Stocks Close at Record High on US-Iran Talk Hopes | The Close 4/24/2026
Speakers
Gil Luria
— Technology Strategist at D.A. Davidson
Steve Sosnick
— Chief Strategist, Interactive Brokers
Peter Oppenheimer
— Senior Advisor, Goldman Sachs
Summary
The S&P 500 and Nasdaq closed at record highs, led by a historic semiconductor rally with Intel surging 23% after strong earnings. Gil Luria upgraded AMD to Buy on CPU demand from AI agents, while warning Intel remains risky. Other segments covered regulatory changes in credit scoring, Fed chair speculation, oil price impact on consumers, and the expansion of drone delivery.
- S&P 500 and Nasdaq closed at record highs, with the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index up for an 18th straight day.
- Intel reported a blockbuster quarter driven by CPU demand from AI, sending shares up 23%.
- D.A. Davidson's Gil Luria upgraded AMD to Buy, citing better execution and the same CPU tailwind, while keeping Intel at Neutral with elevated risk.
- Vantagescore CEO Silvio Tavares discussed the government decision to allow its credit score for Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and FHA mortgages.
- Interactive Brokers' Steve Sosnick cautioned that the semiconductor rally is vertical and he would not add fresh money.
- Former Fed Governor Betsy Duke commented on the path to Kevin Warsh's confirmation and the Fed's likely hold on rates.
- Pipeline CEO Katica Roy highlighted the oil shock's disproportionate impact on middle-class households.
- Matternet CEO Andreas Raptopoulos discussed drone delivery expansion into the U.K. healthcare system and future growth catalysts.
Trade Ideas
Buy AMD on CPU demand surge.
AMD is a buy because of surging CPU demand from AI agents, which creates a bottleneck that benefits both AMD and Intel, but AMD has better execution with higher gross margins (55% vs Intel's 39%) and superior manufacturing economics (TSMC-level profitability vs Intel's losses). AMD also has exposure to GPUs and a key customer in OpenAI, guiding for 35% growth through 2030. The CPU demand increase is happening faster than expected, as evidenced by Intel's strong quarter including selling previously written-down chips.
Avoid Intel due to structural risks.
Intel remains risky despite a strong quarter because it still has fundamental manufacturing issues: it loses $0.50 for every dollar of fab revenue while TSMC makes $0.50. One quarter of good execution does not fix these structural problems, and the company is likened to a 'rickety boat' riding a rising tide. Investors are better off owning AMD for the same CPU exposure.
Up Next
This Bloomberg Markets video, published April 24, 2026, features Gil Luria discussing AMD, INTC. 2 trade ideas extracted by AI with direction and confidence scoring.