dakota City, Nebraska; and Holcomb, Kansas.

• York Space Systems (YSS) Q2 revs rose 10% y/y to $92.5M vs. est. $89.4M as increase was primarily driven by growth in York’s major government programs; but sees FY revs $375M-$405M below consensus $557.6M; reported Q2 gross margins rose 13 percentage points to 24% and posted Q2 net loss (-$39.3M); Q2 Backlog stood at $592M, down 8% from $642.3M on March 31, and up 9% from the start of the year.
• In the defense sector, President Trump bolsters national security and strengthens U.S. supply chains by imposing tariffs on drones and their parts and components. A proclamation signed by Trump imposes a 100% ad valorem tariff on drones of a certain size or with certain capabilities that are particularly sensitive for national security purposes, the White House said, adding that a tariff of 25% will be imposed on drones that are smaller in size. (watch drone names AVAV, DPRO, ONDS, RCAT, UMAC, DRNZ) and rebuilds the U.S. Navy and America’s Shipbuilding industrial base (watch shares of HII)

• International Money Express (IMXI) shares rose 25% after the company gained approval from New York regulators to be acquired by Western Union (WU). The New York State Department of Financial Services is allowing the deal between the two cross-border payment companies on certain conditions. Western Union made certain commitments to the regulator with respect to remittance services and locations in New York following the deal, the companies said, without specifying what those commitments will be.
• Nu Holdings (NU) Q2 net profit $1.06B vs consensus est. $967.2M; Q2 revs $5.88B vs est. $5.60B; Q2 Consolidated loan book $39.4B; Q2 90-day default ratio 6.9%
• StoneCo Ltd. (STNE) Q2 net profit 583M reais vs est. 600 mln reais and Q2 total revenue 3.6B reais vs estimate 3.7B reais; Q2 net income of R$2.16B for the six months ended June 30, 2026, up 93% y/y; and total revenue and income from continuing operations rose 4.43% to R$7.17B.

• Capricor Therapeutics (CAPR) shares more than double after saying the FDA agreed to review new data on its Duchenne muscular dystrophy therapy, deramiocel. The company plans to submit additional trial data showing benefits in upper limb muscle function. The agency’s decision was expected by August 22.
• Celcuity (CELC) Q2 EPS loss (-$1.07) vs. est. loss (-$1.16); Q2 operating loss (-$66.1M) and Q2 net income loss (-$58.7M) vs. est. loss (-$60.5M); said made monumental progress these past few months, achieving critical clinical and regulatory milestones related to gedatolisib.
• Eton Pharmaceuticals (ETON) Q2 adj. EPS $0.43 vs. est. $0.10; revenue $37.6Mm vs. est. $27.1Mm; gross profit $25.4Mm; operating Income $12.8Mm vs est $3.927Mm; FY revenue guidance more than $145Mm vs. est. $121.3Mm; FY adj. EBITDA margin guidance at least 35%.
• Heartflow Inc. (HTFL) Q2 adj. EPS ($0.07) vs. est. ($0.13); revenue $64.1Mm vs. est. $56.6Mm, +48% YoY; gross profit $53.2Mm; gross margin 83.0%; adj. operating loss $7.9Mm; adj. EBITDA ($6.7Mm) vs est ($11.64Mm); FY revenue guidance $246Mm-$250Mm vs est $230.07Mm.
• Nektar Therapeutics (NKTR) Q2 EPS loss (-$1.23) vs. est. loss (-$1.97); Q2 revs $10.1M, operating loss (-$42.3M); notes initiated the first Phase 3 ZENITH AD trials in atopic dermatitis in July, and we plan to start a single registrational Phase 3 study in alopecia areata in early 2027.
• PetMed Express (PETS) Q1 revs $41M and adj Ebitda (-$3.4M) with EPS loss (-$0.28); Q1 operating loss (-$6.23M) and Q1 operating expenses were $17.6M; said acquired 70,000 new customers while reducing our cost of acquiring a new customer by 15% y/y.

• Blaize (BZAI) shares fall; reports Q2 revenue $12M vs. est. $12.28M; Q2 net loss was (-$28.8M) vs. a net loss of (-$22.7M) q/q and (-$29.6M) y/y; Q2 adjusted EBITDA loss was (-$20.9M) vs. adjusted EBITDA loss of (-$13.9M) in Q1 and (-$12.9M) y/y; sees 2026 revenue at $40M-$43M, down from prior outlook.
• Globant SA (GLOB) shares fall; Q2 adj EPS $1.40 vs est $1.50 on revs $614.4Mm vs est $613.06Mm, adj gr mgn 36.5%; guides Q3 revs $607-615Mm vs est $625.79Mm and adj EPS $1.43-1.59 vs est $1.59; sees FY revs $2.428-2.462B vs est $2.473B.
• Lam Research (LRCX) said it intends to invest more than $3B in next five years to expand global research & development lab network; planned multi-site expansion expected to add infrastructure & capabilities to increase experiment capacity by more than 50%.
• Newsmax (NMAX) Q2 EPS $0.02 vs. est. loss (-$0.03); Q2 revs $54.11M vs. est. $48.6M; affirms FY sales guidance of $212M-$216M vs. est. $213.2M; Q2 Adjusted EBITDA rose to $5.7M vs. year ago loss (-$3.8M); says affiliate fee revenue more than doubled to $13.4M and licensing revenue rose to $4.6M.
• OpenAI is on track to generate annualized revenue > $40b based on its current performance, driven in part by the growth of its AI coding software and subscription sales.
• Reddit Inc. RDDT) will replace AvalonBay Communities Inc. (AVB) in the S&P 500 effective prior to the opening of trading on Tuesday, August 18. S&P 500 constituent Equity Residential (EQR) is acquiring AvalonBay Communities in a deal expected to be completed soon, pending final conditions.
• TSS Inc. (TSSI) Q2 EPS $0.05 vs. est. $0.08; revenue $35.1Mm vs. est. $47.1Mm; gross profit $8.0Mm; operating Income $1.6Mm; FY adj. EBITDA guidance at the upper end of $20Mm-$22Mm vs est $22.1Mm; second half expected stronger than first half.
• Vuzix (VUZI) Q2 EPS ($0.09) vs est ($0.11) on revs $1.113Mm vs est $1.5Mm.