^{_{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 December: Expected 0.6%; Prior 0.7%
0830 - Core retail sales m/m for December: Expected 0.5%; Prior 0.2%
0830 - Initial jobless claims: Expected 210k; Prior 201k
0830 - Import prices m/m for December: Expected -0.1%; Prior 0.1%
0830 - Export prices m/m for December: Expected 0.1%; Prior 0%
1000 - Business inventories m/m for November: Expected 0.1%; Prior 0.1%
1000 - NAHB housing market index for January: Expected 45; Prior 46

Semiconductors

+1.52%

Trading higher as a group after Taiwan Semiconductor released its Q4 2024 earnings report. Earnings of $2.24 per share exceeded estimates of $2.16, and sales of $26.88 billion beat expectations of $26.38 billion. The company guided Q1 2025 revenue between $25 billion and $25.8 billion, above estimates of $24.97 billion. Taiwan Semi also guided capital expenditures between $38 billion and $42 billion, significantly above their 2024 capital expenditures of $29.8 billion.

TSM, NVDA, MU, MRVL, AVGO, ARM, QCOM

Meta Platforms and Snap Inc

-1.79%

Trading lower as a pair after the Washington Post reported that President-elect Donald Trump is considering an executive order to delay the enforcement of a federal law requiring TikTok's sale or ban in the U.S.. If the executive order is carried out, it could potentially postpone the nationwide ban set for January 19 by 60 to 90 days.

META, SNAP

Super Micro Computer Inc (SMCI)

+2.52%

Trading higher premarket after Hindenburg Research announced that it will be shutting down. The short-seller issued a scathing report on Super Micro on August 27, 2024; the Department of Justice reportedly opened an investigation into the company following the short report. Super Micro and its stock have been plagued by a variety of issues since the report, including the resignation of its independent auditor and the delay of multiple 10-K filings.

Tesla Inc (TSLA)

-0.70%

The company is offering discounts of up to $2,000 on new non-Foundation series Cybertrucks and up to $3,510 on demo vehicles in its U.S. inventory. The discounts apply to both the All-Wheel Drive variant, starting at $78,390, and the more premium Cyberbeast variant, which begins at $96,480 for a demo model. Additionally, Sean Duffy, President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee to lead the Department of Transportation, said during his Senate confirmation hearing that he would allow the NHTSA to continue their probe into Tesla’s FSD software regardless of CEO Elon Musk’s alliance with Trump.

Bank of America and Morgan Stanley

+1.09%

Both banks reported earnings before the bell, following reports from firms like JPMorgan and Citigroup on Wednesday morning. Bank of America reported GAAP earnings of $0.82 per share, above estimates of $0.77, with revenue net of interest expenses reaching $25.347. Net interest income and total investment banking fees rose by 3% and 44%, respectively, while average deposits dropped by 2%. Meanwhile, Morgan Stanley beat EPS and sales estimates, with its fixed income net revenues rising by 35%. Morgan Stanley also reported increases in its investment banking and equity net revenues for the quarter.

BAC, MS

Advanced Micro Devices Inc (AMD)

-0.06%

On watch following a downgrade from Wolfe Research. The firm lowered its rating for AMD to Peer Perform from Outperform, citing lowered expectations for datacenter GPU revenue. Wolfe Research also noted valuation concerns, with AMD trading at 28x its reduced EPS estimate for 2025, and unfavorably compared its valuation to that of Nvidia.

UnitedHealth Group Inc (UNH)

-3.10%

Trading lower premarket following its earnings report. Adjusted earnings of $6.81 per share beat estimates of $6.72, but sales of $100.81 billion came in below the expected $101.76 billion. The company maintained its 2025 sales and adjusted EPS guidance; its sales guidance exceeded estimates, while the midpoint of its EPS guide missed the consensus estimate. The stock has been on watch since the fatal, targeted shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson on December 4, 2024, the day of the company’s investor day.

Quantum Stocks

+4.68%

Continuing to trade higher as a group following a sustained rally on Wednesday, driven by quantum-related announcements from both Nvidia and Microsoft. The group traded sharply lower last week after Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang opined that it could take 15 to 30 years for the first quantum computers to be usable. Some of the tickers in this group, including Quantum Corporation (QMCO) and Quantum-Si (QSI), are not involved in the quantum space but trade higher in sympathy due to their names.

QUBT, QMCO, RGTI, QBTS, QS, QSI

Wheeler Real Estate Investment Trust (WHLR)

+78.30%

Gapping up on no apparent catalyst. The stock, which has rallied several times in the past, has a market capitalization of $10.08 million and a float of 1.31 million shares. Approximately 13.6% of the stock’s float is sold short.

Flowco Holdings Inc (FLOC)

0.00%

Set to debut on the New York Stock Exchange on January 16 via an initial public offering. The oilfield services company is set to offer 17.8 million shares, priced at $24 per share.