Meta Faces AI Layoff Lawsuit; Netflix, ASML in Focus

Meta Platforms ($META) faces a lawsuit filed in Oakland, California by twenty-six employees alleging the company used artificial intelligence systems to select workers for mass layoffs in a discriminatory manner. According to the complaint, $META allegedly used AI to "score, rank, and select employees" for termination rather than relying on "the considered judgement of managers who knew the work," while disproportionately targeting those on medical or family leave. The trillion-dollar company has strongly denied the allegations. Alphabet ($GOOGL) broke ground on the Steel River Energy Center with Cypress Creek, a project aiming to deliver 2.5GWdc of solar capacity and 2.9GWh of battery storage with LG supplying batteries. Separately, Zillow Rentals became available as a connected application within $GOOGL's Google Gemini and Gemini Spark, making it the only real estate platform integrated with the AI assistant. Apple ($AAPL) was downgraded by KeyBanc, which cited expectations that the company's fiscal 2027 financial results could take a hit largely amid expectations of slowing product pricing power from potential price hikes.

ASML Holding ($ASML) reported strong Q2 2026 earnings and lifted its full-year 2026 sales outlook, with Intel ($INTC) becoming the first chipmaker to put $ASML's next-generation High NA EUV lithography systems into production use. The company highlighted AI-related demand as a key driver of equipment orders and utilization across its product portfolio. Despite delivering a 180.4% return over the past five years, $ASML stock now screens as showing mixed valuation signals. Chinese hedge funds that made substantial gains on artificial intelligence-linked stocks this year are starting to dial back their exposure, telling investors they are on high alert for signs the rally is becoming unsustainable. Marvell Technology ($MRVL) has delivered a 301% five-year share price return, yet the stock now screens as only about fairly priced on market multiples, which raises questions about how much optimism is already reflected in the current level.

Amazon.com ($AMZN) is well-positioned heading into its second-quarter earnings report, according to Jefferies, which reiterated the e-commerce and cloud computing giant as a top pick, citing resilient consumer spending during Prime Day, accelerating Amazon Web Services growth momentum and favorable positioning. Dell Technologies ($DELL) and Hewlett Packard Enterprise ($HPE) shares traded higher after IBM issued a revenue warning that suggested enterprise IT budgets are aggressively shifting toward server and memory purchases. Microsoft ($MSFT) was highlighted as trading cheaper than the S&P 500 following its recent sell-off, with analysts suggesting the decline does not align with the company's fundamentals.

Netflix ($NFLX) is down 45% from its highs ahead of its Q2 earnings report, with recent data suggesting the streaming giant is losing ground in the battle for screen time and viewer engagement concerns coming into focus. However, Morgan Stanley wrote that $NFLX's valuation does not fully reflect its long-term growth potential and characterized engagement concerns as overblown. Uber Technologies ($UBER) received an Overweight rating from Wells Fargo with a price target lowered to $100 from $102, as the firm expects the company to deliver another strong quarter despite the expansion of robotaxi services, with analysts seeing 43.00% upside potential. Airbnb ($ABNB) received a raised price target from Baird analyst Colin Sebastian to $160 from $150 while maintaining an Outperform rating on the shares following an industry conference.

Netflix ($NFLX) reports Q2 earnings this week with investor attention focused on viewer engagement metrics and content strategy amid streaming competition. Amazon.com ($AMZN) will also report Q2 results with AWS growth trajectory and Prime Day consumer spending data expected to be key focal points. The commercial space industry may be entering a new phase as Jeff Bezos put $2 billion of his own money into Blue Origin's funding round, with the arrival of billions in outside institutional capital potentially signaling increased maturity of the sector.