Markets
Yiwen Lu

US stocks set record and notch sixth winning week; oil slumps

The S&P 500 rose 0.4% on Friday, finishing the week at another record. It rose 0.9% this week, logging its sixth straight week of gains. The Nasdaq 100 climbed 0.7% on the day and 0.3% on the week. Still, the Russell 2000 lost 0.2%, logging its second session of losses, but the small cap-focused index still managed to score a 1.9% weekly gain.

The S&P 500 energy sector ETF was down 0.3% and fell 2.7% overall this week, making it the biggest laggard among all major sectors. 

Meanwhile, crude oil futures posted their biggest weekly losses in almost a year. The US benchmark WTI crude was down 8.4% this week, while the global benchmark Brent crude fell 7.6%. This marked the commodity’s first weekly loss after two consecutive weeks of gains for crude oil on the rising tension in the Middle East. But reports this week that Israel would not attack Iran’s oil facilities eased concerns over geopolitical risks. In addition, signs of slowing demand for crude oil from China continued to weigh on prices. 

All other sectors gained. Communication services added 0.7%, thanks to Netflix, which delivered its best profit ever on Thursday. The stock was the best S&P 500 performer of the day, up 11.1%. 

In other individual stock news, Lamb Weston jumped 10.2% after the Wall Street Journal reported that activist investor Jana Partners had acquired a stake in the struggling french-fry producer, with the possibility of pushing the company to explore a sale. CVS lost 5.2% after the company announced leadership changes and cut profit forecasts.

More Markets

See all Markets
Tasha Matsumoto
5/22/26
S&P 500 posts weekly gain for its 8th consecutive week

The benchmark index is on its longest weekly winning streak since 2023.

A handsome, brown Pineywoods bull with a black head and large horns stands near a forest
markets
Paige Oamek

Hardware stocks jump thanks to server demand and record Lenovo revenue

Server stocks are rallying as Dell, Super Micro Computer, and Hewlett Packard Enterprise ride the momentum of Hong Kong-based Lenovo. The PC maker’s stock rose 19% on Friday, hitting an all-time high, on record Q4 earnings.

Powering the positive earnings report was the company’s AI-related revenue, which grew 84% in the fourth quarter and now makes up over a third of total revenue. Investors seem to think the increased demand for servers could have trickle-down effects for other companies.

“The company’s results and commentary reinforced the outlook for strong AI-infrastructure demand while indicating resilient broader traditional server and storage spending,” wrote Woo Jin Ho, a senior technology analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence. “Lenovo’s $21 billion AI-server pipeline and remarks that demand is outpacing supply support Dell’s AI-demand momentum and point to robust orders.”

AI’s insatiable computing demand is reshaping the hardware industry and driving up server demand.

Dell will report first-quarter earnings on Thursday, May 28.

Policeman with Piercing Eyes

Take-Two’s “GTA 6” forecast feels absurdly conservative

Take-Two issued a 2027 net bookings forecast about $1 billion below Wall Street’s estimates. The stock is falling on Friday.

Max Knoblauch5/22/26
The D-Wave 2X quantum system, is operated at the NASA Advanced Supercomputing facility's Quantum Artificial Intelligence Laboratory at NASA's Ames Research Center in Mountain View, Calif., as seen on Tuesday December 8, 2015.

Quantum computing CEOs hope “validating” government backing proves their technology is no longer speculative

The government funding is a push to boost the foundational elements of quantum computing to get the industry ready for prime time. The CEOs of Infleqtion and D-Wave give us their thoughts.

Luke Kawa5/22/26
markets
Helena Cheng

Ross Stores surges as Q1 results beat expectations, full-year guidance raised

Ross shares are rising after the company delivered strong Q1 results, with sales topping Wall Street’s projections.

The stock soared 6.3% just after the open.

Key numbers:

  • Earnings per share of $2.02 vs. $1.47 year over year (estimate: $1.72).

  • Sales of $6.01 billion, up 21% year over year (estimate: $5.61 billion).

  • Comparable sales growth of 17% (estimate: 8.58%).

CEO Jim Conroy attributed the results to better traffic in stores. “Customer traffic was the primary driver of the strong sales trend as compelling merchandise assortments, higher customer acquisition and engagement from our ongoing marketing initiatives, and an improved in‑store experience are resonating with shoppers.”

The company also noted that transaction volume grew across all key demographics, including “income levels, ethnicities, and age groups, including younger customers.” Sales were also likely buoyed by standard seasonal tailwinds, including consumer spending from tax refunds.

Backed by the strong quarter, the company lifted its full-year targets. Ross now projects same-store sales growth of 6% to 7%, up from the prior forecast of 3% to 4%, topping Wall Street’s estimate of 4.64%. It boosted its annual EPS guidance to a range of $7.50 to $7.74, versus the prior outlook of $7.02 to $7.36.

Ross Stores has been one of the retail sector’s standout performers this year, rising around 20% year to date as of Thursday’s close.

Latest Stories

Sherwood Media, LLC and Chartr Limited produce fresh and unique perspectives on topical financial news and are fully owned subsidiaries of Robinhood Markets, Inc., and any views expressed here do not necessarily reflect the views of any other Robinhood affiliate, including Robinhood Markets, Inc., Robinhood Financial LLC, Robinhood Securities, LLC, Robinhood Crypto, LLC, Robinhood Money, LLC, Robinhood U.K. Ltd, Robinhood Derivatives, LLC, Robinhood Gold, LLC, Robinhood Asset Management, LLC, Robinhood Credit, Inc., Robinhood Ventures DE, LLC and, where applicable, its managed investment vehicles.
©2026 Sherwood Media, LLC