Vodafone share price has done well in the past few years and is now hovering around its highest level since 2018 as the turnaround strategy pays off. VOD jumped after the management unveiled a plan to launch a TV service as it seeks to challenge its top rivals. It was trading at 125.10p, up by 130% from its lowest level in 2024.

Vodafone turnaround strategy continues

Vodafone, a top telecommunications company, has been carrying out a major turnaround strategy in the past few years, and there are signs that it is paying off. It has sold some of its businesses and bought others. 

Its most significant transactions were selling Vodafone Italy and Vodafone Spain, transactions that helped it raise over €12 billion. Its goal was to leave the less profitable places and focus on its core markets like Germany and UK. 

At the same time, the company executed a major transaction in which it bought Three, a large UK company. This buyout created VodafoneThree, a top competitor to BT Group’s EE. It also bought a large stake in Safaricom, the biggest telecom company in Kenya.

The company has also announced major layoffs as it sought to reduce costs and boosts profitability. 

Now, the company is considering launching a TV service in the UK as it seeks to compete with companies like Sky, BT, and Virgin 02. Its goal is to cross-sell the TV offering to its existing customers as it seeks to more than double its broadband service to over 4.3 million customers by 2034. The head of VodafoneThree said:

“We need a TV offering to sell to our fixed broadband customer base, but also we’ve got a very large mobile customer base and TV is something our customers are asking for.”

The challenge, however, is that moving into the TV industry will be an expensive situation, which explains why BT Group decided to sell part of its television business to Warner Bros Discovery. It is seeking to sell the remaining part of the business.

The most recent results showed that Vodafone’s turnaround strategy was working, with its revenue rising to €8.62 billion in the first fiscal quarter. It jumped from €7.8 billion in the same period last year. This growth was driven by its African and Turkish operations. 

Germany, its biggest market, made €2.7 billion, up by 1.9% from the same period last year. Also, in the UK, its revenue rose to €1.98 billion. 

Vodafone share price technical analysis

VOD stock chart | Source: TradingView

The weekly chart shows that the Vodafone share price has been in a strong bull run in the past few months. It soared from a low of 54.62p in 2024 to a high of 125.20p. It moved to a high of 127p, its highest level since January 2018.

Most recently, the stock jumped above the key resistance level of 119.75p, its highest level on May 11 this year. It has remained above the 50-day and 100-day Exponential Moving Averages (EMA). 

The Relative Strength Index (RSI) has moved above the neutral level of 50 and is pointing upwards. Therefore, the stock will likely continue rising, potentially to the key resistance level at 135.55p, its highest point in January 2018. More gains will be confirmed if it moves above that resistance level.

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Lloyds share price has crawled back in the past few days, moving from a low of 108.25p on September 1 to the current 112.75. It is hovering slightly below the year-to-date high of 117p, and is up by 33% from its lowest level this year. It has soared by 218% in the last five years, bringing its market capitalization to over £65 billion.

Why Lloyds Bank has done well this year

LLOY shares have soared this year, helped by the ongoing rerating of European banks. Most European banks have soared in the past few months, with the closely watched iShares STOXX Europe 600 Banks ETF (EXV1) has jumped by 303% in the last five years and by 51% in the last 12 months. Other top UK banks, including the likes of Barclays, HSBC, and NatWest, have all jumped in these periods. 

In addition to the European bank rerating, Lloyds has done well because of the expectations that interest rates will remain at an elevated level for longer. The Bank of England (BoE) has left interest rates unchanged in the past few months, and Polymarket has a 55% chance that the bank will hike later this year. Banks often do well in a high-interest-rate environment because of the net interest margin.

Additionally, the company has boosted its shareholder returns in the past few years. It has continued to repurchase its shares, with management announcing a $1 billion plan in the last quarter. It also hiked its dividend by 30%, bringing its dividend yield to 3.55%. 

Now, the company is focusing on Accelerate 2030 strategy, which targets £2 billion in gross cost savings between 2027 and 2030. Part of these savings will be because of its investments in artificial intelligence. At the same time, Charlie Nunn, the CEO, hopes to increase its return on tangible equity (RoTE) to 20% by 2030, up sharply from the current 13%. 

The company aims to achieve this growth by investing in the United States and Europe. Still, there is a risk that this approach will backfire, as other European banks that attempted to enter the US faced. Companies like Deutsche Bank and Barclays have had to pare back their US entry recently.

Another risk for the stock is that its insiders are selling. The CFO has recently sold £10 million shares, possibly to book profits. 

Lloyds share price technical analysis

LLOY stock chart | Source: TradingView

The four-hour chart shows that the LLOY stock has come under pressure in the past few months. A closer look shows that it has formed a head-and-shoulders pattern, a common bearish reversal sign in technical analysis. This pattern often leads to a bearish reversal over time. It is now forming the right shoulder.

Therefore, the stock may retreat and retest the lower side of the head-and-shoulders pattern at 108p. On the other hand, a move above the year-to-date high of 116.70 will point to more gains, potentially to 120p.

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One of Wall Street’s most dependable buyers is about to become less active.

More than $1.1 trillion of announced corporate buyback authorisations had moved back into open repurchase windows through late August, helping support US equities during the summer rebound.

But that support is set to thin as companies enter pre-earnings blackout periods ahead of third-quarter results.

The timing is awkward. Retail buying typically weakens in September, systematic investors have rebuilt exposure, and Treasury yields are again challenging equity valuations.

Wall Street’s corporate buying machine is about to slow

Corporate buybacks matter because companies repurchasing their own shares provide steady demand that is less sensitive to daily market swings.

Citadel Securities said more than $1.1 trillion of announced buyback authorisations had returned to open windows by August 27.

Importantly, 67% of the largest authorised programmes this year came from outside technology, showing support extended beyond Big Tech.

That cushion will shrink through September.

Citadel strategist Scott Rubner said blackout periods begin accelerating around September 12, meaning “one of the market’s largest and most consistent sources of structural demand” becomes progressively smaller as the month advances.

Companies do not become sellers during blackout periods. They simply stop providing some incremental buying that has helped absorb weakness.

Citadel also found average retail net buying on S&P 500 down days in September has historically been roughly half the all-month average since 2019.

Even the buyback boom underneath the market is changing

Corporate America is still returning enormous amounts of money to shareholders, but the composition is shifting.

Neuberger Berman said S&P 500 companies repurchased a record $1.10 trillion of stock during the 12 months through June.

The biggest AI capital spenders cut buybacks 32% to $85 billion as data-centre spending increased. Financial companies moved the other way, lifting repurchases to a record $287 billion.

Neuberger Berman associate portfolio manager Rebekah McMillan said the “marginal buyer of US equities is now more cyclical and more credit-sensitive.”

That distinction matters as buybacks funded by hyperscalers with enormous free cash flow can be relatively dependable. Bank repurchases are more exposed to earnings, credit losses, regulation and capital requirements.

Neuberger also said the tailwind from shrinking share counts is fading among some of the largest index constituents, even as buyback support broadens down the market.

Higher Treasury yields make the timing more uncomfortable

The blackout period would matter less if the macro backdrop were calm.

Instead, the 10-year Treasury yield recently moved towards 4.8% as investors weighed inflation, higher oil prices and renewed expectations for tighter Federal Reserve policy.

Evercore ISI strategist Julian Emanuel told Barron’s that a 10-year yield of 4.75% or higher has historically been “noxious to stocks” during the current bull market, prompting a defensive near-term stance.

The earnings season that powered the summer rally is fading. Corporate buybacks are becoming less available, retail dip-buying is seasonally weaker and much of the systematic buying capacity rebuilt after July’s sell-off has been deployed.

None of those factors guarantees a correction, but together they mean the market may have fewer automatic buyers if another macro surprise triggers selling.

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Anthropic, the giant company in the artificial intelligence (AI) space, is planning to launch the biggest IPO in the coming weeks. As this happens, more details, including banker selection and prospectus release date are coming out.

Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley scoop major roles

One of the closely-watched move whenever a company as large as Anthropic is going public is the selection of bankers who will lead the process. In this case, there are reports that Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs will be the ones to do this. Morgan Stanley will have the “lead left” role, while Goldman Sachs will be the stabilization agent, ensuring that the stock trades well after its IPO.

Other banks expected to participate in this process will be Barclays and JPMorgan. Eventually, all these companies will likely share over $500 million in fees. In the last SpaceX IPO, they shared a pool of $500 million, with Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley taking $100 million each. 

Anthropic prospectus may come as soon as this week

Another important aspect is the filing of the prospectus, which is normally known as the S1. This is an important document that shares all the vital details in a company. It includes details such as its business process, profits, revenues, and its free cash flow. 

The document is vital because Anthropic has been a private company and has not been obligated to release any documents. With it going public, it will now need to provide more information to help investors make solid decisions. 

The prospectus will also help it during its roadshow, a process where the management talks to investors. According to the FT, this prospectus will be filed with the SEC as early as this week.

Anthropic total addressable market (TAM)

Anthropic has made several important announcements in the past few months. For example, the management sees the total addressable market at $30 trillion, higher than SpaceX’s $28 trillion. 

The most recent disclosures also showed that its revenue continued soaring this year, with the revenue run rate hitting $65 billion at the end of July. That was a sevenfold increase from a year ago, and is higher than what OpenAI made.

Anthropic has overtaken OpenAI by focusing on its models, which are the most advanced in the industry. This growth helps it charge more money than OpenAI by focusing on corporate clients. 

The risk, however, is that its growth is coming at an enormous cost, with the company spending billions of dollars a month. It is paying SpaceX over $1.5 billion a month for computing capacity and has inked more deals recently.

The upcoming Anthropic IPO will benefit some of its biggest investors. Amazon’s stake in the company will be over $400 billion thanks to its $8 billion investment. Other companies set to benefit are Google and Nvidia.

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SpaceX stock SPCX is heading toward another potentially volatile milestone next week, with hundreds of millions of additional shares set to become eligible for sale just as the company’s shares are regaining momentum and its artificial intelligence ambitions continue to attract bullish attention.

The September 9 lockup expiry will mark the 90th trading day since SpaceX’s initial public offering and allow roughly 319 million additional shares held by select insiders to become eligible for sale.

The event will be closely watched because SpaceX has already demonstrated that a large increase in the potential supply of shares does not necessarily translate into a sharp selloff.

The company cleared its first and largest lockup expiry on August 6 without the anticipated collapse in its stock.

More than 900 million shares held by early investors became liquid at the time, but instead of plunging, SpaceX shares rebounded above their $135 IPO price within days.

The stock subsequently rallied about 35% in the five trading sessions following the expiry, adding roughly $500 billion to SpaceX’s market value.

Shares are now trading around $149, roughly where they opened on their first day of trading at $150, and are about 20% higher than immediately after the first lockup event.

September 9 could bring another supply shock

The September 9 event will be the third lockup expiry for SpaceX, following another release on August 20.

A final lockup expiry is scheduled for December 8.

The staggered schedule is designed to prevent a sudden flood of shares from overwhelming the market.

However, each release creates a fresh question for investors: will insiders and early shareholders take advantage of the liquidity, or continue holding their stakes and betting on Elon Musk’s long-term ambitions?

That question could be particularly important for early employees and investors sitting on enormous unrealized gains.

An employee who received SpaceX shares when the company was valued at $10 or $20 a share could potentially realize life-changing wealth by selling even a portion of their holdings at around $150.

At the same time, the fact that the stock absorbed more than 900 million newly liquid shares in August without collapsing could encourage investors to believe that demand remains strong enough to absorb additional supply.

SpaceX shares rose 6.4% on Thursday, briefly moving above $150 for the first time since July 10.

The stock closed at $149.74, giving the company a market capitalization of just over $2 trillion, according to Dow Jones Market Data.

Analysts remain bullish on SpaceX

The recent rebound has also been supported by a largely positive analyst view.

SpaceX has an average price target of $225.87 a share, according to FactSet data, implying roughly 50% upside from current levels.

According to The Wall Street Journal, 28 analysts rate the stock Buy, while three have an Overweight rating, seven have a Hold rating, one has an Underweight rating and only two have a Sell rating.

Price targets remain unusually wide, however, ranging from $75 to as high as $800.

Oppenheimer analyst Timothy Horan is among those who remain optimistic.

Oppenheimer raised its price target for SpaceX to $280 from $250 on Tuesday while maintaining an Outperform rating, an almost 90% upside from current levels.

Horan believes SpaceX could be a major beneficiary of the shortage of artificial intelligence infrastructure and argues that the company’s AI revenue is growing faster than expected as it develops increasingly capable models.

SpaceX “has the ability to bring on infrastructure faster than anyone else, and is using this infrastructure and its data to improve its own models faster than anyone else,” Horan wrote in a note to clients on Wednesday, while maintaining a Buy rating.

Investor Ross Gerber is even more bullish on SpaceX’s long-term prospects.

The president and CEO of Gerber Kawasaki said he sees greater potential in SpaceX than Tesla and believes the two Musk-led companies could eventually merge.

Gerber said SpaceX, Starlink and xAI are among the company’s biggest attractions and argued that xAI is also critical to Tesla’s future.

“In essence, Tesla doesn’t own its own operating system. It’s owned by SpaceX,” Gerber told CNBC.

Asked whether investors would be better off owning SpaceX than Tesla, Gerber replied, “SpaceX is better to me.”

The AI opportunity comes with a huge spending bill

The bullish argument, however, faces one significant obstacle: the enormous amount SpaceX is spending to build its AI infrastructure.

SpaceX’s capital expenditure reached $28.5 billion during the first six months of 2026, a 308% increase from the same period a year earlier.

It spent $18.4 billion on capital projects in the second quarter, 86% of which went towards AI.

Morgan Stanley expects the company to spend as much as $64 billion on AI infrastructure this year, substantially more than earlier estimates.

SpaceX is building data center capacity both for its own AI needs and potentially for external customers.

The company owns the Grok AI model through its acquisition of X and is attempting to build an infrastructure business around the rapidly growing demand for computing power.

The opportunity could eventually become another major source of revenue. But the economics remain uncertain.

SpaceX generated $7.8 billion in sales in the second quarter, meaning its capital expenditure was more than twice its quarterly revenue.

The company has argued that investors should not be overly concerned because it expects the investments to pay for themselves relatively quickly and remains on track to reach $100 billion in annualized revenue by the end of 2026.

Can SpaceX turn AI spending into profits?

The key question is whether the enormous investment in computing capacity will translate into sustainable revenue.

According to regulatory filings, SpaceX’s ability to fund some of the spending depends heavily on compute agreements with companies such as Anthropic and Google.

Those arrangements can reportedly be terminated with only a few months’ notice.

There is also uncertainty over whether SpaceX’s AI models can win enterprise customers away from established players such as Anthropic and OpenAI.

Its ambitions to eventually build AI data centers in space add another potentially transformative opportunity, but that project appears to be several years away.

Stifel analyst Jonathan Siegmann has dismissed some of the concerns surrounding SpaceX’s spending.

“Skeptics will push back that planned capex is higher … but we believe this all reflects the red-hot AI data capacity demand signal – you’ve got to spend money to make money, and SpaceX is accelerating its capacity investments accordingly,” he said in a client note this month.

For investors, however, the valuation makes the spending debate more consequential.

SpaceX currently trades at a price-to-sales ratio of around 65, according to The Motley Fool, compared with roughly seven for the broader technology sector.

That premium assumes that the company will successfully convert its investments in Starlink, AI infrastructure and other businesses into dramatically higher revenue and profits.

Uncertainty remains before the next lockup

The September 9 lockup expiry therefore presents a complicated setup.

For existing shareholders, the combination of strong analyst support, rising shares and the stock’s ability to withstand the August supply shock may offer little immediate reason to sell.

For prospective investors, the equation is less straightforward.

A large number of shares becoming eligible for sale could create volatility, while the company’s extraordinary capital spending and premium valuation leave little room for execution mistakes.

The bullish case rests on SpaceX becoming much more than a rocket company — combining Starlink, AI models, computing infrastructure and potentially other Musk-led businesses into a sprawling technology platform.

The bearish case is that investors are already paying for that future before the economics of some of these businesses have been proven.

Jim Cramer summed up the long-term bullish argument last month.

“SpaceX could be a 100-year piece of paper,” the CNBC Mad Money host said, comparing it with century-long railroad bonds that rewarded patient investors over generations.

“Maybe you put some away for the next generation or even the one after that.”

For insiders, meanwhile, the decision may be less philosophical.

Even the strongest believers in SpaceX’s future could rationally choose to diversify after accumulating gains that can transform their personal finances.

That makes the September 9 expiry less a simple test of whether investors believe in SpaceX and more a test of how much of that belief insiders are willing to express by continuing to hold their shares.

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GoPro stock GPRO has surged in recent sessions after the struggling action-camera maker announced a $285 million cash merger with Starman Optical, a privately held photonics company.

Earlier, YouTube creator Mark Fischbach, better known as Markiplier, revealed an 8.5% stake in the company, making him the single largest stakeholder in the company.

GoPro shares have rallied sharply as investors reacted to both developments.

The stock has gained nearly 200% in the week so far and has gained 26% on Friday.

The 200% surge includes a 40% surge on September 1 when the Starman deal was announced.

The stock was trading around $1.75, above Starman’s $1.14-per-share offer.

The developments mark a significant turnaround in investor interest for a company whose stock has lost about 96% of its value since reaching a valuation of $4 billion on its first trading day in 2014.

Markiplier becomes GoPro’s largest shareholder

Markiplier acquired an 8.5% stake in GoPro, making him the largest single shareholder in the camera company.

He revealed the stake in the company through a Schedule 13G filing dated August 20.

In an interview with Bloomberg, Fischbach said he had been interested in GoPro because he believed its shares were undervalued. He also said he wanted the company to succeed.

Fischbach has described the investment as part of a broader effort to make filmmaking more accessible. He has also invested in Strada, a company that provides tools for filmmakers to transfer large files.

The investment quickly attracted attention from retail traders.

GoPro has been a heavily shorted stock in the past, and its sharp rally following Markiplier’s disclosure has renewed interest among meme-stock traders.

$285 million Starman Optical merger

GoPro’s rally accelerated after the company announced a definitive merger agreement with Starman Optical.

Under the transaction, Starman will pay GoPro shareholders $285 million in cash, or $1.14 per share. Starman would receive a 90% stake in the combined company, while existing GoPro shareholders would retain the remaining 10%.

The transaction is expected to repay GoPro’s roughly $92 million of outstanding debt when it closes. GoPro is also expected to remain publicly listed on the Nasdaq, with the deal targeted for completion by the end of the year.

Starman makes optical transceivers in the US for use in AI data centers.

The merger is intended to give GoPro exposure to commercial, defense and AI markets while allowing it to make greater use of its more than 2,500 US patents, including those related to optics and imaging.

Starman will also add optical transceivers to GoPro’s product portfolio.

The companies said they would seek to bring production of some important optical equipment back to the US, although they did not provide a timeline.

GoPro CEO Nicholas Woodman said the merger is expected to allow the company to expand across consumer, commercial and defense markets while becoming an American imaging and optical solutions company.

GoPro faces major challenges despite stock rally

The sharp rise in GoPro shares comes after years of deterioration in the company’s market value and financial position.

GoPro debuted in 2014 at $38 a share and reached a valuation of about $4 billion on its first trading day.

Since then, the stock has lost around 96% of its value as the company faced growing competition from Chinese rivals including DJI and Insta360.

The company’s revenue has also fallen substantially from its peak. Revenue in the June quarter was down more than 80% from the $633.91 million recorded in the final quarter of 2014.

More recently, higher memory chip prices linked to the expansion of AI infrastructure have added pressure on GoPro.

The company warned in June that there was substantial doubt about its ability to continue as a going concern over the next 12 months.

GoPro said it will continue supporting its existing consumer products, subscriptions and cloud platform while investing in a broader product roadmap.

The company therefore does not plan to abandon its action-camera business as it expands into new markets through the Starman transaction.

The merger announcement also comes after GoPro said in May that its board was exploring strategic alternatives.

The stock’s recent rally has pushed the company back into the spotlight, with Markiplier’s investment providing a catalyst for retail interest and the Starman transaction offering a potential path into AI infrastructure and defense markets.

However, the company continues to face financial and competitive challenges, while the proposed merger remains subject to its closing conditions.

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Earlier this year, a fear psychosis had gripped investors that advances in AI would replace software firms, and the sector was all but written off.

Anthropic’s launch of new plugins for its Claude Cowork system in February sparked a global selloff in software firms, with the US markets alone losing $300 billion in market value in a day.

The pressure did not leave the sector for a while, and a new phrase called ‘SaaSpocalypse’ started being circulated, signaling the imminent doom of the software sector.

However, the latest earnings season has shown that software companies are not going anywhere.

Ironically, AI, which had seemed to sound the sector’s death knell, is helping the industry rewrite its next growth story.

Late last month, the iShares Expanded Tech-Software Sector ETF (IGV) broke into positive territory on a year-to-date basis, powered by a particularly strong earnings beat from software bellwether Salesforce.

The ETF is up about 10% in the last one month.

The State Street Software and Services ETF, which tracks about 130 software and IT stocks, hit a new all-time high in August.

It is up 11% in the last one month and 10% year to date, after remaining under pressure until the end of July.

The recovery represents more than a simple reversal in investor sentiment.

It suggests that markets are beginning to distinguish between software companies that could be disrupted by AI and those that may actually benefit from it.

Snowflake offers a fresh signal for software investors

Snowflake shares surged nearly 25% on Thursday after the company raised its annual product revenue forecast, strengthening investor confidence that AI-related spending could become a powerful driver of growth for software firms.

The cloud data platform provider lifted its fiscal 2027 product revenue forecast to $6.07 billion from $5.84 billion and posted a 37% jump in second-quarter product revenue.

Its AI offerings accounted for “approximately half of the acceleration” in growth, according to CEO Sridhar Ramaswamy.

Snowflake’s coding assistant, Cortex Code, topped 9,100 accounts after adding more than 2,000 customers during the quarter, while enterprise chatbot CoWork expanded to 5,800 accounts.

The significance of the results goes beyond Snowflake itself.

They suggest that companies are beginning to spend more on software specifically because AI workloads require more data, automation, and computing infrastructure.

A third straight quarter of accelerating growth amid high expectations “underscore just how well AI is monetizing and driving greater consumption in the core platform,” Morgan Stanley analysts wrote.

Salesforce challenges the ‘SaaSpocalypse’ narrative

Salesforce has provided perhaps the clearest rebuttal to the idea that AI will simply eliminate enterprise software.

Salesforce shares jumped about 12% last month after the company raised its annual revenue and profit forecasts and expanded its partnership with Anthropic through a new artificial intelligence integration.

The company also reported higher second-quarter profit and revenue on rising demand for its artificial intelligence and data offerings.

Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff used the results to push back against the “SaaSpocalypse” narrative.

“This SaaSpocalypse narrative has been such nonsense,” Benioff told Cramer on CNBC’s “Mad Money.”

“Frontier models depend on CRM. They don’t replace it.”

According to Benioff, nine of the 10 leading artificial intelligence companies use Salesforce and Slack, with spending on the platforms increasing 435% from a year earlier.

The argument highlights one of the most important distinctions emerging in the software sector.

Companies with proprietary data, deeply embedded workflows and large installed customer bases may be harder to replace than smaller software providers whose products can be replicated by AI models.

Nicholas Frasse, product manager for thematic ETFs at VanEck, said that distinction is increasingly becoming important for investors.

“I don’t think all SaaS companies are created equal,” Frasse told MarketWatch.

“There are entrenched businesses like Salesforce that own a very proprietary set of data that make them much more formidable in this new era, and also probably a much bigger benefactor of the technology.”

That could mean the software sector is unlikely to move as one group going forward.

“Investors and the market have started to find the signal through the noise,” Frasse said.

“You’re starting to see much more nuanced activity around individual names depending on the individual business model, rather than systemic buying or selling of an entire category.”

ServiceNow and Workday show another side of the AI trade

ServiceNow has also emerged as a beneficiary of the shift in sentiment.

The company raised its forecast for annual subscription revenue for the second time in July after beating second-quarter revenue and profit estimates, driven by growing demand for its AI-powered software.

CEO Bill McDermott said he had not seen any change to sales cycles from increased hardware and AI spending.

ServiceNow said its AI platform has seen widespread adoption across the public sector, with nearly all 50 US states now using it to improve citizen services and modernize operations.

The company also crossed $1 billion in annual contract value for its AI offerings.

Workday is seeing a similar trend.

Shares of the finance and human resources software provider soared after the company reported higher profit and rising revenue in its fiscal second quarter, driven by growing adoption of its artificial intelligence agents.

Workday has been embedding AI across its platform to automate tasks ranging from payroll processing to financial forecasting, with the aim of increasing efficiency for customers.

“We had a strong Q2, with AI driving more than 25% of our new ACV and more than 5,500 customers now using at least one of our organic agents,” co-founder and Chief Executive Aneel Bhusri said.

Chief Financial Officer Zane Rowe added that AI is driving Workday’s customer expansion.

Cybersecurity is emerging as another AI winner

Another category of software companies is benefiting from the heightened cybersecurity risks that AI has ushered in.

CrowdStrike shares jumped more than 9% after the cybersecurity company beat second-quarter earnings expectations and raised its full-year revenue forecast, as businesses stepped up spending to protect against increasingly sophisticated threats linked to artificial intelligence.

Chief Executive George Kurtz described the quarter as a milestone for the company, pointing to the growing realization among enterprises that adopting AI also creates new cybersecurity risks.

The second quarter “was the best quarter in CrowdStrike’s history,” Kurtz said in a statement.

“The Mythos moment translated into mass-market acceptance that AI adoption needs security.”

“Every enterprise will run on AI, and securing it is the largest market opportunity in our history.”

CrowdStrike’s shares have already gained more than 66% this year, supported by expectations that rapid adoption of generative and agentic AI will expand the market for cybersecurity products.

Palo Alto Networks has also pointed to the same dynamic.

Chief Executive Officer Nikesh Arora said enterprises are increasingly recognizing that they need to modernize cyber defenses as AI models become more powerful, particularly following Anthropic’s release of Mythos.

“In that context, people are gravitating towards the largest players in the industry and looking at us to provide the antidotes to this development in AI,” Arora said in an interview.

The cybersecurity trade therefore offers a different way to play the AI boom.

Chip stocks see some decline as software rebounds but both reinforcing each other’s growth

The resurgence in software stocks is perhaps also coming at the cost of interest in the most red-hot trade — chip stocks.

The iShares Semiconductor ETF (SOXX) is down more than 7% in the last one month, even as software ETFs have rallied during the same time, as mentioned earlier.

Although SOXX remains up about 60% this year, the recent divergence represents a notable change in investor behavior.

Veteran technology investor Dan Niles, founder of Niles Investment Management, highlighted the shift in a recent post on X.

He noted that many AI investors had been bullish on semiconductors and bearish on software on the belief that AI would displace many point-solution software companies.

But the unwinding of that trade has produced a sharp reversal.

“But since the unwinding of the Momentum trade which started on 6/22 (I wrote about these concerns on 6/20), IGV has rallied 25% while the SOX Index has declined 22% through 8/28,” Niles said.

He also pointed to a potential new bullish argument for software: AI agents could access software tools far more frequently than human users.

“But a bullish twist on AI for the software sector introduced recently is that AI agents will access software tools ~10-100x more often than humans,” he said.

That could potentially create an entirely new source of software consumption, even as AI reduces the need for certain individual applications.

Can the software rally continue?

The biggest question now is whether the software rally is based on improving fundamentals or simply a reversal in positioning.

Mizuho desk-based analyst Jordan Klein argued that the latest rally has much more to do with “positioning” among institutional investors than anything particularly new in the core fundamentals.

A number of hedge funds and long-only growth managers had owned less software than the sector’s representation in the broader market, partly because of AI concerns and partly because software had become a “funding short” used to finance larger bullish positions in semiconductors and AI hardware.

That underweight positioning could leave room for further gains.

Based on this positioning, Klein believes software names could continue to climb higher well into September and October.

He expects Salesforce shares to move higher into its Dreamforce conference next month, although he cautioned that he would not “chase” the stock at current prices, instead preferring names such as ServiceNow and Microsoft.

The software sector’s comeback therefore appears more nuanced than a simple return to its pre-AI trajectory.

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Nvidia stock has jumped and is nearing its all-time high as the company slowly evolves into becoming the central bank of the AI industry, thanks to its huge investments. NVDA jumped to $230, a few points below its all-time high of $236, and this growth may continue as the AI boom continues.

Nvidia is now the biggest AI investor

Jensen Huang has become the biggest investor in the AI industry, with the company using its windfall to invest in the biggest and most promising firms in the sector. 

The company has become the fourth-biggest investor in Intel after BlackRock, Vanguard, and State Street, with a $19.6 billion stake. It has invested in other publicly traded companies like CoreWeave, Nebius, IREN, SpaceX, Lumentum, Coherent, and Synopsys. 

In addition to this, it invested in Mistral AI, Nscale, Firmus, Fireworks AI, Lambda, OpenAI, Anthropic, and Nokia. The company is said to be mulling a $2.5 billion investment in Thinking Machines, a company started by Mira Murati that is building open-source AI models. 

Just this week, it chucked $13 billion in Hugging Face, a company in the open-source sector. 

Nvidia has made other big investment announcements. It will provide OpenAI with the financial backstop in its large data center project in Ohio. This center will use Nvidia chips, a notable thing since OpenAI has developed Jalapeno, its highly competitive chip.

Nvidia has also created a consortium of banks and private credit companies that will provide $500 billion investment in companies in the AI industry. Companies in the AI space will be able to access these funds and buy Nvidia chips.

These announcements, however, have led to concerns about circular investments, a situation where a company invests in its customers, which uses the resources to buy its products. 

READ MORE: Nvidia stock analysis: top reasons why the shares may go parabolic soon

Nvidia has the resources to make these investments

The most recent earnings report showed that the company has the resources it needs to fund these investments. Its most recent results showed that its revenue jumped to $96 billion in the second quarter.

The company predicted that its third-quarter revenue will be $108 billion and that the annual revenue will be over $411 billion. Historically, the company has a record of beating analysts’ estimates. This means that its annual revenue will jump to over $420 billion this year.

The company also predicted that its business will continue doing well next year, with the annual figure expected to grow by 70%. Analysts were expecting the company’s growth to be about 40%.

Most notably, the company is highly undervalued, with its forward price-to-earnings ratio of 24, slightly higher than the sector median of 22, and the five-year average of 42.

Nvidia stock price technical analysis

NVDA stock chart | Source: TradingView

The weekly chart shows that the NVDA stock price has been in a strong upward trend in the past few months. It has remained above the ascending trendline that connects the lowest level in April 2025, March 2026, and July this year. 

NVDA stock has remained above the 50-week and 100-week moving averages, a sign that bulls remain in control. It has also remained above the Supertrend indicator.

Therefore, the most likely scenario is where the stock may continue rising, with the next key resistance level to watch being at $250. A move above that resistance will lead to more gains, towards $300.

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Shares of US rare earth companies rose in premarket trading Friday after a Reuters report said some Chinese suppliers have declined to ship rare earth materials to US customers despite receiving export licenses.

The developments come weeks before Chinese President Xi Jinping is scheduled to visit Washington, putting critical mineral supply chains back in focus.

Rare Earth stocks gain as Chinese shipments face delays

USA Rare Earth USAR gained 4.8%, MP Materials shares rose 3.9%, and Critical Metals climbed 5.9% in premarket trading.

According to the Reuters report, some Chinese suppliers have refused shipments to US customers since early August, citing concerns about potential repercussions from Beijing and the possibility that materials could ultimately reach sanctioned users.

The issue adds to ongoing concerns about access to rare earths and other critical materials.

US officials have repeatedly urged China to follow through on commitments made in Busan and Beijing to support the flow of rare earth export licenses.

A source familiar with US planning said in the report that the issue has become part of preparations for Xi’s planned Sept. 24 visit to Washington.

The supply situation remains tight for several rare earths and critical materials with applications in areas including aerospace, defense and chipmaking.

While exports of many rare earths and related magnets have recovered since China introduced restrictions in April 2025, prices for some materials remain near record highs.

China maintains dominant position in supply chain

China remains the dominant force in the global rare earth industry, accounting for about 70% of mining and 90% of processing.

Export restrictions and licensing delays have continued to affect US buyers.

Some US companies have reportedly waited more than six months for mineral licenses, while several firms have recently received multiple approvals after lengthy delays.

Yttrium exports to the US have increased this year but remain around half of 2024 levels.

China shipped 27 tons of yttrium to the US in July after two months without exports, marking the second-highest monthly shipment since January 2025.

Chinese restrictions have also affected other markets.

Chinese suppliers have largely refrained from shipping rare earth materials to Japanese companies, while exports of terbium, gallium and yttrium to Japan declined sharply in the first eight months of the year.

Reva Goujon, a geopolitical strategist at Rhodium Group, told Reuters that China has used rare earth export controls as a tool to constrain the US Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security.

She also expects Beijing could loosen some controls around the summit to ease US concerns over the implementation of previous agreements.

China’s foreign ministry said the country remained committed to maintaining global critical mineral supply chains.

US miners look to reduce China dependence

The supply concerns are strengthening the focus on US and Western rare earth producers seeking to develop alternatives to China’s dominant position.

USA Rare Earth is developing a domestic supply chain that includes its Round Top project in Texas.

The company also completed its acquisition of Serra Verde Group on Thursday. Serra Verde is described as “the only scaled producer of four magnetic and other critical heavy rare earth elements outside Asia”: neodymium, praseodymium, dysprosium and terbium.

MP Materials operates the Mountain Pass rare earth mine in California and stopped selling rare earth concentrate to China in July 2025.

The company is also expanding domestic processing and magnet manufacturing, including at its Independence facility in Texas.

Critical Metals is developing the Tanbreez project in Greenland as a potential Western source of rare earths, although the project has not yet entered commercial production.

The US government has also increased support for domestic supply chains.

Last month, the Trump administration finalized a $1.55 billion funding package that includes equity investment, debt support and long-term purchase commitments aimed at expanding domestic rare earth production and reducing reliance on China.

With rare earth supplies expected to feature in the upcoming Xi-Trump meeting, developments in export licensing and shipments could remain an important factor for the sector.

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US stocks fell on Friday after stronger-than-expected August employment data increased expectations that the Federal Reserve could raise interest rates at its September meeting.

The report also pushed Treasury yields higher and shifted investor focus toward next week’s inflation data.

Strong Jobs Report Lifts Rate Hike Expectations

The US economy added 162,000 jobs in August, well above the 56,000 increase expected by economists polled by Reuters.

The unemployment rate remained at 4.1%, in line with expectations, while employment figures for June and July were revised higher.

The stronger labor market reading prompted traders to increase bets on a September rate hike.

Reuters reported that short-term interest-rate futures implied a 65% chance of an increase, up from 55% before the report. CNBC data put the probability at 58%, compared with 49.4% on Thursday.

Treasury yields also moved higher following the jobs report.

The two-year Treasury yield reached its highest level since January 2025 as investors reassessed the Federal Reserve’s policy outlook.

The latest move comes one day after Fed Governor Christopher Waller indicated that he could support keeping interest rates unchanged if upcoming data confirms that inflation pressures are easing.

His comments had previously reduced rate hike expectations and helped lift US stocks.

Major indexes opens lower

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 153 points while the S&P 500 fell 0.10%. The Nasdaq Composite was mostly unchanged at open.

The Dow was heading into Friday after gaining more than 600 points on Thursday, or 1.2%, for its strongest session since Aug. 4. The S&P 500 rose more than 1%, while the Nasdaq Composite gained 1.4%.

Despite the expected weaker open, all three major indexes remained on track for weekly gains.

The S&P 500 was headed for a 0.5% weekly advance, while the Nasdaq was set to gain 0.7% and the Dow 0.2%.

Several individual stocks were under pressure. Lululemon Athletica fell 17.5% after cutting its full-year revenue and profit forecasts.

Adobe declined 6.8% after announcing that longtime CEO Shantanu Narayen would step down and be replaced by insider Anil Chakravarthy.

Credit reporting companies also fell after US housing official Bill Pulte directed Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to approve all lenders to use VantageScore.

Fair Isaac dropped 20%, TransUnion fell 9% and Equifax declined 7.9%.

Inflation data next in focus

Investors are now turning their attention to inflation data due next week.

The Labor Department is scheduled to release consumer price index and producer price index readings, which could play a significant role in determining whether the Federal Reserve raises rates on Sept. 15-16.

The stronger payrolls figure has increased the importance of those inflation readings because persistent price pressures could reinforce the case for tighter monetary policy.

The report also comes as investors assess the historically weak seasonal performance of US stocks in September.

Much of the month’s weakness has historically occurred during the second half, according to SimCorp data cited in the report.

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