US stocks closed higher on Thursday as a rally in semiconductor shares offset concerns over renewed military exchanges between the United States and Iran, while easing oil prices helped support broader market sentiment.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 139.02 points, or 0.27%, to finish at 52,487.41. The Nasdaq Composite gained 1.30% to close at 26,206.89, while the S&P 500 rose 0.81% to 7,543.65.

Chip stocks lead market higher

Semiconductor shares powered the market higher, with the VanEck Semiconductor ETF climbing 2.5%.

Micron Technology gained 4.5% after outlining plans to invest more than $250 billion in the United States through 2035 to expand memory chip production and support growing demand driven by artificial intelligence.

Applied Materials and SanDisk also posted strong gains, with SanDisk rising 7.6%.

Meta Platforms added to the positive sentiment after Reuters reported that the company plans to begin manufacturing its in-house AI chip in September.

The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index extended its recent advance as investors continued to back AI-related companies despite recent volatility across the sector.

With the second-quarter earnings season set to begin, analysts expect S&P 500 companies to report average year-over-year earnings growth of 24%, according to LSEG I/B/E/S.

Technology companies are projected to account for a significant share of that increase. Meanwhile, the S&P 500 is trading at about 20 times forward earnings, down from roughly 21 times a month ago.

Markets weigh geopolitical tensions and oil prices

Investor sentiment remained cautious after the US launched another round of strikes on Iran for the second consecutive day, according to US Central Command.

The latest attacks followed Tehran’s strikes on commercial shipping around the Strait of Hormuz, slowing traffic through one of the world’s most important energy shipping routes.

Despite the renewed conflict, crude oil prices declined after President Donald Trump said Iran had called to make a deal.

Reports also indicated that Qatar and Pakistan were attempting to facilitate renewed negotiations between the two sides.

The latest comments contrasted with Trump’s remarks a day earlier, when he said the ceasefire with Iran was “over” and suggested he was no longer interested in pursuing negotiations.

European markets also recovered, with the pan-European Stoxx 600 index rising 0.8%.

In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei 225 gained 1.4%, South Korea’s Kospi added 0.62%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell 0.5%, and China’s CSI 300 climbed 2.5%.

Fed outlook remains in focus

Investors also assessed the outlook for inflation and US monetary policy.

Fresh economic data showed weekly US jobless claims declined, suggesting the labour market remains stable despite slower job growth in June.

Minutes from the Federal Reserve’s June meeting showed that while policymakers kept interest rates unchanged, some officials saw a case for raising borrowing costs before agreeing to hold rates steady.

Traders are currently pricing in a likely 25-basis-point rate hike by the Fed’s December meeting.

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US-Iran tensions escalated for a second straight day as fresh military strikes threatened the fragile ceasefire and disrupted shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.

SK Hynix moved closer to its record US listing with plans to price its American depositary receipts at $149 each.

Oil prices fell as demand concerns offset supply risks from the Middle East conflict.

Gold rebounded more than 1% as investors bought the recent dip while monitoring geopolitical developments and Federal Reserve policy.

US-Iran tensions escalate as Hormuz disruptions continue

The United States and Iran exchanged fresh military strikes for a second consecutive day, raising concerns that the conflict could return to full-scale war despite an interim peace agreement reached about three weeks ago.

US Central Command said about 90 targets were struck overnight after 80 were hit the previous day to further weaken Iran’s ability to attack commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz.

Iran reported strikes near a nuclear power plant and railway bridges linking Tehran to Mashhad.

Tehran responded by targeting US bases in Bahrain, Kuwait and Qatar, according to Iranian media, while Jordan said it intercepted eight missiles launched by Iran.

US President Donald Trump warned of further retaliation.

“Every time they hit us, we’ll hit them 20,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One.

SK Hynix targets record US listing

SK Hynix plans to price its US listing at $149 per American depositary receipt, reported Bloomberg, citing people familiar with the matter.

At that price, the offering would raise about $26.5 billion, making it the largest first-time US share sale by a foreign company, surpassing Alibaba’s $25 billion IPO.

Each ADR represents one-tenth of a common share and is priced about 3.1% above Thursday’s closing price in Seoul.

The Bloomberg report said the offering of 177.9 million ADRs is more than seven times oversubscribed, attracting interest from long-only funds, technology-focused investors, sovereign wealth funds and Asia-focused institutional investors.

The ADRs are expected to begin when-issued trading on Friday on Nasdaq under the symbol SKHYV, before switching to SKHY for regular trading on July 13.

Oil prices fall as demand concerns outweigh supply risks

Oil prices declined by more than 2% on Thursday as investors weighed concerns over slowing economic growth and inflation against ongoing supply disruptions linked to the US-Iran conflict.

Brent crude fell 2.8% to $75.78 a barrel, while West Texas Intermediate dropped 2.7% to $71.53.

Although fighting has delayed the full reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, analysts said concerns about future demand limited gains.

Goldman Sachs estimated that oil flows through the Persian Gulf had recovered to above 80% of pre-war levels shortly after the waterway reopened but slipped back into the low-70% range following renewed attacks.

Macquarie said it expects the latest Middle East tensions to remain relatively short-lived because of economic and political constraints facing both countries.

Gold rebounds on bargain buying

Gold prices climbed more than 1% after falling to a one-week low in the previous session.

Spot gold rose 1.1% to $4,123.96 an ounce, while US gold futures settled 1.2% higher at $4,135.

Investors also remained focused on Federal Reserve policy and geopolitical risks in the Middle East.

Minutes from the Fed’s June meeting showed policymakers remained concerned about inflation, while traders currently see about a 62% chance of a rate hike in September, according to the CME FedWatch Tool.

HSBC lowered its average gold price forecasts for 2026 and 2027 to $4,560 and $4,925, respectively.

Meanwhile, other precious metals also advanced, with silver rising 3.4%, platinum gaining 2.3% and palladium adding 3.3%.

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Intel (INTC) and Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) shares are extending gains on July 9^th after the latter’s chief technology officer (CTO) pointed to a huge central processing unit (CPU) renaissance ahead.

Speaking at the “RAISE” summit in Paris, Mark Papermaster explicitly said the tech industry has missed a massive structural pivot: agentic AI requires significantly more CPUs, not just GPUs.

While Street remains hyper-focused on GPU clusters for training LLMs, the commercialization of autonomous AI agents is shifting the infrastructure bottleneck in 2026.  

Running complex execution agents demands immense processing power for system orchestration, dynamic data movement, and parallel task execution – all of which could boost demand for Intel and AMD products.

Note that both Intel and AMD stock are already trading at roughly 2.5x their price at the start of this year (2026).

Why is AMD stock better positioned for CPU renaissance

AMD is better positioned to capitalize on the CPU resurgence because its entire architecture stack is already built for the orchestration‑heavy workloads agentic AI demands.

EPYC’s extreme core density, superior memory bandwidth, and chiplet‑based scalability give AMD a structural advantage in environments where thousands of autonomous agents must coordinate tasks, move data dynamically, and execute parallel decision loops.

Crucially, AMD’s tight integration between EPYC CPUs and Instinct accelerators – unified under ROCm – creates a coherent execution fabric that hyperscalers can deploy without fragmentation.

Papermaster’s comments weren’t theoretical; they directly map onto AMD’s roadmap, making the company the most architecturally aligned beneficiary of a CPU‑centric AI shift.

Where is Intel stock lacking against Advanced Micro Devices?

On the flip side, Intel is well-positioned to ride rising CPU demand, but its architecture isn’t the best fit for agentic AI’s orchestration-heavy workloads.

Xeon 6’s chiplet design uses a dense mesh interconnect built to make separate dies behave like one unified chip – a philosophy optimized for consistency, not the distributed, modular scaling agentic workloads reward.

AMD’s Infinity Fabric takes the opposite approach, treating chiplets as independently scalable units better suited to thousands of coordinating agents.

INTC’s 18A node may narrow the gap, but remains execution-dependent and unproven at scale.

More critically, Intel lacks a unified CPU-GPU software ecosystem comparable to ROCm, leaving agent-level coordination more fragmented than AMD’s tightly integrated stack.

Wall Street also picks AMD shares over INTC stock

Investors should also note that Wall Street currently favors AMD shares over Intel as well.

The consensus rating on Advanced Micro Devices Inc currently sits at “Overweight”, with price targets going as high as $700, indicating potential upside of a little under 30% from here.

In comparison, analysts rate Intel Corp at “Hold” only, with the mean price target of about $107 actually signaling potential for further decline through the second half of this year.

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Cerebras Systems CBRS shares rose 11% on Thursday after the artificial intelligence infrastructure company unveiled plans for a major expansion across Europe.

The initiative includes new AI data centres that will partially support OpenAI workloads under the companies’ existing partnership.

The company said it expects to bring its first European data centre capacity online by the end of this year before expanding its footprint across France, Finland and Norway.

Cerebras plans major European AI data centre expansion

Cerebras said it plans to build out a large artificial intelligence data centre network in Europe, marking its first entry into the region as demand grows for locally hosted AI infrastructure.

The company expects to expand total capacity to 200 megawatts by the end of 2027.

A portion of that capacity is expected to support OpenAI workloads through the companies’ existing partnership.

Cerebras said the investment is intended to address increasing demand from European enterprises, research institutions and governments seeking low-latency AI infrastructure within the region rather than relying on providers in the United States or Asia.

Power capacity has become a key measure of AI data centres because electricity availability is increasingly the primary constraint on expanding AI computing.

While smaller enterprise data centres typically consume between 1 and 20 megawatts, hyperscale facilities operated by cloud providers can require 100 megawatts or more.

Chief executive Andrew Feldman said the projects represent a significant investment.

“These are massive expansions” worth several billion dollars, Feldman told AFP on the sidelines of the RAISE Summit in Paris.

He also said, “By putting data centres across Europe… we think that we can meet all the unique European requirements” on issues such as data sovereignty.

Manufacturing partnership with Flex expands production

Alongside its European expansion, Cerebras announced an expanded manufacturing partnership with Flex to increase production of its CS-3 AI accelerator systems.

Production will be scaled at Flex’s facilities in Milpitas, California, with the expanded operation expected to increase CS-3 manufacturing capacity by approximately seven times through 2026.

The expansion will be supported by additional production lines, increased manufacturing space and more skilled workers.

“The CS-3 is unlike any computer system ever built, and scaling its production requires an extraordinary manufacturing partner,” said Chief Operating Officer Dhiraj Mallick.

The company said the manufacturing expansion is designed to support rising demand for AI inference infrastructure.

AI inference demand continues to grow

Cerebras has focused on processors designed specifically for AI inference, the process through which AI models generate responses to user prompts.

Demand for inference-focused chips has accelerated alongside the growing adoption of AI agents, which require significantly more computing resources.

Feldman said demand across Europe continues to outpace supply.

“These deployments will enable us to move decisively on what our customers have been asking for: fast, high-performance AI compute located in Europe,” he said in the company’s statement.

He also told AFP that demand for generative AI computing in Europe is “extraordinary… growing very, very quickly,” adding that the market is expanding “faster than we can keep up”.

The expansion comes as AI infrastructure investment accelerates across Europe.

The AI infrastructure boom also helped Cerebras raise $5.5 billion in its US initial public offering in May, making it one of the 15 largest IPOs in Wall Street history.

According to TipRanks data, all 10 analysts covering the company currently rate the stock a Buy, with an average price target of $296, implying roughly 46% upside from current levels.

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Nvidia stock (NVDA) slipped on Thursday, giving back some of the previous session’s gains even as semiconductor stocks broadly rallied, underscoring investors’ continued preference for other parts of the artificial intelligence supply chain.

Shares were down 1.1% at $201.76 in midday trading after jumping 3.7% on Wednesday.

The Nasdaq Composite rose 0.9%, the S&P 500 gained 0.7%, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 223 points, or 0.4%.

Chip stocks outperformed, with the VanEck Semiconductor ETF climbing 3%.

Micron Technology surged 7%, Sandisk gained 7%, while several other semiconductor names also advanced.

China report and SpaceX provide fresh catalysts

Wednesday’s rally was fueled by a report from technology publication The Information that Beijing plans to allow Chinese companies to purchase some of Nvidia’s H200 artificial intelligence chips.

The report raised hopes that Nvidia could regain access to part of the Chinese market after US export restrictions significantly reduced its sales in the country.

Another positive development came late Wednesday, when Elon Musk’s SpaceX announced its latest artificial intelligence model, Grok 4.5.

The company said the model was trained using “tens of thousands” of Nvidia’s latest GB300 graphics processing units.

If Grok 4.5 proves competitive against models from Anthropic and OpenAI, it could reinforce Nvidia’s leadership in AI computing ahead of the broader rollout of its next-generation Vera Rubin platform, which is expected in the second half of the year.

Investors continue rotating across the AI trade

Despite the recent catalysts, Nvidia has struggled to match the performance of many semiconductor peers this year.

After surging more than 1,100% between late 2022 and the end of 2025, the stock has gained only about 7.6% so far in 2026.

That compares with gains of 9.6% for the S&P 500, 16% for the Nasdaq 100, and 74% for the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index.

The divergence reflects a broader rotation within the artificial intelligence trade rather than a deterioration in Nvidia’s business fundamentals.

Investors have increasingly shifted toward other parts of the AI supply chain, particularly memory manufacturers, storage companies, and other semiconductor firms expected to benefit from expanding AI infrastructure spending.

Micron Technology has been among the biggest beneficiaries of that rotation as demand and pricing for high-bandwidth memory chips continue to strengthen.

Nvidia rivals, including Advanced Micro Devices and Intel, have also significantly outperformed the stock this year.

The shift has left Nvidia trading at around 18 times projected earnings over the next 12 months, according to Bloomberg data, its lowest forward valuation since before the artificial intelligence boom began.

The lower valuation comes even as Wall Street analysts continue to raise earnings estimates for the company, suggesting investor caution has been driven more by changing market preferences than weakening business performance.

TD Cowen sees durable AI demand

TD Cowen reiterated its Buy rating and $275 price target on Nvidia following meetings with Chief Executive Officer Jensen Huang, Chief Financial Officer Colette Kress, and Head of Investor Relations Toshiya Hari.

The brokerage also maintained Nvidia as one of its top investment ideas.

According to TD Cowen, Nvidia executives emphasized that demand for AI computing capacity continues to exceed available supply.

The firm said Nvidia pointed to rising rental prices for legacy GPUs, expanding enterprise AI adoption, and recently signed cloud agreements at premium pricing as evidence that compute capacity remains constrained.

TD Cowen also said Nvidia’s opportunity extends beyond graphics processors, arguing that the company’s combination of hardware and software positions it to benefit from the continued buildout of AI infrastructure.

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Applied Materials Inc. shares AMAT climbed nearly 7% on Thursday as semiconductor stocks rallied after reports that Meta Platforms plans to begin manufacturing its in-house artificial intelligence chip in September, boosting optimism around demand for wafer fabrication equipment and AI infrastructure.

The broader semiconductor rally also lifted Lam Research and KLA Corp., while optical networking company Lumentum led gains in the S&P 500.

Meta AI chip plans lift semiconductor equipment stocks

Applied Materials gained nearly 7%, while Lam Research and KLA rose more than 6% as investors reacted to reports that Meta expects to begin work on its AI data-center chip, codenamed “Iris,” using custom-built silicon. Reuters first reported the development.

The move was viewed as a positive development for companies supplying wafer fabrication equipment used to convert raw silicon wafers into microchips.

The rally comes as expectations continue to build around rising capital expenditure by hyperscale technology companies.

According to Citi, the wafer fabrication equipment market is expected to grow from about $145 billion this year to $200 billion in 2027 and $250 billion in 2028.

The brokerage also forecasts hyperscaler spending to increase 84% this year, 56% in 2027 and 38% in 2028.

Amazon, Microsoft, Alphabet, Meta Platforms and Oracle are expected to spend more than $1.1 trillion in 2027, up from $650 billion this year.

Analysts raise price targets on Applied Materials

Brokerages also turned more optimistic on semiconductor equipment makers.

Mizuho Securities raised its price target on Applied Materials to $650 from $540 while maintaining its Outperform rating. It also increased its target on Lam Research to $400 from $380.

TD Cowen lifted its price target on Applied Materials to $700 from $525 while maintaining its rating on the stock.

The brokerage models wafer fabrication equipment spending reaching $250 billion in 2028 and potentially $400 billion by 2030, supported by stronger industry profitability and demand backed by take-or-pay agreements.

Under its $250 billion scenario, TD Cowen estimates Applied Materials could generate earnings of about $25 per share, compared with its calendar 2026 estimate of $13.35.

Lam Research could earn between $11 and $12 per share, while KLA could generate $9 to $10 per share.

The firm said Applied Materials would be the biggest beneficiary under that scenario, followed by KLA because of their exposure to leading-edge semiconductor manufacturing and DRAM investment.

CEO highlights AI demand visibility

Investor sentiment also received support from comments by Applied Materials CEO Gary Dickerson.

In an interview with Nikkei Asia, Dickerson said Applied Materials has “tremendous visibility” into customer demand over the next 24 months.

He added that chipmakers are providing equipment demand forecasts at least two years in advance, giving the company confidence that the AI-driven semiconductor investment cycle still has years to run.

Applied Materials continues to trade above its 20-day, 50-day and 200-day simple moving averages.

Its relative strength index stands at 53.70, a neutral reading, while traders are watching the 20-day moving average near $503 as the first support level and the 52-week high near $739.67 as the next major resistance.

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Virax Biolabs (VRAX) shares exploded higher on Thursday morning after management announced a lucrative cross-border commercial breakthrough.

In a press release dated July 9^th, the company said its UK subsidiary signed an “exclusive” multi-country commercial supply agreement with Fosun Diagnostics, a key division of Shanghai Fosun Pharmaceutical.

Despite the cosmic run today, Virax stock remains down some 10% year-to-date.

A sneak peek into the Fosun deal

Under the terms of the agreement, Virax will supply its ImmuneSelect product line across six major ASEAN markets: Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, and the Philippines.

Note that the company’s ImmuneSelect includes specialized ELISpot assay plates used for cellular immune response profiling.

VRAX shares soared this morning primarily because, unlike typical biotech milestones that rely on multi-year clinical trial horizons, this deal sets up an immediate framework for product supply via direct purchase orders.

The commercial rollout is fast-tracked to start in Thailand, specifically targeting near-term client demand for tuberculosis-related research applications.

Adding to momentum on Thursday is algorithmic buying as Virax Biolabs ripped through its major moving averages (MAs), indicating shifting momentum in favour of the bulls.

Why are VRAX shares soaring aggressively today

Virax Biolabs is a micro-cap biotechnology company that brought in under $1 million in revenue over the past year.

Partnering with a powerhouse like “Fosun” instantly grants them access to an established regional commercial infrastructure and expansive customer network they couldn’t have built independently.

Investors should also note that VRAX stock has a tight float coming off a recent “1-for-25” reverse split – executed to regain compliance with Nasdaq’s minimum bid requirements.

When a fundamental, revenue-generating catalyst like this hits a low-float micro-cap stock, it often sparks a massive volume squeeze, which is exactly why trading volume blew past 57 million shares today compared to its usual 1-million daily average.

Should you chase the momentum in Virax stock?

Disciplined investors should still practice extreme caution before chasing Virax shares at these stretched levels.

Despite today’s fundamental catalyst, the biotech firm remains a super speculative microcap penny stock with a history of severe revenue constraints and net losses.

Because of its tight post-split float, VRAX is highly vulnerable to extreme volatility, algorithmic momentum traps, and pump-and-dump dynamics where early momentum buyers eventually dump shares on retail investors.

Moreover, micro-cap companies experiencing sudden volume surges often capitalize on the rally by launching dilutive secondary share offerings to raise capital as well. So dilution remains a near-term risk as well.

All in all, until this cross-border deal translates into sustained, multi-quarter sales growth on the balance sheet, chasing today’s vertical spike carries a high risk of severe capital impairment.

That said, the only Wall Street analyst that currently covers Virax Biolabs has a “Buy” rating on it, with the mean price target set at a rather bullish $25.

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The S&P 500 gained 9.6% in the first half of 2026 and nearly 15% in the second quarter alone, its strongest quarterly rally since 2020.

Yet beneath the headline gains, Wall Street is increasingly looking beyond the AI winners that powered much of the market’s advance.

As investors rotated out of crowded technology trades and navigated geopolitical shocks, including the Iran conflict, analysts began highlighting companies with resilient earnings, attractive valuations, and company-specific catalysts.

Recent research from Wall Street analysts suggests the second half of the year could reward a broader set of stocks than the market’s familiar leaders.

5 stocks to watch this summer

Here are five names analysts believe deserve a closer look this summer.

1. Yum Brands (NYSE: YUM)
2. Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT)
3. McDonald’s (NYSE: MCD)
4. Under Armour (NYSE: UAA)
5. Toast (NYSE: TOST)

1. Yum Brands (NYSE: YUM)

UBS included Yum Brands among its preferred low-volatility stocks, arguing that investors have overlooked high-quality businesses as capital flooded into AI-driven names.

The bank describes the owner of Taco Bell, KFC, and Habit Burger as a stable business that has generated cash flow returns on investment (CFROI) above 30% for most of the past decade—a level few consumer companies consistently achieve.

UBS expects that profitability to improve even further. The firm forecasts Yum’s CFROI will reach a record high by 2027 as the company completes the divestiture of its Pizza Hut segment, allowing management to concentrate on higher-growth opportunities.

Analysts also see two operational catalysts supporting future growth: Taco Bell’s continued international expansion and the rollout of a KFC loyalty programme aimed at driving repeat customer spending.

Shares have already climbed more than 10% this year to fresh 52-week highs, but analysts remain constructive on the company’s ability to generate durable cash flows in an uncertain economic environment.

2. Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT)

Defense stocks haven’t attracted the same attention as artificial intelligence this year, but UBS believes Lockheed Martin could surprise investors over the coming months.

Although the firm maintains a neutral rating, it expects the aerospace giant’s second-quarter earnings to clear a relatively low bar, forecasting a “beat and raise” that could trigger a positive share price reaction.

Beyond quarterly earnings, UBS sees several longer-term catalysts. The biggest is a seven-year, $35 billion award tied to the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) interceptor programme, which could provide upside to 2026 financial expectations.

The bank also expects stronger growth from Lockheed’s Missiles and Fire Control division as global defence spending remains elevated and missile orders accelerate through the second half of the year.

Despite these tailwinds, Wall Street sentiment remains relatively cautious, with most analysts maintaining hold ratings.

Consensus price targets, however, still imply meaningful upside from current levels.

3. McDonald’s (NYSE: MCD)

McDonald’s has lagged the broader market in 2026, with shares falling nearly 8% even as the S&P 500 reached record highs.

UBS believes that underperformance has created an attractive opportunity for investors looking for stability rather than momentum.

The bank acknowledges near-term macroeconomic pressures and softer consumer trends but argues the fast-food giant remains exceptionally well positioned thanks to its global scale, strong brand, and defensive earnings profile.

UBS also sees several catalysts that could improve performance, including initiatives designed to strengthen US sales growth and capture additional market share.

In a market where investors are increasingly questioning stretched valuations elsewhere, McDonald’s offers a combination of earnings resilience and steady shareholder returns through dividends.

Wall Street broadly agrees with that assessment, with a majority of analysts maintaining bullish ratings and expecting meaningful upside over the next year.

Consensus analyst targets imply roughly 17% upside over the next 12 months.

4. Under Armour (NYSE: UAA)

UBS analyst Jay Sole screened for retailers with technical signals that have historically led to outperformance over short periods.

Under Armour emerged as one of UBS’s highest-conviction ideas.

The stock has already risen 22% this year despite broader weakness across athletic apparel retailers, and UBS believes the turnaround still has room to run.

While disappointing fourth-quarter earnings temporarily pressured the shares, Sole argues investors continue to underestimate the value of the Under Armour brand and management’s ability to extract stronger growth from it.

Rather than viewing the company as a mature apparel business, UBS sees a recognised global brand that has underperformed its potential in recent years and could continue surprising investors as execution improves.

5. Toast (NYSE: TOST)

Goldman Sachs upgraded Toast to Buy from Neutral, arguing the recent selloff has created an attractive entry point.

Shares have fallen about 20% this year as investors worried about higher hardware costs and tougher competition, but the bank believes the company’s fundamentals remain strong.

Goldman highlighted Toast’s new AI-powered marketing platform, Toast IQ Grow, as a potential driver of higher software revenue per customer, while expansion into retail, enterprise, and international markets should support further market share gains.

Goldman raised its price target to $36, implying 26% upside from current levels.

The bet away from AI

The common thread linking these five stocks is positioning away from crowded AI trades.

These stocks span restaurants, defense, consumer brands, and fintech, but they share one characteristic: analysts see catalysts the broader market may be overlooking.

Whether it’s resilient cash flows, operational improvements, or new growth initiatives, each offers a case for looking beyond the year’s biggest winners.

If market leadership broadens in the second half, the next outperformers may come from sectors that have quietly been waiting in the wings.

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Memory chip and storage stocks staged a strong recovery on Thursday, with investors rushing back into the sector after a sharp selloff triggered by Samsung Electronics’ quarterly earnings earlier this week.

Micron Technology climbed more than 7%, while SanDisk SNDK gained about 7.5%.

Western Digital advanced over 7.2%, and Seagate Technology rose more than 6.5%, recovering a significant portion of the losses suffered during the broader semiconductor rout.

The rebound follows Samsung’s preliminary quarterly earnings that sparked profit-taking across global chip stocks despite the South Korean memory giant reporting stronger-than-expected results.

Samsung’s shares declined after the earnings announcement as investors locked in gains following the stock’s sharp rally, dragging semiconductor and AI-related stocks lower worldwide.

The selling pressure was particularly severe in South Korea, where the Kospi briefly slipped into technical bear-market territory on Wednesday, falling 22.8% from its June 22 peak.

Fresh industry data boosts sentiment after correction

Despite the recent volatility, market participants increasingly viewed the correction as a healthy pullback rather than a sign of deteriorating fundamentals for the AI memory industry.

Micron, for instance, had fallen about 32% from the record high it touched shortly after its earnings report in late June, making the stock attractive to investors looking to buy into the AI theme at lower valuations.

Fresh industry data also supported the recovery.

According to UBS’ July Memory Monthly report, global memory sales reached a record $74.6 billion, rising 31.7% month-on-month and outperforming the typical seasonal trend by 2.8 percentage points.

The strong demand has prompted both UBS and Bernstein to forecast meaningful increases in memory contract prices over the coming quarters, although the two firms differ on how long the current upcycle can be sustained.

Another positive signal for the sector came from reports that SK Hynix’s upcoming US listing has attracted overwhelming investor demand, suggesting institutional investors remain confident about the long-term outlook for AI memory suppliers despite recent share-price volatility.

Micron investment boosts confidence

Investor sentiment also received a boost after Micron announced plans to invest more than $250 billion in the United States through 2035 to expand memory manufacturing capacity.

The investment reflects growing confidence that demand for high-bandwidth memory and other advanced memory chips used in artificial intelligence servers will remain robust for years.

The latest commitment represents a substantial increase from the $200 billion investment plan Micron announced last year, which itself had already been revised upward from earlier estimates.

Meta report lifts SanDisk

SanDisk also benefited from a Reuters report that Meta Platforms plans to begin manufacturing an artificial intelligence chip from September as it expands computing capacity to support its AI ambitions.

According to the report, Meta has secured long-term supply agreements with several hardware vendors to support the expansion of its AI infrastructure.

The agreements reportedly include Samsung Electronics for memory chips, SanDisk for flash storage products, and Sumitomo Electric for fiber-optic equipment, underscoring continued investment by hyperscale technology companies in AI data centers.

The report reinforced expectations that enterprise spending on storage and memory products will remain elevated as companies race to build AI infrastructure.

Wall Street remains bullish on memory

Brokerages also continue to maintain an optimistic view of the memory sector despite the recent correction.

Bank of America recently reiterated its $1,550 price target on Micron, describing the company as its preferred memory stock.

The brokerage estimates that memory now accounts for 35% to 40% of cloud AI capital expenditure, roughly two to three times historical levels, while memory stocks continue to trade at less than 10 times forward earnings.

According to the firm, investors remain concerned about pricing sustainability, future supply additions and customer concentration.

However, it believes the market is underestimating the industry’s transition toward longer-term supply agreements and more predictable pricing.

As memory chips become increasingly critical to AI infrastructure rather than behaving like traditional commodity products, the brokerage expects sector valuations to improve over time.

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Meta Platforms Inc. (META) shares traded higher on Thursday, reversing early losses as investors assessed the company’s latest artificial intelligence initiatives.

This includes plans to begin manufacturing an in-house AI chip and the public preview of its upgraded Muse Spark 1.1 model.

The developments show Meta’s efforts to strengthen its AI infrastructure, reduce reliance on third-party chip suppliers, and expand its portfolio of proprietary AI products as competition with OpenAI, Anthropic and Google intensifies.

Meta advances custom AI chip strategy

According to an internal memo reviewed by Reuters, Meta plans to begin manufacturing its in-house artificial intelligence chip, code-named Iris, from September.

The chip is part of the company’s four-generation Meta Training and Inference Accelerators (MTIA) program and is designed to improve the AI systems powering Facebook and Instagram.

Reuters reported that testing of the chip took just six weeks and uncovered no major issues, marking progress for an in-house chip initiative that has faced challenges since it began more than five years ago.

Meta is working with Broadcom on the chip’s design, while Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) will manufacture it.

The custom silicon is intended to complement the large number of graphics processing units (GPUs) Meta purchases from Nvidia and Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) while helping the company lower computing costs and reduce dependence on external suppliers.

Meta plans to deploy seven gigawatts of computing infrastructure this year before doubling capacity to 14 gigawatts in 2027.

To support its AI expansion, the company has secured long-term supply agreements with Samsung Electronics for memory chips, Sandisk for flash storage and Sumitomo Electric for fiber-optic equipment.

Muse Spark 1.1 expands Meta’s AI ambitions

Alongside its infrastructure investments, Meta introduced Muse Spark 1.1, describing it as the latest version of its AI model focused on coding and agentic AI capabilities.

The company is making the model available through a public developer preview, allowing developers to join a waitlist for API access through Meta’s developer portal.

“This is going to be served on top of the computer infrastructure that we’ve built,” said Meta’s AI chief Alexandr Wang.

Wang said the updated model is Meta’s “strongest model for agentic and coding work yet.”

He also said the pricing is “very aggressive and attractive” compared with competing offerings from OpenAI and Anthropic. New API users will receive $20 in free credits before usage-based pricing begins.

“The goal is to really have attractive pricing that scales with immense consumption usage,” Wang said.

According to Wang, Meta trained Muse Spark 1.1 to strengthen coding capabilities because “You kind of have to build coding capabilities as part of that in service of overall agentic capabilities.”

Meta said it is currently limiting API access to its own ecosystem rather than making the model available through third-party AI marketplaces.

AI investments continue to expand

The latest announcements come as Meta continues to increase spending on AI infrastructure.

Reuters reported that the company expects to spend as much as $145 billion on AI infrastructure this year, accounting for a significant share of Big Tech’s projected AI investment.

The company also announced plans to build its first Canadian data center in Sturgeon County, Alberta.

The AI-optimized facility represents an investment of more than CAD $13 billion, is expected to support about 3,000 construction jobs at peak and more than 300 operational positions, and will run on 100% clean and renewable energy.

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