S&P 500 Notches a Record Close as Cooling Producer Prices Fuel the Rally — Workday Soars 17.8% on Buyout Talks

Records Return as a Second Straight Cool Inflation Reading Clears the Fed's Path

Producer Prices Come In Flat, Clearing the Way for a Fresh S&P 500 Record

• July's Producer Price Index was unchanged month-over-month, well below the +0.2% economists expected; core PPI (ex-food and energy) rose a modest 0.2%. Year-over-year, headline PPI cooled to 4.7% from 5.5% in June.
• Weekly jobless claims rose to 209,000, above the 202,000 consensus, though the four-week moving average held near 199,000 — still consistent with a healthy, if gradually softening, labor market.
• The soft inflation data followed Wednesday's in-line July CPI reading of 3.4%, and together the two reports pushed September rate-hike odds down to roughly 35% from about 50% earlier in the week, with traders now assigning about 63% probability the Fed holds rates steady.
• The S&P 500 rose ▲ 0.65% to a record close of 7,798.99, briefly topping 7,800 intraday for the first time, while the Nasdaq jumped ▲ 0.81% to 26,803.03.

Memory Chips and AI Storage Lead a Broad Tech Rally

• SanDisk (SNDK) surged ▲ 13.7% after unveiling an 80% long-term gross-margin target at its investor day, built around new AI-focused flash storage technology.
• Micron (MU) gained ▲ 6.7% as memory-chip stocks broadly rallied, with the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index rising 0.46% to 12,456 on AI-driven demand.
• Super Micro Computer (SMCI) climbed ▲ 9.5%, riding the same AI-infrastructure momentum that lifted storage and compute names across the session.
• The rally in chip and storage stocks helped offset weakness in the Dow, where Cisco's post-earnings slide weighed on the broader technology hardware group.

Workday's Buyout Talks Headline a Day of Big Single-Stock Pops

• Workday (WDAY) led gainers, soaring ▲ 17.8% on reports that private-equity firm Silver Lake is in talks to acquire the company.
• SanDisk (SNDK) jumped ▲ 13.7% on its investor-day margin targets, while Super Micro Computer (SMCI) added ▲ 9.5%.
• GoDaddy (GDDY) rose ▲ 9.5% as investors reassessed strong cash flow and AI traction following its earnings report.
• Micron (MU) rounded out the day's biggest movers, up ▲ 6.7% alongside the broader memory-chip rally.

Cisco's Margin Miss Caps the Dow Even as Records Fall Elsewhere

• Cisco Systems (CSCO) fell ▼ 9.0% despite beating on both earnings and revenue, as investors focused on margin concerns and cautious guidance — the single biggest drag on the Dow.
• The Dow Jones Industrial Average still eked out a gain of ▲ 0.13% to 53,839.99 after swinging roughly 427 points between an intraday low of 53,622 and a high of 54,049.
• The 10-year Treasury yield eased about 5 basis points to 4.64% on the soft inflation data, while WTI crude fell ▼ 2.4% to $81.25 a barrel, Brent dropped ▼ 2.2% to $87.07, and gold slipped roughly 1% to $4,420.40 an ounce.
• Elsewhere, earnings-driven losses hit Tapestry (TPR) ▼ 16.5%, Virgin Galactic (SPCE) ▼ 13.0%, Cerebras (CBRS) ▼ 11.1%, and StubHub (STUB) ▼ 10.0%.

What to Watch Friday, August 14, and the Week Ahead

• July retail sales and core retail sales land Friday morning, alongside the preliminary University of Michigan consumer-sentiment reading — the last major data points before markets close out the week.
• Applied Materials (AMAT) reported after Thursday's close; Friday's session will show whether its record-quarter guidance on AI chipmaking demand extends the semiconductor rally.
• Follow-through in memory-chip and AI-storage names is worth watching after Thursday's rally in SanDisk, Micron, and Super Micro Computer.
• The Russell 2000's record run continues to be a headline theme, with small caps outperforming for a second straight session.
• Retailer earnings pick up next week, giving investors a fresh read on consumer spending after Friday's retail sales report.