Chips, Bears, and Big Prints: Sunday Briefing

Earnings Week Arrives

A packed earnings calendar drives sentiment into the new week. Oracle reports Tuesday after the close. Adobe and Rubrik follow on Wednesday. Analysts lifted targets on Rubrik ahead of its print, and its ORTEX momentum score recently hit 74 out of 100. Rocket Companies also reports Wednesday. Shares have been sliding, and short interest sits at 8.6% of free float — options traders expect a sharp move.

Chips Under Pressure

The Nasdaq fell 4% on Friday. Chip and memory stocks led the drop. The move accelerated bearish positioning across the sector. Broadcom remains a notable exception. Its analyst price target jumped to $517.61 this week. Short interest is just 1.1% of free float. Bears are not betting against this one.

Short Sellers and the AI Trade

Call centre stocks stay in focus. Hedge funds are building short positions on AI disruption fears. Concentrix sits at 23% SI % FF. TTEC Holdings holds 32% SI % FF. Meanwhile, Wolfspeed saw a sharp short squeeze — SI % FF dropped nearly 19 points to 112% as bears covered fast.

Big Insider Sales Filed

The Walton Family Trust filed a $184M sale of Walmart shares. Nvidia director Mark Stevens filed two sales totalling $221M. These were the week's largest disclosed insider exits.

Europe Watch

MTN Group's cost to borrow doubled ahead of its June 10 results. That signals rising short-seller interest in the African telecoms giant. Bears are positioning before the print.

Rate Sensitivity Bites

Wall Street trimmed price targets on eight major US utility names. Duke Energy, Entergy, and Sempra all saw cuts. Rising rate concerns are hurting regulated utility valuations. Payroll firms ADP and Paychex are moving in the opposite direction — higher interest income is a tailwind utilities don't share.