Why Retail Traders Couldn't Stop Watching SPCX, TSM, APLD, AMZN and TSLA Last Week

Last week the market felt more like a roller‑coaster than a calm cruise, and retail traders were practically glued to their screens. Five symbols kept popping up in the chatter – SPCX, TSM, APLD, AMZN and TSLA – each for a different reason, yet all with enough intrigue to spark countless “what‑if” discussions.

SpaceX (SPCX) and the new spectrum purchase. Elon Musk’s aerospace‑to‑internet firm announced a plan to buy up to 14 MHz of 800 MHz band spectrum from Grain Management. The low‑frequency slice is famous for slipping through walls, so the deal promises to make Starlink Mobile work better inside buildings and in signal‑dead zones. Musk called it “the last critical piece of the spectrum puzzle.” JPMorgan cheered the move, keeping an “Overweight” rating on SPCX and noting that the company might still need its own ground‑based towers – unless it partners with a mobile‑virtual operator. The stock nudged up about 2.2 % over the week, while sentiment on Stocktwits softened from bullish to neutral.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSM) heads into earnings. September revenue jumped 54.6 % year‑on‑year to NT$511.86 billion (≈ $16.0 bn), though it slipped a hair from August. Analysts at Citi raised the price target to NT$4,000 and kept a “Buy” stance, betting the Q3 report due Oct 15 will beat guidance. The stock fell roughly 4 % during the week, and retail mood slipped from “extremely bullish” to “bullish.” Adding a bit of cross‑company intrigue, Tesla’s Elon Musk confirmed informal talks with TSMC about the upcoming Terafab AI chip, though no firm deal was announced.

Applied Digital (APLD) surprises on revenue. The data‑center specialist posted fiscal Q1 2027 revenue of $341.9 million – a jaw‑dropping 322 % jump from a year earlier – thanks largely to booming AI‑driven workloads. Analysts had been looking for about $124.6 million, so the beat was huge. Adjusted loss narrowed to $0.01 per share versus the expected $0.28 loss. Still, the stock slipped 6.7 % despite “extremely bullish” retail sentiment, perhaps because the earnings were still in loss territory.

Amazon (AMZN) trims staff, eyes AI deals. The e‑commerce behemoth announced fewer than 1,000 job cuts across the U.S., India and the U.K., affecting retail, customer service and engineering teams. At the same time, Reuters reported that Amazon is in talks to acquire AI startup Decart for roughly $7 billion, and the company is reshuffling leadership in its Alexa division after the voice‑assistant struggled to become profitable. The stock rose 4.3 % over the week, reflecting a mix of optimism about the AI purchase and relief that the layoffs were relatively modest.

Tesla (TSLA) rides a China sales wave. September saw 95,366 vehicles rolled out of the Shanghai plant – extending an 11‑month streak of year‑over‑year growth in the world’s biggest EV market. The company also quietly swapped the “Full Self‑Driving (Supervised)” badge for “Tesla Assisted Driving” on its European website after regulators in Germany raised concerns. Tigress Financial kept a “Buy” rating and a $550 price target, betting on the future of self‑driving software, robotaxis, Optimus robots and the synergies with SpaceX. Despite a 3.2 % rise in the share price, retail sentiment turned bearish, slipping from neutral.

All in all, SPCX, TSM and AMZN managed modest gains (between 1 % and 5 %) while APLD and TSLA saw more mixed moves, down about 3 % and 14 % respectively. The week proved that even a handful of headlines can keep everyday traders glued to the ticker, constantly recalibrating their expectations.