For Immediate Release
Chicago, IL – June 30, 2026 – Zacks.com announces the list of stocks featured in the Analyst Blog. Every day the Zacks Equity Research analysts discuss the latest news and events impacting stocks and the financial markets. Stocks recently featured in the blog include: Apple AAPL, Tokyo Electron TOELY, Advantest ATEYY and Infineon IFNNY.
Here are highlights from Monday’s Analyst Blog:
Do AI Stocks Work in the 2nd Half? Global Week Ahead
What happens across this short four-day Global Week Ahead?
A wild first half of the year is almost over, with focus shifting to how central banks, especially the Federal Reserve, steer markets in the months ahead.
· The new Fed chief attends the European Central Bank’s Sintra conference, while
· U.S. June Federal nonfarm jobs numbers
· Eurozone consumer inflation readings
· British politics, and
· Tech AI is in focus
Next are Reuters’ five world market themes, re-ordered for equity traders—
(1) On Thursday, the U.S. June Federal Nonfarm Jobs Report Gets Released
This week’s U.S. employment report will be released against a backdrop of increased speculation over whether the Fed will hike rates this year.
And traders have one day less to wait, with the June nonfarm payrolls data released on Thursday because of Friday’s U.S. Independence Day.
After the May report marked a third straight month of solid job gains, markets may be more wary of an overly strong number that highlights the economy’s resilience than a weak reading. A surprisingly hawkish June Fed meeting showed policymakers laser-focused on controlling inflation.
As it stands, traders’ price in a rate hike from the Kevin Warsh-led central bank potentially as soon as September.
(2) The First Half of 2026 Kept Traders On the AI Stocks. Now What?
Markets cross the year’s halfway marker after a volatile six months dominated by U.S.-instigated turmoil from Venezuela and Greenland to Iran and the seemingly unstoppable rise of AI stocks.
That AI bull run means world stocks are now worth $7 trillion more than at the end of 2025, and that even after a $9 trillion wipeout in March triggered by the Iran war, which drove oil to $120 a barrel and dashed hopes for lower global interest rates.
South Korean stocks have surged a whopping +100%, SpaceX blasted off whereas the Magnificent 7 tech stocks are down as a set.
Treasuries are flat and gold has lost its shine.
The second half of the year promises to be lively too.
Britain’s nervy bond markets await a new prime minister, currency traders remain on yen intervention watch, the Fed sounds hawkish and traders are bracing for President Donald Trump’s U.S. midterm election plan.
(3) What Happens to the Major Asian Chip Stocks?
Asia chipmaker stocks remain in the spotlight as volatility rises across the region, particularly in South Korea, Taiwan and Japan.
Apple’s hefty price hikes reveal the downside of booming chip demand.
Investors are on the lookout for the next catalyst after index compiler MSCI opted against putting South Korea on the watchlist for an upgrade to developed market status.
Attention turns to economic data including Wednesday’s South Korean monthly manufacturing and export figures, a temperature check on global demand which will be closely watched after stellar export orders from Taiwan, which nevertheless fell short of even heftier expectations.
Japan’s flash PMIs indicate new orders are still rising across Asia as customers stockpile products to avoid supply chain disruptions, indicating the region is shrugging off the Iran war.
Memory chipmaker SK Hynix will also hit the road ahead of a U.S. secondary listing on July 10 in which it hopes to raise $29.43 billion.
(4) A New U.K. Prime Minister, Manchester’s Andy Burnham, Takes Office
Britain has just marked the 10th anniversary of the Brexit vote that took the country out of the European Union, and is about to welcome its seventh prime minister in a decade.
Keir Starmer stepped down after two years in the job, given plummeting popularity both nationally and within his ruling Labour Party.
Enter Andy Burnham, Starmer’s replacement. Burnham gave a speech on Monday, whereby he promised the “biggest rebalancing of power” as he sets up a new hub of central government at No. 10 North in Manchester. Burnham considers his hometown as the “nerve center of a rewired Britain.”
The former Greater Manchester mayor, who earned his “King of the North” nickname for his leadership during COVID, is seen as more left-leaning than Starmer.
He has called for nationalization of key industries and for Britain to rejoin the E.U. Who he crowns as finance minister is going to be crucial for the nation’s finances and its markets.
(5) The European Central Bank (ECB) Hosts Annual Gathering in Portugal
The ECB hosts a central banking gathering in Sintra, Portugal, welcoming Warsh in his first trip anywhere since becoming the new Fed Chief.
It is an opportunity for those attending to reconnect with a figure many of them know well from his past stint at the Fed.
Markets are keen to assess what kind of Fed Warsh will run, and how proactive he will be at times when global financial stability is at risk.
Having talked the talk of favouring monetary easing during the Fed Governor nomination process, Warsh made clear at his first press conference that he takes inflation fighting seriously.
Bond traders got the message, pricing in a rate hike by year-end.
Of course, ECB Chief Christine Lagarde will also speak in Sintra, while Eurozone June inflation data on Wednesday could show whether the ECB needs to mull another near-term rate hike.
Zacks #1 Rank (STRONG BUY) Stocks
Next are three Zacks #1 (STRONG BUY) large cap tech stocks, benefitting from fresh covering analyst earnings upgrades.
Have these shares run too far? It looks like it to me.
(1) Tokyo Electron : This is a $216 a share stock, with a market cap of $158.3B
It is found in Zacks Electronics-Miscellaneous industry. The stock holds a Zacks Value score of F, a Zacks Growth score of C, and a Zacks Momentum score of A.
F12M P/E: 45.2.
Tokyo Electron Limited (TEL) is a company mainly engaged in the manufacture and sale of electronic products for industrial uses.
TEL is the largest manufacturer of IC and FPD production equipment in Japan and the third largest in the world.
The Semiconductor Manufacturing Equipment segment is engaged in the provision of coaters and developers for wafer processing, plasma etching equipment, thermal processing systems and others.
The Flat-panel Display (FPD) Manufacturing Equipment segment is engaged in the provision of coaters and developers for FPD manufacturing, plasma etching/ashing apparatus and others.
The Electronic Component and Information Communication Equipment segment provides semiconductor products such as integrated circuits (ICs), computer and network equipment and software.
In addition, the company is also involved in logistics, facility management and insurance businesses.
(2) Advantest : This is a $216 a share stock, with a market cap of $158.3B
Advantest is found in the Zacks Electronics-Measuring Instruments industry. The stock holds a Zacks Value score of F, a Zacks Growth score of C, and a Zacks Momentum score of B.
F12M P/E: 43.7.
Advantest Corporation is one of the world’s leading automatic test equipment (ATE) suppliers to the semiconductor industry, and is also a producer of electronic and optoelectronic instruments and systems.
A global company, Advantest has long offered total ATE solutions, and serves the industry in every component of semiconductor test: tester, handler, mechanical and electrical interfaces, and software.
Its logic, memory, mixed-signal and RF testers, and device handlers, are integrated into the most advanced semiconductor fabrication lines in the world.
(3) Infineon : This is a $94 a share stock, with a market cap of $122B
It is found in the Zacks Electronics-Semiconductors industry. The stock holds a Zacks Value score of D, a Zacks Growth score of F, and a Zacks Momentum score of F.
F12M P/E: 46.3.
Infineon Technologies designs, produces and sells semiconductors, the microchips which have enabled the information age, and have led to a vast increase in the speed, portability and capabilities of computers and a myriad other electronic devices.
Infineon is active in providing application-oriented semiconductor solutions for use in sectors such as speech and data communications, peripherals, wireless communications, automotive and industrial electronics, security and chip cards as well as memory products.
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