Nasdaq Composite Live: Markets Still Nervous Ahead of Fed Speech

By Ian Cooper Published Aug 21, 8:44AM EDT

Key Points

Markets are also a bit nervous ahead of Fed boss Jerome Powell’s speech on Friday at Jackson Hole.
Solar and winds stocks are being pressured. All after President Trump said he would not approve solar or wind power projects.

Live Updates

UBS Reiterated its Buy Rating on NVDA

Aug 21, 2025 at 9:12 AM EDT

Analysts at UBS just reiterated a buy rating on NVDA, with a price target of $205 ahead of earnings.

“We see FQ2 (Jul) revenue in the ~$46B range (or a similar ~$1B beat to last Q) and see FQ3 (Oct) revenue guided to ~$54-55B excluding China, or as much as ~$57B if China is included,” as quoted by CNBC.

Morgan Stanley reiterated an overweight rating on Target, noting the retailer is too attractive to ignore. “While TGT’s EPS power may not have bottomed, its real estate value, forward-positioned inventory, and AI use cases protect downside, making risk/reward attractive,” as also quoted by CNBC.

Loop analysts also reiterated a buy rating on Apple with a price target of $226. “Reiterating our Hold and lowering PT to $226 from $230 while updating our estimates to reflect mix shifts toward Pro/Pro Max models, lower air models and [average selling price] adjustments,” as quoted by CNBC.

Futures are pointing to a lower open again.

At the moment, the Dow is down 163 points. The S&P 500 is down about 19, with the Nasdaq down about 61 points.

“Markets are on a three-day losing streak as investors show fatigue following a 30% rally since April,” writes Mark Hackett, chief market strategist at Nationwide, as quoted by Barron’s. “We’re seeing a notable drop in leadership, with large-cap growth significantly lagging small caps and value this month.”

Markets are also a bit nervous ahead of Fed boss Jerome Powell’s speech on Friday at Jackson Hole. For one, the event has a history of serving as a negative catalyst. And two, investors desperately want to hear about the future of interest rate cuts.

Will we see just one cut this year, or three, as Federal Reserve’s Michelle Bowman argued for after a weaker-than-expected jobs report?

Solar and Wind Stocks are Dropping

Solar and wind stocks are being pressured. All after President Trump said he would not approve solar or wind power projects. “We will not approve wind or farmer destroying Solar,” Trump, who has complained in the past that solar takes up too much land, posted on Truth Social, as quoted by CNBC. “The days of stupidity are over in the USA!!!”

Earnings: Walmart Missed Earnings

Shares of Walmart are down about 3%, or by $3.07, in premarket.

All after the company posted second-quarter earnings that missed expectations. However, U.S. sales growth did manage to top forecasts.

EPS of 68 cents missed the estimates of 74 cents. Revenue did jump to $177.4 billion, which was above estimates of $176.05 billion. And, in its most recent quarter, WMT’s same-store sales jumped 4.6%, which was ahead of expectations of 4.2%.

For the full year, the company expects adjusted earnings to come in between $2.52 and $2.62. Wall Street was looking for $2.61 at the high end.

UBS raised its price target on Nvidia ahead of earnings

UBS also raised its price target on Nvidia ahead of earnings next week.

With a buy rating and a price target of $205, the firm sees the company posting about a $1 billion beat in revenue in its second quarter.

Most recently, Wells Fargo reiterated its overweight rating on Nvidia, raising its price target to $220 ahead of earnings. “With strong intra-qtr demand data points + reports of approved licenses to resume H20 sales into China, we increase our ests (above street) ahead of NVDA’s upcoming (8/27) F2Q26 print,” as quoted by CNBC.