Stock market today July 24: Intel, Oracle and Amkor lead early movers

The stock market today July 24 was set for a quiet start after Thursday’s sell-off, according to CNBC Investing Club director of portfolio analysis Jeff Marks. For everyday investors, the main thread is familiar: AI spending is still driving company news, but higher oil prices and bond yields are making the market less forgiving.

Marks wrote that rising oil, higher yields and worries about aggressive AI capital spending by hyperscalers weighed on stocks a day earlier. Hyperscalers are the large cloud companies that build and rent out computing capacity, and capital spending, often called capex, means money spent on long-term assets such as data centers and chips.

What is moving in the stock market today?

Intel shares were only slightly higher after the chipmaker reported what Marks described as a very strong quarter. He said demand for data center CPUs, the general-purpose processors used in servers, is outstripping supply as agentic AI workloads require more CPUs alongside AI accelerators such as Nvidia GPUs and Google’s in-house TPUs. Marks also said Intel’s third-party foundry business is improving, although the company did not announce new customers, and that capex is set to rise significantly to meet demand.

Nvidia and Amkor announced a multiyear strategic partnership worth $1.5 billion to work on advanced semiconductor packaging and testing for next-generation AI and accelerated computing. CNBC reported that Amkor shares were up more than 11% Friday morning. UBS upgraded Amkor to buy from hold and lifted its price target to $90 from $80.

Oracle also drew attention after winning a 10-year, $7 billion software contract with the Department of Defense, according to CNBC. The stock was up almost 2% Friday morning. Marks noted that, if the move held, it would be only Oracle’s 10th positive trading session since June 1, during a stretch when shares had fallen more than 50%.

American Express reported results that beat expectations, but shares declined after the company kept its full-year earnings-per-share outlook unchanged. Earnings per share, or EPS, is profit divided by the number of shares outstanding. Marks compared the setup to Capital One earlier in the week, saying American Express is using profits to fund growth opportunities.

SLB shares moved higher after the oilfield services company topped analyst estimates for revenue and adjusted EPS. Marks said offshore activity in Latin America, Asia, Europe and Africa outweighed disruptions in the Middle East. He also wrote that SLB’s data center solutions business is on pace to pass a $1 billion annualized revenue run rate by year-end.

Deckers Outdoor traded lower after reporting sales in line with expectations, EPS one cent above estimates and a small increase to its full-year outlook. CEO Stefano Carot said that despite consumer pressure, he believes Hoka and Ugg will keep gaining market share because of a “compelling product pipeline,” according to CNBC.

GE Healthcare said CFO Jay Saccaro is leaving for a role outside the medical-technology sector. The MRI-machine maker also reported preliminary second-quarter revenue slightly above analyst estimates. Marks wrote that GE Healthcare has trailed the other businesses created by General Electric’s breakup, while GE Aerospace and GE Vernova have produced stronger shareholder returns.

In analyst news, Citi placed Dell on an “upside 90-day catalyst watch,” citing confidence in earnings momentum. CNBC noted that Super Micro, another AI server company, issued strong preliminary numbers earlier in the week, and Jim Cramer said that strength at Super Micro suggested Dell could be doing very well.

Verizon reported a mixed quarter, missing revenue expectations while posting a small EPS beat. The company slightly raised its full-year adjusted earnings outlook. FactSet consensus had called for 111,000 postpaid phone net additions, while Verizon reported 184,000, according to CNBC. Postpaid additions measure new phone customers who pay after using service, a key metric for wireless carriers.

This story draws on original reporting from CNBC.