US stocks finished mixed on Monday as chip shares attracted buyers after nine consecutive sessions of declines, pointing to a tentative revival in the artificial-intelligence trade. Treasury yields continued to rise, while a relatively light US economic calendar shifted investor attention to corporate earnings, oil prices and interest rates.
The Nasdaq Composite rose 1.1% to 26,430, while the S&P 500 gained 0.4% to 7,690. The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 0.07% to 51,966. Consumer discretionary and technology stocks were among the stronger-performing sectors, although gains were concentrated in a limited number of groups. The VanEck Semiconductor ETF (SMH) rose 1.6%, recording its first positive daily return since October 5.
Amazon jumps 5% as Morgan Stanley raises target
Amazon shares climbed 5%, the strongest performance among the 30 Dow components. Morgan Stanley analyst Brian Nowak named Amazon a top pick and raised his 12-month price target to $350 from $335, while maintaining an Overweight rating. Nowak estimated a risk-reward ratio of roughly three to one, with a downside scenario of $220 and potential upside of about 40%. These figures are analyst estimates, not company guidance.
Nowak expects Amazon Web Services to continue driving relatively rapid revenue growth and to move toward $1 trillion in revenue. Continued AWS expansion could further strengthen Amazon's earnings power. The company's generative-AI service Bedrock is seen as having the potential to support wider enterprise adoption of AI and could also improve market perceptions of Amazon's valuation.
Amazon also has competitive advantages in agentic AI, according to Nowak. Its deployment of robots across fulfillment centers has led investors to view the company as one of the beneficiaries of physical AI applications. Nowak also said Amazon could achieve the “rule of 90,” in which revenue growth plus profit margin reaches or exceeds 90%.
Intel upgraded, but target remains below market price
Intel shares rose 2.4%, reaching an intraday high of $142.35 before closing at $139.63. The stock had closed at $89.85 on Friday, nearly 40% below its recent high. J.P. Morgan analyst Harlan Sur raised Intel's rating from Underweight to Neutral while keeping his 12-month price target at $85, saying the risk-reward profile had become more balanced at the current share price.
Sur remains uncertain about the durability of spending on AI infrastructure. However, he said agentic AI workloads typically rely more heavily on CPUs, while tight supply in the advanced-chip manufacturing chain could lead the market to continue raising its earnings expectations for Intel. The company is scheduled to report third-quarter results on October 29, and analysts will also focus on management's outlook for 2027.
S&P Global data shows that 15 Wall Street analysts covering Intel rate the stock Buy, while 33 rate it Hold and only one rates it Sell. The average 12-month price target is currently $118.05.
Earnings, Treasury yields and oil shape sentiment
Nvidia rose 1.4%, Meta Platforms fell 0.6% and Tesla gained 3.8%. Meta and Tesla, both members of the “Magnificent Seven,” are due to report their latest quarterly operating and financial results after Wednesday's close. Investors will use the reports to assess trends in AI investment, advertising demand and electric-vehicle demand.
Chris Larkin, managing director at E*TRADE from Morgan Stanley, said the S&P 500 still finished last week only about 2% below its record high despite the recent pullback in AI-related shares. With the economic data calendar relatively light this week, corporate earnings may become traders' main focus, although oil prices and US Treasury yields could continue to influence sentiment.
The two-year US Treasury yield rose 3.6 basis points to 4.772%, while the 10-year yield gained 4.4 basis points to 5.142%. The 30-year yield increased 3.9 basis points to 5.476%. Meanwhile, front-month West Texas Intermediate crude futures fell 0.7% to $98.38 a barrel, compared with $101.41 in the previous session. Louis Navellier of Navellier & Associates expects average third-quarter earnings growth among S&P 500 companies could reach 33%, although that estimate remains subject to confirmation from companies' actual results.