⛅ Good morning. The rally that no one saw coming keeps raging. Despite warnings of tariffs, inflation stickiness, and political chaos, the S&P just clocked another record close. With IPOs heating up, M&A back in vogue, and jobs data on deck this week… let’s dive in.

*Stock data as of market close, cryptocurrency data as of 2:00pm ET.

Markets: The S&P 500 is kicking off the shortened trading week at a record high—something few saw coming after it sank 19% from February’s peak to an April low. What’s more surprising? This rally isn’t just about Big Tech. Dollar General, for example, has soared nearly 50% since February and now holds the title of top S&P performer in that stretch.

Futures are pointing higher this morning: Dow +0.5%, S&P 500 +0.4%, Nasdaq 100 +0.6%, as optimism grows around trade and M&A headlines

❗BE – Bloom Energy (BE). Shares surged ~12.8% premarket on sustained strong fuel cell demand and bullish sector sentiment. Q1 revenue grew ~38.6% Y/Y to $326 M, with non-GAAP gross margin reaching 28.7% and operating profit positive for the first time since early 2024.

Technical outlook: Fair opening near $22.26, with resistance around $22.60–22.95; support near $21.37–21.92 . Composite ratings recently elevated to 96, signaling institutional confidence

Tactical note: BE’s rally is tied to clean-tech flow and margin recovery. Ahead of jobs data, keep exposure light—use dips toward $21.70 as potential buy zones, with stops under $21.30 for a defensive swing.

🚀 Lockheed Martin (LMT). Lockheed Martin is drawing fresh investor attention amid renewed geopolitical tensions and ongoing U.S. defense policy shifts. With President Trump’s “rapid-fire policymaking” causing volatility in market sentiment, LMT offers a relative safe haven in the large-cap defense space.

Technically, LMT pulled back to its 200‑day moving average near $500 and is showing a potential bounce.

Lockheed Martin (LMT) slipped 1.2% on Friday, capping a volatile week for defense names amid shifting policy signals from Washington and rising global security spending.

The defense giant continues to benefit from record Pentagon budgets and increased NATO procurement, with a backlog exceeding $160 billion. However, recent comments from former President Trump—hinting at possible NATO payment restructuring—sparked a wave of defensive profit-taking.

Investors appear torn between long-term growth from missile systems and aerospace contracts, and near-term political uncertainty heading into the U.S. election cycle.

LMT is also facing margin pressure in its Aeronautics segment due to supply chain bottlenecks and rising input costs, which management says could normalize by Q4.

Despite the pullback, analysts remain optimistic, with Citi and Goldman Sachs reaffirming Buy ratings and raising 12-month price targets to $520, citing strong international demand and next-gen defense tech.

Shares are down ~4% over the past month, currently trading around $498.

Tactical note: Consider a tactical entry on dips toward $500 with tight stops below $490, as Lockheed remains one of the favored large-cap plays if policy uncertainty persists.

🔗 HPE – Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) & JNPR – Juniper Networks (JNPR). HPE and Juniper reached a settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice on June 28, removing a major roadblock to their $14 billion merger.

As part of the agreement, HPE will divest its Instant On WLAN business and license Juniper’s Mist AI software to competitors, laying the groundwork for DOJ approval by auctioning Mist AIOps source code

Deal rationale: The merger doubles HPE’s networking capabilities and positions the company as a stronger contender against Cisco in AI‑centric, hybrid cloud and edge infrastructure . HPE CEO Antonio Neri emphasized the strategic goal to “provide customers with a modern network architecture alternative” tailored for AI workloads

⚠️ CRCL – Circle Internet Group. CRCL stock surged over 160% from its IPO price of $31, peaking near $300, before tumbling ~25% mid-June on profit-taking and valuation concerns ($42B market cap vs $1.7B 2024 revenue).

Analysts remain divided: Barclays, Bernstein, Canaccord, and Needham initiated coverage with “buy” and targets above $200, citing strong regulatory momentum (GENIUS Act), , while J.P. Morgan and Goldman rated it underweight/neutral with targets near $80–83, warning of elevated valuation.

Risks on the radar:

Tactical note:

🔥 PRGS – Progress Software (PRGS). PRGS is poised for its Q2 release after markets close June 30. Q1 revenue rose 29% Y/Y to $238 M, ARR up 48% to $836 M, helped by its ShareFile acquisition. Consensus Q2 expects $237.5 M revenue (+36%) and $1.30 EPS (+19%)

Analyst view: Seen near breakout at $64.84, with a Buy consensus and ~$76 target—a ~19% upside .

Tactical note: A beat/guidance raise post‑jobs could spark a breakout. Consider call options or small long positions; if jobs disappoint and broader market dips, PRGS might pull back to $60–62 support.

💾 Micron Technology (MU). Micron shares jumped this week after upbeat AI-related demand commentary, helping sustain the tech rally. March-quarter earnings beat expectations, and analysts are forecasting strong growth as AI adoption accelerates.

Micron Technology (MU) climbed 3.8% last week after raising guidance and reporting surging demand for high-bandwidth memory (HBM) used in AI accelerators.

The chipmaker posted fiscal Q3 revenue of $6.8 billion, up 81% year over year, fueled by a sharp recovery in DRAM pricing and early shipments of HBM3E chips bound for Nvidia’s data center platforms.

Adjusted EPS came in at $0.62, crushing the $0.49 consensus estimate. Gross margins expanded to 28.5%—a major reversal from the negative margins seen a year prior.

Management lifted its Q4 revenue forecast to between $7.4 and $7.8 billion and said it expects AI-related memory to make up over 40% of total DRAM revenue by mid-2026.

Still, analysts caution that broader weakness in consumer electronics and hyperscaler pricing pressures could create pockets of volatility.

Micron is up 58% YTD, with shares hovering just below $130 and within striking distance of their all-time high.

Tactical note: Use any short-term pullback toward the $95–$100 range as a potential entry before the jobs release. Upside catalyst remains clear—continued AI momentum.

U.S. equities pushed higher this week, with the S&P 500 closing at a record 6,173.07 on June 27. Investors embraced cooling tariff tensions after the rollback of some “Liberation Day” levies, alongside strong Q1 earnings—S&P 500 profits jumped ~13.7% Y/Y, well outpacing expectations. A retreat in volatility (VIX near long-term average ~16) confirmed the buying momentum.

With geopolitical noise easing, market attention shifts to June’s nonfarm payrolls due this Thursday and the looming July 9 tariff hike deadline. Economists expect ~129K jobs added. The data will heavily influence Fed timing on rate cuts, especially as some officials warn tariffs could add inflationary pressure .

Beyond the “Magnificent Seven” leading the rally, investors are rotating into industries like defense, mining, gold, and European industrials. A softer dollar and U.S. debt concerns have triggered a broadening market bid, even as Chinese tech shows stronger performance YTD

The markets don’t sleep, and neither do we (kind of).

Catch you tomorrow—same time, sharper moves.
—The Future Bytes Team

P.S. You can unsubscribe anytime. But we hope you don’t.