Stocks making the biggest moves midday: Nextpower, AST SpaceMobile, Dell, NetApp & more

Midday trading was driven by a sharp rotation in earnings and guidance: Dell surged 29% after lifting full-year EPS to $17.90 and revenue to $165B-$169B, while PagerDuty and Okta jumped 29% and 25% on raised or better-than-expected guidance. Offsetting that, Gap fell more than 17% and American Eagle dropped 13% on weaker outlooks, while energy stocks slid for a fourth day as Trump said he was close to a final determination on a U.S.-Iran war deal. The largest sector losers were in space stocks after a Blue Origin rocket exploded during testing, with AST SpaceMobile down almost 17%.

Analysis

The tape is splitting cleanly between businesses with visible near-term operating leverage and those exposed to discretionary demand or headline risk. The strongest moves came from companies that either raised forward numbers or proved the market was too conservative on margin durability; that typically forces systematic de-grossing in shorts and creates a 1-3 day momentum window as quant signals chase estimate revisions. The common denominator is not just a beat, but better evidence that end-demand is stabilizing enough to support higher full-year framing.

The hardware complex looks like a second-order beneficiary rather than a one-off sympathy trade. Dell’s print improves the read-through on enterprise refresh, AI server attach, and channel inventory normalization, which should disproportionately help names with higher exposure to configuration mix and procurement cycles; however, the move also raises the risk that the group becomes crowded and fragile once price targets get revised. In contrast, the retail losers are telling us that lower-income discretionary demand is not improving on the margin, and guidance cuts in that cohort tend to precede broader markdown pressure, especially into the next quarter when inventory clears.

Energy’s weakness is more about policy optionality than fundamentals, which makes it vulnerable to a sharp reversal if geopolitical headlines fade without a concrete supply reset. The market is effectively pricing a lower war-risk premium into crude, but that can unwind quickly because the sector still carries direct optionality to any disruption in Middle East flows; the better short is not the majors per se, but the more levered upstream names if oil gives back another few dollars. Meanwhile, the cyber/software beats suggest enterprise buyers are still funding security and workflow spend even while retail demand softens, a useful reminder that IT budgets are being reallocated, not broadly frozen.

Key Decisions for Investors

• Go long DELL for 2-4 weeks on post-earnings estimate revisions; the risk/reward is still favorable if the market upgrades AI/server and PC mix assumptions, but size modestly because the move already screens as crowded.
• Pair trade: long DELL / short AEO or GAP for 1-2 months to express the divergence between enterprise capex resilience and soft discretionary demand; use the short leg as a hedge against broader multiple compression.
• Initiate a tactical long in OKTA, NTAP, or PD on a 1-3 week horizon, preferring the names with the cleanest guide-up; buy pullbacks rather than strength to avoid paying peak post-earnings momentum.
• Short OKE versus a basket of stronger-quality software names for 1-2 weeks only if crude stabilizes; this is a headline-driven de-risking trade, so keep tight stops in case geopolitics re-prices oil higher again.
• Avoid chasing ASTS/SATS weakness outright; if expressing the space-incident overhang, use small bearish option structures over 30-60 days because the move is headline-sensitive and can reverse sharply on one successful launch or partnership update.