S&P 500 Nears 7,000 Amid Market Volatility

Written by Emily J. Thompson, Senior Investment Analyst

STX%

BNTX%

KHC%

Updated: 3d ago

0mins

The major averages were mostly unchanged near noon following yesterday's rally as the S&P 500 reaches for 7,000. Bank earnings have had a mixed week, and strength in semiconductors hasn't completely pushed back concerns around mixed macro signals.Looking to commodities, oil prices have eased after the chance of a U.S. strike on Iran receded, tempering energy sector pressure, while gold dipped on stronger U.S. data boosting the dollar and reducing near-term rate-cut bets.Get caught up quickly on the top news and calls moving stocks with these five Top Five lists.1. STOCK NEWS:Vistraand Constellation Energywere slipping after the White House reached an agreement with a number of U.S. states to curb electricity costs,PNC Financialreportedand provided guidance for Q1 and FY26Regions Financialreported, with Wells Fargo downgrading the stockJ.B. Huntreported, saying the "freight market feels fragile" entering 2026Drugmakers are concerned about legal risk with the FDA's expedited review program,2. WALL STREET CALLS:BioNTechto Buy at Goldman Sachs on cancer potentialSusquehannaSeagateto Neutral on HDD industry growthKraft Heinzto Underweight at Morgan StanleyTractor Supplyto Hold at TruistHP Inc.to Underweight at Barclays3. AROUND THE WEB:The European Patent Office appeals board has revoked one of Arbutus Biopharma'spatents, which is likely to affect its case against Modernain Switzerland and one Unified Patent Court case, Bloomberg saysHersheyhas increased its marketing budget for the Hershey's brand by 20% to launch its first new advertising campaign in eight years, with the new strategy including influencer campaigns on TikTok and live events, WSJ reportsAlibabaplans to link its online shopping and travel services to its AI app, Qwen, to build it into a one-stop artificial intelligence platform for consumers, Bloomberg saysThe BBC plans to produce programs for Google'sYouTube for the first time, FT reportsThe proposed merger between Rio Tintoand Glencoremay require asset sales to win approval from China, which has concerns about resource security and market concentration, Reuters says4. MOVERS:ImmunityBiohigher after announcingfrom its ongoing QUILT-206 studyAST SpaceMobileincreases after beingby Missile Defense AgencyRiot Platformsgains after announcing a land acquisition and data center(AMD)Sasollower after in New York JPMorganthe stock to UnderweightEndeavour Silverfalls in New York after5. EARNINGS/GUIDANCEOndasand raised its outlook for FY26WaFd, with revenue missing consensusWipro, with CEO Srini Pallia commenting, "In Q3, we delivered broad based growth in line with our expectations"QXOState Street, with EPS and revenue beating consensusINDEXES:Near midday, the Dow was down 0.05%, or 22.82, to 49,419.62, the Nasdaq was up 0.12%, or 27.82, to 23,557.84, and the S&P 500 was up 0.11%, or 7.64, to 6,952.11.

STX

$326.23+Infinity%1D

Analyst Views on STX

Wall Street analysts forecast STX stock price to fall over the next 12 months. According to Wall Street analysts, the average 1-year price target for STX is 310.39 USD with a low forecast of 150.00 USD and a high forecast of 465.00 USD. However, analyst price targets are subjective and often lag stock prices, so investors should focus on the objective reasons behind analyst rating changes, which better reflect the company's fundamentals.

18 Analyst Rating

14 Buy

3 Hold

1 Sell

Moderate Buy

Current: 320.320

Low

150.00

Averages

310.39

High

465.00

Current: 320.320

Low

150.00

Averages

310.39

High

465.00

Susquehanna

Negative -> Neutral

upgrade

$150 -> $280

Al Analysis

2026-01-16

New

Reason

Susquehanna

Price Target

$150 -> $280

Al Analysis

2026-01-16

New

upgrade

Negative -> Neutral

Reason

Susquehanna upgraded Seagate to Neutral from Negative with a price target of $280, up from $150.

Susquehanna

Mehdi Hosseini

Negative -> Neutral

upgrade

$150 -> $280

2026-01-16

New

Reason

Susquehanna

Mehdi Hosseini

Price Target

$150 -> $280

2026-01-16

New

upgrade

Negative -> Neutral

Reason

Susquehanna analyst Mehdi Hosseini upgraded Seagate to Neutral from Negative with a price target of $280, up from $150. The firm says its negative hard disk drive industry thesis has proven incorrect. Seagate has executed "near-flawlessly" on its heat-assisted magnetic recording ramp, the analyst tells investors in a research note. Susquehanna expects the hard disk drive industry's surging demand to continue, creating strong growth trends for Seagate in the coming years.

Unlock Full Analyst Thesis， Get the complete breakdown of rating reason for STX

Unlock Now

Goldman Sachs

Buy

maintain

$280 -> $310

2026-01-09

Reason

Goldman Sachs

Price Target

$280 -> $310

2026-01-09

maintain

Buy

Reason

Goldman Sachs raised the firm's price target on Seagate to $310 from $280 and keeps a Buy rating on the shares. Expectations remain high heading into the print as pricing forecasts continue to stay bullish for 2026, the analyst tells investors in a research note.

Mizuho

Outperform

upgrade

$290 -> $370

2026-01-09

Reason

Mizuho

Price Target

$290 -> $370

2026-01-09

upgrade

Outperform

Reason

Mizuho raised the firm's price target on Seagate to $370 from $290 and keeps an Outperform rating on the shares. The firm adjusted targets in the semiconductors and semiconductor capital equipment group as part of its 2026 outlook. Mizuho sees continued upside for the group in 2026 due to "attractive valuations," but more modest than 2025. The analyst' top sectors in 2026 are AI accelerators and wafter fab equipment, Optical, and memory, while the firm remains cautious on electric vehicles, autos and analog as well as computers and handsets. Mizuho's top picks for 2026 are Nvidia, Lumentum and Broadcom.

About STX

Seagate Technology Holdings plc provides mass-data storage infrastructure solution. The Company’s principal products are hard disk drives, commonly referred to as disk drives, hard drives (HDDs). In addition to HDDs, the Company produces a range of data storage products, including solid state drives (SSDs), solid state hybrid drives, storage subsystems, as well as a scalable edge-to-cloud mass data platform. Its HDD products are designed for mass capacity storage and legacy markets. Mass capacity storage involves use cases, such as hyperscale data centers and public clouds, as well as emerging use cases. The Company’s HDD and SSD product portfolio includes Serial Advanced Technology Attachment, Serial Attached SCSI and Non-Volatile Memory Express based designs to support a variety of mass capacity and legacy applications. Its systems portfolio includes storage subsystems for enterprises, cloud service providers, scale-out storage servers and original equipment manufacturers.

About the author

Emily J. Thompson

Emily J. Thompson, a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) with 12 years in investment research, graduated with honors from the Wharton School. Specializing in industrial and technology stocks, she provides in-depth analysis for Intellectia’s earnings and market brief reports.