SUMMARY
- Oracle and AI: UBS upgrades point to a potential 20% rally driven by AI advancements.
- Telecom Titans Rise: AT&T and Verizon buoyed by calmer competition and optimistic valuations.
- Retail Resilience: Best Buy and Big Lots exceed expectations, while PDD Holdings captures U.S. interest.
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Oracle is riding high, seeing a 2.7% surge after UBS waved the green flag, upgrading its rating from neutral to buy. Why? Artificial intelligence isn't just a sci-fi trope anymore; it's boosting businesses, and UBS believes Oracle stands to benefit.
Meanwhile, AT&T and Verizon are in sync, both enjoying a 1.6% uptick. Citi's analysts took off their neutral hats and placed shiny buy ones instead. Their reasoning? A calmer wireless warfront and perhaps a tad too much pessimism about fixing those pesky lead-wrapped cables.
Retailers aren't left behind in the success parade. Best Buy, everyone's favorite tech candy store, saw a 1.3% rise, outperforming Wall Street's predictions. Although they slightly narrowed their revenue forecast for the year, the numbers still look impressive. Big Lots? Well, they're the surprise package, jumping a whopping 14%. Their loss wasn’t as deep as analysts expected, and revenue was, in fact, a bit brighter.
On the international scene, PDD Holdings from China is making a splash in the U.S. The e-commerce behemoth reported promising Q2 results and is noticing consumers warming up to them. However, not every story is rosy; Heico and Nio both reported financial hiccups, with respective declines and broader losses than anticipated.
Lastly, J.M. Smucker, known for more than just jelly, saw shares rise by 2%. Their first-quarter earnings were a pleasant surprise. Conversely, Toyota found itself in a bit of a jam, halting production in Japan due to technical snafus, causing a minor dip in its U.S. shares.
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