Stock market bears stopped the bulls from extending their win streak to a historic nine days, with bonds and the yen catching a bid instead. While many traders and investors are at the beach for the last two weeks of summer, others are trying to squeeze out additional gains. Let’s see what you missed. 👀

Today's issue covers Palo Alto Networks pushing towards new highs, PayPal's latest partnership, SiriusXM scooping a major podcast from Spotify, and Lowe’s leaving a lot to be desired. 📰

Here’s the S&P 500 heatmap. 3 of 11 sectors closed green, with consumer staples (+0.50%) leading and energy (-2.64%) lagging.

And here are the closing prices: 

Most bullish/bearish symbols on Stocktwits at the close: 📈 $KEYS, $STI, $ALLG, $TLS, $GTI 📉 $LZB, $DADA, $TPST, $CURV, $TOL*

*If you’re a business and want to access this data via our API, email us.

Cybersecurity stock Palo Alto Networks surged 7% after earnings, with Stocktwits sentiment surging to a one-year high in ‘extremely bullish’ territory as shares sit just below all-time highs. 🐂

The company reported adjusted earnings per share of $1.51 on revenues of $2.19 billion, topping analyst expectations of $1.41 and $2.16 billion.

Management’s controversial “platformization” strategy, which aims to get customers to adopt more of its offerings, is showing significant momentum. Investors initially worried that the company giving away free or discounted products would not pay off as well as management expected over the long term. 📈

Regarding the strategy, CEO Nikesh Arora said, “All I want to say is, I wish we had started down that path sooner. The amount of interest and activity around it has certainly been heartening and shows promise.”

Management alluded to CrowdStrike’s recent debacle being a potential tailwind for Palo Alto and the rest of the industry, saying it has companies “digging deeper into the technologies being deployed to mitigate these risks.”

The company raised its current quarter and full-year outlook slightly, doubling its buyback program to $1 billion in the process. The stock’s momentum is expected to keep cyber stocks in focus for the weeks ahead. 👍

The two competitors came together to collaborate for the first time publicly.

Adyen NV will now offer PayPal’s guest-checkout product to its merchant customers in the U.S., with plans to do so globally in the future.

Paypal gets the added benefit of Adyen’s merchant network, while Adyen continues to expand its U.S. presence by partnering with a brand name that shoppers trust. 👍

Shares of Paypal jumped 4% to new 52-week highs, with Stocktwits sentiment hitting a one-year high in ‘extremely bullish’ territory. This is a major turnaround story that tech investors and traders have been waiting to gain momentum. And the recent move could be a good start.

And while PayPal and Adyen extend their partnership, Walmart is reportedly looking to sell its stake in Chinese e-commerce company JD.com. It’s working with Morgan Stanley to unload its 144.50 million shares acquired in 2016 for between $24.85 and $25.85 per share.

JD shares were down another 9% after hours, following a 5% fall during regular trading.

Stocktoberfest is back with an intimate event for executives, influencers, and the most active investors in financial markets on October 20-22. 🤝

Network with industry thought leaders like Howard Lindzon, Michael Batnick, Brian Shannon, Michael Parekh, and many more during the 2-day palooza.

Less than 50 tickets remain, so grab your seat now, and we'll see you in beautiful Coronado, CA! 😎

The battle for good content continues, with today’s battle being won in the podcast space. SiriusXM made headlines for stealing Alex Cooper, host of the “Call Her Daddy” podcast away from Spotify for between $100 to $125 million.

Sirius will become Cooper’s distribution and advertising partner, having exclusive rights for advertising, distribution, content, events, and more from the flagship podcast and other shows from her Unwell Audio Network. 🎙️

This builds on its previous podcast investments, including the three-year $100 million-plus deal with podcast and media company SmartLess, which gave SiriusXM exclusive distribution and ad-sales rights to its shows earlier this year. And in 2022, SiriusXM bought Conan O’Brien’s Team Coco podcast for $150 million and the podcast network and studio Stitcher.

SiriusXM shares jumped 7% on the day, but Spotify is still clearly winning the war since its debut on public markets. However, some retail investors are betting that could change, with Stocktwits sentiment hitting ‘extremely bullish’ territory and a one-year high. 🐂

The home-focused retailer joined rival Home Depot in cutting its full-year outlook, citing weaker home improvement sales. ✂️

Lowe’s now expects comparable store sales to fall 3.50% to 4%, down from a prior forecast of 2% to 3%. Following this quarter's sales miss, it also revised down its full-year earnings guidance.

With 90% of Lowe’s customers being homeowners, record high prices and high interest rates have caused hesitation around moving or investing in large home improvement projects.

Despite the short-term concerns about the economy and inflation, management says the medium- and long-term outlook for the home improvement industry remains bright. 🏘️

It cited an aging U.S. housing stock, more millennials forming households, and Baby Boomers adapting their current homes for retirement instead of downsizing as strong tailwinds.

Shares fell marginally today but continue to hover near all-time highs, though Stocktwits sentiment remains ‘extremely bearish’ as short-term concerns remain the key focus among investors. 🙃

Economic data: Indonesia rate decision (3:30 am ET), 30-Year Mortgage Rates (7:00 am ET), EIA Energy Inventories (10:30 am ET), July FOMC Minutes (2:00 pm ET), and South Korea rate decision (9:00 pm ET).

Pre-Market Earnings: Target ($TGT), Macy’s ($M), TJX Companies ($TJX), Chemomab Therapeutics ($CMMB), Analog Devices ($ADI), Dycom Industries ($DY), and GDS Holdings ($GDS). 🛏️

After-Hour Earnings: Zoom Video Communications ($ZM), Snowflake ($SNOW), Agilent Technologies ($A), Zuora ($ZUO), Synopsys ($SNPS), Zepp Health ($ZEPP), and X Financial ($XYF). 🎧

P.S. You can listen to all of these earnings calls and more straight from the Stocktwits app or website. You’ll find them on the calendar page and individual symbol pages once they’re set to begin! We’ll see you there. 👍

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💸 Wells Fargo is selling off billions of dollars in commercial mortgages

🤖 OpenAI signs deal to train on Condé Nast content, surface stories in ChatGPT

✈️ Alaska Airlines and Hawaiian Airlines merger clears Justice Department hurdle, now faces DOT

🫨 ‘Seismic shift.’ Kroger’s fight against a federal agency could upend antitrust

🤔 Shein sues Temu over copyright infringement, alleges rival loses money on every sale

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