The tech-heavy Nasdaq ​fell on Friday as investors sold chip stocks on worries about massive spending on artificial intelligence ahead of the next batch of megacap earnings reports, while falling oil prices provided Wall Street with some support even as Middle East hostilities continued.

The S&P 500 ended close to flat but ‌its biggest weight came from ⁠the ⁠S&P 500 technology index, which underperformed the broader market as chip stocks fell.

While investors wait for results from megacaps Microsoft , Amazon.com, Meta and Apple Inc , ​their enthusiasm was weakened by Alphabet’s announcement, late on Wednesday, of a plan to hike capital spending even as it burns cash.

After piling ​into technology stocks in recent years, on the promise of growth from AI, investors have become worried about the need for ever-increasing capital outlays for AI, according to Peter Andersen, CEO of Andersen Capital Management.

“People are thinking, how do we make ​sense of all this spending, and how much more patient do we have ⁠to be before ‌we actually see it translate to actual profits?” Andersen said.

“The fear of missing out is ​becoming more like ​a fear of massive overbuilding.”
Late on Thursday, Intel forecast quarterly profit and revenue above Wall Street estimates ⁠and outlined plans to increase spending over the next two years. Still, the chipmaker’s ​shares sank on Friday along with the Philadelphia SE Semiconductor index.According to preliminary data, ​the S&P 500 gained 3.74 points, or 0.07%, to end at 7,413.30 points, while the Nasdaq Composite lost 157.35 points, or 0.63%, to 24,980.34. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 235.87 points, or 0.46%, to 51,947.52.

Among the S&P 500’s 11 major industry indexes, real estate outperformed during the session. The sector’s leading gainer was Digital Realty Trust, which rallied after it raised its full-year forecast for funds from operations.

Also providing some relief, crude oil futures fell more than 3% while traders booked profits from ‌a massive rally in the last five sessions and after sources said China was pushing to resume stalled U.S.-Iran peace talks. Still, U.S. missiles struck targets across Iran after President Donald Trump vowed “major military punishment” ​for Tehran and ​its Houthi allies in Yemen.

“Whatever the ⁠headlines are involving the conflict right now, that drives oil and then oil drives financial markets,” said Andersen, adding that swings in oil prices can impact consumer and corporate spending.

Also, the Trump administration imposed new tariffs of 10% and 12.5% on ​goods from 60 trading partners, citing lax enforcement of forced-labor bans. The move came as a temporary 10% global tariff expired.

Friday’s data showed that activity in the U.S. services sector accelerated in July, aided in part by spending around the FIFA World Cup and the Independence Day holiday, while the pace of growth in the manufacturing sector eased to the slowest since March.

Among other individual gainers, SLB shares climbed after the oilfield services firm beat expectations for second-quarter profit.

Shares of Intel fell Friday morning even after the chipmaker delivered a significant second-quarter earnings beat and raised its capital spending plans, as investors continued taking profits following one of the stock’s strongest rallies in company history.

Intel shares traded at $96.04 as of 10:43 a.m. Eastern time, down $4.19, or 4.18%, on the day. The decline extends a sharp pullback that has gripped the stock throughout July, even as Thursday’s earnings report initially sent shares climbing in after-hours trading.

A strong quarter by most measures

Intel reported second-quarter revenue growth of 25%, which the company described as its fastest pace in nearly 15 years. Chief Executive Lip-Bu Tan pointed to surging demand for computing power tied to artificial intelligence as the primary driver behind the results. “AI is driving unprecedented demand for compute,” Tan said in the company’s earnings statement. “As we continue to execute, Intel is well-positioned to capture sustainable growth across our CPU franchise.”

The company’s Data Center and AI division generated $2.5 billion in operating income during the quarter, according to CNBC, while Intel’s foundry business, its effort to manufacture chips for outside customers, posted a $2.1 billion operating loss, reflecting the ongoing costs of that expansion effort even as the segment’s revenue reached $5.8 billion.

Following the report, Intel shares initially jumped roughly 9% in after-hours trading Thursday, climbing above $109 at one point, according to CNN, after the company beat both earnings and revenue expectations and issued stronger-than-expected third-quarter guidance.

Raised spending plans

Alongside its earnings beat, Intel raised its 2026 capital expenditure guidance to more than $20 billion, up from a previous target of $18 billion, with Chief Financial Officer David Zinsner indicating that 2027 spending would rise “significantly above” this year’s levels. Zinsner told CNBC that the company’s newest manufacturing process, known as 18A, was progressing ahead of where earlier technology generations stood at comparable points in their development cycles.

Zinsner also offered a note of caution about near-term demand patterns, telling CNN that PC consumption is expected to be “subseasonal” during the second half of the year, even as wafer demand across the broader business continues to outstrip supply.

For the current quarter, Intel guided toward adjusted earnings per share of 38 cents, alongside revenue guidance in the range of $15.8 billion to $16.8 billion.

A stock riding an extraordinary run, and a sharp pullback

Friday’s decline continues a volatile stretch for Intel shares that has defined much of 2026. The stock surged 278% during the first half of the year, according to Bloomberg, marking the third-best performance among all S&P 500 companies over that period, before climbing to a record closing high of nearly $141 per share on June 22. Since then, shares have fallen roughly 27% to 28%, ranking Intel among the 10 worst-performing stocks in the S&P 500 for the month of July alone, even as the company’s underlying business results have remained strong.

Bloomberg reported that the broader pullback reflects investors rotating away from some of this year’s biggest winners and growing more cautious on semiconductor stocks generally, rather than any specific concern about Intel’s own operational performance. That dynamic was on display again Thursday, when Intel shares slid as much as 2.5% even ahead of the earnings report that would ultimately beat expectations.

A valuation that leaves little room for error

Even with the stock’s steep July pullback, Intel continues to trade at a notably rich valuation relative to its semiconductor peers. Ahead of Thursday’s report, Intel was trading at roughly 94 times forward earnings, according to 24/7 Wall St., a figure considerably higher than faster-growing chip companies including Nvidia, Broadcom, Taiwan Semiconductor and Micron, which have traded between roughly 13 and 33 times expected earnings. That premium reflects strong investor confidence in Intel’s ability to restore its profit margins and reaccelerate growth, a bar that analysts say leaves little room for anything less than a clean earnings beat and confident forward guidance.

Analyst reaction

Despite Friday’s pullback, several analysts described Intel’s underlying turnaround as increasingly credible. According to Barron’s, analysts pointed to the company’s earnings beat and upbeat outlook as evidence that more gains could still be ahead, even amid the stock’s recent volatility. MarketWatch similarly framed the results as a marker of how far the company has come, noting that Intel’s latest quarter demonstrated a dramatic recovery from a period when the company had been widely described as “near-dead.”

Context around Intel’s broader comeback

Intel’s stock performance this year has also been shaped by developments beyond its own earnings reports. The company’s shares soared 84% last year after the U.S. government took a 10% equity stake in Intel as part of a broader effort to support domestic chip manufacturing, a move that has continued to factor into investor sentiment around the company’s long-term strategic positioning within the U.S. semiconductor industry.

With Intel’s 52-week range now spanning from roughly $18.97 to $142.35, according to Robinhood market data, the stock’s next moves are likely to hinge on whether the company’s improving fundamentals, particularly continued momentum in its data center and AI-related server chip sales, can offset the broader wariness currently weighing on semiconductor valuations across the market. Investors will also be watching closely for further updates on Intel’s foundry business and its 18A manufacturing process, both of which remain central to the company’s pitch that its current turnaround marks a durable shift rather than another false start following years of underperformance.

A South Korean court ordered billionaire SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won to pay his former wife more than $640 million in a divorce settlement that could force him to sell assets, borrow money or pledge shares as collateral.

The Seoul High Court ruled Friday that Chey must pay Roh Soh-yeong 944 billion won (about $645 million), marking the largest divorce asset award in South Korean history. It’s been dubbed the so-called “divorce of the century.”

The payout is substantially lower than the 1.38 trillion (about $935 million) won awarded by an appeals court in 2024, but the revised judgment has renewed investor scrutiny of Chey’s holdings and how he could finance the payment.

Analysts said Chey may need to sell assets or borrow against his shares, though they do not expect the award to threaten his control of SK Group.

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Chey owns a 17.9% stake in SK Inc., the conglomerate’s holding company, and has an estimated fortune of $5.4 billion, according to Forbes.

The court ordered Chey to make the payment in cash rather than transfer stock, citing the importance of his shares to maintaining control of the conglomerate.

Shares of SK Inc. closed 3.8% lower Friday, while SK Hynix fell 8.3% in Seoul trading following the ruling.

SK Group’s profile has risen sharply during the artificial intelligence boom through SK Hynix, a major supplier of high-bandwidth memory chips used with Nvidia’s AI processors.

Judges awarded Roh one-third of the couple’s marital property after finding that she contributed to preserving and increasing the family’s wealth during the marriage.

The ruling followed a South Korean Supreme Court decision rejecting claims that alleged financial support from Roh’s father, former President Roh Tae-woo, should be included in the asset calculation.

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Either side may appeal the ruling, potentially sending the property-division dispute back to the Supreme Court.

Reuters contributed to this report.

Social Security’s looming insolvency in under a decade could be delayed by a change to how the annual cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) is calculated, with a new analysis finding that it could cut the entitlement program’s 75-year fiscal shortfall in half.

The nonpartisan Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget (CRFB) proposed a COLA cap that would limit the dollar amount of the annual increase in Social Security benefits received by those with higher benefit amounts. That proposal was similar to a flat-rate COLA proposed by one of the think tank’s co-chairs, former Rep. Tim Penny, when he was in Congress in 1987.

The flat-rate COLA would pay all Social Security beneficiaries the same COLA, which would be set at the COLA received by a beneficiary at the 20th percentile of the benefit range – a move that effectively combined a COLA cap with a COLA floor at that level.

CRFB asked the Urban Institute’s Karen Smith to estimate how a flat-rate COLA set at the 20th percentile and 30th percentile beneficiary would impact Social Security’s solvency and benefits. The analysis found that a flat-rate COLA at the 20th percentile would close 50% of Social Security’s 75-year shortfall compared to her baseline, while at the 30th percentile it would close about 40%.

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The flat-rate COLA would be relatively progressive – slowing the growth in benefits the most for those with the highest lifetime earnings and with the most income in retirement.

If set at the 20th percentile, the bottom fifth of lifetime earners would see benefits decline by just 3% in 2065, compared with 19% for the top fifth of earners. For a flat-rate COLA at the 30th percentile, it would boost the bottom quintile’s benefit by 1% while the top fifth would see benefits decline 17%.

Both a 20th or 30th percentile flat-rate COLA would boost Social Security benefits for the lowest quintile by 13% to 14%.

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A flat-rate COLA at the 20th percentile would delay the insolvency of Social Security’s main trust funds by two years – though CRFB noted that if it were combined with other policies, such as its employer compensation tax proposal, it could keep the merged trust funds solvent for 75 years close to it.

Looking back, if Congress had adopted a flat-rate COLA back in 1987 when it was proposed by Penny, CRFB’s estimates suggest it would have achieved 75-year solvency at the time, delaying insolvency to 2071.

It also would’ve covered about three-quarters of the solvency gap through 2100, giving policymakers time to make other gradual reforms to Social Security to address the remaining gap.

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The most recent estimates put the insolvency of Social Security in 2032, when benefits would be subject to an automatic cut of 22% to match incoming tax revenue after trust funds are tapped out. That would amount to a $16,900 cut in annual benefits for a medium-income, dual-earning couple starting in 2033.

The fast-approaching insolvency of the trust funds and the implications for American retirees should compel policymakers to pursue reforms to shore up the program’s finances as soon as possible, CRFB argued.

“One of the biggest takeaways of this particular solution is that it is a stark reminder of the real cost of waiting to save Social Security,” CRFB president Maya MacGuineas told FOX Business.

“Adopting a flat-rate COLA back when Congressman Penny proposed the idea would have achieved solvency through 2071, nearly half a century from now, and would have done so by protecting lower-income beneficiaries and reducing old-age poverty; now, that same plan would only delay insolvency another two years,” she explained.

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“The good news is there are plenty of options out there that, when combined, can save Social Security from abrupt across-the-board cuts in just six years. But taking options off the table and waiting until the last minute leaves fewer and fewer ways to make the math work,” MacGuineas added.

Operator

Hello, everyone. Thank you for joining us, and welcome to WSFS Financial Corporation Second Quarter Earnings Call. [Operator Instructions]

I’d now like to turn the call over to your host for today, Mr. David Burg, Chief Financial Officer. Sir, please go ahead.

David Burg
Executive VP & CFO

Thank you very much, and good afternoon, everyone. Thank you for joining our second quarter 2026 earnings call. Our earnings release and an earnings release supplement, which we’ll refer to on today’s call, can be found in the Investor Relations section of our company website. With me on this call is Rodger Levenson, Chairman, President and CEO.

Prior to reviewing our financial results, I would like to read our safe harbor statement. Our discussion today will include information about our management’s view of our future expectations, plans and prospects that constitute forward-looking statements. Actual results may differ materially from historical results or those indicated by these forward-looking statements due to risks and uncertainties, including, but not limited to, the risk factors in our Annual Report on Form 10-K and our most recent Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, as well as other documents we may periodically file with the Securities and Exchange Commission. All comments made during today’s call are subject to the safe harbor statement.

I will now turn to our financial results. During the second quarter, WSFS’s performance

Unknown Executive

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to the SCG Analyst Conference for the Second Quarter of 2026. I’m [ Sikachi ] from SCG, Investor Relations Specialist, and I will be the moderator for today’s session. We are pleased to welcome all the guests who joined our session both online and offline. For those who join online, please kindly change your name and your company, I will accept you to the meeting room.

Today, our management are here to provide you the continued earnings momentum for the second quarter as well and the business update, followed by outlook. After the presentation, we will open the floor for the questions.

Today’s presenters comprise of SCG management, led by Khun Thammasak, the CEO of SCG, who will walk you through for the consolidated results and outlook. And SCGC management led by Khun Sakchai, the CEO of SCG Chemicals. Next, Khun Wiroat, President and CEO of SCG Cement – Building Materials will be also presenting for the SCG Decor. And lastly, Khun Chantanida, CFO of SCG, who will present the financial parts and also SCG Packaging.

And now let’s start for today’s presentation, beginning with Khun Thammasak.

Thammasak Sethaudom
President & Director

Good morning, and welcome back to analyst conference discussion today. So I just want to spend a little bit of time to look back at Q2, right? What really happened and what did we do right, probably what did we do wrong that we have to

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