Time to buy GM? 21/07/2026

 

HOT stories for today

Market wrap:

• US stocks finished lower on Monday as an early rebound faded, with investors weighing escalating tensions between the US and Iran ahead of a crucial week of earnings from major technology companies. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.6%, while the S&P 500 slipped 0.2% and the Nasdaq Composite edged 0.1% lower, extending losses for a third consecutive session. Higher Treasury yields and rising oil prices added to the cautious tone, with the 30-year Treasury yield reaching its highest level since May. Crude prices climbed after President Donald Trump warned that Tehran would face consequences following the deaths of three US service members. WTI crude settled 0.9% higher at $83.23 per barrel, while Brent gained 1.3% to $89.22, reigniting concerns that higher energy prices could slow progress on inflation.
• Additional pressure came from Trump's announcement of 50% tariffs on selected Canadian goods over alleged trade discrimination. Attention now turns to one of the busiest weeks of earnings season. Investors will closely monitor results from Alphabet (GOOGL), Tesla (TSLA) and IBM (IBM) for signs of continued AI investment and management commentary on second-half demand. General Motors (GM) and 3M (MMM) report before Tuesday's opening bell, while Chubb (CB) is scheduled to release results after the market closes.

AI Bulls and Bears Divide Wall Street

• Wall Street remains deeply divided over whether the artificial-intelligence boom represents a sustainable earnings cycle or an increasingly fragile market bubble. BCA Research’s bearish camp argues that the S&P 500 is experiencing an earnings bubble, with stretched valuations and record AI investment masking weaker underlying cash flow. Massive spending on chips, data centers and power infrastructure boosts reported profits across the supply chain, but hyperscalers record much of that spending as capital expenditure rather than an immediate operating cost. The bears also warn that profit margins may be less durable than they appear. Adjusted to 2019 margin levels, the S&P 500 would trade at roughly 27 times forward earnings, exceeding the valuation reached near the peak of the dot-com bubble. AI bulls counter that demand continues to outpace supply.
• Hyperscaler cloud backlogs have expanded by around $750 billion over the past two quarters, while pricing for advanced computing capacity remains firm. They argue that investors are underestimating the returns generated by AI spending, including stronger advertising performance at Meta Platforms (META) and renewed momentum in Google Search at Alphabet (GOOGL). Both sides agree that AI is reshaping productivity, corporate investment and the broader economy. The disagreement centers on timing and how markets will react when the current capital-spending cycle eventually slows. Even BCA’s bullish strategists acknowledge that the AI capex trade will ultimately end, potentially in a disruptive way. For now, however, they expect strong economic demand and earnings growth to support the market, with valuation compression posing a greater risk than recession or a collapse in profits.

Stocks on the move:

• Advanced Micro Devices (AMD): Shares rose nearly 4% after Microsoft (MSFT) said it would offer AMD’s Helios-based systems through its Azure cloud platform. Wolfe Research said the decision underscores the competitiveness of AMD’s latest GPU architecture ahead of the company’s Advancing AI event later this week. Microsoft shares gained less than 1%.
• Iren (IREN): Shares surged more than 17% after the data-center operator raised its year-end AI Cloud annualized run-rate revenue target to more than $4 billion from $3.7 billion. The revised outlook followed $2.8 billion in new multiyear contracts, with about 85% of projected year-end revenue now under contract.
• SpaceX (SPCX): Shares fell 1% to a fresh low despite the company scheduling its next Starship launch attempt for Thursday. The previous launch was aborted last week following engine-related issues.
• Alibaba (BABA): US-listed shares climbed 5% after the Chinese technology company previewed its new Qwen 3.8 Max artificial-intelligence model. Alibaba said the system ranks behind only Anthropic’s Fable 5 among leading AI models.

Watchlist: XOM, NVS, SCHW, DHR, MMM, GM, DHI, MU, GOOGL

Key Economic Events Today:

EST time

08:15 am: USD ADP Weekly Employment Change


Earnings

BMO (Before Market Open): Novartis (NVS), The Charles Schwab (SCHW), Danaher Corporation (DHR), 3M Company (MMM), General Motors (GM), Halliburton (HAL)

AMC (After Market Close): Interactive Brokers (IBKR), Capital One Financial Corp. (COF), Chubb Limited (CB)



The TEFS Analyst team wishes you a successful day!