Your Evening Briefing

August 20, 2025

Stocks fall again, but finish well off their lows

What was shaping up to be a repeat of Tuesday’s AI momentum wreck seemingly turned on a dime into another buy-the-dip moment. Though major indexes all retreated on the session, they turned around sharply shortly before 11 a.m. ET to finish well off their lows. In the end, the S&P 500 gave back 0.2%, the Nasdaq 100 underperformed with a 0.6% drop, and the Russell 2000 dipped 0.3%.

Consumer discretionary, tech, and communication services — the sector ETFs home to the Magnificent 7 cohort — were the worst-performing S&P 500 groups on the day.

Analog Devices was the biggest gainer in the S&P 500, rising 6.3% after posting stronger-than-expected Q3 results. Intel led declines, falling 7% and reversing Tuesday’s gains on reports that the Trump administration may seek equity in chipmakers that receive federal grants under the Biden-era CHIPS Act. Elsewhere...

Target sank 6.3% after the retailer topped Q2 estimates but reiterated expectations for a sales drop this year. The company also announced that longtime CEO Brian Cornell will step down.
Shares of Micron fell 4% after the Seoul Economic Daily said that Samsung Electronics’ new memory chip “passed reliability testing” from Nvidia and is poised to enter the pre-production stage.
Estée Lauder tumbled 3.6% after the MAC and Bobbi Brown parent matched Q4 estimates but painted a tougher profitability outlook over the coming year.
Airbus shares were down 2.2% as thousands of UK union workers plan to strike for 10 days in September amid a contract dispute.
CoreWeave fell 1.4% after filings showed top shareholder Magnetar Financial sold over $147 million worth of shares since the company’s post-IPO lockup period expired.
Hertz rose 6% after the rental car giant announced it will begin selling some of its more than 540,000 used vehicles on Amazon. Conversely, Carvana and CarMax fell 1.6% and 2.6%, respectively, on the news.
TJX shares climbed 2.7% and hit an all-time high after the T.J. Maxx and HomeGoods parent topped Q2 estimates and raised its full-year forecast.

— Luke Kawa, Markets Editor & Nia Warfield, Markets Writer

Adding “AI” to your company’s name was a blessing. Right now it’s a curse.

When the halo effect becomes guilt by association... Read more.

Grocery purchases on Amazon have more than doubled in 10 years

Getting people to buy grocery items online has long been a tall order. But it’s one that Amazon may be on the cusp of cracking.

Read more.

As of tomorrow, all new PS5s will cost $50 more in the US. Sony announced the price hike today. Read more.

Elon Musk’s political party isn’t happening, as Tesla CEO gives up on the “America Party”
Might have something to do with the $30 billion stock award Tesla gave him earlier this month to remain at the company
Xiaomi is speed-running building an electric vehicle business
Apple decided pivoting from phones to EVs was too hard. Xiaomi is finding it a piece of cake
Ives: “Skeptics of tech rally will be proven wrong (again)”
He thinks the tech bull cycle has at least two or three more years
Google shows off AI features Apple failed to deliver
AI features are front and center for Google’s new phones
Airbus faces a 10-day strike from UK workers, mirroring Boeing’s labor strife
Airbus workers in the UK plan to walk off the job for 10 days beginning in September
Shein wants to move back to China to secure a Hong Kong IPO
The company has struggled to secure a home for its long-standing public ambitions.
Spot ethereum ETFs’ outflows on pace for highest ever
After 14 weeks of positive inflows, the funds have seen $626.3 million in outflows this week
Bitcoin is down but Scaramucci keeps price target high
The SkyBridge Capital founder thinks bitcoin will hit $180,000 to $200,000 before 2026

Was this email forwarded to you? Don’t miss out on future stories — subscribe to The Wrap and get your daily dose of financial news straight to your inbox.

Craving more insights in your inbox? Subscribe to Chartr and Snacks for quality reads.

We care what you think! If you have any feedback or comments, feel free to reply and let us know your thoughts!

Sherwood Media, LLC produces fresh and unique perspectives on topical financial news and is a fully owned subsidiary of Robinhood Markets, Inc., and any views expressed here do not necessarily reflect the views of any other Robinhood affiliate... See more