US Opening Bell | Stocks open lower; Bloom Energy rallies 5% & Li Auto up 5%; Clean-tech and China EVs lead gains

Market

July 29, U.S. stocks opened on the back foot as investors digested mixed mega-cap tech earnings and rising Treasury yields. The Dow Jones slipped 0.8%, the S&P 500 eased 0.2%, and the Nasdaq Composite dipped 0.2%, pointing to a cautious tone after last week’s record highs.

Gainers: Bloom Energy Corp surges 5.3% after announcing a breakthrough solid-oxide fuel-cell order; Li Auto climbs 5.5% on record July delivery guidance; Western Digital jumps 2.5% as memory-chip prices extend their rebound; Micron Technology adds 0.8% following a major Wall Street price-target hike; Direxion Daily MU Bull 2X Shares rises 1.6% in sympathy. Decliners: Vertiv Holdings sinks 10.0% after a secondary offering; Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing falls 1.3% on reports of delayed AI chip deliveries; Advanced Micro Devices slips 1.1% ahead of results; KLA-Tencor drops 3.8% as analysts turn cautious on semiconductor equipment demand; SoFi Technologies tumbles 7.1% after insiders file to sell shares.

Among broader movers, China education names stay hot with New Oriental Education & Technology up 6.9% and First High-School Education Group up 23.1%, while travel platform Trip.com Group gains 3.5% and XPeng strengthens 3.7% as China EV stocks rebound. Solar play Canadian Solar rallies 3.6% on EU project win, whereas Tai-powered storage firm Vertiv’s slump drags industrial tech peers such as KLA-Tencor (-3.8%) and Datasea (-6.7%).

News

Bloom Energy wins record fuel-cell order, shares jump. The clean-tech firm secured a multi-year, 400 MW deal with a major U.S. utility, translating into potential revenue exceeding $1 billion and driving the stock sharply higher at the open.

Li Auto projects record July deliveries, stock pops. The China-based EV maker guided for 47,000–49,000 vehicle deliveries this month, alleviating demand concerns and lifting U.S.-listed ADR shares.

Vertiv prices $2 billion secondary offering at discount. Existing shareholders sold 8% of the power-management firm, sparking a near-10% slide as supply worries outweighed robust AI-server demand tailwinds.

Western Digital boosted by DRAM spot-price surge. Rising memory contracts and a bullish brokerage upgrade to “Outperform” sent the disk-drive maker to its highest level since 2022.

Micron Technology gets major price-target hike. A top broker lifted its target to $950 on stronger AI-driven demand, helping extend Micron’s recent breakout.

Advanced Micro Devices slips ahead of earnings. Traders trimmed positions on worries about data-center GPU competition even as consensus calls for record quarterly revenue.

Taiwan Semiconductor faces AI chip shipment delays. Supply-chain checks suggest longer lead times for advanced packaging, pressuring shares of the foundry giant and related semicap equipment makers.

New Oriental soars on surging after-school tutoring demand. The education provider posted a 34% jump in quarterly revenue, signaling resilience despite regulatory hurdles.

Canadian Solar wins 1 GW European project pipeline. The contract strengthens its foothold in the region’s booming utility-scale market and underpins guidance for double-digit sales growth.

Treasury yields rise on hotter PCE inflation print. Core PCE prices accelerated more than expected, reviving concerns the Federal Reserve may delay rate cuts and weighing on broader equity sentiment.