Hedge funds and other money managers have been stepping up wagers on gold as the bullion reached a series of new highs on the back of reaccelerating inflation. Overweighting precious metals has become the consensus among the largest money managers, with 83% of them being long the asset class, a new Citi analysis of top investors overseeing more than $18 trillion showed. The study also found that gold is the only commodity that big allocators added to over the past month. Gold futures settled at a record high above $2,400 an ounce this week. The precious metal is coming off its third straight week of gains. Investors have been bidding up the precious metal as geopolitical risks rose and inflation reaccelerated. Gold is often used as an inflation hedge because of its limited supply. “The rally has been fueled by a powerful cocktail of safe-haven and hedge fund purchases, prompted by record-high equities and sticky inflation,” James Steel, chief precious metals analyst at HSBC Securities, said in a note. “This, in turn, is triggering heavy momentum buying.” @GC.1 YTD mountain Gold Professional speculators’ net-long positions in gold futures and options hovered near the highest level since 2020 as of April 9, according to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s latest data. David Neuhauser, founder of Northbrook, Illinois-based hedge fund Livermore Partners, told CNBC that he has increased his weighting in gold to over 20% recently, and that includes gold miner stocks and the yellow metal itself. “With inflation well above trend and being extremely sticky, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that gold could serve in a great capacity,” Neuhauser said in a phone interview. “We are in for a structural change in terms of inflation, and gold will be the metal to continue to find investors worried about monetary disorder, worried about monetary debasement.” Neuhauser said he sees the bullion reaching $3,000 over the next few years. Notably, Greenlight Capital’s David Einhorn has made gold “a very large position” as a defense play against a potential market downturn. “There’s a problem with the overall monetary and fiscal policies of the country, and if both policies are systemically too loose, I think the deficits are ultimately a real problem. And I think that this is a way to hedge the risk of something not-so-good happening,” Einhorn said in early April. The hedge fund star revealed that not only did he own the popular SPDR Gold Trust fund (GLD), but he also bought physical bars. Deutsche Bank on Tuesday hiked its gold price forecast to $2,400 an ounce by the year end and $2,600 by the end of 2025. The updated projection is based on the recent investment inflow that has a durable impact on prices, the bank said.
Check out the companies making headlines before the bell. American Eagle Outfitters — The retailer tumbled 11% in early trading. American Eagle on Tuesday withdrew its 2025 guidance “due to macro uncertainty.” The company, faced with slow sales and steep discounting, also took $75 million in write-offs related to spring and summer merchandise. Super Micro Computer — Shares of the embattled server maker soared roughly 15%, extending a 16% rally Tuesday. Raymond James earlier this week initiated coverage of the stock with an outperform rating after last week’s fiscal third-quarter results. UnitedHealth — Shares of the healthcare giant rose about 2% after plunging almost 18% Tuesday after the CEO stepped down for “personal reasons” and it suspended its 2025 financial forecast . PVH — Shares of the former Phillips-Van Heusen apparel maker rose more than 3% on a Jefferies’ upgrade to buy from hold. Jefferies said PVH can stage a recovery as the Tommy Hilfiger and Calvin Klein parent undergoes a business transformation. Nvidia , Advanced Micro Devices — Shares of Nvidia and AMD each climbed roughly 3% after both chipmakers on Tuesday announced deals with Saudi company Humain, owned by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, to work on developing AI models and building data center infrastructure. Bank of America lifted its price targets on Nvidia and AMD shortly after the announcement, saying the sovereign projects could offset restrictions in China. KKR — The private equity firm gained nearly 2% on a Morgan Stanley upgrade to overweight from equal weight , with the bank saying an improving macroeconomic outlook on the heels of the U.S.-China tariff agreement could lead to a recovery in capital markets and ultimately boost KKR. JD.com — U.S.-listed shares of the Chinese e-commerce platform slipped nearly 2% after posting better-than-expected first-quarter earnings and revenue, citing “improving consumer sentiment.” Analysts expects earnings growth to flatten in 2025, with mounting losses in the food delivery unit, according to FactSet’s StreetAccount, which noted Morgan Stanley cut its 12-month share price target to $39 from $41. — CNBC’s Sean Conlon, Alex Harring and Michelle Fox contributed reporting.
EToro, a stock brokerage platform that’s been ramping up in crypto, has priced its IPO at $52 a share, as the company prepares to test the market’s appetite for new offerings.
The company had planned to sell shares at $46 to $50 each.
IPOs looked poised for a rebound when President Donald Trump returned to the White House in January after a prolonged drought spurred by rising interest rates and inflationary concerns. CoreWeave’s March debut was a welcome sign for IPO hopefuls such as eToro, online lender Klarna and ticket reseller StubHub.
But tariff uncertainty temporarily stalled those plans. The retail trading platform filed for an initial public offering in March, but shelved plans as rising tariff uncertainty rattled markets. Klarna and StubHub did the same.
EToro’s Nasdaq debut, under ticker symbol ETOR, may indicate whether the public market is ready to take on risk. Digital physical therapy company Hinge Health has started its IPO roadshow, and said in a filing on Tuesday that it plans to raise up to $437 million in its upcoming offering. Also on Tuesday, fintech company Chime filed its prospectus with the SEC.
Founded in 2007 by brothers Yoni and Ronen Assia along with David Ring, eToro competes with the likes of Robinhood and makes money through fees related to trading, including spreads on buy and sell orders, and non-trading activities such as withdrawals and currency conversion.
Net income jumped almost thirteenfold last year to $192.4 million from $15.3 million a year earlier. The company has been ramping up its crypto business, with revenue from cryptoassets more than tripling to over $12 million in 2024. One-quarter of its net trading contribution last year came from crypto, up from 10% the prior year.
This isn’t eToro’s first attempt at going public. In 2022, the company scrapped plans to hit the market through a merger with a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) during a sharp downturn in equity markets. The deal would have valued the company at more than $10 billion.
CEO Yoni Assia told CNBC early last year that eToro was still aiming for a market debut but “evaluating the right opportunity” as it was building relationships with exchanges, including the Nasdaq.
“We definitely are eyeing the public markets,” he said at the time. “I definitely see us becoming eventually a public company.”
EToro said in its prospectus that BlackRock had expressed interest in buying $100 million in shares at the IPO price. The company said it planned to sell 5 million shares in the offering, with existing investors and executives selling another 5 million.
Underwriters for the deal include Goldman Sachs, Jefferies and UBS.
Check out the companies making the biggest moves midday: Nvidia — The chipmaker jumped 6% following the announcement it will sell more than 18,000 of its artificial intelligence chips to Saudi Arabian company Humain to be used in the latter’s 500 megawatt data center. UnitedHealth Group — The insurance stock tumbled 16% to trade at lows not seen since February 2021. The sell-off came after the company said CEO Andrew Witty is stepping down for “personal reasons.” The company also pulled its 2025 guidance partly due to higher medical costs, which dragged down other insurance stocks. Coinbase — Shares rallied 22% after S & P Dow Jones Indices announced that the crypto exchange operator will be added to the benchmark S & P 500 stock index before trading begins on May 19, replacing Discover Financial Services . Boeing — Shares of the aircraft company jumped 3%. Bloomberg reported Tuesday that China has lifted its ban on Boeing deliveries, citing people familiar with the matter. The company also announced it delivered 45 commercial jets in April, which is nearly twice the 24 airplanes the company delivered during the same month a year ago. On Holding — U.S.-listed shares of the Swiss-based maker of Hoka sneakers rose 12% after the company posted an earnings and revenue beat. First Solar — The solar stock soared 22%. Wolfe Research upgraded First Solar to outperform from peer perform, citing better clarity on the 45X tax credits for clean energy production. The firm said First Solar stands to earn $10 billion from the tax credit. Hertz Global Holdings — The rental car stock tumbled 15% after first-quarter results were worse than analyst expected. Hertz reported an adjusted loss of $1.12 per share on $1.81 billion in revenue. Analysts surveyed by LSEG expected a loss of 97 cents per share and $2 billion of revenue. Revenue fell from $2.1 billion a year ago. Rigetti Computing — The quantum computing stock dropped nearly 11% after the firm posted first-quarter revenue of $1.5 million, far below the $2.6 million that analysts polled by FactSet were expecting. Earnings, however, came in better than expected for the quarter. Intuitive Machines — The Houston-based space startup soared almost 25% after its first-quarter operating income came in better than expected. While its revenue missed estimates, its free cash flow topped expectations. Caterpillar — Shares of the construction equipment giant popped almost 4% after being upgraded by Baird to outperform from neutral. The firm said the easing of tariffs is likely to drive multiple expansion for Caterpillar. Valero Energy — The stock gained 4% following an upgrade at Goldman Sachs to buy from neutral. Goldman said the oil refiner can benefit from more attractive supply-and-demand trends. Calumet — The maker of specialty products such as oils and solvents popped about 5% on the back of Bank of America’s initiation at a buy rating. The bank said Calumet shares can see notable upside through growth in its biofuels business. Sea Limited — Shares added 8% after the consumer internet company reported adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, or EBITDA, of $946.5 million for its first quarter, beating the $710.9 million consensus estimate, per FactSet. Revenue, however, missed expectations. — CNBC’s Alex Harring, Yun Li, Tanaya Macheel, Sean Conlon and Pia Singh contributed reporting.