August 16, 2025 Newswires

Benzinga Bulls And Bears: Intel, UNH, Rigetti — And All Eyes On Powell

Benzinga Senior EditorBenzinga Lightning Feed

Benzinga examined the prospects for many investors' favorite stocks over the last week — here's a look at some of our top stories.

July saw inflation data deliver mixed signals that clouded the Federal Reserve's rate-cut pathway. The consumer price index held at 2.7% year-over-year, providing some relief. However, the Producer Price Index surged 0.9% monthly — the sharpest rise in three years— pushing annual producer inflation to 3.3% and complicating the Fed's decision-making. Despite this, most investors still anticipate a 25 basis-point rate cut in September, aided by calls from Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent for more aggressive easing.

Meanwhile, talks surfaced of a potential U.S. government stake in Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) linked to funds from the CHIPS Act. This speculation fueled a sharp rally in Intel's stock — its best weekly performance since 2000.

Next week, all eyes will be on Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's speech at the Jackson Hole symposium, where his remarks may signal the Fed's independence amid political pressures and shape expectations for upcoming rate moves.

Benzinga provides daily reports on the stocks most popular with investors. Here are a few of this past week's most bullish and bearish posts that are worth another look.

The Bulls

"Trump's moves push Intel to strongest week in 25 years", by Erica Kollmann, reports that Intel Corp. (NASDAQ:INTC) stock soared over 25% this week — its best performance since January 2000 — following news of a meeting between President Donald Trump and CEO Lip-Bu Tan, and reports that the Trump administration is considering using CHIPS Act funds to take a government stake in the company, a move intended to revive U.S. chipmaking capacity.

"Michael Burry joins Warren Buffett going long on UnitedHealth stock", by Chris Katje, reports that both Michael Burry and Warren Buffett took long positions in UnitedHealth Group Inc. (NYSE:UNH) during the second quarter—Burry with call options covering 350,000 shares and about 20,000 shares of direct equity through Scion Asset Management, and Buffett via Berkshire Hathaway with a substantial multi-million–share stake.

"KULR Technology stock surges on Q2 earnings after Bitcoin treasury strategy tops estimates", by Adam Eckert, reports that KULR Technology Group Inc. (NYSE:KULR) beat expectations with Q2 revenue of $3.97 million and posted earnings of $0.22 per share compared to a projected loss of $0.16—driven by a mark-to-market gain on its Bitcoin holdings, which now exceed 1,035 BTC, underpinning strong investor enthusiasm.

For additional bullish calls of the past week, check out the following:

CoreWeave To Double Down, Captures Microsoft And Google's AI Dollars

Opendoor Stock Gets Pumped By ‘Pomp'

Tesla's Chinese Rival Nio Sparks Global Push As Firefly EVs Hit European Roads

The Bears

"Rigetti Computing stock slips after Q2 earnings miss: Details", by Erica Kollmann, reports that Rigetti Computing Inc. (NASDAQ:RGTI) fell in extended trading after posting a Q2 adjusted loss of $0.13 per share, missing the $0.06 loss estimate, on revenue of $1.8 million versus expectations of $1.88 million, as the company also unveiled its 36-qubit multi-chip quantum computer and projected a 100+ qubit system by year-end.

"Coherent stock sinks on sale of aerospace-defense business", by Erica Kollmann, reports that Coherent Corp. (NYSE:COHR) shares plunged over 17% in after-hours trading despite beating Q4 estimates with $1.00 EPS and $1.52 billion in revenue, as the company announced the sale of its aerospace and defense unit to Advent for $400 million — plans to use proceeds to trim debt, but which also removes roughly $20 million in quarterly revenue and weighed on its guidance outlook.

"The Metals Company (TMC) stock sinks on Q2 earnings miss", by Adam Eckert, reports that The Metals Company Inc. (NASDAQ:TMC) plunged after reporting a Q2 loss of $0.20 per share, missing the expected $0.05 loss, ended the quarter with $115.8 million in cash, and burned $10.6 million in operating cash, even as CEO Gerard Barron noted regulatory progress — including full NOAA compliance — and set a 2027 target for first production from the NORI-D deep-sea mining project.