Bloomberg Stock Movers
2026-08-04 · Hosted by — · Bloomberg / iHeartMedia
Executive Summary
Bloomberg's Stock Movers roundup covered a busy pre-market earnings morning ahead of the open. Caterpillar shares rose about 8% in pre-market trading after second-quarter results topped estimates, driven by continued strong growth in its power generation business tied to data center demand — now the company's largest and fastest-growing segment. Merck also beat estimates and raised its full-year sales outlook on demand for newer drugs, with shares up more than 21% year-to-date and gaining further in pre-market trading.
Key Stories & Changes
1. Caterpillar Beats on AI-Driven Power Generation Demand
Q2 results topped estimates; shares up about 8% in pre-market trading
Growth driven by the power generation segment, now Caterpillar's largest and fastest-growing business line, fueled by data center spending
Stock price had declined in recent weeks amid a broader selloff in AI-adjacent names, but the earnings beat is boosting shares back higher
2. Merck Beats and Raises Full-Year Guidance
Q2 sales came in above estimates; company raised its full-year sales outlook
Growth attributed to demand for newer drugs, offsetting anticipated losses from aging blockbuster products facing pricing competition
Shares already up more than 21% year-to-date, gaining further in pre-market trading
3. Palantir Jumps 17% Pre-Market on Raised Guidance
Following Monday's after-hours Q2 report, Palantir raised full-year revenue guidance to as much as $8 billion, above the roughly $7.7 billion estimate
Company described commercial demand for its data analytics tools as "otherworldly"
Rally helps ease investor concern about competitive pressure from AI developers like Anthropic building their own software, and from non-U.S. governments turning to domestic tech providers to reduce reliance on U.S. firms
If gains hold through the session, it would represent Palantir's biggest intraday gain in more than a year
4. SpaceX Set to Report First Public-Company Earnings
Results due after the close; anticipation follows a volatile stretch since SpaceX's IPO
Shares closed Monday down 15% from IPO pricing and 49% below their mid-June all-time high
Hosts framed the report as a chance for investors to reassess the stock after a rocky post-IPO period
Trends Identified
1. AI Infrastructure Demand Broadening Into Traditional Industrials
Caterpillar's results reinforce a theme seen elsewhere this earnings season: companies outside traditional tech, whose businesses supply power generation, cooling, or other physical infrastructure for data centers, are increasingly being folded into investors' AI trade even as their headline businesses (heavy equipment) remain unrelated to software.
2. Sovereignty and Competitive Fears Easing for Enterprise AI Software Players
Palantir's rally reflects a broader pattern discussed elsewhere in the day's coverage — enterprise software companies exposed to AI have faced fears of being displaced either by frontier AI labs building competing tools or by countries favoring domestic providers. Palantir's raised guidance is being read as evidence those fears were overstated, at least for now. ---
Sentiment Analysis
Overall Market Sentiment: Bullish
Pre-market trading reflected broad optimism following a string of earnings beats, with Palantir standing out as the session's dominant story heading into SpaceX's high-anticipation report.
Risk Factors Highlighted
SpaceX post-IPO volatility: Shares down 49% from their all-time high heading into the company's first public earnings report, raising the stakes for the print.
Competitive pressure on Palantir: Despite the rally, underlying concerns remain about AI labs like Anthropic building competing enterprise software and non-U.S. governments favoring domestic tech providers.
AI-adjacent selloff spillover: Caterpillar's stock had declined in recent weeks amid a broader pullback in AI-adjacent names before this earnings-driven bounce.
This episode was covered in today's [The Market Signal — 2026-08-04](https://marketsignal.beehiiv.com/p/the-market-signal-2026-08-04), a cross-source synthesis of multiple podcast reports.