Benzinga examined the prospects for many investors’ favorite stocks over the last week — here’s a look at some of our top stories.
U.S. stocks finished the week on a strong note, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbing to fresh record highs as investors rotated into industrials and other value-oriented sectors. The S&P 500 also advanced, while the Nasdaq Composite posted more modest gains as technology stocks faced renewed pressure. Softer-than-expected economic data helped ease concerns about additional Federal Reserve rate hikes, improving sentiment even as leadership broadened beyond the AI trade.
Technology shares delivered a mixed performance as investors reassessed artificial intelligence spending following a string of high-profile earnings. Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) and other hyperscalers remained under scrutiny over the scale of their AI capital expenditures, while semiconductor stocks diverged after Micron Technology’s (NASDAQ:MU) upbeat results reinforced confidence in demand for high-bandwidth memory used in AI systems. The week’s trading reflected a broader rotation, with investors favoring cyclicals and blue-chip names while trimming exposure to some of the year’s biggest AI winners.
The shift in market leadership came as weaker labor market data reduced expectations of a near-term Fed rate hike, supporting equities despite continued volatility in technology stocks. Treasury yields eased as investors priced in a more patient monetary policy outlook, helping offset concerns about elevated valuations in growth shares.
Benzinga provides daily reports on the stocks most popular with investors. Here are a few of this past week’s most bullish and bearish posts that are worth another look.
The Bulls
"AeroVironment Delivers Q4 Double Beat, Shares Surge," by Adam Eckert, reports that AeroVironment Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAV) shares surged after the defense technology company posted a fiscal fourth-quarter earnings and revenue beat, reporting adjusted EPS of $1.84 on revenue of $641.6 million, both well ahead of Wall Street expectations, as revenue more than doubled year over year following the integration of BlueHalo and strong demand for autonomous systems and precision-strike drones. The company also reported a record $1.2 billion funded backlog and forecast fiscal 2027 revenue of $2.13 billion to $2.23 billion, highlighting sustained demand across its defense portfolio even as its earnings outlook came in below analysts’ estimates.
"Reddit Is Powering The World’s AI Models — And Its Google, OpenAI Deals May Only Be The Start," by Chris Katje, reports that Reddit Inc. (NYSE:RDDT) is emerging as a critical data provider for the artificial intelligence industry, with licensing agreements already in place with Google (NASDAQ:GOOGL) and OpenAI that allow the companies to use Reddit’s vast repository of human conversations to train AI models. In an exclusive interview with Benzinga, Reddit CFO Drew Vollero said the company believes these partnerships are still in their early stages and could expand as demand for high-quality, human-generated data accelerates, positioning Reddit to benefit from AI beyond advertising while leveraging its more than 500 million weekly active users as a unique competitive advantage in the evolving AI ecosystem.
"Caterpillar Is Trading Richer Than Nvidia — And It’s Selling Bulldozers," by Piero Cingari, reports that Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) is trading at a higher forward earnings multiple than Nvidia Corp. (NASDAQ:NVDA), reflecting investors’ growing view that the heavy-equipment maker has become an AI infrastructure play rather than a traditional industrial company. The article highlights that soaring demand for power-generation equipment used in AI data centers, a record backlog and strong growth in Caterpillar’s Power & Energy segment have driven the stock’s re-rating, even as its valuation now exceeds Nvidia’s on certain metrics, underscoring Wall Street’s conviction that the AI buildout extends well beyond semiconductor manufacturers to companies supplying the energy and infrastructure needed to power the next generation of data centers.
For additional bullish calls of the past week, check out the following:
Comcast Stock Soars On Split News, Does Disney Need To Make A Similar Move?
Firefly, Intuitive Machines, Voyager Shares See Strength Into The Close
The Bears
"Oracle Stock’s Worst Month Since 1990 Leaves Larry Ellison $100 Billion Poorer," by Piero Cingari, reports that Oracle Corp. (NYSE:ORCL) suffered its worst monthly stock performance since September 1990, erasing roughly 57% of its market value from last year’s peak and wiping about $100 billion from co-founder Larry Ellison’s personal fortune in just 30 days. Despite Oracle reporting strong cloud and AI growth — including 21% revenue growth, a 93% increase in Oracle Cloud Infrastructure revenue, and a $638 billion contracted backlog — investors have grown increasingly concerned about the enormous capital spending and debt required to fund its AI expansion, prompting a sharp reassessment of the company’s valuation and pushing Ellison’s net worth down to roughly $202 billion.
"Google Takes One-Two Antitrust Punch: Yelp Win, $1.5 Billion Klarna Ruling," by Piero Cingari, reports that Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) suffered two significant antitrust setbacks as a U.S. federal judge ruled that Yelp Inc. (NYSE:YELP) can rely on the Justice Department’s prior finding that Google holds monopoly power in general search, eliminating the need to prove that issue in its own lawsuit, while a Swedish court separately ordered Google to pay about $1.5 billion in damages (approximately $1.97 billion including interest) to Klarna Group’s PriceRunner over allegations that Google unlawfully favored its own shopping comparison service in search results. The twin rulings add to mounting global regulatory pressure on Google and could strengthen future antitrust claims against the company in both the U.S. and Europe.
"Nike Stock Slides Despite Q4 Earnings Beat As Turnaround Drags On," by Adam Eckert, reports that Nike Inc. (NYSE:NKE) shares fell despite the company posting a fiscal fourth-quarter earnings and revenue beat, as investors focused on management’s cautious outlook and the slower-than-expected pace of its turnaround. While Nike topped Wall Street estimates with adjusted earnings of 20 cents per share on $10.97 billion in revenue, the company warned that sales are expected to continue declining through the first half of fiscal 2027 amid persistent weakness in China, elevated inventories, tariffs and cautious consumer spending, overshadowing early signs of progress under CEO Elliott Hill’s restructuring efforts.
For more bearish takes, be sure to see these posts:
Donald Trump Saw Nearly $800M Wiped Out On Paper As DJT Lost Almost Half Its Value This Year
Super Micro Taiwan Offices Raided — Stock Takes Another Hit
Tesla Stock Falls After ‘Monster Delivery Number,’ Gene Munster Knows The Reasons Why
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