Stocks are a mixed bag this afternoon, with the Nasdaq Composite (IXIC) down 83 points while the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) and S&P 500 Index (SPX) trade near breakeven. The chip sector is facing headwinds amid reports that SoftBank and OpenAI's Stargate joint venture -- a $500 billion investment in artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure in the U.S. -- is currently struggling to take off, resulting in scaled back near-term plans. 

Kohl's Corp(NYSE: KSS) just became be the latest meme stock. The retailer is seeing unusual options activity today, with 166,000 calls and 108,000 puts traded so far, which is 18 times the volume typically seen at this point. The most popular contract is the weekly 7/25 17.50-strike call, where positions are being sold to open. KSS is up 33.3% to trade at $13.88 at last glance as retail traders pile on, and earlier hit an year-to-date high of $21.49. The retail stock now sports a 102% three-month lead, and could continue to rise should there be a prolonged short squeeze, with 49.1% of its available float still sold short.

Home construction stock D.R. Horton Inc (NYSE: DHI) is up 13.7% to trade at $149.15 at last glance, among the best stocks on the SPX today. Today's surge comes after the company beat fiscal third-quarter earnings and profit expectations. Shares are on track for their best single-day percentage gain since April 2020, after earlier surging to their highest level since January. In the last three months, DHI added over 19%.

Equifax Inc (NYSE: EFX) stock is among the worst performers on the SPX today, down 6.9% to trade at $241.71 at last check, brushing off better-than-expected second-quarter earnings and revenue, as well as a raised annual outlook. A catalyst for today's negative price action was not immediately clear, with shares gapping below recent support at the 100-day moving average to their lowest level since April. EFX carries a 10.6% year-over-year deficit.

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