Stocks to Watch Tomorrow, Aug 5, 2026 — Tuesday ended at record highs. The Dow gained +1.7%. The S&P 500 gained +1.7%. The Nasdaq surged 671 points. And then, after the close, two of the most anticipated earnings reports of the entire year dropped — and both fell hard on beats.

SpaceX posted revenue of $7.8 billion. AMD beat its guidance. Both fell over 8% in after-hours trading. Meanwhile, AST SpaceMobile is launching satellites from Cape Canaveral at dawn on August 5. SELLAS Life Sciences has Citigroup quietly building a $4.8 million stake ahead of what could be its most important clinical readout in company history. And GameStop’s founder is attempting to buy eBay.

Wednesday is going to be a session worth watching from the first tick. Here are the 10 names commanding all the attention.

The After-Hours Setup Heading Into Wednesday

The “beat but fell” dynamic for both SPCX and AMD is the defining story for Wednesday’s open. When two high-profile companies beat consensus estimates and their stocks fall 8%, the market is telling you something: the bar was even higher than the bar.

#1 — SPCX (SpaceX) | -8%+ After Hours Despite Blowing Past Estimates — The Most Complex Story in Markets

What happened: SpaceX reported its first-ever quarterly earnings as a public company Tuesday evening — and delivered a genuine beat on both revenue and EBITDA. Then the stock fell over 8% in after-hours trading.

Q2 2026 Results: SpaceX’s Historic First Earnings Report

Why it fell despite the beat:

The concern — articulated by Yahoo Finance in real-time — centers on SpaceX’s massive, ongoing capital requirements. The company has committed to AI infrastructure investments at a scale comparable to Oracle, Alphabet, and Meta. Investors are questioning whether the return on that capital will justify the spending, especially given the $18.37 billion Q2 capex alone.

SpaceX also announced it is shifting to using Nvidia exclusively for AI infrastructure — a strategically significant move that raises both its dependency on Nvidia’s pricing and supply chain.

The insider unlock time bomb: The initial post-IPO share unlock begins in just two days — August 6. Early SpaceX investors, insiders, and employees who have been unable to sell since the June IPO will be able to do so starting Thursday. With short interest near one-third of the public float and a stock that has already breached its $135 IPO price once, the unlock is the market’s most immediate structural concern for Wednesday.

Key levels for Wednesday:

#2 — AMD (Advanced Micro Devices) | Beat Q2 — But Down 8% After Hours Anyway

What happened: AMD beat its Q2 2026 earnings estimates and provided strong forward guidance. The stock still fell 8% after hours — from a pre-close price of approximately $476 toward the $438 range.

What We Know From the Beat:

• Q1 guidance (what AMD told us to expect): Q2 revenue of $11.2 billion (+/- $300M) — representing approximately +46% year-over-year growth
• AMD confirmed this guidance was met or exceeded, with strong AI chip demand from data center customers
• The AMD-Anthropic deal (announced earlier in the year) was cited as a key validation of AMD’s AI inference positioning against Nvidia’s H100/H200/B200 dominance

Why it still fell:

• AMD was already trading down ~18% from its 52-week high of $584.73 — investors had built in a meaningful recovery
• The market wanted not just a beat, but a guidance raise that significantly exceeded consensus for Q3
• Concerns remain about AMD’s ability to take meaningful market share from Nvidia in the most valuable AI training segment
• With AMD’s 52-week low at $149.22 and current price around $438 (pre-AH close), the stock has been volatile and positioned-heavy

Wednesday morning watch: AMD will open significantly below Tuesday’s close. The key question: does the gap down represent a buying opportunity in a structurally sound AI chip story, or does institutional selling accelerate through the session?

#3 — ASTS (AST SpaceMobile) | The August 5 Launch That Could Move the Stock All Day

This is Wednesday’s most clear-cut catalyst event: a scheduled rocket launch at dawn from Florida.

AST SpaceMobile confirmed its BlueBird satellites 11, 12, and 13 launched on August 5, 2026, from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. The satellites are designed to deliver space-based cellular broadband connectivity directly to standard smartphones — no specialized hardware required on the ground.

Why the August 5 Launch Matters

The August 5 launch is the physical proof point for ASTS’s entire investment thesis — that it can build, launch, and operate a satellite constellation that provides cellular connectivity directly to ordinary phones at scale. Each successful launch reduces deployment risk and strengthens the case for the commercial service ramp.

Telecom partnerships — the existing agreements with AT&T, Verizon, and international carriers — convert satellite capacity into recurring revenue. As each new BlueBird satellite activates, the commercial service footprint expands.

The risk: Successful launches are necessary but not sufficient. Utilization rates, revenue per activated user, and the pace of global carrier deployment contracts determine whether the $150-200M 2026 revenue guidance is achievable. Production through BlueBird 42 is impressive — but monetization is the final test.

#4 — SLS (SELLAS Life Sciences) | Citigroup Takes a $4.8M Stake — The Biotech Everyone Should Have on the Radar

SLS has been trending for weeks. After Tuesday’s move, Wednesday could be the session that accelerates everything.

The Setup:

• +12% on Monday August 3 after Citigroup disclosed an expanded $4.8 million stake ahead of key Phase 3 AML trial milestones — a rare, significant institutional endorsement of a clinical-stage biotech
• The REGAL Phase 3 trial evaluating Galinpepimut-S (GPS) in Acute Myeloid Leukemia was at 78 of 80 events required for its final overall survival analysis in late June. By now, the 80th event is likely complete — meaning the data could be unblinded at any moment
• Short interest: ~33% of the float — creating explosive short-squeeze potential on a positive readout
• Executive severance restructuring filed earlier: change-of-control language that has been interpreted by biotech traders as a potential acquisition preparation signal
• Additional catalyst: SLS009 (CDK9 inhibitor, Phase 2) — topline data expected Q4 2026; a second binary event in the same year

Wednesday watch: When a name with 33% short interest, imminent Phase 3 data, and fresh institutional endorsement opens higher, the feedback loop between short-covering and new buying can be self-reinforcing. But this is a binary clinical-stage biotech — position size must reflect the full possibility of the opposite outcome.

#5 — SNAP (Snap Inc.) | +14% Tuesday — Can the Momentum Continue Into Wednesday?

SNAP closed Tuesday at $5.77 after surging +14.32% on Q2 results. The question for Wednesday: continuation or profit-taking?

The Tuesday Data:

The restructuring dividend: SNAP cut ~1,000 employees in April 2026. EBITDA went from -$41.3M loss to +$249.6M — a swing of nearly $291M in a single year. That’s not revenue growth (though +19% YoY is solid); it’s pure cost discipline converting existing revenue to profit.

The September 16 “Specs” catalyst: SNAP’s AR glasses launch is the next major narrative driver — a hardware product that has been in development for years and could either become a mainstream AR device (Bull scenario) or an expensive product that fails to gain consumer traction (Bear scenario). Wednesday’s continued move will depend partly on how investors are pricing this upcoming hardware event.

Technical note: SNAP’s 5-minute consolidation chart from $5.72 to $5.80 intraday after the gap-up open signals orderly digestion. This typically precedes either a secondary momentum move or a controlled giveback. Watch premarket volume Thursday for direction.

#6 — LCID (Lucid Group) | Post-Earnings Reaction — Day 1 Under New CEO on Display

Lucid reported Q2 2026 after Tuesday’s close. Wall Street had priced in a $900 million quarterly loss — Lucid’s quarterly losses have been consistently large as the company burns cash on its Saudi Arabia-backed electric vehicle buildout.

What investors are watching for in Wednesday’s reaction:

• Did Q2 cash burn exceed or come in below the expected $900M?
• Any production guidance uplift — Lucid has been ramping its Gravity SUV alongside the Lucid Air sedan
• New CEO Silvio Napoli’s commentary on cost structure and the path to profitability
• Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF) engagement — any signals of a deeper capital commitment or additional investment
• Deliveries beat/miss vs. expectations

The LCID structural reality: The Saudi PIF’s ongoing financial backstop makes a zero scenario structurally unlikely — PIF has been Lucid’s financial lifeline throughout 2025 and 2026. But the question of whether LCID becomes a legitimate EV competitor or a perpetual cash burn vehicle for Saudi industrial policy is still open.

#7 — GME (GameStop) | Ryan Cohen Is Trying to Buy eBay — and the Stock Is Watching

GameStop remains on every retail trader’s watch list after a week that began with a sharp selloff triggered by a $1.4 billion convertible debt exchange deal — and continued with whispers that Ryan Cohen’s move is more than just balance sheet management.

The eBay Angle: Ryan Cohen submitted a non-binding proposal to acquire eBay at $125 per share — a deal that would value eBay at approximately $56 billion and combine GameStop’s retail footprint with one of the world’s largest e-commerce platforms.

• The proposal is non-binding and does not represent a signed agreement
• GameStop has a $1.4 billion convertible debt war chest that could theoretically fund or support such a deal
• Retail sentiment on Stocktwits and Reddit: strongly bullish on the potential combination
• Analyst consensus: deeply skeptical of the strategic rationale and financial capability

Wednesday watch: GME is one of those names that can move 15-30% on a single social media post or leaked development. If any progress is made on the eBay bid — confirmation, rejection, or counter-offer — expect GameStop to become one of Wednesday’s most active names by volume.

#8 — GILD (Gilead Sciences) | Post-Earnings Reaction Day

Gilead Sciences reported Q2 2026 results after Tuesday’s close. As one of the market’s premier biopharmaceutical companies with significant HIV and oncology franchises, Gilead’s quarterly results carry sector-wide implications.

Key metrics to assess:

• HIV franchise performance (Biktarvy annual growth trajectory)
• Oncology growth: Trodelvy and Yescarta franchise expansion
• Lenacapavir (long-acting HIV prevention and treatment) — the company’s biggest near-term pipeline asset
• Debt-to-EBITDA leverage and capital allocation (buyback vs. M&A priorities)

Context: Gilead has been executing quietly through 2026 while AI and semiconductor names dominated headlines. Its dividend yield, consistent cash flows, and pipeline optionality make it a barometer for defensive healthcare capital in the current market.

#9 — AMIX (Autonomix Medical) | Day 2 After a 386% Explosion — What Comes Next?

Tuesday’s standout mover — AMIX surged 386% on a cancer-targeting patent.

Day 2 after a sub-$5 stock explodes into the $15-17 range is one of the most predictable setups in speculative trading — and yet also the most dangerous. The typical patterns:

• Gap-and-go continuation: Volume remains elevated; short sellers continue to cover; new buyers chase the momentum; price pushes through Tuesday’s high of ~$17.76
• Sell-the-news fade: Early sellers lock in gains; volume declines; price fades toward the $10-12 range; consolidation begins
• Halt-and-reset: If price moves exceed exchange parameters, a trading halt can either accelerate or interrupt the move

What to track: Volume relative to Tuesday’s 110 million shares (34x average). If Wednesday volume is 50M+ shares, momentum players are still active. If volume collapses below 10M, the move is exhausting.

The fundamental question remains: AMIX is a pre-revenue development stage medical device company. The patent is real, meaningful, and covers multiple cancer types. But a $17/share price implies a market cap that prices in significant commercial success years before any FDA approval. The patent protects the IP; it does not guarantee clinical success or reimbursement.

#10 — The Friday NFP Positioning: Already Starting Wednesday

July Nonfarm Payrolls drops Friday August 7 — one of the most closely watched economic data points of the month. Wednesday is already a positioning session.

The current labor market backdrop:

• June NFP: only 57,000 jobs (well below the 115,000 expected)
• May was revised down to 129,000 (from 172,000)
• Unemployment: 4.2% (positive, but driven partly by declining labor participation)
• ADP June: 98,000 private sector jobs

What traders will be doing Wednesday:

• Buying or trimming rate-sensitive sectors based on whether the jobs trend appears softening (dovish Fed → bonds up, rate-sensitive stocks up) or resilient (hawkish Fed → yields rise, tech/growth under pressure)
• 10-Year Treasury yield: 4.684% as of late Monday — elevated and watching every economic signal
• Fed December rate hike: nearly 100% priced in; a weak July NFP could reprice that probability lower

Names most sensitive to Friday’s jobs print:

• Rate-sensitive financials (regional banks, mortgage REITs)
• High-duration tech growth (AMD, SPCX if down 8%, carry additional rate sensitivity)
• Housing names (BETR, already down 22%; MGIC)

Wednesday’s Full Data Watch

Follow TNN for daily stock market news and financial news today.

Disclaimer: This publication is entirely for informational and journalistic purposes and does not constitute formal financial, investment, or legal advice. All market investments carry inherent risks of capital loss. Always complete independent due diligence prior to executing equity trades.

About The Author

Kasia Davis

See author's posts