Week in review: Stocks stumble, Nvidia bankrolls OpenAI, and iPhone sales surprise
It was a topsy-turvy week for the stock market — featuring jobs and inflation data, Nvidia ‘s $100 billion investment deal with OpenAI, and signals of stronger-than-expected new iPhone demand. The S & P 500 and Nasdaq closed at record highs Monday but then went on three-session losing streaks. The market did get a boost Friday on an in-line consumer inflation report. In the end, though, it wasn’t enough to flip the weekly performance positive. For the week, the S & P 500 and Nasdaq saw losses of nearly 1% and just over 1%, respectively. With just two trading days left in the notoriously tough month of September, the S & P 500 and Nasdaq were tracking for a fifth straight month of gains and a second straight quarter of gains. .SPX YTD mountain S & P 500 (SPX) year-to-date performance Investors this week remained fixated on economic data. Thursday brought a big, unexpected drop in weekly jobless claims and a strong upward revision in gross domestic product for the second quarter. As a result, stocks tumbled Thursday as investors worried that a possibly improving labor market and better economic growth might give the Federal Reserve less of a reason to lower interest rates further. Central bankers cut rates by a quarter-point earlier in the month. The buyers stepped back into the market Friday after the year-over-year increase in the August core personal consumption expenditures price index matched estimates. Core PCE , excluding food and energy prices, is the Fed’s preferred inflation gauge. When it was all said and done, the market was still pricing in another half-point of rate easing by year-end. Club stocks Nvidia, Costco, Boeing, and Apple were all in the news. Kicking off the week, Nvidia stock closed at a record high Monday after the chipmaker announced a whopping $100 billion investment into OpenAI to help the startup build artificial intelligence data centers. Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and OpenAI President Greg Brockman broke the news in a CNBC interview . Huang said the benefits had not been accounted for in management’s previous public financial projections. “This is additive to everything we spoke about so far,” he said. This also means that analysts need to update their earnings outlooks for Nvidia for 2026. NVDA YTD mountain Nvidia (NVDA) year-to-date performance Club take: For us, the Nvidia-OpenAI announcement is yet another sign of how early we are in the AI trade. “In case anyone had doubts, the AI trade is just getting started,” Zev Fima, portfolio analyst for the Club, wrote in an analysis. “We have always seen plenty of runway in the buildout of AI data centers and the role of Nvidia’s chips at the center of it all. But the scale of the opportunity described in this partnership is incredible.” Not only is this huge for Nvidia, but it’s beneficial for fellow Club holdings GE Vernova and Eaton as well. That’s because they’re winners of the growing demand for more energy to support the building of AI infrastructure. Case in point: GE Vernova and Eaton shares surged on Monday’s news. But the rally fizzled and then closed the week lower. Nvidia rose less than 1% for the week. Boeing had a great Friday and a great week. The stock first received a boost Tuesday on reports that the company and China were in the final stages of talks for a huge order of Boeing jets. It would be the first time since Trump’s first term in office that Boeing and the world’s second-largest economy do business together. The stock ran again Friday – up more than 3.5% in a session – after the FAA announced that it would loosen some restrictions on Boeing’s aircraft deliveries. BA YTD mountain Boeing (BA) year-to-date performance Club take: Boeing stock – up 25% year-to-date – can run even higher from here. That’s because Boeing will keep benefiting from the Trump administration’s trade policies. U.S. trading partners continue to strike deals that include massive orders of Boeing planes. Japan, Cambodia, Malaysia, and Indonesia are among those that have already done so. This is a key reason why the Club started a position in Boeing earlier this month. “This is what we’ve been waiting for,” Jeff Marks, director of portfolio analysis at the Club, said following the FAA news. “This is why we bought the stock when we did.” The Club has a buy-equivalent 1 rating on Boeing and a price target of $275. That represents almost 24% upside from Friday’s close. Shares of Costco declined nearly 3% on Friday and nearly 4% for the week, following the bulk retailer’s quarterly earnings report on Thursday evening. The company beat expectations for earnings and revenue, but that wasn’t enough to impress investors. Lower-than-expected same-store sales growth and another dip in membership renewal rates weighed on the stock. While JPMorgan, Evercore ISI, Truist, and Morgan Stanley all lowered their price targets on Costco shortly after the release, they were still plenty optimistic . COST YTD mountain Costco Wholesale (COST) year-to-date performance Club take: We were also optimistic on Costco and recommend members own this quality name. Costco is a great stock to own during economic uncertainty as the company appeals to the value-conscious consumer. “While the results weren’t perfect, we were pleased to see gross margins continue their upward trajectory,” Jeff said in Thursday’s earnings analysis. “The company credited improvements to its supply chain as a reason for the margin improvement, and an increase in Kirkland Signature penetration continued to be a secret weapon against fighting inflation and keeping prices down.” We reiterated our buy-equivalent 1 rating and our $1,100 price target, which implies more than 20% upside to Friday’s close. Apple stock was our best performer of the week — up 4% — as investors received more positive signs of a successful rollout of the new iPhone 17 and Air models. On Monday, for example, T-Mobile outgoing CEO Mike Sievert told Jim on CNBC that iPhone sales had hit all-time record highs. “We just had the biggest iPhone week,” Sievert said. “We’re up double digits from a year ago.” Wedbush raised its price target on Apple to $310 from $270 . That’s the highest on the Street. Jim said at the time there would be more Wall Street firms getting more bullish on Apple. AAPL YTD mountain Apple (AAPL) year-to-date performance Club take: The upbeat commentary from analysts and T-Mobile is further confirmation of what the Jim has been preaching since the new iPhones launched earlier this month. The rollout for the new models is going to be “gigantic,” Jim has said, arguing Apple’s flagship devices are “more of a bargain” than other smartphones as well. “What Apple is saying is, ‘Look, these are full price, but because you get a discount from the carriers like Mike Sievert at T-Mobile and the value of the trade-in turned out to be more than we thought.’ So, there’s been no increase in price,” Jim explained during Monday’s Morning Meeting. We maintain our “hold, don’t trade” thesis on the stock. We also executed two trades. On Thursday, we bought more Danaher shares on the recent decline. Fima described our reasoning in the trade alert: “While Danaher has certainly been one of a handful of problematic stocks in the portfolio, we are stepping into the name here, as we think Thursday’s 3% move lower is overdone.” Shares of the life sciences company lost more than 4% for the week, but they did close up nearly 2% Friday, which broke a five-session losing streak. The Club started a Nike position Friday. The sports apparel giant has a promising turnaround plan under CEO Elliott Hill. In the trade alert , Marks explained our investment thesis: “Nike may have lost its way in recent years, but we’re encouraged by the steps Hill has taken to put the company back on the path to recovery. By the way, next summer’s FIFA World Cup could be a sales catalyst as people buy the latest boots (cleats), kits (jerseys), and other apparel to support their countries and favorite players.” We issued a price target of $80 apiece, which implies about 16 % upside from Friday’s close. (See here for a full list of the stocks in Jim Cramer’s Charitable Trust.) As a subscriber to the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer, you will receive a trade alert before Jim makes a trade. Jim waits 45 minutes after sending a trade alert before buying or selling a stock in his charitable trust’s portfolio. If Jim has talked about a stock on CNBC TV, he waits 72 hours after issuing the trade alert before executing the trade. THE ABOVE INVESTING CLUB INFORMATION IS SUBJECT TO OUR TERMS AND CONDITIONS AND PRIVACY POLICY , TOGETHER WITH OUR DISCLAIMER . NO FIDUCIARY OBLIGATION OR DUTY EXISTS, OR IS CREATED, BY VIRTUE OF YOUR RECEIPT OF ANY INFORMATION PROVIDED IN CONNECTION WITH THE INVESTING CLUB. NO SPECIFIC OUTCOME OR PROFIT IS GUARANTEED.