August 26th Pre-Market Brief

Good Morning

Inflation came in about where everyone guessed, oil is down a third day, and the market is mostly standing around. Small caps green with the big three red is a funny look on Nvidia day.

Today is pretty much a waiting room, and I would rather say that than pretend the morning tells us much.

Let's dig in...

Today's Big Picture

1. Inflation Held Flat And Demand Firmed Up

Core inflation matched forecasts at three point three percent, and the headline held at three point seven when economists looked for a step down. Income and spending both beat, and second quarter demand from households and businesses was revised up to four point two percent. Three officials voted to raise rates last month arguing demand is outrunning supply, and this report handed them both halves of that case.

2. The Nvidia Beat Is Already Paid For

Bespoke counts fourteen of Nvidia's last twenty quarters where it beat on earnings, beat on revenue, and raised guidance. It did all three in each of the last three quarters and the stock closed lower the next day every time, averaging a loss near three percent. The number is not the catalyst, so the move comes from what Jensen Huang says about the financing: a program routing outside money into AI infrastructure, a backstop on an Ohio data center, and six billion dollars for a startup's model and engineers, all inside a month.

3. Meta Put A Price On Platform Liability

Meta settled with forty eight state attorneys general for eighteen billion dollars, ending a trial over harm to teenagers before a verdict. The stock is higher while the index is lower, which says the market feared the ruling more than the check. Every company that runs a feed now has a number for what losing that argument costs, and Snap, Pinterest, Roblox and Alphabet get valued against it.

Market Overview

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Stock Spotlight (pre-market)

Intuit $INTU ( ▼ 3.37% )  
is lower after fiscal 2027 revenue guidance came in under consensus, with even the top of the range below what analysts modeled. Fourth quarter earnings and revenue both beat, and management pointed to declines in the desktop business as next year's drag.

Zoom Communications $ZM ( ▼ 3.73% )  
is lower after third quarter earnings guidance topped out two cents below estimates, with revenue guidance also light. Second quarter revenue rose, and the enterprise business posted its strongest growth in years.

SAP $SAP ( ▼ 0.79% )  
is lower after UBS cut it to neutral. The bank said SAP has been slow to ship software that completes tasks on its own, which limits pricing power and gives customers a reason to look elsewhere.

Boston Scientific $BSX ( ▲ 1.73% )  
is lower after telling regulators a cyberattack is disrupting operations and limiting access to some products. The company has given no timeline for restoring them, which leaves the revenue hit open ended.

J.M. Smucker $SJM ( ▲ 6.05% )  
is higher after first quarter adjusted earnings and sales both beat, and the company narrowed the sales decline it expects for fiscal 2027.

Kohl's $KSS ( ▼ 3.39% )  
is lower after second quarter comparable sales fell further than expected and both profit and sales declined. The retailer still raised its full year outlook and restarted buybacks, leaning on a hundred and fifty million dollars in tariff refunds rather than on selling more.

What to Watch

Want to Know about this years upcoming IPO’s?
MarketBeat did an excellent job on this free IPO guide on IPO’s happening this year

Weekly Oil Inventories (10:30 AM ET)
The industry's own count showed American crude stockpiles building more than twice what analysts expected last week, and the government's official figure lands this morning. That build is a real reason crude is down ten percent in three days, separate from any Middle East headline. Worth noting against the popular view that cheaper oil fixes inflation: goods prices fell in today's report only because energy fell two point seven percent, while services rose and financial services and insurance climbed one point two percent in a single month.

Four Software Guides After The Close (4:00 PM ET)
Salesforce, CrowdStrike, HP and Okta all report tonight. Two software names guided light this morning and pulled the whole group down with them. Tonight decides whether that was company-specific or whether software budgets are tightening across the board.

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