^{_{Welcome to the TraderTV Live Morning Research Note. Here's what's making major moves in the market today.}}

0830 - Retail sales m/m for November: Expected 0.6%; Prior 0.4%
0830 - Core retail sales m/m for November: Expected 0.4%; Prior 0.1%
0915 - Industrial production m/m for November: Expected 0.3%; Prior -0.3%
1000 - NAHB housing market index for December: Expected 47; Prior 46
1000 - Business inventories m/m for October: Expected 0.1%; Prior 0.1%

Tesla Inc (TSLA)

+2.52%

Trading sharply higher premarket after Mizuho upgraded the stock from Neutral to Outperform and raised its price target from $230 to $515. The analyst attributed the upgrade to significant growth potential over the next four years, citing CEO Elon Musk's close ties with President-elect Donald Trump as a potential advantage for Tesla. Mizuho valued the company at roughly $1.8 trillion, though the analyst noted that the valuations of its FSD and humanoid robot units have the potential to grow significantly.

Palantir Technologies Inc (PLTR)

-2.71%

Trading lower premarket after an SEC filing revealed that CFO and Treasurer David A. Glazer told over half of his position of the company. Glazer sold 315,126 shares on December 12, valued at roughly $23.1 million. According to the filing, Glazer still holds 293,411 Palantir shares.

Broadcom Inc (AVGO)

+0.82%

Continuing to trade higher premarket with volume after gaining 38% over the last two sessions. The rally was driven by the company’s earnings report on Thursday after the bell. Broadcom’s market capitalization has surged from $800 million at Thursday’s close to $1.17 billion as of Monday’s close. The stock also rallied ahead of earnings on reports of a collaboration with Apple for an AI chip.

Advanced Micro Devices and NVIDIA Corp

-1.25%

Both semiconductor stocks are trading lower premarket. Wolfe Research issued a cautious note on Advanced Micro Devices, citing limited visibility to meet the $10 billion AI revenue expectations for FY25; the analyst believes that $7 billion in AI revenue is more realistic. Concerns also stem from potential downside to Q1 estimates, making the stock’s near-term setup challenging. Separately, The Information reported that China’s investigation into Nvidia is likely to lead to further probes in big tech deals in the US.

AMD, NVDA

Crypto Stocks

+1.04%

Trading marginally higher as a group as Bitcoin continues to consolidate near its highs. The cryptocurrency made another all-time high just below $108,000 on Monday, and is trading near $107,000 as of Tuesday morning. Ethereum, meanwhile, is consolidating above the $4,000 level and has been similarly strong.

COIN, MSTR, RIOT, CLSK, MARA, IBIT, ETHE, CAN, HIVE, BTBT, BTDR

Alphabet Inc and Uber Technologies

-0.11%

On watch after Waymo, Alphabet’s autonomous driving unit, announced plans to begin testing its all-electric Jaguar I-PACE robotaxis in Tokyo in early 2025. The company is working with taxi company Nihon Kotsu to manage and map key areas of the city. This marks Waymo's first international market entry, as it continues expanding beyond U.S. cities like Phoenix, San Francisco, and Los Angeles. Waymo is viewed as a competitor for Uber, whose stock sold off sharply when Waymo announced its expansion into Miami.

GOOGL, UBER

Affirm Holdings (AFRM)

-3.58%

Trading sharply lower premarket after announcing a $750 million private offering of convertible senior notes due 2029, with plans to repurchase some 2026 notes and up to $300 million of its common stock. This comes shortly after Affirm secured a $4 billion long-term capital partnership with Sixth Street to bolster its lending capacity, enabling the company to extend over $20 billion in loans in the next three years. Approximately 6.46% of the stock’s float is sold short.

Super Micro Computer Inc (SMCI)

+1.11%

Rebounding from weakness on Monday, which was down 8.26% by the end of the session. This weakness was driven by Super Micro’s removal from the Nasdaq-100 Index, announced after the bell on Friday; Moderna and Illumina are also set to be removed. These changes will be in effect as of Monday, December 23, before the bell.

Syntec Optics Holdings Inc (OPTX)

+179.78%

Gapping up after the company announced that Mike Ransford has been hired as Site Manager. The stock has a float of 6.06 million shares, approximately 1.59% of which are sold short.

Portage Biotech Inc (PRTG)

+204.92%

Gapping up after announcing it has entered into a letter of intent with Immunova. This agreement allows Immunova to acquire iOx Therapeutics, a subsidiary of Portage. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.19 million and a float of 595,210 shares.