HAPPY FRIDAY TO THE STREET
Months before his ouster, Jensen Huang reportedly cut off Nvidia (NVDA) CFO Colette Kress mid-presentation to call her “a deer in the headlights.” How the tables turn.
Huang has now been ousted from the company he helmed for more than three decades, and Kress is the interim CEO. She has inherited federal investigations, a six-week stock slide, and a mountain of chip supply commitments her old boss saw coming.
The deer is in the driver’s seat now. But somebody else left the high beams on.
🟨 | US stocks were mixed today following another hot inflation print and continued AI trade turmoil, though the DJIA managed a daily gain and all three indexes finished higher on the week.
📈 | One Notable Gainer: Apple’s (AAPL) stock hit an intraday record for the second day in a row as investors sought safety from the AI sell-off.
📉 | One Notable Decliner: Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) skidded as selling resumed across AI names.
— Brooks & The Street Sheet Team
MARKET SNAPSHOT
S&P 500 Heatmap. Credit: Unusual Whales
Market Movers
CEREBRAS, BROADCOM, CISCO
📈 | Cerebras (CBRS) rallied on a surprise Q3 profit.
📉 | Broadcom (AVGO) fell after Rothschild & Co Redburn downgraded it to Neutral.
📈 | Liftoff Mobile (LFTO) jumped on a Q3 beat and strong full-year guidance.
📉 | Cisco Systems (CSCO) slid as traders cashed out despite an earnings beat and raised guidance.
📈 | Modine Manufacturing (MOD) soared on a report that Samsung Electronics is in talks to acquire it.
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Chill Factor
The AI trade is running hot. Wells Fargo thinks the smarter money is on whoever keeps it cool.
Analyst Jason Haas upgraded Ecolab to Overweight, arguing its CoolIT Systems acquisition opens a much bigger Cooling-as-a-Service opportunity in data centers.
The nearly $5B deal positions Ecolab to win on both new builds and existing facilities converting to direct-to-chip cooling, per Haas.
Rack ’Em Up
According to the analyst, the direct-to-chip cooling market is less than 20% penetrated. That runway is growing quickly as rack densities climb.
Chip factories are the second leg. Roughly 70 new fabs are expected by 2030, and Haas sees semiconductor water demand growing more than 600% by 2050.
Ecolab’s purchase of Ovivo’s Ultra-Pure Water business lets it serve the full fab lifecycle, the analyst added.
Flow of Funds
Wells Fargo is swimming with the current. Of the 26 analysts covering the stock, 21 rate it a Buy or Strong Buy. Shares are in the green year-to-date.
In a gold rush, sell shovels. In a heat wave, sell water.
Do you own shares of Ecolab (ECL)?
OVERHEARD ON THE STREET
🏭 Wholesale prices rose 6.5% from a year ago in October, the biggest jump since November 2022.
💻 Microsoft (MSFT) apologized for a nearly 24-hour outage that took down Outlook and other 365 services.
🔎 Nvidia’s board hasn’t selected a search firm to find Jensen Huang’s permanent successor.
⚖️ The Supreme Court will hear a bid by Robinhood (HOOD) to toss an IPO omissions lawsuit.
✈️ The FAA issued a nationwide ground stop minutes ago, which will keep all US flights grounded for at least an hour, citing “extraordinary circumstances.”
THURSDAY’S POLL RESULTS
Do you own shares of Take-Two Interactive Software (TTWO)?
▇▇▇▇▇▇ 🐂 Yup, I’m holding
▇▇▇▇▇▇ 🐻 Nope, not interested
▇▇▇▇▇▇ 👀 No, but I’m interested
And, in response, you said:
🐂 Yup, I’m holding — “Bought them years ago. Keep holding.”
🐻 Nope, not interested — “Games and Game franchises are too violable for long-term investment. Possibly good for traders though.”
👀 No, but I’m interested — “I'm had mind boggling losses in the market for the last 6 weeks… Why not try something new?”
