Chip Stocks Power Record Rally; AI Investors Punish Imperfection
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Morning brief: IREN Soars on $3.4B Nvidia AI Pact; Semis Rebound Before Jobs Data
Good morning. Futures are pointing to a green open, with the Nasdaq leading the way as semiconductor stocks look to rebound from yesterday's pullback. Your core semi holdings like AMD and NVDA are quiet pre-market but will be in focus as the sector tries to resume its powerful long-term uptrend, which has been fueled by accelerating AI infrastructure spending. The big mover on your list is IREN, which is jumping after announcing a massive five-year, $3.4 billion AI cloud deal with Nvidia. Elsewhere, the recent weakness in Robinhood (HOOD) follows its latest earnings report where a miss on revenue, driven by slowing crypto activity, disappointed investors. Similarly, Shopify (SHOP) continues to digest its own post-earnings sell-off, where strong sales growth was overshadowed by investment write-downs and guidance that suggested a slowing pace. All eyes are now on the April jobs report, due just before the bell, which will set the tone for the session.
Evening brief: Chip Stocks Power Record Rally; AI Investors Punish Imperfection
The market shrugged off recent anxieties and ripped higher into the weekend, powered by a stunning rally in semiconductors. A stronger-than-expected April jobs report, which showed the economy added 115,000 jobs versus a 65,000 estimate, provided the macro fuel, sending the S&P 500 and Nasdaq to new records. The real story, however, was the absolute explosion in AI-related stocks. Memory chip makers flew on reports of surging DRAM and NAND prices, with Micron (MU) and SanDisk (SNDK) rocketing over 15% and 16% respectively. AMD continued its monster run, jumping over 11% as Wall Street keeps cheering its blowout earnings and growing data center business. It was a clear continuation of the year's dominant AI trend. But it was a different story for CoreWeave (CRWV), which plunged over 11% despite doubling revenue, as a wider loss and soft guidance showed that in this market, even massive growth isn't enough if you miss expectations. AI enthusiasm is clearly hitting fever pitch, but investors are punishing any hint of imperfection.
The day's moves on the ledger
No slate changes were logged this day.