Tesla disbands supercomputer team, Trade Desk Q2 spurs downgrades: Morning Buzz

The major averages were broadly higher near noon amid growing expectations that the Federal Reserve may move toward dovish policies, spurred by President Trump’s nomination of Stephen Miran as an interim Fed governor. Investors are now pricing in increased odds for rate cuts and markets are responding to the possibility of looser monetary policy while still digesting the implications for central bank independence.

The markets are also responding to a new slate of corporate earnings from big names, with the major indices currently on pace for a winning week despite early-week losses.

Looking to commodities, gold prices continue their climb towards the $3,500 mark amid continued volatility. Meanwhile, oil prices were trading lower, edging closer to $60.

Get caught up quickly on the top news and calls moving stocks with these five Top Five lists.

1. STOCK NEWS:

• Tesla (TSLA) is disbanding its Dojo supercomputer project, Bloomberg reports
• Block (XYZ) reported Q2 earnings and revenue and raised its FY25 gross profit outlook
• Trade Desk (TTD) reported Q2 results, provided Q3 revenue guidance, and named Alex Kayyal CFO, but was downgraded by several firms following the report
• Expedia (EXPE) provided a “beat and raise” report for Q2
• Council of Economic Advisers chairman Stephen Miran was nominated by President Trump to fill the seat on the Federal Reserve Board vacated by Governor Kugler

2. WALL STREET CALLS:

• BofA (TTD) to Underperform from Buy, says Q3 outlook implies deceleration in underlying growth
• Monster Beverage (MNST) upgraded to Overweight at Piper Sandler, here’s why
• BofA double upgraded LegalZoom (LZ) to Buy from Underperform, citing a successful shift toward subscriptions
• Instacart (CART) upgraded to Buy at Benchmark following Q2 results
• Williams Trading downgraded Crocs (CROX) to Hold from Buy 

3. AROUND THE WEB:

• Intel’s (INTC) board has stalled recent efforts by CEO Lip-Bu Tan to raise new capital and acquire an AI company meant to help it compete against Nvidia (NVDA), WSJ says
• Apple (AAPL) has lost around a dozen of its AI staff, including top researchers, to rivals in recent months, FT says
• Ragnarok Research published a short report on Blaize (BZAI), saying the company’s supposed customer offering a multi-million dollar deal does not exist
• Amazon Web Services (AMZN) is providing federal agencies with up to $1B in discounts through 2028, CNBC reports
• TSMC (TSM) will not have to pay the 100% tariff on sales to the U.S., Bloomberg says

4. MOVERS:

• SoundHound (SOUN) increases after reporting Q2 results and raising its guidance for FY25
• RealReal (REAL) gains after reporting Q2 results, with CEO Rati Levesque commenting, “The second quarter was a breakout performance for The RealReal”
• GigaCloud (GCT) and Ouster (OUST) rise after reporting quarterly results
• Vtex (VTEX) lower after reporting Q2 results, with JPMorgan and Bradesco BBI downgrading their ratings on the stock 
• Blend Labs (BLND) and SweetGreen (SG) fall in New York after (PINS) reported Q2 results and provided guidance for Q3
• Instacart (CART) reported Q2 results, with EPS higher year-over-year
• Sweetgreen (SG) reported Q2 results and lowered its guidance for FY25
• Gilead (GILD) reported Q2 results and raised its guidance for FY25, with CEO Daniel O’Day calling it “a very successful second quarter”
• Monster Beverage (MNST) reported Q2 results, with EPS and revenue beating consensus

INDEXES:

Near midday, the Dow was up 0.44%, or 195.48, to 44,164.12, the Nasdaq was up 0.87%, or 184.79, to 21,427.49, and the S&P 500 was up 0.72%, or 45.45, to 6,385.45.