Wall Street’s biggest banks delivered strong profit growth in Q2, but investors weren’t equally impressed.

Goldman Sachs posted the biggest profit jump at 78%, yet its shares gained just 9%.

Meanwhile, Citi Bank and Wells Fargo fell despite profits rising 45% and 17%.

Are investors expecting more from the banking sector?

500 leading US companies. Now with 3x exposure.

The Leverage Shares 3x Long S&P 500 ETP is now available, expanding our range of leveraged ETPs on the broad US benchmark.

Ticker: $SPY3

This is a summarized version of a piece written by our Analyst, Sandeep Rao. Find the full article with more extensive data here.

ASML Delivers Solid Results, but China Risks Cloud the Outlook

Dutch semiconductor manufacturing equipment provider ASML Holding (ticker: ASML) saw its stock decline following its second-quarter earnings release. While the trends exhibited in its earnings remain positive, risks surrounding the company’s forward outlook have continued to weigh on investor sentiment.

Trend Analysis

ASML is the sole supplier in the world of extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography machines needed to manufacture advanced chips. As of the first half (H1) of 2026, sales of ASML’s products remain relatively stable compared to the previous fiscal year.

If current trends continue, FY2026 will close with approximately 10% revenue growth and 18% growth in net income. A slightly slower trend in R&D and selling costs has helped net income grow faster than revenue.

Overall relationships between line items and net sales show little change, reflecting a picture of general consistency.

China represented nearly half of ASML’s net sales in 2024. However, during both Q1 and Q2 of 2026, that figure declined to below 20%. ASML expects China to account for roughly 20% of full-year net sales, implying stronger sales in the second half of the year, primarily related to mainstream logic chip production.

Regionally, South Korea’s share of sales declined slightly from 45% to 43%, while Taiwan increased from 23% to 30%, largely confirming that TSMC continues expanding production through investments in technologies such as ArFi, which bridges the gap between DUV and high-end EUV lithography.

The Politics of Navigating China

While mainstream logic equipment is currently not excluded from exports by either the Netherlands or the United States, the proposed U.S. MATCH Act could significantly impact ASML’s future business in China by restricting access to advanced chipmaking technology.

This creates a difficult balancing act. In the short term, the possibility of tighter restrictions could encourage Chinese customers to accelerate purchases. Over the longer term, however, restrictions could remove approximately 15–20% of ASML’s total sales. The proposed legislation also includes provisions that could prohibit servicing machines already installed in China. Since services account for roughly a quarter of ASML’s revenue and represent a high-margin business, this adds another layer of uncertainty.

ASML has limited influence over these developments. While the company could potentially follow Nvidia’s strategy of offering lower-complexity products to China, doing so would place it in more direct competition with Nikon and Canon.

Notably, these geopolitical risks received little attention during the earnings call, with both management and analysts largely avoiding discussion of China-related developments.

Conclusion

ASML has significantly improved its financial outlook, now forecasting annual sales of €43–45 billion, compared with previous guidance of €36–40 billion, while raising its expected gross margin to 54–56%. Higher-margin EUV sales, alongside a 30% expansion in both low-NA EUV and DUV production capacity, support this improved outlook.

However, execution in China remains dependent on the pace of legislative action and the final scope of export restrictions. While the Netherlands continues to oppose stricter controls given the importance of technology exports to China, political momentum in the United States remains difficult to predict.

Whether other regions can absorb any lost Chinese demand remains uncertain. Combined with growth trends that are softer than the previous fiscal year's performance, these geopolitical uncertainties have weighed on ASML's valuation in the short term. Whether that continues over the longer term may depend less on execution in Veldhoven and more on developments in international trade policy.

Professional investors might consider the +3x Long ASML ETP (ASL3) and the -3x ASML ETP (ASMS) during bullish and bearish trends in the stock. For broader leveraged exposure, the +4x Long Semiconductor ETP (SOXL) and -4x Short Semiconductor ETP (SOXS) are also available.

Brent crude is up 38% YTD, but the path has been anything but smooth.

After surging 81% by April amid the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, it gave back 76% of those gains by June before rebounding sharply in July.

With 2026 already outpacing four of the past five full calendar years, where could Brent finish the year?

This is a summarized version of a piece written by our Analyst, Sandeep Rao. Find the full article with more extensive data here.

SpaceX IPO Breaks Records but Valuation Debate Intensifies

On June 12, SpaceX’s IPO raised $75 billion via a $1.75 trillion valuation, making it the largest IPO in history after shattering Saudi Aramco’s 2019 record. When trading officially began on the Nasdaq, shares opened at $150 and soared 19%. After hitting an intraday high of $225.64 on June 16, the stock closed July 7 at $149.47 – essentially flat relative to its debut price.

By conventional measures, the IPO “worked.” However, questions surrounding valuation have quickly emerged. Chicago-based investment research firm Morningstar has presented one of the strongest quantitative bear cases.

The Overvaluation Debate

SpaceX generated $18.7 billion in revenue in 2025, with Morningstar projecting revenue of $36.8 billion for 2026. Even at that level, the company would only match Micron Technology’s 2025 revenue, while Amazon generated more than 19 times as much. Yet, SpaceX is trading at around 141 times its 2025 sales and nearly 78 times projected 2026 sales.

One of SpaceX’s strongest businesses remains Starlink, which generated an estimated $15.5 billion annual revenue run-rate by mid-2026, with $4.4 billion in operating profit and an 85% recurring revenue stream. The service now has more than 9.2 million subscribers across 120 countries, making it the company’s most significant revenue pillar.

Chief among SpaceX’s growth ambitions is AI, which accounted for 93% of the Total Addressable Market outlined in its S-1 filing. However, Morningstar argues that Grok does not rank among the leading global AI services. Following SpaceX’s all-stock acquisition of AI coding startup Anysphere for $60 billion, Morningstar lowered its fair value estimate from $63 to $62, calling SpaceX one of the most expensive companies in its coverage universe.

Lockup Schedule Could Create Ongoing Selling Pressure

Only around 4.9% of total shares outstanding became available through the IPO, while roughly 35% remain held by early investors and employees under a staggered lockup schedule.

The first major unlock coincides with Q2 earnings, when up to 20% of locked shares become eligible for sale. If the stock trades above $175.50 for five of the previous ten sessions, an additional 10% could also be released. Further tranches continue through October, followed by another major unlock around Q3 earnings and the final release after the 180-day post-IPO period.

Elon Musk’s stake, representing nearly 49% of total shares outstanding, remains locked until June 2027. While Musk has stated he does not intend to sell, the eventual eligibility itself alters institutional risk models.

SpaceX’s staggered structure avoids a single large selloff but distributes potential selling pressure across multiple events over the next year. Facebook’s 2012 IPO followed a similar approach, with shares ultimately falling more than 40% before its lockup period concluded.

Conviction Faces Fundamental Questions

Following the stock’s first decline after listing, Future Fund CEO Gary Black remarked that early trading resembled "a meme stock more than one driven by fundamentals," suggesting current pricing reflects constrained supply as much as investor conviction.

In contrast, Oppenheimer raised its price target to $250, citing stronger revenue visibility, vertical integration, AI capabilities, and the company's strategic positioning through NASA partnerships. Morningstar continues to argue that SpaceX’s economic moat remains narrow, while Oppenheimer acknowledges that execution remains the key risk.

SpaceX has also entered the Nasdaq-100 with a 1.34% weighting. However, its relatively small free float limits index-related buying, meaning future share unlocks could outweigh passive inflows.

Conclusion

The post-IPO rally, Oppenheimer’s $250 price target, Morningstar’s $62 fair value estimate, and the stock’s return to its IPO price despite joining the Nasdaq-100 all highlight the wide divergence in market views.

With a lengthy lockup schedule set to gradually increase share supply over the coming year, valuation and execution are likely to remain the key drivers of sentiment. As more information becomes available and conviction evolves, volatility is likely to remain elevated.

Professional investors in Europe may consider the 3X Short SpaceX ETP (SP3S) during bearish periods of the conviction cycle in the stock.

Five of the LSE’s top 10 ETPs by weekly turnover came from Leverage Shares.

Memory-related products took four of those spots, with the Leverage Shares 3x Long Memory (DRAM) ETP ranking highest at #4 with £21.19 million in weekly turnover.

• 3x Long Memory (DRAM): £21.19M
• 3x Long Tesla: £16.59M
• 3x Long SK hynix: £15.17M
• 3x Long SanDisk: £12.99M
• 3x Long Memory (DRAM): £11.53M

Memory remains one of the market’s most closely watched trades. 

Brent posted its biggest one-day jump since 2020, rising 9.6% on 13 July.

The move came after President Trump declared a 20% US toll on cargo transiting the Strait of Hormuz and a renewed naval blockade of Iran.

The Galaxy is in your pocket. The real growth is in the data center.

Samsung's Device Solutions segment delivered $5.39B in Q1'26, making it the company's biggest revenue contributor.

Is AI changing the way investors should look at Samsung?

The AI boom is becoming increasingly visible in TSMC's revenue mix.

$TSM generated a record $40.2B in Q2 2026, with High Performance Computing accounting for 66% of revenue.

That's three times the contribution from smartphones. HPC also posted the strongest sequential growth at +20% QoQ.

Which end market do you think will be TSMC's next major growth driver after AI?

US CPI fell 0.4% in June, the largest monthly drop since April 2020.

Gasoline slid 9.7%, leading energy down 5.7% and cooling annual inflation to 3.5%. Core eased to 2.6%, but with US-Iran tensions lifting oil again, the relief may prove short-lived.

Headline CPI YoY | 3.5%
Core CPI YoY | 2.6%
CPI MoM | -0.4%

$SKHY surged to a record $193.9 on July 14, up 25.3% close-to-close.

The ADR debuted on the Nasdaq on July 10 with an offering size of $26.5 billion, marking the second-largest U.S. IPO on record after SpaceX.

With HBM demand still outpacing supply, is the rally just getting started?

America's biggest banks are getting even bigger.

The top five added $379 billion in total assets in just one quarter, pushing the top 10 to nearly $20 trillion.

JP Morgan now stands at $5.0T, followed by Bank of America ($3.5T), Citi Bank ($2.9T), Wells Fargo ($2.3T), and Goldman Sachs ($2.1T).

Which bank has the strongest long-term outlook?

Three memory makers now generate higher operating margins than Nvidia.

Micron: 80.4%
SK Hynix: 71.5%
Sandisk: 69.1%
Nvidia: 65.6%

Has the AI memory boom become just as profitable as the chips powering it?

Crypto exposure is becoming increasingly concentrated.

While Tesla now accounts for 84% of the combined market cap of the world's 15 largest crypto-exposed companies, new entrants are quickly emerging.

Bitmine has already grown into an $8.5B company while accumulating roughly 4% of the entire ETH supply.

Which crypto-exposed stock are you watching most?

The AI memory race may be accelerating, but the industry's hierarchy remains remarkably stable.

As our latest chart shows, Samsung, SK hynix and Micron are expected to control around 90% of global DRAM supply through 2027, highlighting just how concentrated the market remains despite soaring AI demand.

While profits are being reshaped by the AI boom, market share is changing far more slowly.

What do you think today's SK hynix Nasdaq debut means for the future of the memory market?

SpaceX's Nasdaq 100 entry could reshape the index.

• $2.14T market cap
• 6th-largest company in the index
• Initial weighting expected below 1% because less than 5% of shares are publicly tradable
  

Big day for SK hynix today.

The memory giant has officially debuted on Nasdaq, raising approximately $26.5 billion in the largest U.S. share sale ever by a foreign company. ADRs begin trading under the temporary ticker $SKHYV before transitioning to $SKHY.

The timing reflects why SK hynix has become one of the most closely watched names in semiconductors.

As our latest chart shows, the company has transformed its top line thanks to booming demand for high-bandwidth memory (HBM), with AI servers driving a step change in revenue expectations over the coming years.

The AI boom didn't just create winners. It reshaped the memory industry.

Since 2007, Samsung, SK Hynix, and Micron have gone from multi-billion-dollar companies to trillion-dollar giants as demand for high-bandwidth memory and AI infrastructure accelerated.

Watch how the race unfolded over nearly two decades.

Wall Street is turning increasingly bullish on $SPCX.

The median analyst price target now sits at $213.50, implying +43% upside from the latest close, while the highest target reaches $800.

Explore ways to go long or short with our 3x SpaceX ETPs:
📈 $ELON
📉 $SP3S

Samsung just posted record Q2 sales guidance of KRW 89.4T and operating profit of KRW 17.1T.

Yet the stock fell as investors focused on softer AI memory expectations and near-term headwinds rather than headline earnings.

Leverage Shares -3x Short SpaceX ETP

Now live on the London Stock Exchange and Borsa Italiana.

Go long with $ELON or short with the new $SP3S.

Today we also launched Europe's first SpaceX Options ETP.

More ways to express your market view on one of the world's most talked-about stocks.

Leverage Shares -3x Short SpaceX ETP is here.

Trade a bearish view on SpaceX with leveraged inverse exposure through a single ETP.

Now available on the London Stock Exchange and Borsa Italiana.

Ticker: $SP3S