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

1000 - NAHB housing market index for January: Expected 40; Prior 39
1050 - Fed’s Collins speaks
1100 - Fed’s Bowman speaks
1530 - Fed’s Jefferson

Memory Stocks

+4.43%

US Representative John Moolenaar opined in a letter to Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick that shortages of advanced memory—especially high-bandwidth DRAM—may limit US export licenses for Nvidia’s H200 AI processors under rules requiring shipments not to strain U.S. supply. Tight HBM supply from Samsung, SK Hynix, and Micron highlights broader AI-driven memory constraints that could pressure costs across the tech supply chain. Separately, Micron director Mark Liu purchased 23,200 of the company’s shares earlier this week for $7.82 million in total, the company’s first insider buy since 2022.

MU, SNDK, WDC, STX

Chip Stocks

+1.04%

On Thursday, the US and Taiwan reached a trade deal under which Taiwanese chip and tech companies will invest at least $250 billion in U.S. semiconductor production. The deal, which is backed by $250 billion in Taiwanese government credit, also involves the US cutting reciprocal tariffs on Taiwan to 15% and removing them on select goods. As part of the agreement, TSMC has purchased land and may expand in Arizona, though the company says all investment decisions remain driven by market demand and customer needs.

TSM, NVDA, AMD, INTC, MRVL, AVGO

Novo Nordisk A/S (NVO)

+4.50%

Trading sharply higher premarket after the UK’s MHRA approved a higher-dose Wegovy option at 7.2 mg once weekly for adults with obesity. The approval expands Wegovy’s dosing beyond the current 2.4 mg maximum, potentially improving efficacy and broadening its commercial opportunity.

AST SpaceMobile Inc (ASTS)

+7.46%

Gapping up after announcing that it has been awarded a contract under the Missile Defense Agency’s SHIELD IDIQ program, supporting rapid delivery of innovative defense capabilities. The award highlights ASTS’s growing relevance of its space-based cellular broadband network for government and national security applications.

Alphabet Inc (GOOGL)

+0.70%

On watch after the Financial Time reported that Alphabet-owned YouTube is in talks with the BBC on a partnership to produce YouTube-first BBC shows aimed at younger audiences. The content would also be distributed across BBC platforms including iPlayer and BBC Sounds, spanning BBC Three, kids, and sports programming.

HP Inc (HPQ)

-2.77%

Trading lower premarket after Barclays downgraded the stock to Underweight from Equal Weight and cut its price target to $18 from $24, citing ongoing secular pressures in PCs and Printing and a lack of near-term catalysts. Despite the low valuation, Barclays expects the memory cycle and a flattening PC refresh to weigh on HPQ’s consumer-exposed PC business, justifying a lower 6x P/E multiple.

Constellation Energy and Vistra Corp

-4.26%

Trading sharply lower as a pair. Bloomberg reported that US President Donald Trump Trump and several Northeast governors are pushing PJM, the nation’s largest grid operator, to hold an emergency power auction that would require tech giants to help fund new power plants. The initiative could support up to $15 billion in new generation capacity through 15-year contracts, addressing concerns over data centers driving electricity demand while ensuring reliability across the Mid-Atlantic and Midwest.

CEG, VST

Amazon.com Inc (AMZN)

+0.34%

The company is urging a federal judge to reject Saks Global’s bankruptcy financing plan, arguing the retailer burned through hundreds of millions of dollars, violated their agreement, and rendered Amazon’s $475 million equity investment effectively worthless. Amazon says the proposed financing unfairly adds new debt and pushes it down the repayment order, and warns it may seek tougher remedies. The court is still considering its objection and separately allowed Saks interim access to $1.75 billion in financing.

Microsoft Corp (MSFT)

-0.02%

Italy’s competition watchdog has opened investigations into the company’s Activision Blizzard unit over alleged misleading and aggressive sales practices in “Diablo Immortal” and “Call of Duty Mobile.” Regulators say incentives and in-app prompts to purchase extra content may violate consumer protection rules, particularly given concerns around gambling addiction risks.

ASML Holding NV (ASML)

+1.87%

Trading higher premarket. BofA reiterated its bullish view on European semiconductor capital equipment stocks and raised price objectives by 10–15%, including ASML, citing accelerating AI-driven memory demand, rising DRAM/HBM complexity, and NAND greenfield expansion supporting strong WFE growth. Following TSMC’s results, BofA says increased demand from TSMC and Intel reinforces upside from leading-edge logic and advanced packaging adoption.

Rocket Lab Corp (RKLB)

+2.88%

Trading higher premarket after Morgan Stanley upgraded the stock from Overweight to Equal Weight, hiking its price target from $67 to $105. The analyst attributed the upgrade to growing recognition of the company as a strategically important, multi-faceted space player with credible long-term growth. Morgan Stanley noted that the valuation re-rating is justified by consistent launch execution, expanding commercial and government relevance, entry into a capacity-constrained medium-lift market, and the recent ~$816M SDA Tranche 3 win.

Venus Concept Inc (VERO)

+296.56%

Gapping up after Madryn Asset Management disclosed a 91% stake in the company. The stake, which was revealed through an amended 13D filing on January 15, comes one week after the company announced that it has entered a consent agreement with Madryn Health Partners related to liquidity requirements of their loan agreement. Venus Concept has a market capitalization of $2.66 million and a float of 1.63 million shares, approximately 12.24% of which are sold short.