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

US futures rise

• Dow Jones Industrial Average is up 0.2%
• S&P 500 is up 0.3%
• Nasdaq 100 is up 0.4%

US futures are rising at the start of a new week, after the S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 closed down at their lowest level in over three weeks on Friday.

Week Ahead: Credit ratings, CPI and earnings

The economic calendar this week is headlined by key inflation data for the US and China. Markets essentially want to see core CPI in the US fall harder and faster to justify their bets that the Fed are done hiking rates. And we’ll also find out if China’s annual inflation rate falls below zero for the first time in over two years. There are also credit rating reviews on Germany and Switzerland this week, which may be more in focus than usual following that surprise downgrade of the US by Fitch last week. Find out what to expect from the economic calendar this week in The Week Ahead.

Meanwhile, we are past the peak of the second-quarter earnings season, with 84% of the S&P 500 having now reported. The average decline in earnings so far is 5.2%, making it the worst performance in almost three years, according to data from FactSet. Still, profits have been rosier than anticipated considering 79% of the constituents to have reported results have beaten earnings expectations. However, more companies have downgraded their outlook than raised it, adding to the uncertain outlook.

There are several big names reporting this week, including entertainment giant Disney, Chinese behemoth Alibaba and pharmaceutical firm Eli Lilly. You can find out what to expect this week in Earnings This Week.

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. Apple
2. Palantir
3. C3.ai
4. Eni
5. Advanced Micro Devices
6. Disney
7. NVIDIA
8. US Steel
9. AMC Entertainment
10. Tesla

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. Nikola
2. Sage Therapeutics
3. Lucid Group
4. Palantir
5. Ginkgo Bioworks
6. Tesla
7. Apple
8. Amazon
9. Apellis Pharmaceuticals
10. Opendoor Technologies

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: Rebounding from 2-month lows

Apple shares are up 0.3% this morning after ending last week at its lowest level in almost two months, having failed to meet what was a high bar ahead of its latest quarterly results. Its flagship iPhone, which accounts for almost half of Apple’s revenue, has proven more resilient the softer demand for smartphones but succumbed to the crunch after reporting a drop in sales in the latest quarter. That will heighten pressure on the upcoming iPhone 15 that should be launched sometime in September to revive demand. We saw the stock close on Friday at its intraday low to suggest there was strong selling momentum.

Palantir stock: Can it meet the AI hype?

Palantir shares are up 0.4% ahead of second quarter earnings out after US markets close. The stock has recently turned profitable and is grabbing the attention of those looking for AI stocks, which has pushed the stock 145% higher in just two months! Net income is forecast to come in positive for a third consecutive quarter at $12 million, with adjusted EPS of $0.05. Revenue is forecast to rise 12.6% to $532.4 million (at the very top end of Palantir’s guidance) as demand from both governments and businesses continues to grow, albeit at a slower rate than we saw back in 2022.

Palantir will need to show off its AI credentials and reassure investors of the opportunity on offer, especially as they hope new workloads can counter the slowdown in business spending.

C3.ai stock: Markets fret over Baker Hughes relations

C3.ai shares are up 0.8% this morning after suffering a sharp fall on Friday, when we discovered that Baker Hughes sold off around one-third of its stake in the company. While that may be in response to the fact C3.ai shares have more than tripled in value this year, it is also fuelling concerns that relations between the two companies may be deteriorating. Baker Hughes is thought to be C3.ai’s biggest customer and some short sellers have claimed that the partnership between the two firms is strained.

Tesla stock: Tech company or automaker?

Future Fund has predicted that Tesla will generate more annual revenue than Ford by 2026 and General Motors in 2027, with the electric vehicle maker already boasting superior profitability. Investment advisor Gary Black said Tesla should be valued more like a technology stock rather than an automaker and highlighted that 2024 earnings estimates for Tesla are low. Tesla is up 0.4% before the bell today.

Lucid stock: Slower ramp-up of pricier vehicles

Lucid Group is up 0.5% and rebounding from five-week lows ahead of second quarter earnings out later today. Lucid Group produced 2,173 vehicles in the second quarter and delivered 1,404 of them to customers. Lucid is taking things a bit slower than some of its rivals and is seeking to produce just 10,000 vehicles in 2023, marking a mild lift from the 7,200 sold in 2022 when it started production.

Notably, Lucid has been producing more vehicles than it has sold for six consecutive quarters and that build up of inventory may start to become more of a concern, especially as competition (especially on price) is fierce right now. Notably, Barron’s reported just today that Lucid has lowered the price of its Air luxury sedans and will ‘last so long as supplies last’, suggesting it is an effort to reduce inventory levels.

It has to keep ramping-up output if it wants to bring down costs and minimise cash burn, but that will become hard to justify if demand falters. Lucid is a pricier brand than rivals and that may be a hindrance in the current environment with cheaper options available. Quarterly revenue is forecast to come in at $176.6 million and its adjusted Ebitda loss is forecast to come in at $596 million.

Lucid Group had around $3.4 billion in cash at the end of the first quarter and has said it thinks this can fund the company through to until ‘at least’ the second quarter of 2024, suggesting a potential fundraising of some type will start to be talked about later this year or in early 2024.

Rivian stock: Big beat may be needed to impress

Rivian shares are up 1.2% today ahead of results out tomorrow. The electric vehicle maker has seen its share price jump over 87% in the last seven weeks alone, suggesting the bar is high ahead of the update. The electric carmaker is expected to report its first quarterly revenue of over $1 billion. However, the key job will be reaffirming its goal to double annual production to 50,000 vehicles. With guidance unlikely to be raised, it may need to post significantly smaller losses than forecast to impress investors this week following the recent rally.

The company ended March with $12 billion in cash, giving it a healthy cushion to fund its operations. Still, Rivian is expected to burn through around $1.06 billion in free cashflow in the second quarter alone and over $4 billion over the full year, and it has to stretch that balance as far as possible considering Wall Street thinks it won’t generate any money until 2028! Find out what you need to know in our Rivian Q2 Earnings Preview.

Disney stock: House of Mouse needs a catalyst

Disney shares are up 0.6%, but the House of Mouse is still in desperate need of a catalyst. Fortunately, it has an opportunity to revive sentiment when it reports earnings on Wednesday. Disney shares are currently in the doldrums, lingering not far above 2023-lows. In fact, it wouldn’t take a lot for the stock to flirt with levels seen back in 2014! The stock has fallen out of favour because growth has been slowing down and earnings have been declining over the past year as the boom in demand in 2021 and 2022 unwinds. Overall revenue is forecast to rise 4.7% from last year to $22.5 billion and adjusted EPS is seen declining 7.9% to $1.00. That would be the slowest topline growth delivered in over two years, and a fourth consecutive quarter of lower earnings.

This backdrop has forced Disney to make a big push to turn its streaming operations profitable, which has been made all the more difficult when you consider Disney+ has been losing subscribers in recent months.

CEO Bob Iger has agreed to stay on for another two years, during which he will need to find a successor. Notably, reports suggest he has recently brought back two former executives as advisers, with the primary task to help sort out its TV networks and ESPN+. We could see Disney offload its TV channels if it can find a buyer willing to pay the right price, and it has said it wants a partner to help drive ESPN+ forward. That means M&A could be a theme this week.

KKR stock: Deal drought hits earnings

Private equity giant KKR is up 1.7% after distributable earnings dropped thanks to a fewer asset sales being made in the current environment. That follows the same trend recently seen at rivals like Blackstone and the Carlyle Group. Distributable earnings after tax dropped 23% from last year in the second quarter to $652.6 million, or $0.73 per share. That was slightly better than the $0.71 EPS forecast by Wall Street. Management and transaction fees both grew in the period but ultimately couldn’t fully counter the drop in asset sales.

BioNTech stock: Cutting costs as vaccine sales plummet

Nasdaq-listed shares in BioNTech are down 3.4% before the bell after the European firm said it was planning to cut spending in response to the sharp drop in demand for its Covid-19 vaccine. Revenue in the second quarter plummeted to just EUR167.7 million from EUR3.2 billion the year before, causing it two swing to a EUR190 million loss from a EUR1.67 billion profit.

BioNTech is expecting to sell around EUR5 billion of its Covid-19 vaccine in 2023 compared to over EUR17 billion in 2022. It is trying to diversify its product lineup, but in the meantime it has reduced its R&D budget by around $200,000 to $400,000 and said it is ‘revisiting our cost base’ because there is ‘some uncertainty on the revenue line’.

AMC stock: Barbenheimer, strikes and APE dispute

AMC Entertainment is up 1.6% this morning and at August-highs ahead of earnings due out on Tuesday. The cinema chain is forecast to report a 10.4% year-on-year rise in revenue in the second quarter to $1.28 billion. Adjusted Ebitda is seen rising 43% to $153.3 million and its adjusted loss at the bottom-line is expected to come in at $0.04 per share.

The popularity of ‘Barbenheimer’, driven by the simultaneous release of Barbie and Oppenheimer last month, has injected some confidence back into the future of cinema as it continues its long recovery from the pandemic. However, the strike action taken by writers and actors poses a threat to an already fragile film slate going forward. The recovery is all the more important considering AMC’s highly leveraged position with almost $5 billion of debt on its balance sheet.

The ongoing dispute over AMC’s desire to convert its APE preferred shares into ordinary stock will remain under the spotlight this week. AMC says it needs the plan to go ahead for it to be able to raise fresh cash and survive, but some shareholders are blocking it through the courts.

DraftKings stock: Upgraded to Overweight

DraftKings is up 1.5% at $32.23 after being upgraded to Overweight this morning by Wells Fargo, which also raised its target price on the gambling firm to $37 from $28. The broker said it is anticipating Ebitda forecasts will be revised higher and that it believes DraftKings will be making $1 billion annually in 2025. DraftKings shares hit their highest level since the start of 2022 on Friday before reversing and losing ground.

Opendoor stock: Price target hiked to $3.90

Opendoor Technologies shares are up 2.3% this morning at $3.62 and among the most-traded stocks before the bell after Citigroup hiked its rice target to $3.60 from just $1.80 beforehand, although it maintained its Neutral rating on the stock considering it is trading around that level. The upgrade comes after its recent earnings beat that was overshadowed by disappointing guidance, which suggest there will be a sharp sequential drop in home sales in the third quarter.