Markets
Luke Kawa

US stocks rally on semiconductor, small-cap surge

The S&P 500, the Nasdaq 100, and the Russell 2000 all gained on Wednesday, with small caps leading the way higher.

Real estate, tech, and financials were the best-performing S&P 500 sector ETFs, all advancing more than 1%. Consumer discretionary, weighed down by Tesla and Amazon, fared the worst.

Alphabet’s cloud revenue growth in the fourth quarter underwhelmed, sending shares sharply lower. The company’s massive capex surprise, however, was great news for Broadcom, a key supplier.

Super Micro Computer built on Tuesday’s big gains with more of the same after announcing full production of a server solution that utilizes Nvidia’s highly sought-after Blackwell GPUs — an update that was positive for the chip designer as well. On the other hand, disappointing data center revenue growth tanked shares of Advanced Micro Devices, which suffered a raft of price target cuts from Wall Street analysts.

Despite the overhang from China and US trade frictions, shares of Mattel went skyward on the company’s strong earnings report and positive guidance.

Cannabis stocks like Tilray and Canopy Growth gained amid a hodgepodge of positive news on the industry.

Unlike rival Eli Lilly, which retreated after posting quarterly results, Novo Nordisk’s impressive growth in weight-loss drugs propelled shares higher.

EA also ramped higher after reporting earnings after the close on Tuesday.

Investors cheered Workday’s plans to cut jobs and lean more into AI.

Match Group slumped after its revenue outlook came in light relative to analysts’ projections.

Uber’s most profitable quarter ever came with a few operational asterisks, leading to a sell-off in the shares.

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markets

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 makers stock rose 19% on Friday, hitting an all-time high, on record Q4 earnings.

Powering the positive earnings report was the companys 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 companys 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. Lenovos $21 billion AI-server pipeline and remarks that demand is outpacing supply support Dells AI-demand momentum and point to robust orders.

AIs 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.

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

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.

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