Market Snapshot
Ahead of Friday's market open, index futures rose across the board as momentum driven by artificial intelligence intensified. As of the time of writing, Dow Jones futures were up 0.54%, Nasdaq 100 futures rose 1.10%, and S&P 500 futures gained 0.35%.
$Star Tech Companies (LIST2518.US)$Most stocks traded higher in pre-market action, with Amazon rising over 11% following its earnings release, Apple falling more than 7% after its results, and Micron Technology and AMD both gaining over 4%.
$China Concept Stocks (LIST2517.US)$Most stocks traded higher in pre-market action, with Alibaba rising over 2%.
$AI application software (LIST23492.US)$Most stocks traded lower in pre-market action, $Roblox (RBLX.US)$ 、 $Reddit (RDDT.US)$ plummeted following its earnings release.
$Data storage stock (LIST23925.US)$ maintaining the strong momentum from the previous session, SK Hynix rose over 7%, while SanDisk, Seagate Technology, and Western Digital all gained over 4%.
$Optical Communication (LIST23979.US)$ strengthened in pre-market trading, $AXT Inc (AXTI.US)$ surged 34% following its earnings release, and Marvell Technology rose nearly 7%.
Individual Stock News
Is Tesla considering spinning off its China operations? Tesla China officially responds: False report.
On July 31, reports emerged that $Tesla (TSLA.US)$ is considering divesting its China operations, a move intended to pave the way for a potential future merger with SpaceX. Tesla China responded to these reports, calling them “false information.” Currently, the Chinese market—centered around the Shanghai Gigafactory—is not only Tesla’s largest global vehicle production base and export hub but also a key consumer market. Official data shows that over half of Tesla’s global orders are fulfilled by the Shanghai Gigafactory. Delivery figures indicate that in the first half of 2026, Tesla delivered more than 830,000 vehicles globally, of which nearly 468,000 were produced at the Shanghai Gigafactory, representing a 28.4% year-over-year increase and marking the highest output for the same period in nearly three years. Since delivering the first China-made Model 3 in December 2019, the Shanghai Gigafactory has cumulatively produced over 4.5 million electric vehicles in six and a half years, accounting for more than 45% of Tesla’s total global output and serving as its largest global export center.
Behind Amazon's Strong Earnings: Escaping the 'Strongest Model' Arms Race
$Amazon (AMZN.US)$ It delivered impressive financial results, with its highly watched AWS cloud services revenue surging 37% year-over-year. This explosive growth is primarily attributed to its cloud platform hosting a variety of AI models from industry leaders such as Anthropic and OpenAI. In contrast, Amazon’s progress in developing its own AI models has been less than stellar. During the earnings call, Amazon CEO Andy Jassy stated that proprietary models are not a critical issue, emphasizing that the industry will not be dominated by a single AI model. Jassy remarked, “Even without cutting-edge, in-house AI models, Amazon and AWS can still build a massive and highly successful business.” Industry observers noted that this statement signals a significant shift in the strategic logic of AI development. Since ChatGPT ignited global AI enthusiasm in 2022, ‘building the strongest model’ has been widely regarded as the golden rule, prompting tech giants to pour enormous investments into R&D and model training.
Analyst: Amid Internal and External Pressures, NVIDIA 'Defends' Its Technical Confluence Zone—$190 May Become the 'Anchor' of AI Market Sentiment
Market strategist David Keller stated, $NVIDIA (NVDA.US)$ appears to be vigorously defending the critical technical support zone around $190–$192. “NVIDIA is clearly making every effort to hold this confluence of multipletechnical indicatorstechnical indicators,support level” Keller said. He explained that this price range aligns with several key technical signals: the 200-day moving average, the 61.8% Fibonacci retracement level, and the swing lows from June and July—all converging near the same price area. When multiple support levels overlap within a specific zone, it typically indicates a significant price level where buyers may step in to defend the market. Although the stock briefly attempted to break below this zone in the previous session, Keller noted, “the support remains strong, and there was no follow-through selling pressure after yesterday’s breach,” suggesting that bears failed to decisively push the price below this critical technical floor.
Apple, which does not build its own data centers, is now footing the bill for AI data centers.
$Apple (AAPL.US)$ The strongest June-quarter earnings in history—revenue of $109.4 billion and gross margin exceeding 50% for the first time—but shares plunged after hours, wiping out over $300 billion in market value overnight. The real crisis lies deep within the supply chain: investors are focused on the fourth-quarter guidance—gross margin slashed from 50.1% to a range of 47%–48%, a decline of 2–3 percentage points. While the figure itself appears modest, Apple isn’t building AI data centers, yet the costs of AI data centers are silently eroding Apple’s margins through two channels: chips and memory, impacting every iPhone and Mac. Cloud providers demand training and inference chips, while Apple needs application processors and memory—different products, but all competing for capacity from the same pool of suppliers.
Linde Commits $1 Billion Bet on U.S. Semiconductor Capacity Expansion
One of the world’s largest industrial gas companies $Linde (LIN.US)$ announced locally on Friday that it will invest approximately $1 billion to expand its industrial gas facility in Phoenix, Arizona, to support a new round of capacity expansion by a globally leading semiconductor manufacturer. According to Linde, the company has entered into a long-term supply agreement with this customer to provide ultra-high-purity industrial gases for its Phoenix semiconductor manufacturing site. The investment will fund the construction of two new air separation units and related infrastructure. Upon completion, this project will become one of Linde’s largest investments globally for its electronics industry customers.
SpaceX is set to release its first financial report following its IPO, with Morgan Stanley warning that the most dangerous moment is approaching.
$SpaceX (SPCX.US)$ will release its first quarterly earnings report since its IPO next Tuesday (August 4). In a report, Morgan Stanley stated that the company is approaching its most precarious moment. Notably, on August 6, approximately 911.5 million shares of SpaceX stock will become eligible for trading as lock-up restrictions expire, representing roughly $100 billion worth of unlocked shares. Consequently, SpaceX continues to face significant selling pressure, which could amplify share price volatility around the earnings release. Morgan Stanley noted that the most critical aspect of SpaceX’s earnings report will not be the financial figures themselves but rather management commentary. However, the firm expects SpaceX’s earnings call to follow a style similar to Tesla’s—providing limited quantitative guidance and focusing primarily on directional updates regarding the Starship program timeline, deployment pace of computing infrastructure, and general strategic direction for Grok and Cursor models.
Misses Expectations for Third Consecutive Quarter! Coinbase Sinks Deeper into the 'Crypto Winter' in Q2
The cryptocurrency exchange $Coinbase (COIN.US)$ saw its stock decline in after-hours trading on Thursday, underscoring that despite its efforts to diversify revenue streams, the prolonged impact of the 'crypto winter' persists. This marks Coinbase’s third consecutive quarter of both revenue and profitability falling short of market expectations. From a market perspective, Bitcoin prices traded within a range during the second quarter. Although conditions improved somewhat compared to the prior quarter’s weakness, Bitcoin ETFs shifted from net inflows to sustained net outflows. Additionally, macro headwinds such as high interest rates and heightened overall market volatility have dampened investor risk appetite. Nevertheless, subscription revenue’s share of total revenue increased, highlighting progress in the company’s diversification strategy.
Exxon Mobil and Chevron Report Combined Q2 Net Profit of $26.5 Billion, Setting a Historical Record
$Exxon Mobil (XOM.US)$ and $Chevron (CVX.US)$ released their second-quarter earnings reports, with combined net profits reaching $26.5 billion. Chevron posted its highest quarterly profit in company history at $12.2 billion, a nearly fivefold year-over-year increase; Exxon Mobil reported net income of $14.5 billion, doubling year-over-year and marking its strongest quarter since the Russia-Ukraine conflict began in 2022. The windfall profits stemmed largely from U.S. military actions driving up oil prices, though this may invite criticism from Trump over alleged price gouging. Both energy giants prioritized debt reduction over significantly increasing share buybacks with their excess profits, reflecting cautious views on the sustainability of war-driven oil prices.
Global Macro
Iran Strikes U.S. Strategic Targets in Kuwait and Bahrain as Middle East Conflict Escalates
Iranian forces announced attacks on U.S. strategic assets and military bases in Kuwait and Bahrain, following earlier drone strikes on Egypt’s Damietta LNG terminal. The ongoing Middle East conflict continues to widen, having already taken offline more than 500,000 barrels per day of oil production, severely impacting Exxon Mobil and Chevron operations in the region. The Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) is also discussing an indefinite suspension of oil and tanker operations at its terminal—a critical export route for Kazakh crude. Expanding geopolitical risks pose a tangible threat to global energy supplies, leaving room for further upside in oil prices.
Goldman Sachs: The Fed's opaque framework could be counterproductive, and long-end rates may force another rate hike.
Goldman Sachs warned that Waller’s cancellation of forward guidance, while obscuring the policy framework, not only makes it difficult to rebuild credibility but is in fact accelerating its erosion. If incoming data fails to show clear signs of softening before September, markets could 'force' the Federal Reserve to raise rates again. Meanwhile, ongoing global fiscal expansion continues to push up term premia, and the pace of deleveraging in momentum strategies has been as severe as during the COVID-19 shock.
U.S. Stock 'Insider Sentiment' Plummets to a 21-Year Low! Is Smart Money Pulling Back?
According to the latest data provided by Nejat Seyhun, professor of finance at the University of Michigan and an expert on insider trading, U.S. corporate insiders showed extremely weak buying interest in July this year. Among all companies with insider transactions, only 14.8% recorded net buying. If this trend persists through month-end, it will mark the lowest level in at least 21 years. More troubling for markets is that this selling occurred during a market correction. Professor Seyhun noted that when insiders choose to sell rather than 'buy the dip' amid falling share prices, it typically signals a lack of confidence in a near-term company recovery. Sentiment is especially pessimistic among executives of large-cap stocks: among large-market-capitalization companies, only 3.2% saw insider purchases.
The aftershocks of the collapse of a top-tier U.S. AI hedge fund continue to reverberate! Wall Street fears a repeat of the LTCM crisis.
Following billionaire Ken Griffin, founder of Citadel, stepping in to rescue hedge fund Situational Awareness, global AI-related stocks staged a relief rally. Traders are now debating whether the worst may be over or if more funds face potential blow-ups. Analysts have drawn parallels between the current situation and the 1998 collapse of Long-Term Capital Management (LTCM), which prompted the Federal Reserve to orchestrate a bailout to mitigate systemic risk in financial markets. Others recall the wave of bank and fund acquisitions during the global financial crisis. Cusson Leung, Chief Investment Officer at KGI International Wealth Management, remarked: 'If there’s one Situational Awareness out there, how many more such funds exist in the market? This morning, I was reminded of a very similar scenario—specifically, JPMorgan’s acquisition of Bear Stearns back in 2008.'
$1.1 Trillion Poured into AI as Free Cash Flow of U.S. Tech Quartet Plunges to Decade-Low
An analysis of earnings reports from the past two weeks reveals that from the initial surge of AI enthusiasm in 2023 through the end of June this year, Google, Amazon, Microsoft, and Meta have collectively spent $1.1 trillion in capital expenditures. Free cash flow—a measure of the cash remaining after operating expenses and capital investments, available for debt repayment or shareholder returns—has been significantly pressured. Executives across multiple tech firms acknowledged that massive AI-related spending will continue to weigh on this metric over the coming quarters. In just the past three months alone, Google, Meta, and Microsoft have incurred nearly $900 billion in new AI-related commitments, effectively tethering their balance sheets to the long-term AI race. Amazon has not yet disclosed comparable detailed figures. Combined free cash flow for the four companies has fallen to $7 billion—the lowest level in ten years. Over the same period, only Microsoft and Meta reported revenues exceeding expenditures.
Top 20 pre-market trading volume stocks in the U.S.
U.S. Equity Market Macro Calendar Reminder
(All times listed below are in Beijing Time)
20:30 U.S. Employment Cost Index (Quarter-over-Quarter) for Q2
21:45 U.S. Chicago PMI for July
22:30 Final Reading of University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index for July; Final Reading of One-Year Inflation Expectations for July
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Editor/Rocky