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

0830 - Chicago Fed national activity index for December: Prior -0.12
1000 - New home sales for December: Expected 670k; Prior 664k

Semiconductors and AI Plays

-9.13%

Gapping down as market participants assess the implications of Chinese AI startup DeepSeek and its R1 language model. DeepSeek claims that the R1 possesses ChatGPT-level capabilities at a fraction of the cost, threatening U.S. dominance in AI innovation. This reveal is leading investors to question the sustainability of massive GPU investments. Analysts from Bernstein and Citigroup maintained Buy ratings on Nvidia despite this development. Microsoft is also trading sharply lower due to R1’s purported outperformance of ChatGPT, run by Microsoft-backed OpenAI.

NVDA, PLTR, MU, AVGO, ASML, TSM, SMCI, ARM, MRVL, MSFT

Crypto Stocks

-4.94%

Several members of the group are gapping down in tandem with a sharp drop in Bitcoin. The cryptocurrency lost the key $100,000 level and is trading near $99,000 as of Monday morning. Ethereum is also trading lower by 7%, holding just above $3,050, while Solana has dropped by 11% and XRP is down more than 10%. Separately, MicroStrategy announced the purchase of 10,100 BTC for an average of $104,596, valuing the purchase at $10.1 billion.

COIN, MSTR, MARA, RIOT, IBIT, ETHE, HUT, CLSK, IREN, CAN, HIVE

Tesla Inc (TSLA)

-4.45%

Trading sharply lower premarket as traders prepare for its earnings report, scheduled after the bell on Wednesday, January 29; Meta and Microsoft are scheduled to report on the same day. Oppenheimer issued a cautious note on the stock on Friday morning, expecting the company to emphasize its work in AI technology during its earnings call. Gary Black, managing partner of the Future Fund, emphasized on Sunday that CEO Elon Musk’s prior guidance of 20% to 30% growth in 2025 deliveries is sharply higher than the analyst estimate of 16% growth; Troy Teslike, a noted Tesla forecaster, projects a 1% decline.

Meta Platforms Inc (META)

-3.46%

The stock remains on watch as uncertainty surrounding the future of TikTok in the US continues. Meta, whose short-video platform Instagram stood to benefit from the ban of TikTok in the US, is reportedly contracting creators to promote Instagram on competing platforms, according to CNBC. These contracts reportedly include a three-month exclusivity deal, during which the creator can only post on Instagram’s Reels. CNBC also reported that Perplexity AI has updated its merger proposal for TikTok, allowing the US government to own up to 50% of the merged company. Meta reports earnings after the bell on January 29.

Utilities Stocks

-12.23%

Many tickers in the group are gapping down as market participants assess the reported outperformance of DeepSeek’s AI model versus that of ChatGPT. Many utilities players, notable Constellation Energy and Vistra, have been implicated in the AI rally due to the need for energy in AI development. Both Constellation and Vistra have rallied recently on AI-specific catalysts; Constellation has signed a 20-year power purchase agreement with Microsoft related to the rejuvenation of Three Mile Island, while Vistra made new all-time highs last week after AI-focused Project Stargate announced that its first data center investment is being made in the company’s home base of Texas.

CEG, VST, GEV

SoFi Technologies Inc (SOFI)

-10.71%

Gapping down after its earnings report. Adjusted earnings of $0.05 per share exceeded estimates of $0.04 for Q4 2024, while adjusted sales of $739.112 beat expectations of $674.134 million. The company guided Q1 2025 net revenue between $725 million and $745 million, exceeding estimates of $691.41 million, but its EPS forecast of $0.03 missed estimates of $0.05. Similarly, SoFi beat estimates with its revenue guidance for fiscal 2025 but fell short of expectations with its EPS guidance for the year.

Intel and Qualcomm

+0.95%

Both semiconductor-adjacent tickers are trading higher premarket as the rest of the sector drops on fears surrounding DeepSeek’s dominance in the AI space. Neither of these tickers is especially associated with AI; Intel is mainly associated with developing computer components despite its prevalence as a semiconductor manufacturer, while Qualcomm is known for making semiconductors for phones and telecommunication products. Intel is also on watch ahead of its earnings report on January 30, with Seeking Alpha analyst Paul Franke noting that the stock could make a comeback thanks to its low valuation and ongoing takeover rumors.

INTC, QCOM

AT&T Inc (T)

+2.33%

Trading higher premarket after releasing its Q4 2024 earnings report, with GAAP earnings of $0.56 per share and sales of $32.298 billion beating estimates of $0.47 and $32.041 billion, respectively. Adjusted earnings of $0.54 per share similarly beat estimates of $0.50. AT&T reported 482,000 additional monthly wireless phone subscribers during the quarter, above estimates of 424,550 additions, with its fiber business also adding more subscribers than expected.

Aurora Mobile Ltd (JG)

+210.67%

Gapping up after announcing an AI-related partnership with Chinese AI startup DeepSeek. The company announced that they have integrated DeepSeek’s much-discussed R1 model into its own AI agent platform.