Tuesday's ‘Whack-a-Mole Market’
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CLOSING BELL
Tuesday’s ‘Whack-a-Mole Market’
The S&P 500 hit a fresh record high after the White House announced two trade pacts with the Philippines and Indonesia, while earnings came in rough for blue-chip stocks.
RTX fell after slicing its outlook on tariff headwinds, Lockheed Martin fell and said it had to write off $1.7B in classified contract charges, GM said tariffs hurt its bottom line, Equifax fell despite topping forecasts, and Phillip Morris dropped 8% after Zyn shipments declined.
Smaller stocks were still moving like internet memes, though Opendoor fell back while retail store Kohl’s climbed. Tomorrow is the first two massive stock reports; let’s review at what Wall Street wants to see them report. 👀
Today’s issue covers: OPEN fell at open, but KSS replaced its climb, Tesla and Google face high expectations, and more. 📰
With the final numbers for indexes and the ETFs that track them, 10 of 11 sectors closed green, with health care $XLV ( ▲ 1.86% ) leading and technology $XLK ( ▼ 0.93% ) lagging.
S&P 500 $SPY ( ▲ 0.01% ) 6,309
Nasdaq 100 $QQQ ( ▼ 0.52% ) 23,063
Russell 2000 $IWM ( ▲ 0.83% ) 2,248
Dow Jones $DIA ( ▲ 0.34% ) 44,502
STOCKS
OPEN Fell Right At Open, But These Other Meme Stocks Got The Chefs KSS 👩🍳
One day after Opendoor swung for the bleachers and climbed 120%, then crashed back to 40%, the stock dumped at open. Retail traders, for better or worse, have a wealth of choices for low-value, highly shorted stocks competing for their attention.
Shares of retail store $KSS ( ▲ 37.62% ) Kohl’s was the next target, reaching the top three most active spots on Stocktwits, despite a lack of major news. The stock jumped from near $10 to almost $20, before rapidly dropping back. It was not even featured in a hedge fund twitter post, like $OPEN ( ▼ 10.28% ), which petered out all day.
Kohl’s had its best single day of trading in years, and though Opendoor soaked up the most trading volume on the Nasdaq for the second day, it was no longer the apple of retail investors’ eyes.
So what made Kohl’s a perfect target? For one thing, it’s heavily shorted, with an estimated 40% or more of the firm’s 112M share float held in short interest.
Behavioral finance expert Victor Ricciardi told MarketWatch that the sudden small stock blowups this week reminded him of the 1990s. He said the retail-based momentum market was creating microbubbles for individual stocks.
Another aspect of Kohl’s that fits the GME, AMC retail excitement format, is the name recognition power of a large retail brand. $WOOF ( ▲ 29.01% ) also climbed 29% Tuesday, as Petco reprised its role as a meme stock hopeful. Last year, Petco was rumored to be a new pick of Keith Roaring Kitty Gill, and the stock climbed 35% in one day after missing earnings results.
$DNUT ( ▲ 26.69% ) climbed 26%, and 24% after market as another meme name, KrispyKreme, flew on little news. $NXDR ( ▼ 0.49% ) Nextdoor was climbing, as if retail was looking for something like Opendoor, but ya know, nextdoor. 🏘️
Stocktwits’ Editor In Chief Tom Bruni has called the new trading trend a ‘Whack-a-mole market.’
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EARNINGS NEWS
Mag 7 Names Are Here To Report: What To Expect From Tesla And Google
Tesla is scheduled to report its second-quarter earnings after the closing bell on Wednesday. It has been a rocky past couple of months for Tesla, following low monthly delivery numbers, and analysts expect a 10% drop in revenue compared to last year.
Revenue is expected to come in at around $22.12 billion, down from $25.5 billion, according to analysts. Analysts on average expect the company to report an earnings per share of $0.49, below the $0.52 from last year.
As part of the Mag 7, Tesla may face a strict reaction to its forward-looking guidance. Especially for an import-reliant manufacturing firm, forward-looking expectations are just as important as the well-trodden current quarter results. Analysts are expecting an average revenue estimate of $24.5 billion in the upcoming quarter and an average earnings per share of $0.48.
Alphabet is much more straightforward. The stock, or both stocks, received price target boosts before its earnings, expected at $2.2/share with revenue at $93.98B. The firm will also face the Mag 7’s expectation of forward-looking guidance perfection, especially as a digital ad revenue business, with revenue at $95.67B according to analysts compiled by Yahoo Finance.
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POPS & DROPS
Top Stocktwits News Stories 🗞️
Palo Alto, SentinelOne, and Sea dominated Stocktwits retail chatter amid rising cybersecurity demand and strong regional growth signals. Read more
Retail followers of Chipotle and Mattel are closely watching Wednesday’s earnings and tariff-related commentary, anticipating key signals on trade impact and consumer strength. Read more
GM CEO Mary Barra highlighted plans to mitigate future tariff impacts after Q2 earnings took a $1B hit, absorbing tariff costs in the quarter. The stock fell nearly 7%, after profit sank. Read more
Scott Bessent offered support to Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, contrasting recent political criticism with a vote of confidence in central bank leadership. Read more
Philip Morris saw a surge in retail hype as strong demand for its smoke-free products reinforced its pivot from traditional tobacco. Read more
Solana surged to a four-month high while Bitcoin moved sideways and Ethereum and Cardano posted declines, reflecting diverging momentum across major cryptocurrencies. Read more
Coca-Cola switched to cane sugar for its U.S. Coke brand, driving retail sentiment to a nine-month high as consumers cheered the move toward more natural ingredients. Read more
Oscar Health revised its 2025 outlook to reflect an expected operational loss between $200 million and $300 million, signaling deeper financial strain. Read more
Don’t miss a story! Follow @StocktwitsNews for a live feed in real time. ✍️
PRESENTED BY STOCKTWITS
Stocktwits Community Spotlight: Michael Parekh, Former Goldman Head of Global Internet Research
In this episode of Stocktwits Community Spotlight, we sit down with Michael Parekh, a pioneering internet analyst and global investor with a remarkable story. From helping Goldman expand into the Middle East to leading internet research during the dot-com boom, Michael shares a front-row view of how past tech revolutions mirror today’s AI surge. He reflects on what it takes to navigate exponential change, the importance of remaining intellectually curious, and why global context matters more than ever.
Watch now to hear from one of the original internet whisperers.
WHAT’S ON DECK
Tomorrow’s Top Things 📋
Economic data: Existing Home Sales (10:00 AM), 20-Year Bond Auction (1:00 PM) 📊
Pre-Market Earnings: AT&T ($T), Freeport-McMoRan ($FCX), NextEra Energy ($NEE), General Dynamics ($GD) 🛏️
After-Hour Earnings: Tesla ($TSLA), Alphabet ($GOOG, $GOOGL), QuantumScape ($QS), Chipotle ($CMG), IBM ($IBM), Viking Therapeutics ($VKTX), T-Mobile US ($TMUS), ServiceNow ($NOW), Las Vegas Sands ($LVS), Alaska Air Gr ($ALK) 🎧
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. 👍
Links That Don’t Suck 🌐
👀 Why Are Stocks Up? Nobody Knows
😨 Coinbase and PNC to work together as crypto reaches for Main Street
🏠️ Wall Street is upbeat on tech megacaps, but big questions loom on AI spending, China, Trump tariffs
Ozzy Osbourne, pioneering heavy metal singer and Black Sabbath frontman, dies at 76
*3rd Party Ad. Not an offer or recommendation by Stocktwits. See disclosure here.
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