In a preview of Applied Materials' (AMAT) July-end quarterly report, Stifel analyst Patrick Ho said he expects the company to meet his $3.52B and 69c revenue and pro-forma EPS estimates and sees the company reiterating some of the same commentary on the current environment that has been made recently by other industry players. However, he continues to believe Applied is well positioned to outperform in 2020, citing its favorable position in TSMC (TSM), which he calls "the leading-edge foundry," as well as an expected recovery in NAND spending and the beginnings of a recovery in display spending. Ho keeps a Buy rating and $57 price target on Applied Materials shares.

SK hynix (HXSCL) announced that it has recently signed a memorandum of understanding with TSMC (TSM) for collaboration to produce next-generation HBM and enhance logic and HBM integration through advanced packaging technology. The company plans to proceed with the development of HBM4, or the sixth generation of the HBM family, slated to be mass produced from 2026, through this initiative. SK hynix said the collaboration between the global leader in the AI memory space and TSMC, a top global logic foundry, will lead to more innovations in HBM technology. The collaboration is also expected to enable breakthroughs in memory performance through trilateral collaboration between product design, foundry, and memory provider.

Unusual total active option classes on open include: Wrap Technologies (WRAP), AstraZeneca (AZN), JetBlue (JBLU), United Continental (UAL), Taiwan Semi (TSM), Nokia (NOK), EBay (EBAY), Maplebear Inc (CART), Airbnb (ABNB), and UnitedHealth (UNH).

Gross profit margin is expected to be between 51% and 53%; Operating profit margin is expected to be between 40% and 42%.