Reddit Stocks: What meme stocks are trending today? – September 7, 2023

US futures

• Dow Jones Industrial Average is down 0.2%
• S&P 500 is down 0.7%
• Nasdaq 100 is down 1.2%

US futures are trading lower today amid fresh concerns that inflation could prove stickier than hoped following the services PMI coming in hotter than expected yesterday, fuelling concerns that the Federal Reserve will keep interest rates higher for longer. That makes speeches from several Fed members later today all the more important.

Meanwhile, China is also continuing to knock sentiment after trade data disappointed as both imports and exports dropped in August, raising fears that demand both at home and abroad is weakening.

US initial jobless claims

Initial jobless claims rose by 216,000 in the week to September 2. That marked a mild deceleration from the revised 229,000 we saw the week before and was below the 234,000 rise forecast by economists.

Meanwhile, non-farm productivity rose 3.5% in the second quarter compared to the first, following the 1.2% drop in the initial three months of 2023. That was slightly better than the 3.4% growth forecast by economists. Unit labor costs were up 2.2%, ahead of the 1.9% forecast.

Economic calendar

The key economic events for the rest of the day are speeches from the Federal Reserve’s Patrick Harker, John Williams, Raphael Bostic and Michelle Bowman.

There is also the latest crude oil inventories report, which may draw more eyes than usual given the current attention on declining US inventories and the recent rise in oil prices. Brent and WTI are both taking a breather today after seven days of consecutive gains driven by news that Saudi Arabia and Russia are extending production cuts until the end of the year. Lower output and declining US inventories point toward further tightening in the market this year and are also raising fears that inflation could remain elevated for longer.

We also have the Ivey PMI out of Canada later before a speech from the Bank of Canada governor Tiff Macklem.

Most discussed Reddit stocks

Below is a list of the top 10 most mentioned US stocks on the WallStreetBets thread on Reddit over the last 24 hours, according to data from Quiver Quantitative. Exchange-Traded Funds (ETFs) and other instruments have been excluded:

1. AMC Entertainment
2. Apple
3. Visa
4. NVIDIA
5. Tesla
6. C3.ai
7. Novavax
8. GameStop
9. Meta
10. Advanced Micro Devices

Most active US stocks before the bell

Below are the most active stocks with a valuation of at least $500 million before the bell, based on trading data taken from Bloomberg:

1. Cymabay Therapeutics
2. AMC Entertainment
3. Apple
4. Nikola
5. Tesla
6. C3.ai
7. Novavax
8. NVIDIA
9. Palantir
10. Better Home & Finance

US premarket winners and losers

Here are the stocks worth at least $500 million experiencing the sharpest movements in premarket trade, according to data from Bloomberg:

Top US stocks to watch

Let’s have a look at the top stocks to watch today.

Apple stock drops on China bans

Apple shares are down 3.3% today as markets worry about news that the Chinese government is banning workers from using iPhones at work.

The stock suffered its biggest daily drop in over a month yesterday when the Wall Street Journal reported Chinese government workers have been told they cannot use iPhones at work. The stock is losing further ground today after Bloomberg said officials are planning to expand that ban to government-backed agencies and state-owned companies.

The main concern is that China is cutting out foreign-made technology and that the move could cause Apple to lose market share in a massive market. Consumers could switch to domestic brands rather than go to work without their phone. The expansion to state-owned enterprises is particularly significant given the government’s involvement in so many of the country’s largest companies.

The news is also weighing on Apple’s array of suppliers, with Skyworks, Qualcomm and TSMC trading 1.6% to 3.5% lower today and building on the losses we saw yesterday.

Apple is trading at a two-week low before the bell and is trading over 9% below the all-time highs hit at the end of July. Importantly, Apple is expected to unveil the new iPhone 15 at an event next Tuesday.

Chinese stocks fall on weak economic data

Alibaba, JD.com, Baidu and Pinduoduo are all down over 3% this morning following the weak trade data out of China that showed imports and exports declined in August and stoked concerns that demand is faltering both in China and overseas.

Exports were down 8.8% from last year in August while imports were down 12.4%. Both readings were better than expected but still nothing to get excited about. That is raising pressure on China to make a bigger intervention after a series of measures failed to convince markets it is doing enough to stimulate the economy following its lacklustre recovery since abandoning its fight against Covid-19.

Can Meta stock break $300?

Meta shares are down 0.5% at $297.58 before the bell. The stock briefly climbed to its highest level in three weeks yesterday before reversing course and closing down. The stock has unsuccessfully tried to close above $300 over the last four consecutive sessions, suggesting this is a key level of resistance for the social media stock. That is reinforced by the fact it is aligned with the 50-day moving average.

NVIDIA stock suffers sharpest daily fall in a month

NVIDIA shares are down 2.5% this morning at $458.90 after experiencing its sharpest daily fall in almost a month yesterday amid a broader selloff of large tech stocks and claims from the founder of asset management firm Research Affiliates, Rob Arnott, that the surge in NVIDIA shares this year is a “textbook story of Big Market Delusion”.

Wall Street as about as bullish as it gets on NVIDIA right now. The chipmaker is the best performer in the S&P 500 this year and has more than trebled in value after becoming the first major winner to reap financial rewards from AI, but analysts see, on average, over 27% potential upside from here with an average price target of $620 – with the highest target set at $1,100!

“The risk that we’re wrong, that NVIDIA’s off to incredible things and will go up another 10-fold in the coming 10 years is possible,” Arnott said according to a Bloomberg report. “I would say it’s not plausible, and therefore I’m comfortable calling it a bubble”.

NVIDIA does boast a lofty valuation but several analysts have said they are confident it can go higher because multiples are nowhere near as stretched as what we saw at tech companies in previous bubbles.

Is AMD stock set to get its own AI moment?

AMD shares are down 2.1% amid the broader pressure being applied to tech stocks. Comments from CEO Lisa Su during a conference that pointed toward AMD catching up in the race for AI supremacy failed to provide a boost.

The CEO of the chipmaker, which, like its rivals, has underperformed NVIDIA as they are behind in the AI race, said that interest in its new AI chip is translating into sales and had risen over the past month.

“Even since our last earnings call, over the past 30 days, what we’ve seen is a continued acceleration of those engagements [on AI], and a number of those engagements have turned into customer commitments, which we’re really excited about,” said Su. That was welcomed as it suggests AMD is starting to benefit from some AI tailwinds, which is significant considering its datacentre business reported lower sales in the latest quarter due to the absence of a chip good enough to run AI applications.

C3.ai fails to meet the AI hype

C3.ai is down over 12% this morning at $27.33, marking a four-month low, after it failed to meet a high bar, with all the hype it is making about AI failing to materialise into tangible results.

The company has stirred plenty of excitement about its prospects, but pressure is building on it to start delivering. It warned that annual adjusted operating losses will be up to $100 million as it ramps-up investment, having previously said losses would be up to $75 million. That also means it has scrapped its goal to escape the red in the fourth quarter, lengthening the path to profitability. Losses in the latest quarter were wider than anticipated.

Revenue was up less than 10% in the first quarter at $72.4 million and that will only experience mild sequential growth at best in the second, suggesting it will take more time for AI benefits to feed through.

JPMorgan raised its price target on the stock to $17 from $15 this morning, while Wedbush lowered its much more bullish view to $42 from $50.

UiPath sweetens beat with buyback

UiPath is up 0.9% and at a five-week high of $16.36 after beating expectations in the second quarter and announcing a new $500 million share buyback.

The company, which makes software used in automation equipment and in robotics, said revenue rose 19% in the quarter to $287.3 million, coming in ahead of the $282.3 million forecast by analysts. It made an adjusted operating profit of $30.1 million, but a loss of $77.6 million on a reported basis, with both improving from the year before. Its outlook for the current quarter and the full year was broadly in-line with analyst expectations.

Several brokers lifted their target price on UiPath this morning, including JPMorgan to $19, DA Davidson to $17, Barclays to $18, RBC to $19, Mizuho to $18, BMO to $19 and BofA Global Research to $22.

Will Tesla deliveries fall in Q3?

Tesla shares are down 2.6% today. The stock lost ground yesterday after Deutsche Bank said the electric vehicle maker expects production and deliveries to be lower in the third quarter due to planned shutdowns at its plants around the world.

Analyst Emmanuel Rosner said he is anticipating “flattish” deliveries compared to what we saw in the second quarter, when it sold just over 466,000 vehicles. Consensus numbers from Bloomberg currently show analysts on average are expecting this to fall to 462,400 in the third.

Rosner also warned that there are still risks over its margins as it continues to cut prices. “All in, we continue to see some risk to 2023/24 Street expectations as Tesla adjusts pricing to secure its volume growth in a challenging macro, but remain bullish on Tesla’s longer-term opportunities,” the analyst said.

VinFast stock loses all its gains

VinFast is down 6.6% today at $22.89 and on course to lose ground for a seventh consecutive session – a plummet that has wiped-off $125 billion from its valuation as quickly as it gained it.

The Vietnamese electric vehicle maker opened on its first day of trading on August 15 at $22 after it went public by completing a merger with a SPAC and soared to as high $82 before the end of the month. That briefly gave it a valuation of over $181 billion and made it the third most valuable carmaker in the world, but the celebration didn’t last long and it has been nothing but down since then, with the company now worth around $56 billion. It is important to note that VinFast has a tiny free float, which has made it vulnerable to sharp and dramatic price movements on little activity.

The trade ministry of Indonesia said VinFast is planning to establish operations to make cars and batteries in the country today.

Novavax hits 6-month high on Covid boost

Novavax shares are up 3.9% at $10.12 and at their highest level in six months, with the stock on course to gain ground for a fourth consecutive session. The stock has shot above the 200-day moving average for the first time since the end of 2021 and volumes have consistently risen for over a week to suggest momentum is still building.

The recent rally could provide a blow to short sellers that have been targeting the company, while simultaneously drawing the attention of retail traders that like short-squeezes. Short interest stands at over 48% of Novavax’s free float, according to Fintel.

Trading volumes have increased at an accelerated rate over the past two sessions as news that Covid-19 cases are rising across the US provides a much-needed boost to vaccine makers that have fallen out of favour since the end of the pandemic.

Novavax was behind when companies were racing to bring jabs to the market and only secured its first approval in mid-2022, when vaccination campaigns were already well underway. Novavax said recently that it is in the process of applying for authorisation of its new updated vaccine.

WestRock pops on Smurfit Kappa tie-up

WestRock is set to open at a one-month high today after London-listed Smurfit Kappa said it is in talks about a merger to bring two of the world’s largest paper and packaging producers under one roof.

The new enlarged company would be called Smurfit WestRock, based in Ireland, and remained listed on the NYSE. It would have about 100,000 employees and a reach in 432 countries, generating over $34 billion in annual sales. The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed and the usual regulatory and shareholder approvals will be needed.

ChargePoint stock hits all-time low

ChargePoint is down 12.5% at $6.17 and at all-time lows this morning after reporting wider losses and a disappointing outlook, while outlining plans to cut its workforce by 10% in an effort to reduce costs.

The company, which runs electric vehicle charging stations, said adjusted Ebitda losses ballooned to $81.2 million in the second quarter compared to $56.2 million the year before but said it remains confident of achieving profitability at this level in the fourth quarter. Still, its sales outlook for the full year of between $605 million to $630 million was poor compared to the $672.5 million forecast by analysts.

ChargePoint is aiming to cut $30 million in annual costs and said it will cost around $8 million to let 10% of its workforce go.

AMC stock hits all-time lows

AMC Entertainment is down another 3% today after sinking to fresh all-time lows yesterday, when it revealed plans to sell more shares and dilute shareholders further just weeks after radically shaking-up its capital structure and watering-down investors.

AMC said it will sell up to 40 million of its common stock through an at-the-market offering. It is able to do that because it recently secured the ability to issue up to 390 million new shares. The stock has tanked in recent weeks after converting APE preferred shares into ordinary stock and completing a reverse stock split, and investors are worried that there is much more dilution to come as AMC needs to keep raising cash to fuel its prolonged recovery from the pandemic.

GameStop reports narrower losses

Fellow meme stock favourite GameStop is down 1.8% at $18.41 despite posting a much narrower loss in the latest quarter, raising hopes that the video game retailer is making progress.

The company reported a net loss of just $2.8 million in the second quarter. That was welcomed considering losses were over $108 million the year before and analysts thought it would be deeper in the red after pencilling-in a loss of over $49 million. Revenue only edged-slightly higher than last year to $1.164 billion, but this too was ahead of the $1.141 billion forecast.

Management did not hold a conference call with investors or analysts and the update provided little detail on how its turnaround plan is progressing, leaving the numbers to do the talking. The story at GameStop looks broadly unchanged following the results. GameStop shares did briefly shoot above the falling trendline that has held the stock back for the last three months but has since reversed course.

Wedbush trimmed its target price on GameStop this morning to $6.00 from $6.20.

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