CLOSING BELL
Small Caps Hit Records

The market climbed Thursday, pricing in rate cuts to come for the rest of the year. The Russell 2000 hit its first all-time high since 2021, as smaller caps fly higher session after session on the promise of cheaper financing due to lower rates, and the feeling that any company even vaguely related to AI might see a billion-dollar deal any day now. With hundreds of billions in CapEx spending, it’s only a matter of time before AI war chests trickle down to the little guys.

Nvidia made a $5B bet on Intel that sent the stock to the top of the S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100. President Trump is wining and dining in a castle in England with tech elites, and is due for a phone call with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday if all goes well to talk TikTok and trade issues. 👀

Today’s Rip: Nvidia deal sends Intel flying, small stocks are hitting records, and more. 📰

7 of 11 sectors closed green, with tech $XLK ( ▲ 1.73% ) leading and staples $XLP ( ▼ 0.87% ) lagging.

 $SPY ( ▲ 0.47% )  $QQQ ( ▲ 0.9% )  $IWM ( ▲ 2.49% )  $DIA ( ▲ 0.3% ) 

TECH
Nvidia Intel Deal Sends Government-Owned Chip Maker Up By Nearly A Third 😤 

Intel jumped 22% after news that Nvidia was spending $5B to jointly develop AI data centers and personal computer chips with the once floundering U.S. giant.

New CEO Lip-Bu Tan gives the impression he just keeps winning, after the news followed a 10% stake buyout from Uncle Sam less than a month ago. The U.S. share of Intel climbed by nearly a third to $14B or so, according to Bloomberg.

Intel has struggled for years to manufacture chips in America and has missed the AI chip boat nearly entirely, based on valuation alone. Nvidia is pulling in more revenue in one quarter than Intel gets in a year, when in 2022, Intel had twice the revenue of Nvidia.

Now, its share price is climbing to levels not seen since the dot-com bubble at the turn of the millennium. Nvidia purchased a $5B stake, alongside $2B from Softbank last month.

Former Trump Economic Advisor Gary Cohn told Yahoo Finance that the U.S. is taking seriously a pledge not to rely on foreign chips.

“The United States, as we know, has to become a chip manufacturer,” Cohn said. “We cannot be dependent on the rest of the world for chips.”

AMD fell on the news, an overlooked runner-up to Nvidia’s thunder. The PC general-purpose processing chips Intel is offering with help from Nvidia is a swipe at AMD’s market share directly, according to Bloomberg. Intel’s fall from grace is related to past issues with production, Wolfe analysts said in a note. It will be a challenge to see if Nvidia’s cash helps revamp Intel facilities.

Microsoft announced some U.S. manufacturing news of its own. The company announced a $4B Wisconsin data center investment that will use thousands of Nvidia chips, according to a press conference with $MSFT ( ▼ 0.31% ) president Brad Smith.

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SMALL CAPS
Smaller Firms Run On Hopes For A Cheaper Tomorrow 🏃 

Lower cost of funds means one major thing for smaller, debt-laden businesses on the Russell 2000: easy times are ahead.

“Small-cap stocks are the most sensitive to interest rates,” Jason Pride, chief of investment strategy and research at Glenmede, told WSJ.

Since the April selloff, small caps have rallied 43%, outperforming the S&P 500, and even the tech giant filled the Nasdaq 100. Jeff Jacobson, analyst at 22V Research, told Benzinga that rate cuts mean the show goes on.

That means everything from nuclear stocks like $OKLO ( ▲ 10.16% ) to green tech solar-powered stocks like Plug Power were climbing on the good news. Plug is on a 7-day winning streak. Bio Tech stocks, like 89bio $ETNB ( ▲ 85.15% ) climbed to lead the index higher.

Rigetti climbed 12.5% on quantum news from the U.S. Air Force, receiving a $5.8M contract for three years of research with a startup from the Netherlands.

EARNINGS AFTER THE BELL
Need Economic Indicators, See Shipping And Home Building Stocks 🏘️ 

FedEx $FDX ( ▲ 0.32% ) climbed after earnings, up more than 7% after the box mover, economic temperature checker beat expectations in its first quarter. Analysts expected a bigger hit to the bottom line from tariffs, and specifically the de minimis ‘cheap crap’ exception that the Trump administration cut over the summer.

The under $800 loophole allowed around 1 billion smaller packages from China and Hong Kong to enter the U.S. virtually duty-free annually. Still, FedEx sees 4-6% revenue growth in its fiscal 2026, around what the Street had expected. Chief Raj Subramaniam said FedEx was ready to weather the storm, and $UPS ( ▲ 1.03% ) shares climbed after hours on the news.

“Our strategic initiatives, paired with our unique operational data platform from moving 17 million packages through our network daily, position us well to serve our customers in any environment and to create long-term value for our stockholders,” Subramaniam said.

Lennar $LEN ( ▼ 0.08% ) fell slightly after missing analyst expectations. The real estate finance and management company indicated home builders were pulling back on construction and financing in the past quarter. New home construction fell in August to the lowest level since May, according to Wednesday’s census data.

POPS & DROPS
Top Stocktwits News Stories 🗞️ 

• Brera Holdings closes up 225% on $300M Solana treasury launch.

• Reddit climbed 1.59% after bullish outlook.

• Palantir rises 5% on $1.7B Army deal.

• Tesla drops 2.1% despite Goldman upgrade.

• Uber gains 1.9% on Flytrex drone deal.

• CrowdStrike jumps 12.8% on strong demand signals.

• Replimune plunges 39.4% on trial failure.

• Trump administration petitions Supreme Court to oust Fed governor.

• Live Nation drops 2.8% on FTC lawsuit.

• Netskope IPO debut—price change not yet available.

• Lyft drops 3.9% despite Waymo upgrades.

• Meta falls 3.1% amid smart glasses buzz.

Don’t miss a story! Follow @StocktwitsNews for a live feed in real time. ✍️ 

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WHAT’S ON DECK
Tomorrow’s Top Things 📋

Economic data: U.S. Baker Hughes Oil Rig Count (1:00 PM). 📊
Pre-Market Earnings: Apogee Enterprises ($APOG) and MoneyHero ($MNY). 🛏️

P.S. You can listen to all of these earnings calls on Stocktwits.

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