← CNBC's "Fast Money"
CNBC's "Fast Money"
Big Tech Sells Off.. And Viking Therapeutics Plunges On Weight Loss Pill Data 8/19/25
00:43:38
Tech taking it on the chin, as big tech sells off in today’s session. The Mag-7 names pulling down the space, and the semi stocks feeling the heat. Plus A biotech bummer. Shares of Viking Therapeutics tanking after the company posted disappointing weight loss drug pill trial data. What it means for the company’s next move, and the impact it could have on potential M&A action. Fast Money Disclaimer
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- [00:01]
Tim Seymour
Fidelity Trading Dashboard brings live data, news.
- [00:03]
Josh Brown
And charts into one screen because better trading starts with finding what you need fast.
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Tim Seymour
Available for free@fidelity.com Trading Dashboard Investing involves.
- [00:12]
Josh Brown
Risk, including risk of loss. Fidelity Brokerage Services, LLC Member NYSE SIPC.
- [00:16]
Dan Nathan
How will you shape the future of industrials with confidence? Whether you need to define your strategy.
- [00:21]
Tim Seymour
Optimize your supply chain or keep pace with data driven manufacturing, EY professionals understand industrials and the sectors they supply, bringing the insights that deliver real outcomes. With a full spectrum of services, EY helps strengthen your business from factory floor.
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Orfeh Divangay
To product development and beyond.
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Tim Seymour
So when the global market shifts, your.
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Orfeh Divangay
Business is agile enough to adapt.
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Dan Nathan
I shape the future with confidence.
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Courtney Reagan
Live in the NASDAQ marketsite in the heart of New York City's Times Square. This is fast money. Here's what's on tap tonight. A high flyer fly lap from big tech to the leaders to crypto. Some of the year's biggest outperformers coming back down to earth today. What the sell off tells us about how to play the moves and a strong foundation. Builders bucking the broad market fade as housing starts surge and mortgage rates pull back. Is the group in for more? Good times ahead? We'll debate it. Plus heavy losses for Viking Therapeutics as its weight loss pill disappoints. Inside a big investment into intel and a broadcaster buyout. So many things to talk about. Let's dive into Nextar's acquisition of Tegna later on. But first, I am Courtney Reagan and this evening for Melissa Lee, coming to you live from Studio B at the nasdaq. On the desk tonight we have Tim Seymour, Karen Binerman, Dan Nathan and Guy Adami. Let's start off with big Tech sell off every member of the so called Magnificent Seven down today, not so magnificent, dragging the NASDAQ lower by a percent and a half. Nvidia, the biggest loser seeing its worst day since April on reports it's building a chip even more powerful than the H20 for the Chinese market. Other chip makers like Marvell, AMD, Taiwan, Semi and Broadcom also feeling the heat. And it wasn't just mega caps and chips. Anything tied to the trade was also under pressure, including Palantir and G for Nova, the two best performing stocks in the S and P year to date. Also getting hit Crypto and everything related to it. Bitcoin, Etherium, both sinking from records. Tom Lee's Bit Mine down nearly 10% for its fifth straight day of losses and strategy at its worst level since April. So what does today's action tell you about the durability of the momentum and tech trade. I mean, Tim, it seems like maybe just a rotation today. It was not terribly heavy on the headlines other than what we told you a little bit there about Nvidia. What do you make of the tech sell off?
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Tim Seymour
Well, the, the durability of it, outside of a couple real spikes in volatility moments over the last year has been that it's not only durable, but it's extremely durable. And I think it will continue to be the place where you're going to get the most growth. I think today's trade though, did feel a little bit like rotation. It did feel a little bit like high flowers were under the most pressure. Did feel like high multiple tech. I have a, you know, I have screens that I've actually go through that are high multiple tech companies. They, a lot of them were down 5 to 7%. And then you look at the staples, you look at the health care, you look at the homebuilders. We're going to talk about places that should be somewhat defensive. Interesting though, some of the interest rate sensitivity that homebuilders seemingly have. They definitely have, except for the fact that they. Today was also a day and I think this has something to do with the risk off that global bond yields closed again near the highs, if not at the highs. You saw JGB yields, you saw gilt yields, you saw bond yields. And while U.S. treasury yields aren't challenging their highs, everybody else is. And these are places where they've cut rates and yet the long end of the curve is going higher. I think the market has some focus on that, although that's not most investors. I just think we've had an incredible run and it does make some sense. We're in a very quiet time of the year, frankly. If you're not on vacation this week, you might be next week, if you're lucky. And that's what I think has to do with some of these outsized moves.
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Courtney Reagan
Interesting. Karen, you're nodding along. You agree?
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Karen Binerman
Yes, I agree just about everything Tim said. I think that the run has been so extraordinary. Right. If you step back a little and just squint at these charts, they're still really, you know, up and to the right and I think so there was no particular news that really made anything move. And it's interesting. They all sort of move together and, and you talked about the crypto ones. I mean, even though if you look at something like bullish, you know, that I think did it open it? I don't know. 100% higher than here, maybe.
- [04:30]
Courtney Reagan
Right.
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Karen Binerman
So that froth seems to be off of a lot of things, and there's still froth to grow. Right. But I am long MAG7 stuff. I'm staying long MAG7 stuff. I do still believe in the promise and the growth of AI. I don't think the stocks will move in a linear fashion with the underlying. Right. And I do think that they will peak before the demand peaks, but I don't think that we're there yet.
- [04:56]
Courtney Reagan
Dan, what about Palantir being in correction?
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Dan Nathan
Well, so what's interesting about Palantir, and when you're trying to find some reasons why these stocks might have sold off Citron Research, which is a short seller, they put a note out today saying it's maybe worth 40 bucks. And so when you think about it right here, it was down nine and a half percent. I mean, that's a huge move. And granted, I don't think that report has that much weight, other than the fact that sometimes people just need to hear a little bit about this sort of, you know, I mean, listen, it is a bubble. Make no mistake about it. This is one of the most egregious stocks I think any of us on the desk have ever seen from the disconnection between the company, their products, their management. And this is not on. This is not on the company. This is on investors. They are the ones bidding this stock up to 100 times sales, to 220 times earnings. And when you, when you trade at a level like that, you really, there's no margin for error, right? And so there's. Companies are expected to see a deceleration in earnings and sales from maybe 50% growth this year to maybe 30% next. But this is coming off a very low base. And you kind of think to yourself, okay, what do they have to do to grow into this? So, again, if you're an investor in this sort of stuff, like, you got to understand there's different ways to play this. I think way Karen's talking about it, these hyperscalers, the investments they are making right now, they will pay off at some point in the future, Right? There's no doubt about that. Maybe not to the tune of the hundreds of billions of dollars in the near term, but five, ten years down the road to have this sort of infrastructure. That's not what Palantir does. They have a software, and it's not even their whole business that has an AI platform that is helping companies move to that sort of technology. So to me, I don't find that particularly interesting? I do think it's interesting. Other than the piece of news that we talked about, the short report, there's not a lot out there to do this today.
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Courtney Reagan
Guy, can you explain to me what's happening in crypto? I look at that. Some days it's like fundamentals, some days I don't think it is. You're laughing.
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Christina Parts
Explain it.
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Guy Adami
You should say, guy, can you tell me what the winning lottery numbers.
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Courtney Reagan
I'm ready.
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Guy Adami
Equally, I'm ready.
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Courtney Reagan
Right?
- [06:55]
Guy Adami
And answer no.
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Courtney Reagan
I mean, I'm not being flippant. I'm serious.
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Guy Adami
I don't think. I think bitcoin to me or crypto generally is a risk on, risk off. And as we've seen some pressure and specifically NASDAQ names, I think it's part and parcel what's going on with bitcoin. So it doesn't surprise me. Why is it happening? I'm not entirely sure, but it's funny. I mean bitcoin just made an all time high of 123. Was the trade 112 or something? People are jumping out. I shouldn't say that. They're not cataclysmic in their views, but they're like, why isn't bitcoin going higher? I think people have been conditioned to believe it's just lower left, upper right. I mean this is just sort of a normal move for us equities. With all that said, getting back to a couple of things. Tim brought up global rates. He's spot on. For all you people here clamoring for a rate cut cautionary tale coming out of the bank of England, I think it's their fourth or fifth rate cut since 200 basis points they've cut and think about what's been going on with their yields. So if you think somehow cutting yields is going to magically help things on the longer end of the curve, think again. Number one. Palantir, by the way, made an all time high in February at 126. Stock went down 50% by April. So it's not like we haven't seen moves like this before. You mentioned correction and technically that's the right term. But this is a stock that could easily go down 35 or 40% on the back of nothing other than the fact that people might be starting to laser in on valuations. I Dan said it takes nothing away with a company that is operating at an extraordinarily high level. It has everything to do with valuations that historically don't make any sense whatsoever.
- [08:21]
Courtney Reagan
We haven't gotten to Nvidia yet, but we're going to now because the chartmaster says the technicals tell him it's actually time to sell this name. So let's bring in Carter Braxton worth of worth charting. Carter, what do you see here within video?
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Tim Seymour
Yeah, I mean the weakness today before we get to the charts was not idiosyncratic to Nvidia.
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Dan Nathan
It was a lot of high flying.
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Tim Seymour
Marquee, supercap technology type names.
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Dan Nathan
But Nvidia is the big one.
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Tim Seymour
And you have a slight break in trend.
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Dan Nathan
Let's go to the charts and see.
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Tim Seymour
What we can see. I have four in total. The first, as always, has no lines.
- [08:54]
Dan Nathan
No drawings, no judgments.
- [08:55]
Tim Seymour
Let's put some lines in. So second iteration, you have a well defined trend line.
- [09:01]
Dan Nathan
This is an instance where of course.
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Tim Seymour
The stock has gone from an April low of 87 to 184 about 115. And just today we broke trend, that very steep uptrend. Next, third chart of 4. It depicts the former highs from which the stock sold off during the tariff swoon and back to which it recovered and then some. So the question is, do we sink all the way down to that level of support? Let's put them all together. Four of four. And so we have nothing down what.
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Dan Nathan
Four plus minus percent.
- [09:37]
Tim Seymour
As Karen said, you have to squint your eyes to even see it. But the presumption is that it's not going to be contained to just this one day. And so for those who are nimble and those who do sell short, I would sell short. And for those who are long, it's time to hedge and. Or reduce in some way exposure.
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Courtney Reagan
Reduce exposure to this name that we all pay so much attention to. Tim, what do you think of that?
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Tim Seymour
Well, I'm always listening to Carter. First of all, the move we've had is. Is been extraordinary. I look at relative strength as does Carter. Carter probably looks at a lot more than I do. But I see weakness in the NASDAQ relative to the S and P. I see weakness in the semis relative to the Nasdaq. And those are things I follow. I don't know that you're going to see a major reverse course. In fact they. They both semis have not. But the NASDAQ made a relative high against the NASDAQ which it had against the S and P, which it hadn't done since July of last year. Recently that was very strong in confirmation. But I think things are a little hot here. And when you also bring in the context, I know that Both Nvidia and AMD were ready to welcome a 15% export licensing fee or export fee to do business in China. I do think there's a lot of, there's some uncertainty right now about where the macro is on some of those regulators call a regulatory environment call really, you know, where the administration is leading that. I think you have a place here where you've got Nvidia earnings coming up also on the 27th and that's a really important event obviously for markets. But for a stock that's had a big run, my guess is there are people that are squaring up going into that.
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Courtney Reagan
There's so many sort of hot words around Nvidia when you're talking about the earnings coming up. But also new chip China put it all together for us.
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Dan Nathan
Well, here's the thing. I think investors are going to be most focused on margins, right? So when you think about this newly chip that they're going to be able to export, they weren't able to export the last quarter. They took a five and a half billion dollar charge. Now you're going to suspect that there's going to be lots of demand, there's going to be double tripling ordering and Tim just used the term uncertainty. We don't know how long they're going to have these export licenses. So when I think about this stock, I say to my, okay, like you know, it's probably as good as it gets in the near term. I've said that before. But what's different now is that this is 15% of their overall revenue, that they're going to be giving 15% to the government right now that's coming at a much lower margin. When you're taking 15% off the top and you're giving it to somebody else, you're going to see their margins that were 77% or so last year maybe go to 70. And the street is still expecting them to be like 73, 74 to reaccelerate next year. So it may be a very different story. Ultimately you will get to a digestion phase. There will be less demand, there will be more competition at some point. That's why AMD round tripped almost that entire move. Investors are expecting that. So to me, I think it's a tough one. You look at that chart and you say to yourself, yeah, you squint. But at some point this is also a stock that sold off 40% from its highs in March to its lows in April. So it could do it again.
- [12:33]
Courtney Reagan
Watch those margins.
- [12:34]
Guy Adami
Russell 2000 the market cap is roughly $3 trillion. Nvidia is 1.5 trillion more than the entirety of small caps. Good for them, number one. But number two, margins are the story. And you know it's historically margins do contract. You do reach a point where competition starts to come in, you start to get peak margins, it starts to roll. Historically, when that happens, is it time to exit these names? We saw glimpses of it a quarter or so ago. They promised a reacceleration in the back half of this year. We're approaching the back half of this year. That's when we're going to hear if it's going to come to fruition or if things are slowing down. The entire thing, in my opinion, hinges on that.
- [13:11]
Courtney Reagan
Carter, thank you very much for bringing us those charts on Nvidia kicking off that conversation. But we are going to move on to an earnings alert on Toll Brothers. Shares of a luxury homebuilder under pressure despite beating revenue and earnings estimates for its latest quarter. Our Diana Olek has more of those details. Hi Diana.
- [13:27]
Christina Parts
Hey Court. You write a beat on the top and bottom lines in Q3 for Toll Brothers. But shares are trading slightly lower because new orders were lighter than expected, down 4%. Guidance was updated to the lower end of the range. In addition, both the value and volume of units in backlog dropped. That points to maybe some challenges ahead for sales now told CEO Doug Yearly said while affordability pressures and uncertain economic conditions persist, we are pleased with the resilience of our luxury business and more affluent customer base. Toll reported homebuilding adjusted Gross margin of 27.5% versus estimates of 27.3 and unchanged from previous quarter. The average price on deliveries was $974,000, a bit lower than estimates. But the average price on new contracts was $1 million. Now remember about a quarter of Toll buyers, Courtney, they do it in cash.
- [14:20]
Karen Binerman
Diana, it's Karen. Thanks for being on. Did they talk about tariffs and what was their take on tariffs?
- [14:26]
Christina Parts
Well, we don't have the call yet. That's tomorrow morning. So this was just the straight earnings release. There was not much in there, nothing at all about tariffs so far tomorrow.
- [14:34]
Courtney Reagan
All right, we will get more and $1 million for that. Wow, those are some eye popping numbers. Diana, thank you so much. We know that you'll follow those color commentary when we get more of the results from the call and executive commentary. Tim, what do you think about the the homebuilder space? Is this a place you want to be? You were talking about rates earlier on, but rates in general.
- [14:53]
Tim Seymour
Well you know, we had housing numbers today which were great, all relative to the month before. But generally, you know, new home starts are trending lower and I don't love the space. I haven't loved base for the last 18 months. And in there there's been some nice rallies. But, you know, my general view is that there is a margin dynamic where the builders are eating significantly into the higher rate environment. I think there's a rising cost base that's coming from a lot of different fronts. I think there's a consumer that's under some pressure and affordability. So the luxury part looks pretty solid and the builders have had a very nice rally. So in the short run, that. That's my biggest issue here. I think they've. There's no bargain here. There's no, you know, beleaguered oversold trade. In fact, I think it's kind of the opposite.
- [15:41]
Karen Binerman
I just want to talk about Home Depot for a second. So they had their announcement, you know, the quarterly earnings, which were fine. Right? Was, you know, some pluses, some minuses. And then I think the guidance was, I think helpful in that it was conservative. But they said this does not include any improvement in any in home improvement.
- [16:00]
Courtney Reagan
Right.
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Karen Binerman
And so to me, I thought they were being concerted, that they actually think there is more there, that we are going to see more home improvement projects. And that seemed like as the quarter went on, things got better.
- [16:14]
Courtney Reagan
Better.
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Karen Binerman
Yeah. So I thought that was really interesting. We'll see Lowe's tomorrow. A little different mix. Home Depot is much more of a contractor business, but I thought that was pretty positive.
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Courtney Reagan
Yeah, I mean, when I talked to the cfo, I said, well, what would get homeowners to get off of sort of the waiting period where he said, well, the projects aren't canceled, they're just delayed, they're just deferred. So what gets them over the edge? Well, we don't know. I mean, it's economic uncertainty. But if they do push that over the edge, it does help. And Home Depot's pro business, I think, is 55%.
- [16:44]
Dan Nathan
How does the CFO know that? I mean, like, to me, we're in an environment where, you know, we're seeing unemployment tick up, we're seeing inflation tick up, we're seeing a consumer weakening, delinquency is going higher. I mean, it just seems like an odd thing for them to say. We're seeing smaller renovation stuff, but we're seeing a push out and that sort of thing. So to me, I just, I looked at the quarter, I looked at the current quarter, like the way the commentary and I look at the, the back half or what, their willingness to kind of endorse, you know, I mean, their existing guidance. And I said to myself, there's more uncertainty there than there is clarity.
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Courtney Reagan
Yeah, I thought it was very interesting that they actually reaffirmed that.
- [17:15]
Karen Binerman
I thought it was more conservatism than.
- [17:17]
Dan Nathan
Well, it could be. But I mean, but that's a big assumption, too. I don't think you have to make an assumption that things are going to get pushed out right now. When you look at just, you know, the environment that we're in right now and you look at interest rates and you look at what's going on in some of the other commentary we've heard from the homebuilders, you know, so I don't know. I mean, I didn't think it was particularly great. And I look at a lot of the retailers, none of them, none of them have confirmed the highs in the S&P 500. And we had plenty of them in June and July, basically new highs in the index.
- [17:43]
Courtney Reagan
Yeah, that is true. We're going to hear from a lot more of those retailers coming forward. Lows, as Karen mentioned tomorrow, but others as well. And as we mentioned, I think it was Tim, housing starts to come in better than expected in July. But Zillow, senior economist, isn't betting on new construction rebound just yet. Orfeh Divangay is behind the call. He joins us now. Thank you so much for being here with us. I understand you look at this, of course, from an economic viewpoint rather than a stock perspective. But when you're looking at the housing market in general, what are you seeing? Are you seeing homeowners really waiting because they're hoping that rates pull down in a way that gets them to move off the reluctance that they've felt so far.
- [18:23]
Orfeh Divangay
Look, affordability is still the main issue in housing today. You know, across the board, we're seeing affordability improving somewhat, you know, in places where builders have built a lot of housing, but this is still, this is still a problem. And so in places where you see a big increase in inventory, you're seeing a builder pullback. You know, you saw the numbers this morning. Permits are lower than, you know, fell for the first half of this year. They're lower than they were a year ago. And so that doesn't point to a lot of supply in the, in the.
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Guy Adami
Months ahead or I think the average number of homes in terms of inventory, new homes in this country, about six, little less than six Months as of June, I think it's up almost to 10 months, the highest number we've seen since 2008. Now, you hear in the homebuilders, average selling prices have been coming down. I mean, that doesn't sound as much as people want to talk about this robust housing market. It sounds like anything but to me. Thoughts on that?
- [19:19]
Orfeh Divangay
Yeah. Let me start with the bad news since you went there. Look, uncertainty I think, is the problem. Right. It caused private sector job growth to reach what we call stall speed. People don't go out buying a new house when they're not getting a raise and inflation's eating at their paycheck. They don't buy a house or a new car when they're kind of uncertain about their job prospects. And so that frozen labor market hasn't helped residential mobility. We know from the data that the number one reason people move is first and foremost a job. We're seeing that softness also play out in the rental market. Now, here's the good news. Mortgage rates have been on the on the decline since May. And historically we know the Fed has put more weight on the labor market side of the mandate. And so we may see some support. I think ultimately a strong economy is how we see more activity in that. In the housing market or fates, Tim.
- [20:16]
Tim Seymour
So let me go a little deeper on that and really play into your economist hat. So rates could be coming lower. We've just talked about how rates are going higher. Talk about history and where the housing market has been at a time when rates aren't terribly low relative to their recent history. Even if the short end is dropping, we know that doesn't mean mortgage rates get better. Just, just thoughts on the industry relative to this type of an interest rate environment.
- [20:42]
Orfeh Divangay
Yeah, look, ultimately the changes in interest rates are in. Mortgage rates matter, but other things matter too. Right. And so, you know, ultimately the Fed rate cut is not really what's going to move the needle, I think, for mortgage rates. So they're somewhat already baked in to today's rate. So I don't expect mortgage rates to decline very much. I think what has hindered the housing market this year is really the dwindling labor market prospects, the uncertainty that we saw in the spring, and this is kind of slowly resolving itself. I think rate cuts are going to help, hopefully. We had that labor market report that just confirmed. One thing I had been talking about for months, even before the number of revisions was the slowing down of the labor market. And that's showed up big time in the housing market this year mortgage rates. I think people are getting accustomed to the current level of mortgage rates. If you look at the behavior of sellers, sellers are basically back to their typical behavior. They came back in the spring and now we're starting to see a decline in new listings on Zillow. And so that decline in new listings coupled with the pullback from builders is going to provide some support for prices for home values. And unfortunately it means that buyers in this current moment who have more options than they've had in a long time and more price cuts than they've had in a long time, well, that might not stick around very long if you start to see a pullback in supply. Last month we had 27% of listings on Zillow had a price cut. If you start to see a pullback in supply, that those conditions that softness could get away from them or thank.
- [22:31]
Courtney Reagan
You so much for joining us with your perspective. Appreciate that ahead of Jerome Powell speech obviously this week, which sort of sets the bar for everything at which rates are based on. Karen, you talked a little bit about costs when you were asking Diana about Toll Brothers and what they had to say with tariffs. Any play in like materials going into home building? We talked about Home Depot, the retailer. But what about the materials at which you're building these homes with.
- [22:54]
Karen Binerman
Well, that's why I go to Home Depot scale. Right. When I think about if there's anyone who can deal with the tariffs, it's like it's a Walmart, it's a Home Depot who has the ability to maybe get some of it out of where they're importing from, be a little bit more efficient and take a little bit of price. So that's where I want to be.
- [23:16]
Courtney Reagan
Okay, makes sense. Well, coming up, another boost for Intel Softbank giving it a big vote of confidence what the investment means for the stock and for the US Government be the next to follow suit. Plus a crash diet for shares of Viking Therapeutics. The disappointing obesity pill data is sinking that stock and what it could mean for its prospects as a takeover target anywhere that's money back into.
- [23:43]
Dan Nathan
Comcast business helps retailers become seamlessly restocking frictionless paying favorite shopping destinations. It's how nationwide restaurants become touchscreen ordering quick serving eateries and how hospitals become the patient scanning data managing healthcare facilities.
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Tim Seymour
That we all depend on.
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Dan Nathan
With leading networking and connectivity, advanced cybersecurity and expert partnership, Comcast business is powering.
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Tim Seymour
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Dan Nathan
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Christina Parts
The world runs on energy and as demand increases, Sempra is rising to Help.
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Dan Nathan
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Tim Seymour
We're building tomorrow's energy infrastructure today.
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Orfeh Divangay
Modernizing one of North America's largest energy.
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Tim Seymour
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Orfeh Divangay
The everyday lives of nearly 40 million people. That's positive energy. Learn about Sempra's financial results@sempra.com investors. My name is Josh Brown. Everyone needs to invest. We're going to show you exactly where the best stocks are and what's happening with them in real time.
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Tim Seymour
Join Pro for exclusive access to Josh.
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Dan Nathan
Brown's best stocks in the market at cnbc.com/best stocks.
- [24:58]
Courtney Reagan
Welcome back to FAST Money. Intel getting back into rally mode. Charging 7% higher after Stockbank announced a $2 billion investment in the chip maker. The stock is now up seven of the last eight days and 10 of the last 12. Christina parts and Evils is joining us on set with more Christina and parts of knowledge.
- [25:15]
Christina Parts
Oh, that's a good one. Oh, I thought you said parts of knowledge.
- [25:20]
Tim Seymour
I think we've got something.
- [25:22]
Christina Parts
I've never heard that. I've heard the parts on Lever leave us parts, not an elephant. Okay. But I have a long knowledge. But what we need to know about intel is that it got a vote of confidence today from the SoftBank investment. Last night I reached out to intel to find out just in regards to how many shares all that they did say it was going to be a primary issuance, which means new shares. Therefore, you know, SoftBank taking a 2% would dilute. But you saw the stock actually climb higher.
- [25:45]
Karen Binerman
Why?
- [25:45]
Christina Parts
Because SoftBank also has investments in OpenAI and Army ARM we know is working on creating a new chip. This could be a nice little way for SoftBank to funnel that foundry business or chip manufacturing business to Intel. So that's part one. The other part of the story is the White House today. The Commerce Secretary Mutnick was on CNBC at 10am and did confirm that they do plan to use the Chips act funding or they're looking at it Chips act funding to buy a 10% stake in Intel. They were very specific to say no voting rights. They don't care about that. They just want an equity stake which is great for the government because previously it was taxpayer dollars just being a handout to Intel. Bad for intel because now they're not really getting as great of a deal. They get the money but then they have to give equity away. And so the concern from some people is that it's not always going to work. In the shareholders best interest. Why do I say that? Because they're so focused on the foundry business. They're so focused on the foundry business. Maybe the founder business shouldn't survive. Maybe it's not as valuable. It's been struggling and won't turn a corner until 2027. But the government doesn't want that.
- [26:50]
Karen Binerman
But they weren't going to get those milestones. They weren't meeting those milestones anyway that I thought were necessary to get the rest of the money.
- [26:58]
Christina Parts
There was a long delay. Yes. So there's a long time. So that's a good point. That is a very good point that you know, they had factored in this money well maybe intel had factored in this money for that long time frame anyways and we just didn't know how to behind. They were so to your point. Yes. You know, it wasn't going to play a big role right now.
- [27:15]
Courtney Reagan
Guy.
- [27:16]
Guy Adami
Christine, we're lucky to have her doing this space. Christina has immersed herself in the semi.
- [27:21]
Courtney Reagan
I know she really is.
- [27:22]
Guy Adami
My question to you, it's like an SAT question. Taiwan. Semi is to Taiwan as Intel is the United States. And I think that's sort of the lens that this administration wants to look. It's a, it's a.
- [27:33]
Tim Seymour
She would have called if she was taking the sat. She crushed it. She would have said false.
- [27:37]
Christina Parts
Yes, I just said so.
- [27:39]
Tim Seymour
None of the above.
- [27:40]
Christina Parts
Yes.
- [27:40]
Guy Adami
But I do think that is a possibility and I don't think the goal.
- [27:44]
Christina Parts
Though not necessarily a possibility now that's.
- [27:46]
Guy Adami
That'S a goal the government. But I'm. What I'm saying is I don't think their business is fixed but I think the stock in the short term could be fixed. And that's what we're trying to focus.
- [27:54]
Christina Parts
What kind of value is that? If it's just momentum traders getting in and if you're not really talking about the fundamentals of the business, it's not going to change because the manufacturing process, you have people just rushing into the stock for headlines. Let it fade after a little while when they realize how long it's going to take for this to trickle on it.
- [28:09]
Tim Seymour
I want to, I want to ask you about the industry validation that comes from softbank for dumping 2 billion in here when something has thrown so much money around to be close to this administration. And this to me just seems a small vig for them by the way, Softbank, who does. I mean, yeah, I understand they have some incredible investments over the years but they've also, they've got a fair amount of egg on them face, their faces as well. So if you're rallying this on a tube.
- [28:33]
Josh Brown
Yeah, yeah.
- [28:34]
Tim Seymour
If you're rallying this on a $2 billion SoftBank investment, I'm leading the witness. What do you think about this?
- [28:40]
Christina Parts
SoftBank is just doing it tonight. Just doing it. I don't know their team, but it's going to contribute to the $100 billion that they promised. And it, you know, it signals, it's a nice little handshake with the president. Right. And building on American soil, just like they bought the Foxconn EV plant in Ohio. It's about spreading their, their footprint in America because if the nationalists, you know, push by the government continues with even the next president, Softbank is positioning themselves.
- [29:06]
Courtney Reagan
Well, not only is Christina immersed herself in the chip space, but also as an American because she.
- [29:11]
Christina Parts
I know, because I'm Canadian. I even, I got caught by saying Ohio is a swing state and it's not. It is.
- [29:16]
Courtney Reagan
I'm from Ohio. I'll call. I don't know.
- [29:17]
Christina Parts
I don't know. Like I said, that's all about Ohio, by the way.
- [29:20]
Courtney Reagan
Everything comes back to all about Ohio. Everyone's paying attention. Thank you, Christina. There was a lot more Fast money still to come. Here's what's coming. Coming up next.
- [29:28]
Dan Nathan
Pillaging Viking shares of the biotech hitting stormy seas after its latest trial data. What it had to say about its obesity pill that had investors running scared. Plus, a TV team up. Two broadcast giants coming together in a media merger. What it could mean for competition in the space and for the future of bundling. You're watching Fast MONEY live from the NASDAQ market site in Times Square. We're back right after this.
- [30:02]
Orfeh Divangay
My name is Josh Brown. Everyone needs to invest. We're going to show you exactly where the best stocks are and what's happening with them in real time.
- [30:10]
Tim Seymour
Join Pro for exclusive access to Josh.
- [30:12]
Dan Nathan
Brown's best stocks in the market@cnbc.com Best Stocks.
- [30:18]
Courtney Reagan
Welcome back to Fast Money. Another check on how stocks close the day. The Nasdaq lower by 1 1/2 percent. The S& P down by half a percent. But the Dow eked out a small gain, touching a record high earlier in the session. Shares of best buy up 3% after the company launched a third party marketplace in an effort to boost slowing sales. The stock still down nearly 14% this year. And Netflix lower today. Analyst JP Morgan reiterating a neutral rating on the streaming giant. Dan, you flagged the move in Netflix?
- [30:47]
Dan Nathan
Yeah, this one that I think is universally loved, even after that quarter. I know the stock sold off 5% the next day. And I guess the only thing that sticks out to me about Netflix here is that, you know, when you think about the content that are going to buy right now, whether it's sports and, you know, like they're bidding for sports rights. And we know that that's been a really difficult thing for lots of different networks. So they'll probably make it work. But in the near term when they're not giving subscribers. And I know that was a big driver of the stock or at least some of the metrics that a lot of investors focused on, they're going to have to get their arms around how much they're actually going to spend. And listen, the stock's been great. That's on investors. This company has a lot of transparency despite that subscriber number. So. So to me, I don't think there's any reason to run for it, but run from it. But I think there's probably easily more downside.
- [31:30]
Courtney Reagan
All right. And it was down two and a half percent. Well, coming up, a biotech burnout. Viking Therapeutics cratering after disappointing obesity pill data. What it means for the weight loss drug race. That's coming up next. Welcome back to fast money. Viking Therapeutics sinking 42% today for its worst day on record. The company out with its new data on its experimental obesity pill showing a competitive weight loss profile, but high rates of side effects and patient discontinuation. Angelica Peoples joins us with more. Hi, Angelica.
- [32:07]
Christina Parts
Hey, Courtney. Well, that's right, people lost up to 12% of their body weight after about three months at the highest dose. But it's unlikely that Viking will actually be able to advance that dose because people couldn't tolerate it. So overall, 28% of people stopped taking the drug and 20% stopped because of the side effects, mainly nausea. And the discontinuation rate was even worse at that highest dose. Viking executives on a call earlier today said that it's too early to say exactly which doses they'll ultimately move into phase three, though they did say that it's possible that they'll use lower doses for maintenance. So once people have lost a significant amount of weight and maintenance, of course, is one area where people think that pills could play a big role. But beyond that, these data were raising more questions about where exactly oral circumstances fit into this market and how large that opportunity will be. And those questions are especially important for Viking since the company's going to be years behind Novo and Lilly, who will have shots and pills on the market years before Viking even gets there. Courtney.
- [33:05]
Courtney Reagan
Thank you, Jack. I know you've been following this all day for us. For more on Viking and the obesity pill race, Mizuho health care strategist Jared Holds joins us here on the set. You know, beyond just the patients being nauseous, investors are too today down 42%. Is this it? I mean, are they done? Is Viking Therapeutics out of this race for the obesity pill?
- [33:22]
Josh Brown
I don't think they're done. I mean, it's a, it's a big setback for sure. It's going to come down to what the next trial looks like, what the dosing is, but this sort of discontinuation rate when you have monster companies that are ahead of them, I think that's really the point. You've got the largest, most well capitalized pharmaceutical companies that are two to three years ahead. I think that's really why investors sour to the date data.
- [33:44]
Courtney Reagan
So if you were the CEO of Viking, I mean, do you go back to the drawing board on this and figure out the dosage or you say, hey, we got to play somewhere else, we're two or three years behind, like you just said. Can they catch up?
- [33:53]
Josh Brown
I think they've invested too much to call it quits at this point. I mean, these biotech companies resurrect themselves time and time again and sometimes you pull a rabbit out of a hat. Maybe the low dose winds up being tolerable and therefore it does become a maintenance therapy for people that have already gotten on the shots and have lost weight.
- [34:10]
Courtney Reagan
So obviously we talked about the stock price getting hit so hard today. Does this make them look attractive as a target for a takeover?
- [34:16]
Josh Brown
I would doubt it. I mean, you can't, I don't think you can buy the company at this stage of the game unless you are sure that a lower dose oral obesity pill that they put out with is probably going to be less than 10%. Weight loss is going to be a big product. I just feel like any pharma company that would dare to do this now would get punished for it.
- [34:37]
Guy Adami
So one player off the board. Does this strengthen Novo, who's been, we've talked about it with you. You have not been a fan. You have been right. Does that help them in any way?
- [34:45]
Josh Brown
Well, I think investors are starting to come back to Oral Wegovy because of the profile, especially since the Orfa Glipron data from Lilly didn't look as good as we all thought it would. So it's kind of like, the competitive setbacks have put Novo in a better light. They've kind of benefited from everyone else. So, yeah, I think Novo looks a little bit better.
- [35:04]
Tim Seymour
And so combine that with the news that we've had this week on essentially the DTC through good Rx and, you know, and maybe this pressures Lilly a little bit. On price of 499is for cash paying customers. Does that change anything? Does it. Do you worry about Lilly in the context of margin because of that?
- [35:22]
Josh Brown
Not really. I mean, the companies have basically both addressed price proactively. Right. You see Novo continue to lower price. Lilly has lowered price. They were the first company to go direct with their own offering. And so I think they're essentially both around 500amonth now, give or take. So to me, it doesn't impact Lilly as much.
- [35:43]
Karen Binerman
So just going to Novo's oral drug, which actually had greater weight loss, right? But this not being able to eat for 30 minutes, how gigantic or not is that for someone who would be interested in an oral drug versus what Lilly has at lower percentage weight loss? But you don't have that, right?
- [36:03]
Josh Brown
Not a huge deterrent. I mean, the whole point of the pill is to not eat anyway. So when I look at it, I think the biggest issue for Novo is gonna be actually making the drug. A lot of ingredients go into these pills. Lily has an easier opportunity from that standpoint. The actual regimen of taking the pill, not as big of a factor for me.
- [36:26]
Courtney Reagan
So obviously, I'm not a doctor, forgive me, but changing the dosage of the pill, does that really matter? I mean, would that make you less nauseous than something like an injection? I mean, how big of a differential is that?
- [36:38]
Josh Brown
Yeah, well, first of all, there seems to be a worse adverse event profile with the pills versus the injectables. That's what we've seen from all of the companies so far. So if patients are looking for what they feel are going to be the best products from a tolerability standpoint, the shots at this stage of the game are better. The orals might just wind up being more maintenance therapy. I think the assumption that a lot of investors have on this Viking data and also with Lilly is if you go down dosage, the efficacy or the weight loss is not as good. So either what's the point, or you're going to have to figure some other way to lose weight.
- [37:15]
Courtney Reagan
Before we let you go, what would be your best trade idea if you want to bet on the weight loss space?
- [37:21]
Tim Seymour
This isn't chadour and a number One for Micah.
- [37:25]
Josh Brown
Okay.
- [37:26]
Tim Seymour
Okay. Yeah, sorry.
- [37:28]
Josh Brown
I like Lilly on pullbacks. I mean, that's kind of like the trade that I think continues to work every time. There seems to be a setback there. I still think when you look at their pipeline and the opportunity, plus how well capitalized they are, they can do a variety of things strategically, more M and A in other areas. I think Lilly's the one that you want to buy for a trade on any weakness.
- [37:48]
Courtney Reagan
All right. Go Brownies.
- [37:49]
Tim Seymour
Well, sort of.
- [37:51]
Dan Nathan
I mean, look, team is yet to.
- [37:54]
Guy Adami
Be the Super Bowl. The Cleveland Browns, the proud franchise. Cleveland, your home state.
- [37:59]
Courtney Reagan
My home state of Ohio.
- [38:01]
Tim Seymour
So far from the Cardiac kids with, you know, Sip and Co. That was an exciting team.
- [38:06]
Guy Adami
Yeah. But they never got to the promised land. To Ernest Bond. A lot of people don't got Evan Mack. A lot of people don't.
- [38:11]
Courtney Reagan
Just don't count out Ohio one day. You never know.
- [38:14]
Tim Seymour
It's all about Ohio in a Super Bowl.
- [38:16]
Courtney Reagan
Everything comes back to it. Thank you, Jared. Thank you for being here with us.
- [38:19]
Dan Nathan
Thank you.
- [38:20]
Courtney Reagan
Well, coming up, talk about a TV bundle. A media mega merger making headlines and what it means for competition in the broadcast network space. That's next best money back into. Welcome back to vast money. NextStar Media, the largest operator of local U.S. tV stations, is set to acquire rival Tech Net Fourth $3.5 billion, creating a company that reaches about 80% of U.S. households. Nextara will pay $22 per share for Tegna. The deal is expected to close by the second half of next year. Of course, that assumes that it does close. Is this a. Is this a bid for local news stations?
- [39:06]
Tim Seymour
Well, it's interesting because this is obviously a bit of a throwback. Right. This is actually almost, you know, the reverse into the cable deal back into the bundle. But it's been a fascinating. I think what this speaks to is in the media space, we've seen real sum of the parts value investors or value M and A. And I think this is a case where people are looking at the metrics that they one point thought they could know. And that's even in a. In a declining cable market and linear tv. This is a deal that seemingly makes some sense. I think there's a lot more deal flow to go in the space.
- [39:37]
Dan Nathan
Do you think there's some regulatory issues that might be there? Just if you think about market share, you put these.
- [39:41]
Tim Seymour
I've heard some wise men talk a little bit about the fcc and this may be a good environment to get deals done and maybe strike while they aren't hot, right?
- [39:48]
Christina Parts
Yeah.
- [39:49]
Courtney Reagan
Well, coming up, liquid Assets why restaurants are leaning into beverage options on their menus. Don't go anywhere. Fast money is back into. Welcome back to Fast Money. Restaurants and fast food chains seem to have a new strategy to bring diners in the doors, focusing on adding new beverages to their menu. CNBC's Kate Rogers has more.
- [40:18]
Christina Parts
Kate hi Court. So if it feels like there are a lot of drinks on store menus right now, it's because there are. Innovations are being unveiled at Starbucks, which is leaning into protein coffee cold foams. Later this quarter. McDonald's, which is launching a beverage test of what it's calling dirty sodas and specialty iced coffees at 500 stores in September. And that is really just the start. Now, according to data from Technomic, the number of beverages offered by top 500 chains has increased 9.2% over the past four quarters. Last year, the primary driver for beverage sales was getting a pick me up, the Data found, with 22% saying that was their most common reason for going. That's up from 20% in 2023. Washing down food as a beverage occasion that stood at 20%. So the drink alone is increasingly the reason for the purchase. Iced beverages and energy drinks are driving brand interest and brands are catering toward Gen Z's love of custom cold drinks drinks. We talked to Dutch Bro CEO Christine Barone on how she's evaluating beverage innovation. Take a listen.
- [41:17]
Courtney Reagan
I think the key with innovation is to really understand when something might be ready to pop or something might be of high interest and then be able.
- [41:26]
Christina Parts
To move really fast to execute on it well. So essentially and increasingly customers are really driving the conversation. And my takeaway in talking to the Dutch Bros CEO and also the chief managing chief marketing officer rather at Dunkin was just about the idea that this needs to be a special occasion and something unique and different that you can't really make at home in this very competitive consumer environment. Court back over to you.
- [41:50]
Courtney Reagan
So interesting. I'm all about this, Kate. I actually spent 10 bucks, which is a lot for me, on a protein drink the other day at a grocery store and I bought it specifically for the protein. So I perked up when you mentioned that part of your report. Can you tell me more about some of the big chains sort of investing in that area? If you're on Instagram and you're a woman around my age, all you're getting told is you need more protein.
- [42:13]
Christina Parts
Yeah, more sleep, more protein, more hours in the day. Right. But Dutch Bros. Has been ahead of the curve on this they had launched protein milks in 2024 and their CEO told us that that's been a nice boost for sales for them. And then Starbucks in late Q4, its CEO Brian Niccol talked about how they're going to be expanding this test and launching co cold foam that has protein in it. You can add essentially 15 grams of protein to any cold beverage. We know cold beverages are so key. As you mentioned, this protein trend is really spreading and targeting women in particular on social media. So we'll see how that does for their sales. But definitely an interesting trend. And again, a nice way to boost your protein intake in the morning.
- [42:53]
Courtney Reagan
Hey, I'm following along. I am interested in these innovations. Guy was laughing at Dirty soda.
- [42:59]
Guy Adami
No, I'm not.
- [43:00]
Dan Nathan
I'm not.
- [43:00]
Guy Adami
I'm. Trust me, I'm not.
- [43:01]
Courtney Reagan
What do you think? Is this a way to increase market share for some of these players in the restaurant space? Can you give some good data? 2% more beverage to bring it.
- [43:09]
Guy Adami
I'm going to bring it right back and say this is an attempt. Drinks are high margin businesses. You know, remember the scene in Pulp Fiction? You're going to wash that tasty burger down with that refreshing drink. And that's what I think these restaurants have tapped into. High margins, give people what they want. This is a way to combat rising prices and to try to somehow keep your margins going. But I think Tim has some thoughts on high protein drinks as well.
- [43:33]
Tim Seymour
Well, I tell you what, I think there's a lot more protein in the glass of milk you could be pouring at home. So this is, you know, as a PSA for the American Milk Society.
- [43:40]
Guy Adami
You know what, that's a great point.
- [43:41]
Tim Seymour
By Seriously, my son who's, you know, getting into like these protein drinks. And I looked at the back of the milk carton and this is 26 grams and the other one's got like 28. Big deal. Drink a glass of milk. There you go.
- [43:51]
Courtney Reagan
I mean that's why I can hit that. 100 grams. Let's begin. 100 grams of protein. I guess I'll drink more milk anyway. Lazy Bor shares dropping after hours, down over 20%. The company just reporting results amid weak guidance. The stock at levels not seen since November 2023. Nobody sitting in. Lazy boys too busy drinking protein. Anyways, coming up next, your final trades. Time for the final trade. Let's go around the home. Tim, you start.
- [44:26]
Tim Seymour
Well, first of all, Courtney, great to have you. It's all about Ohio. I mean, let's get that out there one more time and in the media space. We talk media tonight. Disney. I actually like what's going on the chart fundamentals long term investor.
- [44:37]
Courtney Reagan
Karen thank you.
- [44:38]
Karen Binerman
Court being here Uber. I like it but actually at this price now it's getting this great gravitational pull towards 100. So staying long Uber.
- [44:46]
Dan Nathan
Dan Guy had good time commentary last night and tonight on Intel.
- [44:51]
Courtney Reagan
Great you did.
- [44:51]
Dan Nathan
Yeah, but I wouldn't chase it here.
- [44:53]
Courtney Reagan
Okay.
- [44:54]
Guy Adami
And Guy Jason spinning some great music in the breaks. Little Shania Twain. Yeah, we just had some Bon Jovi, Shania and it's always fun when Courtney's here. I think we have Brian Sullivan tomorrow.
- [45:03]
Courtney Reagan
Tease Newmont Mining thank you for watching Fast Money. It's fun to be here. Mad Money starts right now.
- [45:14]
Christina Parts
All opinions expressed by the Fast Money.
- [45:15]
Courtney Reagan
Participants are solely their opinions and do not reflect the opinions of CNBC, NBCUniversal, their parent company or affiliates, and may.
- [45:23]
Christina Parts
Have been previously disseminated by them on.
- [45:25]
Courtney Reagan
Television, radio, Internet or another medium. You should not treat any opinion expressed.
- [45:29]
Christina Parts
On this podcast as a specific inducement to make a particular investment or follow a particular strategy, but only as an.
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Courtney Reagan
Expression of an opinion. Such opinions are based upon information the.
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Christina Parts
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Courtney Reagan
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Christina Parts
Warrant its completeness or accuracy and it.
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Courtney Reagan
Should not be relied upon as such.
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Christina Parts
To view the full Fast Money disclaimer, please visit cnbc.com fastmoneydisclaimer My name is Josh Brown.
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Orfeh Divangay
I'm a financial advisor, I'm a wealth manager, and I'm a dad. Everyone needs to invest. Best stocks in the market is going to be fun for Pro subscribers. We're going to take you behind the scenes and tell you the stories that are driving some of the most exciting names on your quote screen. We're going to show you exactly where the best stocks are and what's happening with them in real time.
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Join Pro for exclusive access to Josh.
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