Stock Market Summary – August 18, 2025

The stock market showed little movement as Wall Street anticipates retail earnings and a speech from Federal Reserve Chairman Jay Powell. Meta Platforms drew attention for a reported restructuring of its AI team and shares slid. Eli Lilly’s share price was largely unaffected by Novo Nordisk’s price reduction on a major diabetes medication. Alphabet’s Google and Kairos Power announced plans for a nuclear plant that will power Google data centers in Tennessee and Alabama, indicating a shift towards securing continuous, clean energy.

Elsewhere, billionaire investor Stanley Druckenmiller increased his portfolio’s health-care stock exposure, including significant holdings in Teva Pharmaceutical and Insmed. He also reinvested in Microsoft, and his renewed interest in the tech giant is likely related to advancements in artificial intelligence.

In other financial news, leading companies made significant moves, with Meta Platforms, TeraWulf, and GoodRx Holdings all seeing changes in their shares. Meanwhile, investors are recommended to consider dividend reinvestment plans (DRIPs) as a way of enhancing their returns. These plans allow stock dividends to be reinvested directly into the stock, rather than being received in cash.

CVS Health is experiencing a bullish turnaround after a long bear market phase, with a shift in long-term momentum confirmed in March. As per recent charts, CVS’s stock broke out above resistance, signaling a long-term bullish development.

Some of the biggest gainer stocks include TeraWulf, Duolingo, GoodRx Holdings, Dayforce, Target, Epam Systems, ServiceTitan, Sunrun, Soho House, and Nextracker. Meta Platforms, Antero Resources were among the biggest losers.

TeraWulf’s shares surged over 10% after Google increased its stake in the Bitcoin miner and data center operator. As part of the $1.4 billion deal, Google’s stake in TeraWulf rises to 14% from 8%, enabling the purchase of approximately 32.5 million shares of TeraWulf. CEO Paul Prager said the deal reinforces the company’s strategic alignment with Google in building advanced artificial intelligence infrastructure.

JP Morgan cautions investors to be wary of potential market volatility despite the “Goldilocks scenario” of strong jobless claims, earnings, and AI influence.
Fabio Bassi, head of cross-asset strategy at JPMorgan, projects a possible 5% to 10% pullback of the S&P 500 as growth risks emerge in areas such as tariffs and consumer spending.

London-based Soho House is going private in a $2.7 billion deal led by MCR Hotels, offering shareholders a 17.8% premium to the last closing price. Actor Ashton Kutcher will join Soho’s board, and hospitality veteran Neil Thomson will replace Thomas Allen as CFO. Under the new deal, publicly traded Soho shares will be transferred to MCR Hotels, while co-owners Nick Jones and Ron Burkle maintain majority control. Apollo Global Management will contribute around $850 million to the deal in debt and equity.

Following the postponement of 2025 U.S. tariffs, Wells Fargo increased its year-end S&P 500 target range to 6,300-6,500, aiming for a 6,400 mid-point. The bank believes the delay will lessen this year’s U.S. economic growth slowdown and mitigate tariff-related price pressures through early 2026.

Novo Nordisk has offered its diabetes treatment, Ozempic, for less than half its monthly list price to cash-paying U.S. patients in a bid to battle increasing political pressure for lower drug prices. The discounted drug is available on Novo Nordisk’s website, patient assistance program, direct-to-consumer online pharmacy, and through savings company GoodRx.