Investopedia Markets News (all except PF)

• UnitedHealth Group is set to post earnings Thursday morning, with the health insurance giant’s stock seen making a big move.
• Wall Street analysts see improving profits and roughly flat revenue year-over-year.

UnitedHealth Group’s latest quarterly results are slated to be released ahead of the opening bell on Thursday, with traders looking for the stock to potentially hit its highest point in over a year following the report.

Based on current options pricing, UnitedHealth (UNH) shares are seen swinging up to about 6% in either direction following the report. A move of that size from Monday’s close could see the stock rally above $453, which would be its highest point since April 2025. The low end of that range could see shares slip below $405, giving up some of their recent rally.

UnitedHealth shares have gained 30% since the start of the year after the health insurance giant topped first-quarter estimates and has received several votes of confidence from Wall Street analysts who see room for the company to improve its margins and cut costs.

A strong report could help UnitedHealth’s stock continue its recent rally, and make up more of the ground it lost in a difficult 2025 amid investigations into its billing practices, disappointing earnings, and a surprise CEO change.

Bank of America analysts last month upgraded UnitedHealth’s stock to a “buy,” and lifted their price target to $450 from $420, citing encouraging insurance usage trends. Morgan Stanley analysts also recently lifted their target to $468 from $453, writing that UnitedHealth’s results should “set a positive tone” for the healthcare sector, and that the company’s investments in AI tools could drive future savings.

Analysts are forecasting UnitedHealth will report revenue of $110.62 billion, roughly flat year-over-year, along with adjusted earnings per share of $4.80, up from $4.08 the same time a year ago.

Analysts are largely bullish on UnitedHealth, with eight of the nine analysts tracked by Visible Alpha recommending buying the health insurer’s stock, compared to just one neutral rating, though the stock’s recent gains have already pushed it above analysts’ mean target of $427.

News of the day for July 14, 2026

Stock futures are mixed as investors digest a full slate of big bank earnings and await the release of a key report on inflation; JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Wells Fargo, Goldman Sachs and Citigroup all reported results this morning; June Consumer Price Index data is expected to show that inflation moderated; Fed Chair Kevin Warsh is making appearances before Congress today and tomorrow to discuss the economy and the Fed’s plans for inflation; and SK Hynix shares are surging while IBM shares are plunging as tech sector volatility continues. Here’s what you need to know today.

Stock futures are pointing to a mixed open for major indexes Tuesday after the market got off to a rocky start to the week yesterday. Futures tied to the tech-heavy Nasdaq were up 0.5% recently, while futures linked to the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.1% and 0.6% respectively. Tech stocks are rebounding this morning from steep losses yesterday. WTI crude oil futures were up 2% at nearly $80 per barrel, trading near their highest level in a month, as the U.S. and Iran exchanged strikes and President Trump said yesterday that the U.S. will install a new naval blockade around Iran. Gold futures were up nearly 1% at $4,040 an ounce, while bitcoin rose slightly to $62,700. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note, which affects interest rates on loans, was holding steady around 4.62%, its highest point since mid-May.

The second-quarter earnings season kicks into high gear today with a flurry of reports from big banks for investors to digest. JPMorgan Chase (JPM), Bank of America (BAC), Wells Fargo (WFC), Goldman Sachs (GS), and Citigroup (C) all reported results this morning. JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon said in the bank’s earnings release that the economy has “demonstrated notable resiliency this year,” but noted that risks such as wars and inflation that could “cause meaningful disruptions.” Shares of JPMorgan, Bank of America, Wells Fargo and Citi were each down more than 1% in recent premarket trading despite better-than-expected results, while Goldman rose nearly 3%.

Investors will get a fresh look at the health of the economy this morning, with the Consumer Price Index for June scheduled to be released at 8:30 a.m. ET. Economists estimate that prices rose 3.8% year-over-year in June, down from a 4.2% jump in May as gas prices retreated from recent highs. Prices are expected to have fallen 0.2% in June compared to May, the first month-over-month drop since last summer. Annual core inflation, which excludes more-volatile prices of food and fuel, is expected to come in at 2.8%, down from 2.9% in May but still well above the 2% target the Federal Reserve is looking for.

New Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh is headed to Capitol Hill today, where he will testify in front of the House Finance Committee ahead of an appearance before the Senate Banking Committee on Wednesday. Warsh is scheduled to give his first semiannual report to lawmakers since taking over the top spot at the Fed in May. Warsh will likely face questions about the Fed’s independence and how he intends to bring inflation down. In his few public appearances so far, Warsh has stressed the central bank’s commitment to taming inflation, which has led to increased expectations in financial markets that the Fed could raise interest rates this year. Warsh has plans to overhaul the way the Fed operates, and has said the Fed should provide less “forward guidance” to markets about interest rates. Warsh’s testimony will be live at 10 a.m. ET here.

Shares of SK Hynix (SKHY) are surging this morning as the South Korean memory chip maker continues its rollercoaster ride following its U.S. trading debut last Friday. The memory chipmaking giant’s shares surged in partial trading Friday before pulling back sharply with a 9% drop yesterday. In recent premarket trading, the stock was up 6%. The memory sector has had a volatile last few weeks as investors question whether the industry’s recent rally may have sent some stocks too high, and whether the AI trade is a bubble that could pop if big tech companies decide to pull back on their massive spending plans. The Roundhill Memory ETF (DRAM) was up nearly 4% recently.

One more thing: Shares of International Business Machines (IBM) are tanking after the tech giant and Dow component released preliminary results that came in far short of Wall Street expectations. In a letter to shareholders, CEO Arvind Krishna said “numerous large deals failed to close on the timelines we expected, driving the majority of our shortfall.” IBM shares were down more than 20% before the opening bell.

• TSMC is due to report earnings Thursday, with the chipmaker’s stock seen making a big move by the end of the week.
• The chip manufacturer is expected to report another quarter of strong revenue and profit growth on booming demand for AI chips.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. is scheduled to report its latest quarterly earnings early Thursday morning, with traders anticipating a big swing from the stock.

TSMC’s (TSM) U.S.-listed shares are expected to swing up to about 5% in either direction by the end of the week. A move of that size from Monday’s close could see the company’s U.S.-listed shares climb as high as $444, approaching last month’s record high above $477, or slip below $400, giving back some of their recent gains.

A solid report from TSMC would be an encouraging signal for earnings from other semiconductor firms, and could help improve sentiment around the AI trade.

Shares of the world’s largest contract chip manufacturer are up nearly 40% since the start of the year, as investors piled into the biggest hardware names benefitting from the AI boom.

However, the tech rally has stumbled recently amid renewed worries about an AI bubble and concerns about the sustainability of spending by big tech companies, though Wall Street analysts have largely remained bullish on the sector. TSMC remains a favorite on Wall Street, with all seven analysts tracked by Visible Alpha recommending buying the stock, and most seeing gains ahead.

TSMC reports revenue on a monthly basis, and on Monday said it earned 442.68 billion New Taiwan dollars ($13.79 billion) in June. That brings its second-quarter total to 1.27 trillion New Taiwan dollars, up from 933.79 billion New Taiwan dollars a year ago. Analysts are looking for TSMC to report earnings per American depositary receipt of 120.75 New Taiwan dollars ($3.76), according to Visible Alpha estimates.

• Analysts expect another quarter of outsize earnings growth, but that could be a setup for disappointment.
• The S&P 500 has been trading around 7500 since May, and another good quarter could boost it higher, according to Yardeni Research.

The second-quarter earnings season—banks kick it off tomorrow—could be the catalyst that powers the stock market higher.

Some investors might like to see one. The S&P 500 traded sideways for the first couple of months of the year, started climbing at the end of March, and since around May has hung out at around 7500. Though that has resulted in roughly 10% gains year-to-date, investors may have started to wonder: “Is that all there is?”

It may not be. “Earnings should continue to drive the stock market higher,” according to Yardeni Research’s Ed Yardeni and Toby Hearst. Wall Street analysts are fired up about the coming results, and expect another quarter of strong growth.

Corporate fundamentals have so far supported the market at record levels. Whether they continue to wow investors could determine where the S&P goes next.

That could prove to be a double-edged sword. Much as some market watchers see investor expectations for individual companies’ growth as so high as to be potentially impossible to meet, others see that happening in the aggregate.

“Investors may be fretting that expectations for the upcoming earnings reporting season are so high that if they aren’t exceeded, the market might swoon again in July as it did in June,” Yardeni wrote. That said, the firm still expects the S&P to reach 8250 by the end of the year, implying upside of roughly 9% from recent levels.

Consensus expectations put second-quarter earnings growth at almost 24%, according to FactSet data as of Friday. That would mean two consecutive seasons of 20%-plus growth if those results bear out. In other words, the Street has set the bar high for upside surprises.

How high is that bar? S&P companies’ tendency to report earnings above estimates would suggest earnings growth hits above 29% for the second quarter, based on the average rate of improvement, according to FactSet’s John Butters. That, he said, would be the highest rate since 32% in Q4 of 2021.

Investors’ high expectations extend to the tech subsection of the S&P tied to the AI trade, with some hoping to see a return on capital in earnings reports. Oppenheimer Chief Investment Strategist John Stoltzfus says that’s “unrealistic” and resembles “expectations of instant gratification” seen in the late 1990s around internet stocks.

“Patience is called for and should be nurtured throughout the investment process particularly to opportunities tied to dramatic innovation that augurs to be transformational,” he said in a report on Monday.

• Apple shares could reach new heights as the tech giant grows its market share and launches new AI features, according to Citi analysts.
• The analysts told clients Apple’s fall launch event could be an important catalyst for the stock.

Apple’s stock has rallied to record highs recently. Some experts say they believe it still has has more room to run.

Shares of Apple (AAPL) climbed nearly 3% to a new high above $323 Monday before paring back some of their gains, on day when the broader tech sector lost ground. Citi analysts lifted their price target to $365 from $315 over the weekend, telling clients they see the company continuing to gain market share on the strength of its “premium brand” and “design-driven demand,” with solid iPhone 17 sales standing out amid broader weakness in the market for phones and laptops.

After raising prices on several products last month to offset high memory costs, price hikes could also come to iPhones when Apple launches its new lineup later this year, they said.

The stronger vote of confidence from Citi could add to recent enthusiasm for Apple’s shares, which have rallied lately amid a rough stretch for tech stocks.

The analysts said Apple’s AI-enhanced Siri should also help drive revenue and engagement, and that they’ll be looking ahead to Apple’s September launch event as “an important catalyst that could further strengthen investor sentiment.”

Citi’s new target is a bit above the Visible Alpha consensus around $340, and the analysts’ “buy” rating is in line with four other analysts tracked by Visible Alpha, compared to one neutral and one “sell” rating.

Apple is facing a big second half of the year, with a CEO change and product launches that could include a foldable iPhone expected in September. Tim Cook is set to hand over the top job to John Ternus, who will take on the increasing pressure shareholders have put on the iPhone maker to make meaningful progress in the AI race.

Apple made headlines over the weekend with a lawsuit filed late Friday against OpenAI, accusing the ChatGPT maker of stealing trade secrets. The complaint alleges that OpenAI and a pair of former Apple employees encouraged current Apple employees to bring parts and top-secret information to job interviews with OpenAI, and coached the employees on how to bring private information with them to new jobs at OpenAI.

An OpenAI spokesperson told Investopedia that the company has “no interest in other companies’ trade secrets. We remain focused on building innovative technology that empowers people everywhere.”

Episode 303 of the Investopedia Express podcast with Caleb Silver (July 13, 2026)

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With the U.S. government making direct investments in public companies and the introduction of Trump accounts that will bring millions of new investors into the stock market, what happens when the next bear market arrives? Eric Balchunas of Bloomberg Intelligence wonders if the next government bailout will be in the stock market, which may be becoming too big to fail. Plus, the SpaceX IPO and the pending listings of OpenAI and Anthropic are ushering in a new wave of highly leveraged and volatile ETFs. Handle with care.

• Falling gas prices likely helped push inflation down in June from the three-year high it hit in May.
• The relief may prove short-lived, as renewed fighting between the U.S. and Iran has endangered shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.
• High inflation could force the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates later this year if it persists.

The short-lived ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran in June likely pushed down inflation as gasoline prices fell.

A report due Tuesday from the Bureau of Labor Statistics is likely to show that the cost of living, as measured by the Consumer Price Index, rose 3.8% over the year, according to a survey of economists by Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal. If forecasters are correct, that would be down from a 4.2% annual increase in May.

Overall prices likely fell 0.2% between May and June, the first monthly decrease since June 2024, reflecting falling energy prices. A peace deal in the Middle East conflict caused oil and gasoline prices to fall that month, as oil tankers could once again transport cargo from Persian Gulf exporters through the crucial Strait of Hormuz between Iran and Oman.

“Core” prices, excluding the volatile prices for food and gasoline, likely rose 2.8% over the year, down from a 2.9% year-over-year increase in May, forecasters expect.

Inflation easing would come as a relief to household budgets as well as officials at the Federal Reserve, who are under pressure to get inflation down to a 2% annual rate.

The June report will provide a snapshot of how much relief the economy and household budgets received from cost-of-living hikes as the Iran war simmered down, easing from a three-year high.

Slowing price hikes could take pressure off the Federal Reserve. The central bank’s policy committee has discussed raising its key interest rate at some point this year to bring inflation down to the Fed’s 2% annual target. However, that relief may prove short-lived, as the ceasefire has fallen apart and the ability of ships to travel safely through the strait is once again in doubt.

Other factors influencing the report could be a surge in hotel prices from the World Cup; airfares that fell after spiking at the onset of the Iran war; and an uptick in used car prices, according to forecasters at Pantheon Macroeconomics.

Overall, the June report is unlikely to sway the Fed one way or the other, Samuel Tombs, chief U.S. economist at Pantheon, wrote in a commentary.

“All told, June’s CPI report is unlikely to decisively lean toward or rule out the FOMC tightening policy this year,” he wrote.

• Shares of South Korean memory chip giant SK Hynix tumbled in their first full day of U.S. trading, paring much of the stock’s gains from its first partial day on Friday.

• The second quarter’s memory and chip rally has cooled in the second half amid mounting concerns about sky-high expectations.

SK Hynix stock slumped in its first full day of U.S. trading as jitters continued to weigh on chip and memory stocks.

U.S.-listed shares of the South Korean memory chip giant fell 9% on Monday after shares tumbled more than 15% in local trading, its largest one-day drop on record. Monday’s slump unwound much of the 13% gain shares booked in their first partial day of trading on the Nasdaq Friday. SK Hynix (SKHY) and competitor Samsung, down 11% on Monday, weighed on South Korea’s KOSPI index, which tumbled 9%.

The memory and chip stock slump spilled into U.S. markets, hammering some of the year’s best-performing stocks. Hynix’s top U.S. competitor, Micron (MU), slid 4%. SanDisk (SNDK) shares tumbled 12%, while Western Digital (WDC) and Marvell (MRVL) dropped 5% and 8%, respectively. The Roundhill Memory ETF (DRAM) lost more than 9%.

The chip and memory rally fueled the stock market’s rise to record highs earlier this year, helping to offset headwinds from underperforming Magnificent Seven stocks. Their recent turbulence, if protracted, adds to the market’s troubles heading into an earnings season from which investors are expecting a lot.

The vanguard of the AI trade has been a turbulent place lately. The PHLX Semiconductor Index (SOX) more than doubled in value between late March and mid-June as investors shook off concerns about spiking energy prices and the war in Iran to focus on the hundreds of billions tech giants plan to spend this year on AI infrastructure. But chip stocks wavered in recent weeks amid concerns the rally had gotten out of hand. The SOX on Monday closed more than 15% off its recent highs, while SK Hynix’s Korean shares were down more than 35% since hitting a record last month.

Monday’s sell-off may have been sparked by a report from Korea Investment & Securities predicting SK Hynix’s second-quarter operating profit will fall short of estimates despite surging more than 550% since last year. “This shows just how irrational investor expectations are becoming, and that sets a dangerous precedent,” said Nic Puckrin, cross-asset analyst and founder of Coin Bureau.

SK Hynix and memory peers like Micron saw their sales and earnings explode in the past year as data centers gobbled up memory and data storage hardware. But soaring stock prices have raised the bar for the companies and made their stocks vulnerable to sharp sell-offs. Micron stock jumped to a record when it blew past quarterly earnings estimates last month, but shares have been sliding since. Samsung shares tumbled last week even after it reported a 19-fold increase in quarterly operating profit.

SK Hynix’s explosive growth has made it an exceptionally volatile stock. Shares have jumped or slumped double digits in three sessions this month alone, and some experts worry about upping the U.S. market’s exposure to a stock that volatile. The chip rally will face more tests later this week when ASML Holdings (ASML), a leading supplier of chip manufacturing equipment, and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSM), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, report results. Both companies are expected to report strong growth driven by Big Tech’s race to develop and manufacture the most advanced chips.

“Today’s near-record fall in SK Hynix in Asian trading is no longer just South Korea’s problem—it’s now importing this volatility into the Nasdaq,” said Puckrin. “Indeed, the two markets are becoming more intertwined than ever before, feeding off each other’s tech concentration. It’s a vicious circle, and it should worry equity investors.”

Update—July 13, 2026: This article was updated after initial publication with stock returns as of Monday’s close.

• SpaceX shares fell below $140 Monday for the first time since they started trading just over a month ago.
• Investor enthusiasm for the stock has cooled recently despite Nasdaq 100 inclusion and strong recommendations from Wall Street analysts.

Shares of SpaceX are boldly going where they haven’t gone before.

SpaceX (SPCX), the Elon Musk-led AI, rocket launch and connectivity company that on Friday wrapped up its fourth week of trading, is having trouble keeping its stock price aloft. Shares dropped below $140 today for the first time since the company sold stock to the public at $135 in mid-June. The shares finished the day down more than 4% at just above $139 amid a broader downturn for tech stocks on Monday; they earlier slipped under $137.

Some of the recent action in SpaceX may simply illustrate how wild the post-IPO response has been. After a first trade at $150 on June 12, the stock price rose to more than $225 a few days later, giving the company a market capitalization of nearly $3 trillion that briefly surpassed the value of such tech heavyweights as Microsoft (MSFT) and Alphabet (GOOGL). As of Monday’s close, it’s around $1.8 trillion.

Investor enthusiasm has broadly cooled, with the stock down in July while the S&P 500 has risen. And that’s despite some encouraging signals—including the addition of the stock to the high-profile Nasdaq 100 index and strong backing from sell-side Wall Street analysts.

Retail investors remain net buyers, according to a Monday note from Vanda Research. Funds run by Cathie Wood’s Ark Investment Management, including the flagship “ARKK” ETF, closed out last week shopping for shares.

This article has been updated since it was first published to reflect to close of Monday’s trading.

• ASML Holding is scheduled to release quarterly results Wednesday morning, and traders are anticipating a big move in the chip manufacturing equipment maker’s stock after the report.
• ASML’s sales and profits are expected to continue growing as AI-related demand for the company’s chipmaking equipment remains strong.

ASML Holding is set to release its latest quarterly results ahead of the opening bell on Wednesday, and traders are expecting a big move from the stock to follow.

Based on current options pricing, traders are anticipating that ASML (ASML) shares could swing as much to 7% by the end of the week. A move of that size from Friday’s close of just under $1,800 could see the Dutch company’s U.S.-listed shares rally as high as $1,930, near last month’s closing record of just under $1,990. The low end of that range would be about $1,670.

Demand for ASML’s chipmaking equipment can serve as an indicator for how far out the chipmakers themselves see demand, and how willing they are to invest in growing production capacity.

Shares of the maker of semiconductor manufacturing equipment have gained nearly 70% since the start of the year, and roughly 125% in the past 12 months, amid an AI rally that has driven a wide range of hardware stocks higher. AI demand for advanced semiconductors has led chipmakers to invest in increasing their manufacturing capabilities, boosting ASML’s sales.

Morgan Stanley analysts last month wrote that ASML’s equipment is “a critical enabler” of the memory chip industry’s efforts to increase production. UBS analysts in May lifted their price target for ASML by nearly 20%, calling it a top pick in the semiconductor industry because of the “increased conviction in a tightening industry environment, driving a more prolonged investment cycle extending into 2028.”

Analysts are expecting ASML to report second-quarter revenue of 8.83 billion euros ($10.1 billion), up about 15% year-over-year, along with earnings per share of 6.84 euros ($7.82), up from 5.90 euros per share a year ago, according to estimates compiled by Visible Alpha.

All eight analysts with current ratings tracked by Visible Alpha call ASML a “buy,” and most see gains ahead for the shares.