jumped

SES AI (SES 2.01%) stock exploded this week, soaring 77.7% at its highest point in trading in the week through 1:30 p.m. ET Friday, according to data provided by S&P Global Market Intelligence.

While the little-known company was busy with the launch of an advanced artificial intelligence (AI)-powered software for discovery of battery materials, investors couldn’t stop piling into its shares in anticipation of a potential investment by the U.S. government.

Image source: Getty Images.

SES AI has big hopes from its new launch

SES AI uses AI to discover electrolyte materials and builds lithium-metal and lithium-ion batteries. These batteries have extensive usage, including in electric vehicles (EVs). battery energy storage systems, drones, robotics, and urban air mobility.

While SES AI is building EV batteries and has shipped advanced samples to original equipment manufacturer (OEM) partners for testing, it has also launched an AI software called the Molecular Universe (MU) that can be used by companies to research and develop novel battery materials to address their battery challenges.

On Oct. 7, SES AI announced that it will launch an advanced version of the software, Molecular Universe 1.0 (MU-1) on Oct. 20. MU-1 covers a wider range of electrolytes and could help the company enter new markets like oil and gas, specialty chemicals, and personal care.

Most importantly, SES AI aims to grow into a subscription-based company by offering subscription plans for MU-1 to enterprise-level customers. During the Oct. 7 event, founder and CEO Qichao Hu said the company has received “tremendous response” for MU, has already generated revenue from two joint development customers, and is converting several of its enterprise-level customers to subscriptions. Hu expects these subscriptions to drive its revenue in the coming quarters.

Keep SES AI stock on your watch list

SES AI stock hit the bull’s-eye this week as the powerful combination of AI and lithium captivated the markets, boosted by the AI boom and President Donald Trump’s bold moves to acquire stakes in several critical materials companies, including lithium miner Lithium Americas.

While investors are also betting big on SES AI stock hoping it will also attract a strategic investment by the U.S. government, I see little chance for that given that the company mainly has operations outside of the U.S.

That said, the potential for recurring revenue from MU subscriptions and SES AI’s projection of almost 7 to 13 times growth in revenue this year are worth watching.

Applied Materials (AMAT 2.93%) was among several semiconductor equipment companies to gain last month, as the company, known for making equipment to produce chips and display panels, benefited from several macroeconomic and sector-level news items last month.

While there was no major company-specific news out on Applied Materials last month, the related items were enough to drive the stock up 27%, according to data from S&P Global Market Intelligence.

As you can see from the chart, much of the gains came in the middle of the month.

AMAT data by YCharts

A new semiconductor boom

While the artificial intelligence (AI) boom has propelled stocks like Nvidia to multibagger gains, the semiconductor equipment sector, which operates on a different cycle, has lagged behind due to weaker growth and challenges in areas like China.

However, investors responded positively to news out of the sector last month, indicating that a new spending cycle could be afoot in semiconductor equipment.

First, Applied Materials benefited from the Federal Reserve’s 25-basis point rate cut on Sept. 17, and its forecast for two more cuts over the rest of the year. Semiconductor equipment, such as what Applied Materials sells, tends to be very expensive, so lower rates should make it easier for the company to borrow money so they can buy products from Applied Materials. The stock gained 2.6% that day.

Applied Materials then jumped the following session after Nvidia and Intel announced their partnership. The move helped boost Applied Materials and its semi equipment peers, since Intel is a major fab, and Nvidia’s $5 billion investment into Intel was expected to fuel spending on chip equipment. It also improves Intel’s prospects over the long term. The stock jumped 6.5% that day. Applied Materials is a major supplier for Intel, and even received Intel’s EPIC Supplier Award this year.

Finally, Applied Materials jumped 5.4% on Sept. 22 after it received an upgrade to overweight from Morgan Stanley. The investment bank hiked its wafer fab equipment sales growth forecast from 5% to 10%, seeing increased demand in memory. As a result, it boosted EPS estimates for Applied Materials.

Image source: Getty Images.

What’s next for Applied Materials?

A strong earnings report from Micron toward the end of the month also seemed to boost Applied’s prospects.

Like ASML, Applied Materials’ business strength hasn’t been in question, but cyclical demand is a major factor, as revenue rose just 8% in its most recent quarter.

Still, the news around Intel and broader growth in AI is promising. If that momentum continues, Applied Materials has room to move higher.

Shares of Lyft (LYFT -2.21%) were moving higher last month after the No. 2 ride-hailing company took some significant steps in offering an autonomous vehicle service with two key partnerships.

Additionally, earlier momentum in the stock seemed to carry over to September as Wall Street’s perception of the business’s prospects has improved. Lyft earned a number of bullish notes and price target hikes last month in response to things like its acquisition of Freenow, improving financials, and innovative products like Lyft Silver.

According to data from S&P Global Market Intelligence, the stock finished the month up 36%. As you can see from the chart below, shares surged in the first half of the month before levelling off later.

LYFT data by YCharts

Lyft is going autonomous

The biggest piece of news on Lyft last month was a new partnership with Alphabet‘s Waymo, the leading autonomous vehicle platform, to launch an autonomous vehicle service in Nashville.

As part of the deal, Waymo will use Lyft’s fleet management service, Flexdrive, to handle vehicle maintenance, infrastructure, depot operations, and related services in Nashville. The service will launch exclusively on the Waymo app in 2026, but is expected to become available through the Lyft app later next year.

Lyft stock jumped 13% on the news on Sept. 17 as partnering with Waymo in Nashville could pave the way to a larger partnership. Shares of rival Uber, which has also teamed up with Waymo, fell on the news, as it shows Waymo is interested in working with both companies.

Earlier in the month, The Wall Street Journal reported that Lyft was teaming up with May Mobility to launch an autonomous vehicle service in Atlanta. May Mobility, a start-up based in Michigan, plans to start its minivan-based autonomous vehicle services with a small number of vehicles in a limited part of the city.

Image source: Lyft.

Can Lyft stock keep gaining?

The gains in September added to what’s already been a banner year for the ridesharing stock, which is up 73% so far this year as I write this.

Lyft is delivering solid growth and improved profitability, and initiatives like Flexdrive seem to have been overlooked by investors thus far. In Nashville, Lyft is building out a custom AV fleet management facility with charging and service capabilities. If it can do that successfully, there could be a long runway of growth in that business, especially if its partnership with Waymo expands.

The company still has a lot of ways it can grow and disrupt the broader transportation market. At a market cap of just $9 billion, there’s still a lot of upside potential for the stock.

Shares of SoundHound AI (SOUN 0.31%) rose 23.5% in September 2025, according to data from S&P Global Market Intelligence. It wasn’t a smooth ride for the artificial intelligence (AI) expert, with several big jumps and a couple of painful drops along the way — but it’s hard to complain about a monthly gain of more than 20%.

The meme stock crowd is back in action

Unfortunately, it looks like SoundHound AI is sliding back into the meme stock phenomenon again.

The big swings in September’s stock chart seem more closely correlated to online discussion volumes than to broader stock market trends — and the spikes didn’t really line up with SoundHound AI’s handful of business-related announcements. It’s an “all talk and no action” sort of thing.

I mean, the company isn’t sitting on its hands. Its business moves just aren’t inspiring bullish price moves. Social media posts are doing more of that work.

Let’s look at the three press releases SoundHound AI shared last month:

• On Sept. 4, the company released a custom AI agent for Primary Health Solutions, a regional healthcare network near Cincinnati and Dayton, Ohio. The Denise agent delivers quick answers to common questions, online or over the phone. SoundHound AI’s stock rose 7% that day — not too shabby!

• Sept. 9 saw a 5.4% stock price drop as SoundHound AI acquired Interactions, an agentic AI specialist. This deal should boost the company’s operating profits from the get-go and expand its market reach into new sectors such as retail management and insurance. For what it’s worth, the S&P 500 (^GSPC 0.34%) index rose 0.3% the same day.

• Finally, Red Lobster ordered a systemwide SoundHound AI solution for its phone ordering services on Sept. 23. This announcement should have started a victory march at SoundHound AI’s headquarters, but the stock didn’t move at all on the news. Instead, a 13% price drop followed over the next two market days. The S&P 500 held steady across this period.

The market reaction on Sept. 4 made sense, but I see the opposite effect around the (arguably more significant) announcements that followed.

Image source: Getty Images.

Great company, but the stock valuation is getting silly again

The meme stock action kind of makes sense. I understand that investors are getting excited about SoundHound AI’s high-quality voice controls and related AI tools. I’m convinced that the company has a bright future, and the shares I’ve been holding since the spring of 2024 should serve me well in the long run.

But the recent market action is too optimistic. People are jumping to conclusions, long before SoundHound AI gets a chance to prove its actual market value. On Oct. 1, the stock is up 238% over the last year and 424% in three years. It’s also trading at the nosebleed-inducing valuation of 50 times trailing sales. Profit-based metrics don’t make sense, because the company is deeply unprofitable so far.

So I’m holding on to my existing SoundHound AI shares for the long haul, but I’m not tempted to buy any more at these lofty prices. Check again when this meme-stock rally fades out. It’s too early to ask for stronger sales or positive profit margins.

The stock of NextEra Energy (NEE 2.77%) is on the move today on two news reports. Shares of the parent company of the largest electric utility as well as the biggest energy infrastructure developer in the U.S. jumped nearly 4% Wednesday morning.

After pulling back slightly, NextEra stock was still trading 2.3% higher as of 1:18 p.m. ET. The company delivered an investor presentation today, but the market might be more focused on a reported takeover bid for competitor AES Corporation.

Image source: Getty Images.

Renewables will help power artificial intelligence

NextEra gave a presentation for investors today at the Wolfe Research Utilities, Midstream, and Clean Energy Conference, just one day after AES presented at the same forum. NextEra told attendees how it planned to help power America’s growing energy needs through various sources, including its wind, solar, and nuclear energy projects. The company also said it will use its leading battery storage capacity.

But today’s stock jump more likely came after the Financial Times reported that AES is the target of a takeover bid by BlackRock subsidiary General Infrastructure Partners (GIP). The reported $38 billion bid would give GIP a power-generation and utility company that could help support the increasing need to power data centers being built for artificial intelligence (AI) applications.

As a leader in the sector, NextEra doesn’t need a takeover bid to give investors a good return. The company told investors it continues to expect 6% to 8% annual earnings-per-share growth through 2027. With demand continuing to accelerate, investors could expect the company to meet or even beat that guidance. It’s a stock in the right sector at the right time.

Shares of Ferguson Enterprises (FERG 7.89%) rose as much as 9.8% on Tuesday, following the release of mixed results for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2025, ended July 31. The distributor of plumbing and heating supplies erased negative sentiment from last week’s dividend announcement. All told, Ferguson’s stock is back where it was a month ago.

Earnings, revenue, and dividend support

Ferguson’s Q4 revenue rose 6.9% year over year, landing at $8.5 billion. Adjusted bottom-line earnings jumped from $2.98 to $3.48 per share — a 17% increase. The analyst community had expected earnings near $3.29 per share on sales in the neighborhood of $8.7 billion.

At the same time, management issued mildly bullish guidance for the just-started fiscal year 2026. Adjusted operating margins should widen and Ferguson’s single-digit revenue growth is slated to continue.

The confident presentation also reassured investors who were concerned about Ferguson’s future dividends. Last week’s dividend announcement included warnings about the difficulty of moving money across international borders in this macroeconomic era, potentially slowing down dividend payouts. Today’s earnings release and conference call didn’t give much weight to those cash-moving issues, though. All seems forgiven.

Image source: Getty Images.

Beyond the Q4 numbers

It should be noted that Ferguson is a multinational company, stemming from the 2024 merger of a British and an American business. Still, essentially all of Ferguson’s sales come from North America. I wouldn’t worry too much about Ferguson supporting its largely American dividend checks with funds from British banks — the whole operation has effectively moved west.

As for the actual business, Ferguson is doing fine. The company benefits from tighter air conditioning standards in the U.S. market, which outweighed milder demand for residential home improvement products in the fourth quarter. Other headwinds included a slowing new construction market and uncertain long-term macroeconomic trends.

At the same time, Ferguson is preparing for better times. The company completed nine acquisitions in this fiscal year and another one after the period closed on July 31. It is also making the most of its human capital, cross-training plumbers and air conditioning contractors to handle both types of work.

The stock isn’t exactly cheap at 25 times trailing earnings, given the single-digit top-line growth. The richer profit margins and ambitious growth-boosting acquisitions could make Ferguson an interesting stock to own in the long run, though.

Opendoor Technologies (OPEN -6.69%) stock popped by as much as 10% Monday morning. The stock remains highly volatile, and its next move showed investors why it’s a risky bet. Shares lost all of those gains and more in heavy midday trading.

As of 1:22 p.m. ET, Opendoor stock was lower by 3.8% on the day.

Image source: Getty Images.

Meme stocks aren’t for investors

Traders who frequent the forums on social media platforms like Reddit have turned Opendoor into a meme stock. That has led to retail traders and some investors following it closely. Shares popped early Monday after reports were published highlighting a 30,000-share purchase by Opendoor’s interim CEO.

Those reports triggered some heavy trading in the name; it surpassed its 65-day average trading volume only halfway through the session. The problem is that Shrisha Radhakrishna’s 30,000-share purchase occurred on Aug. 28 — after he was named as temporary CEO when Carrie Wheeler stepped down from the top job.

Another catalyst driving Monday’s early move higher was a push on social media over the weekend to bring back co-founder Keith Rabois. There has been no indication from Rabois that he would be returning to Opendoor.

Another factor that may be contributing to jumps by Opendoor is the stock’s high short interest. As of mid-August, more than 24% of Opendoor’s stock was held by short-sellers. That means any move higher may get enhanced by a short squeeze.

All of those things are really just short-term noise for long-term investors, though. Opendoor’s business has been struggling amid a sluggish housing market. With the Federal Reserve expected to begin lowering its benchmark interest rates soon, the housing market could get some relief. However, with retail traders driving the action for Opendoor stock, investing in it remains a risky proposition.