Trending stocks this week as turbulent August comes to end

Stocks climbed in the final stretch of August, as the turbulent month that saw a global stock market rout came to an end.

August began with a selloff in stocks, with losses cascading across tech shares, as fears of a looming recession intensified. The downturn was triggered by a weak U.S. payroll report early in the month and the subsequent unwinding of the so-called Japanese yen carry-trade unwind.

However, a solid recovery since then resulted in global equities recording a fourth month of gains. The S&P 500 (SP500) on Friday climbed 2.28% for August to close at 5,648.38 points, amid data showing the economy is holding up. Fed’s preferred inflation metric rose at a mild pace in last month, while consumer sentiment improved for the first time in five months.

The week also saw the release of highly-anticipated quarterly results by Nvidia (NVDA), perhaps the world’s most influential stock, and Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A) (BRK.B) topping $1 trillion in market value.

As attention now turns to September and Fed’s decision on rate cut, let us take a look at stocks that were trending in the final leg of August:

Nvidia (NVDA) shares dropped 8% in the week after the chipmaker issued a sale forecast that fell short of some of the most optimistic estimates. The report hinted at a cooldown in the artificial intelligence frenzy and weighed on other AI chip and hardware makers.

Best Buy (BBY) gained roughly 14% after the retailer reported better-than-expected second-quarter comparable sales and raised annual earnings outlook.

PDD Holdings (PDD) fell around 13% as the e-commerce firm reported revenue that missed estimates and issued a surprisingly gloomy outlook. The company also warned that its revenue growth and profitability will face pressure going ahead, due to intensified competition and external challenges. The slump in PDD shares also weighed on other Chinese technology stocks.

Lululemon Athletica (LULU) dropped nearly 5% by the end of the week amid missed sales expectations and lowered full year guidance in its Q2 results, despite better-than-expected profit and improved margins. This also marked its sixth consecutive quarter of decelerating sales growth.

Medical Properties Trust (MPW) was in the news this week for its settlement deal with Steward Health Care, the private operator of hospitals that filed for bankruptcy in May, over leasing obligations. MPW, the biggest hospital landlord in the U.S., will take over Steward’s hospitals subject to its master lease and fund all related operational expenses.

Crowdstrike’s (CRWD) Q2 results grabbed eyeballs as it was the first quarterly report after the global IT outage in July. Q2 metrics were solid, but the focus was on the impact of the outage on the Q3 and Q4 estimates. CrowdStrike’s management discussed the steps taken to ensure such events do not occur again.

Alibaba Group (BABA) had a positive week after China’s antitrust watchdog ended a three-year regulatory “rectification” process and praised the internet giant for its compliance and the rectification work, which has achieved “good results.”

Altria Group (MO) was up around 2.5% in the five-day trading period. Earlier in the week it issued a statement disagreeing with the initial determination on a patent infringement complaint against its operating company NJOY. The previous week, the initial determination recommended an exclusion order that would prohibit the import of NJOY ACE into the U.S.

PVH (PVH) fell around 7.5% after recording a revenue decline in Q2 and setting Q3 profit guidance below expectations. Both the Tommy Hilfiger and Calvin Klein businesses saw lower total revenue, primarily due to the challenging consumer environment in Asia Pacific.

Powell Industries (POWL), a maker of power-distribution equipment for electrical utilities that are seeing rising demand from energy-hungry AI, fell 15% this week along with other companies in the electrical equipment industry after Super Micro Computer (SMCI) said a regulatory filing would be delayed, worrying investors.