NEW YORK, August 10, 2026, 11:16 EDT — U.S. markets open.
- The S&P 500 gained 0.13%, despite Brent crude rising 2.99%.
- Early trading favored energy, up 2.6%, over technology, down 0.4%.
- An 8,000 S&P target offers only 3.1% upside from Friday’s close.
U.S. stocks held near records on Monday, even as oil jumped on renewed Hormuz doubts. The S&P 500 edged higher. Brent crude rose almost 3%.
The response was rotation, not retreat. It also exposed a funding divide. Cash-rich earnings winners drew bids. New equity for artificial-intelligence spending drew a discount.
Valuation support, however, is thin. JPMorgan Chase NYSE:JPM raised its year-end S&P 500 target to 8,000 from 7,800. That is only 3.1% above Friday’s close. The bank kept its forward multiple near 20 times. Profits must do most of the work.
| Market | Delayed level | Intraday move | Investor signal |
|---|---|---|---|
| S&P 500 | 7,767.37 | +0.13% | Holding above Friday’s record |
| Nasdaq Composite | 26,696.78 | +0.02% | Technology roughly flat |
| Dow Jones | 54,006.29 | -0.06% | Mild defensive pressure |
| Brent crude | $86.05 | +2.99% | Hormuz premium rebuilding |
| U.S. 10-year yield | 4.668% | +1 basis point | Inflation risk remains |
The readings were captured near 11:15 EDT and were delayed by at least 15 minutes.
Hormuz remains the immediate macro switch. Iran said an Oman shipping plan was close to completion. Broader reopening still depends on compensation, sanctions relief and fewer U.S. military threats. That keeps an inflation premium in crude.
Wednesday’s July consumer-price reading is expected at 3.4%, down from 3.5% in June. Futures pricing put September rate-hike odds near 45%. Bob Edwards, chief investment officer at Edwards Asset Management, framed the threshold plainly: “A benign CPI report and no September rate hike would give this market permission to run faster.” Reuters
Earnings provide the market’s cushion. Through Friday, 436 S&P 500 companies had reported. Of those, 85.1% beat estimates, versus a 68% long-run rate. Headline profit growth is near 50%. An adjusted measure is closer to 30% after stripping out large investment gains. Still strong.
| Earnings and valuation measure | Current or new estimate | Comparator | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Second-quarter earnings beat rate | 85.1% | 68% long-run rate | +17.1 points |
| Headline earnings growth | About 50% | About 30% adjusted | 20-point methodology gap |
| 2026 S&P 500 EPS forecast | $365 | $350 previously | +4.3% |
| 2027 S&P 500 EPS forecast | $420 | $390 previously | +7.7% |
| Year-end S&P 500 target | 8,000 | 7,757.64 Friday close | +3.1% |
| Forward valuation assumption | About 20 times | Previous assumption | Unchanged |
The EPS figures and index target are analyst forecasts. The two growth rates use different treatments of investment gains.
Company moves carried the same message. Berkshire Hathaway NYSE:BRK.B rose 2.4% after operating profit increased 16% to $12.98 billion. It also resumed net stock buying. Intel NASDAQ:INTC fell more than 4% after launching a $15 billion stock sale.
The Intel offering is large against its spending plan. The base deal equals 75% of its $20 billion 2026 capital-expenditure forecast. A full underwriter option would lift that ratio to 86%. Russ Mould, an investment director, said the raise “makes perfect sense.” Shareholders still charged a dilution discount. Reuters
| Company | Funding position | Scale | Monday share move |
|---|---|---|---|
| Berkshire Hathaway NYSE:BRK.B | Operating cash supports investments and buybacks | $12.98 billion quarterly operating profit | +2.4% |
| Intel NASDAQ:INTC | New shares fund foundry and AI expansion | $15 billion base; up to $17.25 billion | About -4% to -5% |
The contrast suggests investors still support AI capital spending, but prefer internally funded expansion.
Monday’s analyst calls also favored hardware spending over product risk.
| Subject | Broker | Recommendation or target change | New target and rationale |
|---|---|---|---|
| S&P 500 | JPMorgan Chase NYSE:JPM | Year-end target raised from 7,800 | 8,000; stronger earnings and AI-cloud backlogs Reuters |
| Hewlett Packard Enterprise NYSE:HPE | Morgan Stanley NYSE:MS | Equal-weight to Overweight | $69; hardware refreshes and AI demand Briefing.com |
| Apple NASDAQ:AAPL | Jefferies Financial Group NYSE:JEF | Hold to Underperform | $263.66; product-roadmap and memory-cost concerns Barron’s |
Hewlett Packard Enterprise rose about 5.6% following its upgrade. Apple fell 2.4% after its downgrade. The split fits Monday’s wider pattern. Investors rewarded visible enterprise demand and questioned harder-to-fund consumer growth.
The next tests arrive quickly. Applied Materials NASDAQ:AMAT, Cisco Systems NASDAQ:CSCO and CoreWeave NASDAQ:CRWV report this week. Inflation data will matter more. A soft reading could protect multiples. A hot print would make oil’s rise harder to absorb.
Risks: A rapid Hormuz reopening could reverse energy gains. Renewed shipping disruption could push crude and yields higher. Either move could expose crowded positions near record index levels.
Related articles: NYSE:JPM
