Analysis

Nvidia's better-than-expected earnings sparked a rally in semiconductor stocks. Japanese and South Korean markets opened higher across the board, with the KOSPI surging nearly 2.7% to approach 7,000 points, while SK Hynix and Kioxia both surged 6%.

After Nvidia (NVDA) released its second-quarter earnings report for fiscal year 2027 on August 26 Eastern Time, its stock price fell more than 2% at one point. As of press time, the decline narrowed to 1.24%, with the stock trading at $207.06. During the period, Nvidia's revenue grew 106% year-over-year and 18% quarter-over-quarter to $96.221 billion. The data center segment remained the primary driver of revenue growth, accounting for approximately 92% of the total revenue.

U.S. July core PCE inflation came in line with expectations, as inflation resilience reignited Federal Reserve rate hike expectations, pushing the three major U.S. stock indices slightly lower. Markets are focused on Fed Chair Kevin Warsh's speech at the Jackson Hole annual symposium on Friday to seek trading direction ahead of the September 16 policy meeting. At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.21% to 53,463.88; the Nasdaq Composite Index slipped 0.08% to 26,130.20; and the S&P 500 Index dipped 0.02% to 7,675.70.

Anthropic has agreed to spend $45 billion over the next six years to lease data center computing capacity from AI cloud infrastructure company Nscale at its Monarch campus in West Virginia. According to people familiar with the matter, the agreement involves approximately 460 megawatts of power capacity, which is enough to meet the simultaneous electricity demand of about 345,000 U.S. households.

On August 26 Eastern Time, Micron (MU) stock fluctuated near $940, approaching the lower boundary of its ascending channel. Meanwhile, expectations of rising HBM prices continue to strengthen. TrendForce projects that despite price caps in some long-term agreements, HBM contract prices could still rise by 70% to 140% in 2027.

TradingKey - Micron closed at $932.97 as AI memory demand drives a $50B Q4 revenue outlook. Can MU clear $1,034 resistance and extend its record AI-led run higher?

On August 26 ET, Meta reached a proposed settlement with attorneys general from multiple U.S. states to resolve federal lawsuits alleging that Facebook and Instagram were intentionally designed to addict minors, misled the public about platform safety, and improperly collected children's data. Driven by the news, Meta Platforms rose over 4% in early trading before the stock came under pressure. As of press time, its gain narrowed to 0.27%, trading at $571.57.

TradingKey - Netflix trades near $82.23 as 2026 US ad commitments nearly double. With Q3 growth slowing, $82.85 resistance and advertising momentum are now in focus.

TradingKey - On August 26 ET, Micron Technology (MU) announced two key executive promotions: Manish Bhatia was appointed President and Chief Operating Officer (COO), and Scott DeBoer was appointed President and Chief Technology and Products Officer (CTPO), with both reporting directly to CEO Sanjay Mehrotra. Sumit Sadana, former Executive Vice President and Chief Business Officer, transitioned to Senior Advisor to the CEO.

TradingKey - Dell stock trades near $451.50 as AI demand and a $51.3B backlog set up Sept. 1 earnings. Can DELL clear $472 and extend its 2026 rally?

TradingKey - On August 26, Eastern Time, Reuters reported, citing three people familiar with the matter, that Chinese AI startup Moonshot AI is in talks with Microsoft (MSFT) Azure, Amazon (AMZN) AWS, and Google (GOOGL) Cloud over revenue-sharing agreements for its Kimi K3 large model.

TradingKey - On Wednesday (August 26) Eastern Time, futures tied to the three major US stock indexes were mixed in pre-market trading. Ahead of the upcoming release of Nvidia's earnings report and US core PCE inflation data, investors remained cautious, with tech stocks showing overall weak performance.

TradingKey - MRVL Aug 26 pre-earnings: Google Aug 19 deal ($120B potential revenue through FY33, 58.97M warrant). Q1 $2.418B (+28%), Q2 guidance $2.70B (+35%), DC +27%. Earnings Aug 27 1:45 PM PT. AI storage/CXL/optical. Celestial/XConn acq.

TradingKey - Tax and financial software company Intuit (INTU) reported its fourth-quarter fiscal 2026 results after the market close on August 25. Although its quarterly performance exceeded market expectations, its fiscal 2027 guidance fell short of analyst estimates, sending the company's shares down more than 11% in pre-market trading on August 26.

TradingKey - Nvidia (NVDA) is set to report its latest quarterly results after the US market close on Wednesday. Following seven consecutive trading days of losses, Nvidia rebounded 2.19% on Tuesday and gained approximately 0.33% in pre-market trading on Wednesday, signaling that some investors are beginning to re-enter ahead of the earnings release.

TradingKey - Morgan Stanley has initiated credit research coverage on Nvidia (NVDA) for the first time, assigning it a "Neutral" rating. To be clear, this is not a downgrade of Nvidia's equity investment rating, but rather an assessment of the company's debt and overall credit profile. Morgan Stanley believes that while Nvidia still boasts an exceptionally strong balance sheet, potential risks that were previously less apparent are increasing as the company increasingly leverages its financial strength to support the expansion of the AI industry.

TradingKey - Boeing (BA) has secured another mega defense contract, with the U.S. Department of War awarding the company an Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) contract valued at up to $131.23 billion.

TradingKey - On August 26, Asia-Pacific time, Bloomberg reported that SoftBank Group is in discussions with investment banks regarding a $10 billion to $20 billion bond issuance to refinance loans raised for its investment in OpenAI.

TradingKey - As of August 25 Eastern Time, Nvidia (NVDA) rose 2.19% to $213.05, ending a seven-consecutive-session losing streak. Nvidia will report its fiscal second-quarter 2027 financial results after the market close on August 26. Against the backdrop of recent heightened volatility in the AI sector, this earnings report will serve as a key catalyst influencing the direction of Nvidia's short-term stock price.

Japanese and South Korean stocks both closed higher, with the KOSPI reclaiming the 6,800 level, the Nikkei returning to the 66,000 mark, and Samsung surging nearly 2%.