Trending stocks this week as weak jobs data fuels Fed cut bets

[Business on Wall Street in Manhattan]
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Wall Street finished the holiday-shortened week mixed, as optimism over deeper Fed rate cuts was offset by mounting recession fears tied to labor market weakness.

Friday’s August jobs report showed just 22,000 new nonfarm payrolls, while revisions revealed job losses in June. The unemployment rate advanced to 4.3% -- the highest mark since 2021. Markets are now fully pricing in a 25 bps Fed rate cut in September, with a 10% chance of a 50 bps move.

The S&P 500 (SP500 [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/SP500]) closed up +0.3% for the week, with the Dow (DJI [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/DJI]) down -0.3% and the Nasdaq (COMP.IND) rallying by +1.1%.

HERE'S A LOOK AT SOME OF THE WEEK'S TRENDING STOCKS:

PEPSICO (PEP [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/PEP]) shares rose after Elliott Investment Management revealed a $4 billion stake, making it one of the company’s five largest active investors. Elliott is pushing for a turnaround, suggesting options such as refranchising PepsiCo’s “operationally intensive” bottling network and selling off non-core or underperforming assets.

GITLAB (GTLB [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/GTLB]) shares fell Thursday after a weaker-than-expected sales outlook for the third quarter, a conservative revenue guide for the full year, and a sudden CFO exit rattled investors. For the full year of FY '26, the company raised its adjusted EPS outlook to $0.82–$0.83, up from its prior range of $0.74–$0.75 and ahead of the Street’s $0.75 estimate. It, however, reaffirmed net revenue guidance at $936M–$942M, versus consensus of $942.9M.

BROADCOM (AVGO [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/AVGO]) jumped on Friday after the chipmaker unveiled a $10 billion AI chip order from a new customer, fueling optimism around its ability to benefit from the generative AI race. Analysts at Mizuho, Cantor Fitzgerald, and KeyBanc suggested the buyer is likely OpenAI.

LULULEMON (LULU [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/LULU]) fell after the athletic clothing retailer cut its earnings guidance for the full year. For FY25, the company now expects revenue to be within a range of $10.85B to $11B, representing growth of 2% to 4%, versus prior guidance of $11.15B to $11.3B.

ALPHABET (GOOG [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/GOOG]) (GOOGL [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/GOOGL]) shares rose after a U.S. antitrust ruling was not as severe as feared. Judge Amit Mehta has ruled that Google will be required to share online search data with rivals while avoiding harsher penalties, including the forced sale of its Chrome business. That followed Mehta's ruling last year that Google held an illegal monopoly in online search and search-tied advertising.

TESLA (TSLA [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/TSLA]) came into the spotlight after its board proposed a performance-based pay package for CEO Elon Musk, potentially worth around $1 trillion. The 10-year plan ties Musk’s payout to ambitious targets, including scaling Tesla’s robotaxi business and boosting the company’s market value from about $1 trillion to $8.5 trillion. If fully awarded, the additional shares would raise Musk’s ownership stake in Tesla to at least 25%.

T. ROWE PRICE (TROW [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/TROW]) rallied after Goldman Sachs (GS [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/GS]) said it plans to acquire up to $1B in the firm, equaling a stake of up to 3.5%, as part of a collaboration agreement. The alliance will focus on offering public and private market investment products for retirement and wealth investors.

FIGMA (FIG [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/FIG]) fell after the software design company forecast annual sales that failed to impress Wall Street’s expectations. This was the company’s first report since it went public in late July.

AMERICAN EAGLE (AEO [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/AEO]) gained after the clothing retailer reported better-than-expected Q2 revenue, boosted by demand following its Sydney Sweeney ad campaign.

TEXAS INSTRUMENTS (TXN [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/TXN]) shares fell after CFO Rafael Lizardi said the recovery is progressing more slowly than some expected, noting that while four of its five end markets are improving, automotive remains weak. Speaking at the Citi TMT conference, Lizardi and IR head Mike Beckman added that global chip shipments are rebounding but at a slower pace than in past cycles.

THE KRAFT HEINZ COMPANY (KHC [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/KHC]) was in the spotlight after its board unanimously approved a plan to separate the company into two independent, publicly traded companies through a tax-free spin-off. The split aims to simplify operations and let each new company focus on its own goals, improving performance while keeping the scale needed to stay competitive.

LUMEN TECHNOLOGIES (LUMN [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/LUMN]) shares rose after the company announced a partnership with PALANTIR (PLTR [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/PLTR]) to integrate its Foundry and AI Platform, supporting Lumen’s transition from a traditional telecom to a next-gen tech infrastructure provider. The collaboration aims to streamline operations, modernize systems, and boost decision-making as Lumen positions itself to power the “backbone of the AI economy.”

MORE ON S&P 500 INDEX, DOW JONES INDUSTRIAL AVERAGE INDEX

* Ultra Bullish On Unemployment Ticking Up To 4.3% In August [https://seekingalpha.com/article/4820204-ultra-bullish-on-unemployment-ticking-up-to-4-3-percent-in-august]
* August Jobs Report: Catalyst For A 50bps Rate Cut? [https://seekingalpha.com/article/4820195-august-jobs-report-catalyst-for-50-bps-rate-cut]
* Weekly Indicators: Neutral Initial Claims Complement Abysmal Employment Report [https://seekingalpha.com/article/4820110-weekly-indicators-neutral-initial-claims-complement-abysmal-employment-report]
* Wall Street closed lower after briefly tagging record highs as payrolls figures land [https://seekingalpha.com/news/4492754-wall-street-dow-sp500-nasdaq]
* El-Erian: Powell has taken ‘too narrow a view’ on the jobs market [https://seekingalpha.com/news/4492823-el-erian-powell-has-taken-too-narrow-a-view-on-the-jobs-market]