Smart Investor: Undervalued Stocks that Crushed Earnings, Slumping Pre-IPO Funds, and a Top Growth-Stock Manager’s Picks

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This week’s highlights:

• Weekly Markets Wrap
• A ‘Middle of the Road’ July CPI Likely Gives Fed Breathing Room on Rate Hikes
• The Labor Market Is Weaker Than the Bond Market Thinks
• Why This Growth Stock Manager Likes Both the AI Trade and Eli Lilly
• 6 Undervalued Stocks That Crushed Earnings
• Pre-IPO Funds Slump After SpaceX Debut
• Shein Is Finally Listing in Hong Kong. But Has the World Moved On?
• What’s Happening in the Markets This Week

Inflation was the big focus last week. In the wake of a murky jobs report, investors looked to the July Consumer Price Index to help fine-tune their expectations for the Federal Reserve’s next meeting in September. The CPI data wasn’t exactly clear-cut, but economists say it was a soft enough reading on inflation that a rate hike now doesn’t seem in the cards next month.

Morningstar senior economist Preston Caldwell also dove deeper into the July jobs report. He argued that investors (especially in the bond market) are missing signs that the labor market is weakening.

Meanwhile, stocks carved out fresh record highs this past week, led by the energy sector. In the background, the artificial intelligence trade is rolling on. Leslie Norton spoke with veteran growth stock fund manager Blair Boyer about what lies ahead for AI juggernauts, as well as some non-tech stocks like Eli Lilly LLY.

IPOs remain very much in focus, with Anthropic looking likely to go public this fall. One name on many watchlists is Chinese fast fashion giant Shein, which is expected to finally go public in Hong Kong. But PitchBook’s Kristie Neo writes that the stock may not be as hot as it once was.

Another once-hot space that has quickly cooled is publicly traded venture capital funds that promote pre-IPO access to companies like SpaceX SPCX. Before the SpaceX IPO, these funds had seen significant investor interest. PitchBook’s Michael Bodley digs into the change of fortunes for these funds.

Lastly, as a banner second-quarter earnings season winds down, Bella Albrecht runs our quarterly screen for companies that handily beat forecasts for both earnings and revenues, and which trade at prices our analysts think are cheap.

As always, be sure to visit our Markets page for our latest coverage and live stock market updates, along with our full weekly calendar of key upcoming economic data and events.