Investing
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Inflation for July came in milder than expected at 2.7%.
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Core inflation ran hotter at 3.1%.
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The Vanguard S&P 500 ETF closed at 590.16 Tuesday, up almost 1%.
On the flip side, Phillip Securities analyst Helena Wang has downgraded Shopify (Nasdaq: SHOP) stock to neutral with a $150 price target. Wang cited valuation, specifically a rally in the stock price, as tempering her enthusiasm for buying more — and warns the stock price “appears stretched at the current share price.”
Shopify stock is nonetheless up 0.6% today, while the Voo is still hanging onto its 0.8% gain.
And another restaurant upgrade today: S&P 500 component company Starbucks (Nasdaq: SBUX). Predicting “turnaround strategies under new leadership will be effective in transforming Starbucks into a better company,” Piper Sandler analyst David Tarantino upgraded the coffeehouse chain to Outperform with a $115 price target.
Starbucks stock is up 2%, and the Voo is marching higher again as well — now up 0.8%.
Piper Sandler analyst Brian Mullan upgraded Chipotle Mexican Grill (NYSE: CMG) to overweight with a $50 price target this morning. Predicting 3% same store sales growth over the next two years, the analyst sees the potential for about a 20% increase in share price as the stock recovers from its 31% decline year to date.
Chipotle stock is up 3.3% in early trading. The Voo’s gain has shrunk to 0.4%.
Economists were expecting US consumer prices (i.e. inflation) to rise 2.8% in July. Today, the official number came out, it was milder than expected… and the Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (NYSEMKT: VOO) is moving higher.
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Tuesday that the consumer price index increased 2.7% in July, slightly better than expected, and helped by falling gas prices. “Core” inflation, which doesn’t count changes in the cost of food and energy, ran hotter, however, at 3.1%, versus a forecast for 3%. Long story short, we’re not out of the inflation woods yet, but because the headline number at least was better than expected, the “Voo” is up 0.5% premarket.
Will it last? Tune in two days from now, when BLS will report on the producer price index for a glimpse at where whole prices are trending. If that number looks mild, the chances of a Fed interest rate cut this year should increase, and the stock market will probably rejoice.
Earnings
Ad-seller PubMatic (Nasdaq: PUBM) reported $0.05 per share in Q2 profit last night, where Wall Street had expected a big $0.16 loss. Sales were also ahead of expectations at $71.1 million. PubMatic warned, however, that full year revenue will be no more than $66 million instead of the Street-predicted $70.8 million, and PubMatic shares are down more than 30% in premarket trading.
3-D printer-maker 3D Systems (NYSE: DDD) reported a $0.07 loss on Q2 sales of $94.8 million last night, missing on both top and bottom lines, but its stock is up a fraction of a percent premarket.
S&P 500 component company Cardinal Health (NYSE: CAH) reported its fiscal Q4 2025 results this morning. The medical products distributor beat earnings forecasts by a nickel, reporting $2.08 per share in profit. Sales, however, fell short of estimates at $60.2 billion, and Cardinal Health shares are down more than 7% permarket.
Stablecoin issuer and June IPO Circle Internet Group (NYSE: CRCL) reported a Q2 loss of $4.48 per share, on revenue of $658 million. The stock is up more than 12% permarket.
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