Good Morning, Traders!…👋

Markets are settling into a late-summer lull as traders await the Federal Reserve’s Jackson Hole symposium and Chair Jerome Powell’s speech on Friday, which could set the tone for the next policy shift. Outside of tech, price action has been muted, with the Dow logging five straight sessions of moves under 0.1% in either direction. Futures edged lower early Thursday, while overseas benchmarks also traded flat.

On the earnings front, Walmart delivered solid comparable sales growth, rounding out big-box reports this week and outpacing more subdued results from Home Depot and Lowe’s. Meanwhile, tariff headlines kept trade tensions in focus as Washington maintained a 27.5% levy on EU autos, insisting Europe cut duties on U.S. goods first. Even so, Europe showed resilience—PMI surveys surprised to the upside, with the eurozone index hitting a 15-month high.

Back at home, signs of cooling labor demand emerged as a Conference Board survey flagged slower hiring plans. Meta has frozen recruitment in its AI division, while Novo Nordisk is pausing non-essential hiring.

In recent moves:

• 📉 U.S. stock futures slipped after back-to-back tech selloffs.

• 💄 Coty tumbled premarket after reporting an unexpected loss.

• 📈 Treasury yields edged higher, with the 10-year near 4.31%.

• 💵 The dollar strengthened against the yen and pound.

• ₿ Bitcoin dropped below $114,000.

Earnings Watch

Earnings hit today from Walmart $WMT, Alibaba $BABA, Intuit $INTU, Workday $WDAY, and Ross Stores $ROST before open, plus Zoom Video $ZM after close.

Analysts expect WMT at $0.74 EPS with retail strength, BABA at $2.10 EPS on e-commerce growth, INTU at $1.85 EPS with tax software demand, WDAY at $1.65 EPS on cloud HR trends, ROST at $1.54 EPS with off-price retail gains, and ZM at $1.21 EPS amid video conferencing stability.

Happening Today

✓ 08:30 AM ET – Jobless Claims

✓ 08:30 AM ET – Philadelphia Fed Manufacturing Index

✓ 09:45 AM ET – S&P Global PMI

✓ 10:00 AM ET – Existing Home Sales

✓ 10:00 AM ET – US Leading Index

✓ 01:00 PM ET – 30-Year TIPS Auction

✓ 04:30 PM ET – Fed's Balance Sheet

✓ 08:00 PM ET – Jackson Hole Symposium

SECTOR SNAPSHOT

On the last trading day, most sectors ended positively, with Energy and Consumer Staples showing particularly strong gains. However, Consumer Discretionary, Information Technology, and Communication Services were among the key sectors that experienced declines.

PreMarket Unusual Volume Stocks

Here's a quick rundown of today's pre-market high-volume stocks:

📈 Tharimmune, Inc. (THAR) is up +38.16% at $3.59 with massive volume, continuing its recent surge. This is fueled by yesterday's announcement of positive pharmacokinetic simulation results for its drug TH104, which shows potential as a prophylactic treatment against fentanyl and ultrapotent opioid exposure.

📈 Aethlon Medical, Inc. (AEMD) is gaining +64.86% at $1.11 with extremely high volume. This follows yesterday's news of a strategic collaboration with BGI to develop a combined extracorporeal blood purification and genome sequencing diagnostic platform.

📈 Versus Systems Inc. (VS) is up +15.29% at $2.13 with very high volume, continuing to attract investor attention after its recent expansion into the Brazilian gaming market, which has over 100 million users.

📈 Youlife Group Inc. (YOUL) is up +22.37% to $1.52 with high volume. This follows yesterday's news of its intent to acquire four companies to strengthen its market position in China's blue-collar talent services sector, which is a significant strategic move.

📈 iSpecimen Inc. (ISPC) is gaining +15.15% at $1.16 with notable volume. This is likely due to the recent positive buzz around its plans to establish a $200 million digital treasury and its existing revenue-generating life sciences business, which has been highlighted in a new research note.

Premarket Picks

Aptorum Group Limited (APM) is trading at $2.1900 in pre-market, up 72.44%, after announcing with DiamiR Biosciences that New York State has approved DiamiR’s APOE Genotyping test. This approval allows the test to be offered through CLIA-certified, CAP-accredited labs using various biological samples, expanding access across New York and nationwide.

Evoke Pharma, Inc. (EVOK) is trading at $7.23 in pre-market, up 25.16 %, following the announcement that its GIMOTI® nasal spray has been granted a new U.S. patent, now listed in the FDA’s Orange Book. The patent supports the product’s use for treating moderate to severe gastroparesis symptoms, enhancing the company’s intellectual property protections.

iSpecimen Inc. (ISPC) is trading at $1.4590 in pre-market, up 26.32%, after attention turned to the company’s sharp valuation gap. Despite a market cap of just $6.1 million, iSpecimen recently announced a $200 million digital treasury, fueling speculation that the stock is significantly undervalued relative to its platform, revenue, and market potential.

LSI Industries Inc. (LYTS) is trading at $22.22 in pre-market, up 15.13% at 7:49 AM EDT after reporting strong fiscal Q4 results. The company posted net income of $8.2 million, or $0.26 per share, on revenue of $155.1 million. For the full fiscal year, LSI reported a profit of $24.4 million on $573.4 million in revenue.

Top Upgrades:

1. Rocket Pharmaceuticals (RCKT)

Analyst Firm: B of A Securities
Upgraded: Neutral to Buy
Price Target: $10
Yesterday's Close: $3.65

B of A Securities upgraded Rocket Pharmaceuticals from Neutral to Buy and set a price target of $10, implying a potential upside of nearly 174%. Analysts highlighted the company’s promising gene therapy pipeline and upcoming clinical milestones as key drivers for growth. Current estimates suggest the stock could range between $4 and $10 in the near term.

2. Upstart Holdings (UPST)

Analyst Firm: JP Morgan
Upgraded: Neutral to Overweight
Price Target: $88
Yesterday's Close: $64.15

JP Morgan lifted its rating on Upstart Holdings from Neutral to Overweight, raising the price target to $88. The upgrade reflects optimism around the company’s AI-driven lending platform and its ability to expand beyond personal loans into broader credit markets. Analysts expect a potential upside of over 37%, with a trading range projected between $64 and $93.

3. Snowflake Inc. (SNOW)

Analyst Firm: B of A Securities
Upgraded: Neutral to Buy
Price Target: $240
Yesterday's Close: $195.84

B of A Securities upgraded Snowflake to Buy from Neutral and increased its price target to $240, citing stronger-than-expected enterprise adoption of its cloud data platform. With an upside potential of over 22%, analysts believe Snowflake is well-positioned to capture long-term growth from the accelerating shift to cloud-based data analytics. The stock is now expected to trade in the $220–$240 range.

Maeve Grace
Editor In Chief
Premium Stock Alerts

Important: This newsletter does not provide investment advice. The stocks mentioned should not be taken as recommendations. Your investments are solely your decisions.

Disclosure: I hold no positions in any companies mentioned, either through stock ownership, options, or other derivatives. I wrote this article myself, and it expresses my own opinions. I have no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article.