Market Movers: Tesla Surges, Ericsson Plunges, and Big Banks Prepare to Report

Biggest stock movers today: TSLA, ERIC, and more (NASDAQ:TSLA)

Stock futures edged higher early Friday following cooling CPI data ahead of big bank earnings due later today. Here are some of Friday's biggest stock movers: Biggest stock gainers Following Q2 results, Ericsson's (NASDAQ:ERIC) stock price rose more than 7% despite a 7% Y/Y dip in revenue, as the decline was smaller than expected, especially with strong growth in North America. The company benefited from a major contract win with AT&T and a shift in sales from lower-margin India to the higher-margin US market, though they still posted a loss due to an impairment charge. Immutep (NASDAQ:IMMP) shares surged over 20% after announcing positive results from the TACTI-003 Phase IIb trial of eftilagimod alfa (efti) with Merck's KEYTRUDA® (pembrolizumab) as a first-line treatment for recurrent or metastatic head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) patients with negative PD-L1 expression. The combination achieved a 35.5% objective response rate (ORR) and a 58.1% disease control rate (DCR), significantly outperforming historical controls for anti-PD-1 monotherapy. Additionally, the combination showed a 9.7% complete response rate, with one patient showing a notable improvement to a partial responder status after 14 months. Due to these promising results, Immutep will engage with regulatory agencies to discuss the next steps, supported by the FDA Fast Track designation for efti in 1L HNSCC regardless of PD-L1 expression. Biggest stock losers Following an 8% drop due to a report of a possible delay in its August 8 robotaxi event, Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) extended losses over 3% in premarket trading on Friday after UBS downgraded the stock from Neutral to Sell. UBS analysts highlighted that while Tesla benefits from positive developments beyond its core auto business, the premium attached to its future growth initiatives, driven by AI enthusiasm, is difficult to value. They estimate a remaining value of over $500B for future growth, implying a future value of $1T, which only justifies current stock levels. To justify a Buy rating, a larger opportunity is needed, especially as AI investments are costly and long-term, and any decline in AI enthusiasm could impact Tesla's valuation. More on related stocks: Tesla: Up +62% From Our Prior Bullish Article - Is It Time To Protect? (Technical Analysis) Wall Street Lunch: Tesla's Big Bull Run Surging Stock, Struggling Core: Tesla's Mixed Signals To Investors Tesla unveils new Model 3 long-range variant, with $7,500 tax credit Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson GAAP EPS of -SEK3.34, revenue of SEK59.8B

Wall Street Breakfast Podcast: Big Bank Results On Tap

The second-quarter earnings season shifts into higher gear today with some major banks releasing results, and shares of most of a group of big banks have outstripped the S&P 500's (SP500) advance this year. JPMorgan Chase (JPM) and Wells Fargo (WF) will be among those kicking off the parade of Q2 bank results. Broadly for banks, analysts say among the figures to watch are those for loan growth, which are likely to remain soft in the face of still-high interest rates. Meanwhile, investment banking ("IB") fees are likely to benefit as activity starts to rebound. But prospects for the Federal Reserve to begin lowering borrowing costs in 2024 has helped drive up the S&P 500 Banks index (SP500-401010) by 19% this year. Shares of five of six big banks, whose results are in Wall Street's spotlight, have moved higher than the Banks index and the 17% advance in the S&P 500 (SP500)(SPY)(VOO) in 2024. Here's how shares of six major banks have performed YTD ahead of Q2 results: Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) closed lower on Thursday after Bloomberg reported that the company may be delaying its robotaxi event scheduled for August 8. TSLA fell 8.4% on Thursday and is down 1% premarket. Sources indicate that the event may not take place until October because it needs more time to build the autonomous vehicle prototypes. CEO Elon Musk has been mentioning the robotaxi event since April, while the robotaxi concept has been part of Tesla's (TSLA) Master Plan for at least eight years. Tesla (TSLA) has not confirmed if the date of the robotaxi event has changed. Last month, J.P. Morgan warned that consensus expectations and valuation demands around the robotaxi business imply it will be a home run, which it considers far from certain. Notably, the firm thinks the timeframe for any company to generate material revenue from robotaxi operations is years out. That plays into its view that investors in Tesla (TSLA) may have gotten ahead of themselves in terms of baking in a robotaxi premium. Dollar General (NYSE:DG) has agreed to pay a $12M fine and improve safety conditions as part of a settlement with the U.S. Department of Labor. The settlement is to resolve violations that included unsafe storage, blocked emergency exits and fire extinguishers, and inaccessible electrical panels. The Tennessee-based company agreed to establish new safety protocols, hire more safety staff, and significantly reduce store inventory to avoid obstructed exits. Dollar General (DG), which operates more than 19,000 stores nationwide, has also brought in a third-party consultant to identify hazards and perform unannounced compliance audits annually, the U.S. Department of Labor said. If inspectors find similar issues, the discount retailer will have to pay $100,000 a day up to $500,000 if problems are not resolved within 48 hours. More articles on Seeking Alpha: SA subscribers pitch stocks that could potentially replace Tesla in Magnificent 7 PayPal may profit from Apple-EU settlement, analyst says AI made up a third of all VC funding this quarter, U.S. companies taking the lead - DataTrek Now let's take a look at the markets as of 6 am. Ahead of the opening bell today, Dow, S&P and Nasdaq futures are in the green. Crude oil is up 1% at $83 per barrel. Bitcoin is down 2.1% at $57,000. In the world markets, the FTSE 100 is up 0.1% and the DAX is up 0.2%. The biggest movers for the day premarket: Following Q2 results, Ericsson's (NASDAQ:ERIC) is up 3.6% despite a 7% Y/Y dip in revenue, as the decline was smaller than expected, especially with strong growth in North America.