Midday Movers: Massive AI players & Best Budget Movers

Stocks edged higher Wednesday morning as investors digested a fresh wave of earnings and awaited the highly anticipated Federal Reserve interest rate decision later in the day.

As of 11:00 AM ET, the Dow was up 34.53 points, or 0.0774%, at $44667.53. The Nasdaq Composite added 75.93 points, or 0.33%, at $23384.23. The S&P 500 rose 13.29 points, or 0.21%, at $6384.15. Among the 11 major S&P 500 sectors, 6 showed negative movement, with Real Estate leading the way with a -0.44% decrease.

Markets remain in wait-and-see mode, with Fed funds futures pricing in a 98% chance that the central bank will hold rates steady at the current 4.25% to 4.50% range, according to CME Group’s FedWatch tool.

The rate decision is set for 2:00 p.m. ET, followed by a press conference at 2:30 p.m. ET, where Fed Chair Jerome Powell is expected to provide crucial guidance on the future path of monetary policy. The central bank also faces renewed pressure from former President Trump, who has called for lower borrowing costs.

Earnings remain in focus as well, with Wall Street awaiting results from tech giants Meta Platforms and Microsoft after the bell.

Top Movers: Under $10 

XBP Europe Holdings Inc (XBP) is up 88.87% today to trade at the current level of $1.7. This comes after the company announced that it has finalized its acquisition of Exela Technologies BPA, LLC, a leading provider of business process automation solutions.

BioNexus Gene Lab Corp (BGLC) zoomed 47.20% in today’s trade to $6.57 after announcing the signing of a term sheet for a strategic, cross-equity partnership with Fidelion Diagnostics Pte Ltd that the parties are calling a “DeepSeek-class leap” for liquid biopsy cancer monitoring and AI-driven biotechnology.

In current trading, My Size Inc (MYSZ) stock is at $1.51 after the company launched NaizGPT, a conversational AI assistant for retail teams.

PSQ Holdings Inc (PSQH) rose 12.88% in the early hours of today's trading to move at $2.23 after announcing the appointment of Caitlin Long to its Board of Directors, effective immediately.

In the current trading session, Tigo Energy Inc (TYGO) jumped 20.33% to $1.48 over a previous close of $1.23 after reporting second quarter 2025 financial results.

Ex-Dividend Stocks

Casey's General Stores, Inc (CASY) is about to trade ex-dividend Friday, meaning that investors who buy the stock after Friday will not be eligible for the next dividend payment. The company's next dividend payment will be $0.57 per share. It has fixed August 01 as the record date for the same and will pay the actual dividend on August 15. Last year, the company distributed a total of $2.00 to its shareholders. Based on last year's worth of payments, CASY has a trailing yield of 0.38% on the current stock price of $523.2.

Another stock that is shelling out dividends Friday is Capitol Federal Financial (CFFN), having a market capitalization of $827.35M. It will pay a dividend of $0.09 per share, the payment date of which is August 15. Currently, the stock is trading at a trailing dividend yield of 5.46%.

Shares of Costco Wholesale Corp (COST) will be the talk of the stock market on Friday as the stock will turn ex-dividend. The company's next dividend payment will be $1.3 per share, and in the last 12 months, it paid a total of $4.78 per share. Last year's total dividend payments show that COST has a trailing yield of 0.51% on the current share price of $931.67.

Community West Bancshares (CWBC) is also set to go ex-dividend Friday. The next dividend payment from CWBC will amount to $0.12 per share. August 01 has been designated as the record date for this dividend, with the actual payout scheduled for August 15. In the previous year, CWBC distributed a total of $0.48 to its valued shareholders. Considering the cumulative dividend payments from last year, the trailing yield for CWBC stands at 2.38% based on the current stock price of $20.21.

Hope Bancorp Inc (HOPE) will be paying out a dividend of $0.14 per share to shareholders holding their shares as of the close of the business hours on the record date of August 01. Over the past 12 months, HOPE has paid out a total of $0.56 per share in dividends. Based on the total dividends paid out last year, HOPE boasts an impressive trailing yield of 5.42% on the current share price of $10.34.

Crypto Market Highlights

• Sui Research has introduced a cryptographic framework designed to resist quantum computing threats without requiring hard forks, address changes, or key updates.

• JPMorgan Chase has partnered with Coinbase to bring crypto integrations to its customers, advancing the bridge between traditional finance and digital assets.

• Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) will roll out a six-month transition period under its new stablecoin framework, starting Friday, with special regulatory rules in place.

• Indonesia has revised its crypto tax policies, increasing taxes on traders and miners while removing VAT obligations for crypto buyers 

• South Korea’s central bank plans to launch a virtual asset committee to oversee the crypto market and has revamped its CBDC team to intensify its digital currency research.

  Most Shorted Stocks

Trupanion Inc (TRUP) was one of the most shorted stocks as of the latest short interest figures, with 4.35% short interest. The days to cover ratio, a measure of how long it would take for all the short positions to be covered based on average trading volume, is 0.3. This represents a change of -7855000 shares, which corresponds to a -99.68% decrease in short interest. The total value of the shares held short is estimated to be around $1.2 million. The average daily volume stands at 547.36K shares, and the market capitalization of the company is $2.06B.

The Xerox Holdings Corp with the symbol XRX currently has a short interest of 0.76%. The short interest has changed by -20592500 shares. The days to cover ratio stands at 0.3. The estimated value of the shares held short is approximately $0.15 million. On an average day, 3.95M shares are traded, with the company's market capitalization totaling $686.18M.

For the stock Greenlane Holdings Inc (GNLN), the current short interest is at 9.82%. This represents a significant short interest change of -7613500 shares, corresponding to a short interest percentage decrease of -98.24%. The days needed to cover the short positions amount to 0.1. The approximate worth of the shares held short is $0.47 million.

With the symbol SNBR, the stock currently has a short interest of 29.41%. The short interest change is 610000 shares, compared with a short interest percentage change of +12.53%. It would take approximately 8.6 days to cover all the short positions. The shares' short value is estimated to be around $0.99 million. The company boasts an average daily volume of 641.41K shares, contributing to a market capitalization of $163.84M.

The stock SNDX has a current short interest of 28.93%. The short interest percentage has experienced an increase of +8.50% while there was a change of 1870000 shares in short interest. The ratio indicating the time required to cover short positions is 10.4. The calculated worth of the shorted shares amounts to around $56.94 million. Trading activity averages at 2.26M shares per day, while the company's market capitalization stands at $894.03M.

AI Stocks to Watch

According to our ST Score evaluation, Okta Inc (OKTA) emerges as a high-quality stock in the AI industry, attaining an impressive score of 53. The stock's profitability and Piotroski Score are strong. However, its growth, financial strength, stock sentiment, and forecast are weak. Additionally, it is neutral in terms of performance.

Our ST Score also classifies NICE Ltd ADR (NICE) as a high-quality AI stock today, presenting a Score of 50. The stock has strong fundamentals in terms of profitability, performance, and Piotroski Score. However, it has weak growth. The financial strength, stock sentiment, and forecast are neutral.

Another stock in the category, Broadcom Inc (AVGO) has the ST Score of 52, which means that the stock carries the potential for higher returns. The stock is strong in profitability, performance, and Piotroski Score, but weak in financial strength. Growth, stock sentiment, and forecast suggest a neutral outlook.

Alibaba Group Holding Ltd ADR (BABA) stock has the ST Score of 54 which implies that the AI company has a high probability of beating the market. The stock's strengths lie in its profitability, performance, financial strength, and Piotroski Score. However, it shows neutral outlook in growth, stock sentiment, and forecast.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing ADR (TSM) currently has the ST Score of 54, which signifies a huge upward potential. The AI stock's strong points are its profitability, performance, and Piotroski Score, while its weak points are its financial strength. The stock's growth, stock sentiment, and forecast indicate a neutral outlook.

That's it for today. Thanks for reading. Good luck out there!

Best Regards,

Stocks Telegraph Team

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