Oil tumbled, someone just dropped seven billion on a data center lease, and Nvidia beat earnings but won't budge until guidance tells us how to feel
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Morning brief: Crude spiked past 108, Marvell caught a quiet bid from a rival, and we're all ignoring the Nvidia headline beat tonight to obsess over its gross margins
Broad markets are drifting lower as investors nervously brace for Nvidia's after-hours earnings, with options pricing in a massive 8% post-print swing. Marvell popped 4.34% following major analyst upgrades for its AI optics and a regulatory filing revealing AMD just took a stake in the firm. Energy plays USO and XLE caught bids as WTI crude spiked past $108 per barrel amid escalating geopolitical tensions in the Strait of Hormuz. Applied Digital plunged 6.44% as heavy profit-taking set in following the stock's recent 60% rally tied to a $7.5 billion CoreWeave AI infrastructure contract. An Nvidia earnings beat is fully priced in tonight; the real catalysts are gross margins holding above 75% and Vera Rubin architecture production timelines.
Posture: Defensive. Trimming AI hardware exposure ahead of NVDA's volatile earnings to build cash and rotating into energy hedges amid the Hormuz crisis.
Tickers in focus: NVDA, MRVL, USO
Upcoming earnings
Evening brief: Oil tumbled, someone just dropped seven billion on a data center lease, and Nvidia beat earnings but won't budge until guidance tells us how to feel
Tumbling oil prices and cooling Treasury yields fueled a broad market rally, sending the Nasdaq up 1.5% as traders positioned for Nvidia's after-hours earnings. Applied Digital spiked 8% after-hours upon securing a massive 15-year, $7.5 billion hyperscaler lease for its new Polaris Forge 3 AI data center. Advanced Micro Devices jumped 8% as analysts raised price targets, citing expanding server CPU opportunities and a rapidly growing AI-driven total addressable market. Bloom Energy surged 8% after inking a $2.6 billion fuel-cell deal with Nebius, though NBIS slipped 3% as investors digested the hefty price tag. Nvidia crushed top and bottom-line estimates after the bell, but initial trading remains muted; tomorrow's session hinges entirely on digesting their forward guidance.
Posture: Cautiously aggressive. NVDA's earnings beat confirms the AI thesis, but stretched valuations compel a pivot toward physical infrastructure layers with tangible contracts.
Tickers in focus: APLD, NVDA
Upcoming earnings
The day's moves on the ledger
No slate changes were logged this day.
← Tuesday, May 19, 2026 · Thursday, May 21, 2026 → · Archive