Welcome to Markets Desk, let's get you caught up on what's moving.
Applied Materials had a remarkable session Thursday, surging roughly fifteen percent to close just above five hundred dollars a share. The chipmaking equipment giant is still trading more than thirty percent below its all-time high, which means investors are watching its August thirteenth earnings report closely for signals on whether semiconductor demand is genuinely turning the corner.
That momentum in chip-adjacent names connects to the broader AI infrastructure trade, where SPX Technologies caught a bid Friday on surging demand for data center cooling solutions. As AI-driven compute loads intensify, thermal management is becoming a real bottleneck, and SPX is positioning itself squarely in that spend cycle, which the market is clearly rewarding right now.
Meanwhile, Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway continues to send a cautious signal to the broader market, with the Oracle of Omaha maintaining an unusually large cash position. History suggests this isn't a call to exit equities entirely, but rather a reminder that discipline and valuation still matter, even in a tape that has rewarded momentum buyers for much of this year.
That's the tape. Markets Desk, signing off the floor.
