1. Wall Street is down Friday morning after a strong session on Thursday. S&P500 And Nasdaq-Composite on track to post their biggest weekly gains since November 2023. Better-than-expected retail sales and initial jobless claims added to Thursday’s move, showing once again that good news about the U.S. economy is good news for stocks.

2. Applied materials reported a better-than-expected quarter, but its fourth-quarter revenue forecast was only in line with expectations, putting pressure on the semiconductor maker’s stock, which ended Thursday’s session up nearly 31% year-to-date.

3. A handful of analysts raised their price targets for Walmart after the retail giant’s strong earnings report sent the stock to a record close on Thursday. TD Cowen and Jefferies both raised their price targets to $85 per share from $80 and maintained their buy ratings. Jefferies noted that Walmart executives said the company is using generative AI to make picking online orders more efficient. Despite doubts about whether AI investments will pay off, that sounds like a real-world use case to us.