Early Look

Thursday, May 28, 2026

After closing higher for a 5^th straight day on Wednesday and trying to extend its weekly advances to nine weeks, the S&P 500 (SPX) index is down slightly/little changed overnight ahead of key PCE inflation data later this morning at 8:30 am et. A “cooler” reading could extend the market rally that has been going on since the end of March, with monstrous gains in the Nasdaq, led by specific strength in the semis (SOX) which are up 20% this month and 80% this year. A “hotter” reading could however cause Fed rate hike fears and weigh on sectors that are interest rate sensitive like dividend paying names (utilities, towers, REITs) and housing. Stocks slipped overnight and oil edged higher after news American forces shot down four Iranian drones fired at a commercial ship and hit a launch unit near Hormuz, according to a US official. In response, Iran targeted the US base from which the strikes came, state-run Press TV reported.

The S&P 500, Nasdaq Comp and Dow Jones industrials all eked out (barely) new all-time highs again on Wednesday while the Russell 2000 slipped in final minutes to prevent a record high. It was a day dominated by consumer discretionary (XLY) strength as well as defensive consumer staples (XLP) while energy (XLE) slumped along with financials (XLF) and tech (XLK) pared some of its recent record gains. It was a big night for tech earnings with several notable names moving including SNOW to the upside, CRM slipped on better quarter but mixed guide, and MRVL shares rose in semiconductors (other mentions down below). In Asian markets, The Nikkei Index declined -306 points to 64,693, the Shanghai Index rose 4 points to 4,098, and the Hang Seng Index dropped -322 points to 25,006. In Europe, the German DAX is down -71 points to 25,106, while the FTSE 100 is down -84 points to 10,420.  Very heavy slate of economic data later this morning around 8:30 am et with PCE, GDP, jobless claims and personal income/spending.

• The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 182.60 points, or 0.36%, to 50,644.28
• The Nasdaq Composite gained 18.55 points, or 0.07%, to 26,674.73
• The Russell 2000 Index slipped -0.57 points, or 0.02% to 2,919.97

• 8:30 AM ET                   Continuing Claims…est. 1.78M
• 8:30 AM ET                   Personal Income M/M for April…est. +0.4% (prior +0.6%)
• 8:30 AM ET                   Personal Spending M/M for April…prior +0.2%
• 8:30 AM ET PCE Price index M/M for April…est. +0.5% (prior +0.7%)
• 8:30 AM ET PCE Price index Y/Y for April…est. +3.8% (prior +3.5%)
• 8:30 AM ET                   Core PCE Price index M/M for April…est. +0.3% (prior +0.3%)
• 8:30 AM ET                   Core PCE Price index Y/Y for April…est. +3.3% (prior +3.2%)
• 8:30 AM ET                   Q1 GDP second estimate…est. +2.0% (prior +2%)
• 8:30 AM ET                   Q1 GDP Consumer Spending…prior +1.6%
• 8:30 AM ET                   Q1 GDP Price Deflator…est. +3.6% (prior +3.6%)
• 8:30 AM ET                   Core PCE Price index M/M for Q1…est. +4.3% (prior +4.3%)
• 8:30 AM ET                     Durable Goods Orders M/M for April…est. +3.5%
• 10:00 AM ET                 New Home Sales M/M for April…est. 665K
• 10:30 AM ET                 Weekly EIA Natural Gas Inventory Data
• 12:00 PM ET                 Weekly EIA Inventory Data
• 1:00 PM ET US Treasury to sell $44B in 7-year notes

• Earnings After the Close: ADSK AEO AMBA ASAN COST DELL ESTC GAP HQY MDB NGL NTAP OKTA PD PKE S

• Benchmark Healthcare Conference, 5/28 (virtual)
• Deutsche Bank 16th Annual Global Financial Services Conference, 5/27-5/28, in New York
• Keybanc Industrial & Basic Materials Conference, 5/26-5/28, in Boston
• Stifel Jaws & Paws Conference, 5/28-5/29 in New York
• TD Cowen 54th Annual Technology, Media & Telecom Conference, 5/27-5/28, in New York

• The bull-bear spread in the American Association of Individual Investors (AAII) weekly survey was -6.3 % vs -11.9% last week. Bulls rose to 35.6% from 31.7%, Neutrals fall to 22.6% from 24.7%, Bears fall to 41.9% from 43.6%
• @Barchart noted on X, “Semiconductor Stocks are now trading above their 200-day moving average by the largest margin since the Dot Com Bubble Burst”

• Dollar Tree (DLTR) Q1 adj EPS $1.74 vs. est. $1.55; Q1 revs $4.975BB vs. est. $4.96B; Q1 comparable store net sales growth of 3.5%; said expects 400 new store openings and 75 closings in FY26; guides FY26 EPS $6.7-$7.10, above prior view $6.50-$6.90 and backs year revs view of $20.5B-$20.7B, with comp sales +3%-4%.
• DoorDash (DASH) and Dollar Tree (DLTR) announced a new partnership to offer on-demand delivery from Dollar Tree's full U.S. store footprint on DoorDash. With more than 9,000 stores available across 48 states, consumers can now shop more than 10,000 products from Dollar Tree on DoorDash.
• Hormel Foods (HRL) Q2 adj EPS $0.40 vs. est. $0.36; Q2 revs $2.97B vs. est. $2.95B; reaffirms FY2026 net sales and adjusted EPS forecast.

• Astronics (ATRO) announced that the U.S. Army has issued a purchase order to Astronics Test Systems for the TS-4549/T Radio Test Sets Program. The order initiates the full rate production stage of the program and is for $44.7M; order is expected to cover deliveries over the next 20 months.
• FedEx Freight (FDXF) will replace American Airlines (AAL) in the Dow Jones Transportation Average effective prior to the open of trading on Monday, June 1. Dow Jones Transportation Average constituent FedEx (FDX) is spinning off FedEx Freight Holding in a transaction expected to be completed on June 1.
• FedEx Freight Holding Company (FDXF) will replace EPAM Systems Inc. (EPAM) in the S&P 500, and EPAM Systems will replace Shutterstock Inc. (SSTK) in the S&P SmallCap 600 effective Tuesday, June 2.
• HEICO Inc. (HEI) Q2 EPS $1.66 topped consensus $1.34 on revs $1.38B vs. consensus $1.25B; continue to forecast strong cash flow from operations for fiscal 2026.
• U-Haul Holding (UHAL) Q4 EPS net loss widened as fleet depreciation rose while revs rose y/y to $1.27B, driven by higher self-moving equipment rental and self-storage revenues; authorized $350M share repurchase plan; said expects capex on rental trucks to decline next year, moderating fleet depreciation.

• N.T. Butterfield (NTB) has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire CIBC's 91.7% interest in CIBC Caribbean Bank. The total consideration to be paid for CIBC Caribbean will be comprised of $1.09B in cash and $703M in Butterfield shares.
• Royal Bank of Canada (RY) announces 45M share repurchase program; raises quarterly dividend 7% to C$1.76 per share; Q2 adjusted EPS C$3.90 vs. C$3.12 last year and Q2 revenue C$17.45B vs. C$15.67B last year.

• CVS (CVS), Walgreens and Walmart (WMT) defeated a lawsuit brought by 16 Florida hospitals accusing them of flooding the State with opioids, after a judge found that the pharmacy chains' alleged efforts to boost opioid sales did not directly harm the hospitals. The case went to a jury in late 2025 and resulted in a mistrial when the jurors could not reach a verdict. Rather than holding a new trial set for August, Broward County Chief Judge Carol-Lisa Phillips ruled late Tuesday in favor of the pharmacy chains.
• Icon (ICLR) Q4 EPS $2.52 misses consensus $3.12 but Q4 revenue $2.11B beat est. $1.99B; sees FY26 EPS $10.00-$11.00, vs. consensus $11.28 and sees FY26 revenue $7.85B-$8.15B vs. consensus $7.85B.
• Phreesia Inc. (PHR) Q1 GAAP EPS $0.05 vs est $0.01 on Revs $130.9M (+13% YoY) vs est $130.1Mm; Subscription & related services $52.7M; Payment solutions $41.9M; Network solutions $36.3M; GAAP EBIT $6.75M (vs EBIT loss $3.29M prior yr); Adj EBITDA $30.5M (vs $20.8M prior yr); Cf $23.9M (vs $14.9M); FCF $16.4M (vs $7.5M); Cash/restricted cash $76.4M; AHSCs 4,708 (+7% YoY); Rev/AHSC $27,811 (+6% YoY); FY2027 guidance maintained: Rev $510M–$520M vs est $515.7Mm; Adj EBITDA $125M–$135M vs est $128.79Mm.

• Amazon (AMZN) said its Amazon Web Services (AWS) has signed up cloud storage company Snowflake as its latest chips customer, as the proliferation of artificial intelligence agents continues to drive high levels of demand for computing hardware. Snowflake (SNOW) plans to pay $6 billion over the next five years for access to Amazon's Graviton chips inside AWS data centers.
• Braze Inc. (BRZE) Q1 FY27 (Apr): Adj EPS $0.10 vs est $0.10 on revenue $211M vs est $205.2M (+30% YoY); 4th straight qtr of organic rev growth acceleration; Q2 guide: rev $219.5M–$220.5M vs est $216.5M, adj EPS $0.15–$0.16 vs est $0.15, adj EBIT $17M–$18M vs est $17.18Mm; FY27 guide: rev $895M–$899M vs est $888M (raised from prior $884M–$889M), adj EPS $0.61–$0.65 vs est $0.63, adj EBIT $70M–$74M vs est $71.31Mm.
• Dell Technologies (DELL) received a $9.69 billion contract from the Pentagon. The award is a firm-fixed-price blanket purchase agreement to streamline and consolidate software acquisition across the Pentagon, intelligence community and Coast Guard. The agreement will allow customers to procure Microsoft software licenses, cloud subscriptions and software assurance.
• Everpure Inc (P) Q1 EPS $0.47 vs. consensus $0.40; Q1 revs rose 35% y/y to $1.1B vs. est. $1B; increased FY27 revenue and operating profit guidance; raises FY27 revenue view to $4.41B-$4.51B from $4.3B-$4.4B (est. $4.39B) and raises FY27 non-GAAP operating income view to $820M-$860M from $780M-$820M.
• HP Inc. (HPQ) Q2 FY26 (Apr): Adj EPS $0.86 vs est $0.71 on revenue $14.41B vs est $14.07B (+9% YoY), adj net income $790M vs est $660.5M, non-GAAP EBIT mgn 7.5% (+20bps YoY); Personal Systems rev $10.2B (+13% YoY, EBIT mgn 5.2%), Printing rev $4.2B (flat YoY, EBIT mgn 18.3%); Q2 FCF $800M; returned $374M to shareholders (dividend + buybacks); Q3 guide: adj EPS $0.61–$0.71 vs est $0.64; FY26 guide cut adj EPS $2.90–$3.10 vs est $2.89 (from prior $3.20–$3.40), FCF $2.8B–$3.0B.
• IBM (IBM) said it has committed $5 billion to an initiative that will deploy engineers and AI tools ‌to help companies better secure open source software. The initiative, called ‌Project Lightwell, seeks to create a "clearinghouse" for open source security, establishing a model for managing ​risks across software supply chain.
• Marvell Technology (MRVL) Q1 adj EPS $0.80 vs. consensus $0.79 on in-line revs at $2.418B which was up 28% y/y; guides Q2 adjusted EPS $0.93, plus/minus $0.05 vs. est. $0.90 and revs $2.7B, plus/minus 5% vs. consensus $2.6B; posted Q1 Data center revs $1.832B.
• Nebius Group (NBIS) shares jump over 10% after prominent artificial-intelligence investor Leopold Aschenbrenner has backed the cloud-computing company as the Aschenbrenner's Situational Awareness fund disclosed it owns 12.41 million Class A shares of Nebius on Wednesday, worth around $2.86 billion at Wednesday's closing price of $208.37. That represents a 5.6% stake in the company.
• nCino inc. (NCNO) Q1 FY27 (Apr): GAAP EPS $0.12 vs est $0.27 on revenue $159.4M vs est $154.8M, adj Outperform Income $44.5M vs est $39.0M, adj Op mgn 28% (+110bps YoY), non-GAAP gross mgn 69%; subscription rev $140.9M (+12% YoY), FCF $80.8M (+54% YoY); Q2 guide: rev $157.75M–$159.75M vs est $159.6M, sub rev $140.25M–$142.25M, adj Op income $35.5M–$37.5M vs est $38.84Mm; FY27 guide: rev $642M–$646M vs est $642M, sub rev $571.5M–$575.5M, adj Op income $166M–$171M vs est $168.44Mm
• Nutanix Inc. (NTNX) Q3 FY26 (Apr): Adj EPS $0.47 vs est $0.36 on revenue $703.1M vs est $686.4M (+10% YoY), adj EBIT $156.5M vs est $115.7M, adj EBIT margin 22.3%, adj gross margin 87.8%; ARR $2.43B (+15% YoY), RPO $3.08B, FCF $197.2M; Q4 guide rev $725M–$745M vs est $742M, adj EBIT margin 21%–23%; FY guide: rev $2.82B–$2.84B, adj EBIT margin ~22.5%, FCF $760M–$780M.
• PDD Holdings (PDD): Chinese online retailer Temu has been fined €200 million ($232 million) for not doing enough ‌to stop the sale of illegal products, EU tech regulators said, following the first part of a wide investigation.
• Salesforce Inc. (CRM) Q1 FY27: Adj EPS $3.88 vs. est $3.12 / Rev $11.13B vs. est $11.05B; Adj OP mgn 34.8%; Q2 guide: Rev $11.27B–$11.35B vs. est $11.36B, Adj EPS $3.25–$3.27 vs. est $3.25; FY27 guide: Rev $45.9B–$46.2B vs. est $46.1B, Adj EPS $14.06–$14.16 vs. est $13.20; confident in organic rev acceleration in 2H FY27.
• Snowflake (SNOW) shares jump over 30%; Q1 FY27 (Apr): Adj EPS $0.39 on revenue $1.39B vs est $1.32B; product rev $1.33B (+34% YoY), NRR 126%, RPO $9.21B (+38% YoY), adj FCF $265.5M; Q2 guide: product rev $1,415M–$1,420M, non-GAAP Op mgn 12.5%; FY27 guide: product rev raised to $5.84B from $5.66B (+31% YoY), non-GAAP OP mgn raised to 13.5% from 12.5%, non-GAAP product gross mgn 75%.
• Synopsys (SNPS) Q2 FY26 (Apr): Adj EPS $3.35 vs est $3.15 on revenue $2.28B vs est $2.25B, adj net Income $643.7M vs est $607.2M; EDA rev $1.82B (adj Op mgn 43.3%), IP rev $454.2M (adj OP mgn 24.4%); Q3 guide: rev $2.41B–$2.46B vs est $2.414B, adj EPS $3.63–$3.69 vs est $3.62; raises FY26 adjusted EPS view to $14.72-$14.80 from $14.38-$14.46 and revs to $9.625B-$9.705B from $9.56B-$9.66B, consensus $9.63B.
• Wix.com (WIX) said it is laying off 20% of its workforce, or more than 1,000 workers, CEO Avishai Abrahami said on Thursday. Wix had a headcount of 5,277 employees at the end of the first quarter.

Mid-Morning Look

Thursday, May 28, 2026

Just absolutely no quit in U.S. stock markets, getting another massive boost this morning after the market open following an Axios report that the U.S. and Iranian negotiators have reached an agreement on a 60-day memorandum of understanding to extend the ceasefire and launch negotiations on Iran's Nuclear program, but President Trump has yet to give it his final approval. U.S. officials said the deal terms were mostly agreed as of Tuesday, but both sides still needed to get approval from Senior leadership. The headlines boosted stock markets to new highs as oil prices slumped. Prior to the Iran news, headlines overnight included Iran targeted a U.S. air base in Kuwait on Thursday after the United States struck what Washington described as an Iranian drone operation near the Strait of Hormuz and President Donald Trump rejected a reported compromise deal with Tehran. Prior to the Iran headlines, investors were digesting a busy night of earnings as names like SNOW helped rally the software sector and retailers BBY, CTRN, and KSS shares all jumped on results (BURL slipped). Drone stocks saw strength (AVAV, DPRO, KTOS, ONDS, UMAC) on a WSJ report that the Trump administration is pursuing funding deals with a group of drone companies. Crypto sector has been week as Bitcoin falls to 6-week lows around $73,200, down over 2.5% and Ethereum fell over -3.5% to below $2,000. Lastly, a very busy morning of economic data saw mostly in-line April PCE inflation data, weaker GDP, weaker new home sales and higher jobless claims, but wasn’t enough to move the needle for markets initially.

• Q1 U.S. GDP (second estimate) came in at a +1.6%, annual rate, below the +2.0% in the first estimate and +0.5% in the prior quarter, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis. Personal consumption expenditures: +1.4%, annual rate, vs. +1.6% in initial estimate and +1.9% prior. Corporate profits fell at a rate of 0.4%, compared to the 5.7% growth seen in Q4 2025. Personal Saving Rate drops to 2.6%, the lowest since June 2022.
• Weekly Jobless Claims climbed to 215,000 from 210,000 and vs consensus 211,000 as the 4-week moving average climbed to 209,000 from 202,750 prior week (previous 202,500); continued claims climbed to 1.786M from 1.771M prior week and vs. consensus 1.780M.
• Durable Goods orders increased $25.5B or 7.9% to $346.0B, well above consensus of 2.8%, while March numbers were revised to 1.3% from 0.8%. Excluding transportation, new orders increased 1.1% vs +0.4% consensus and prior month's revised figure of 1.1%. New orders, excluding defense, increased 8.1% M/M following a -0.3% dip.
• April single-family home sales 622K, below consensus 665K; April single-family home sales -6.2%; April home sales Northeast -12.9%, Midwest -25.0%, south -9.8%, West +18.7%; April new home supply 9.4 months' worth at current pace vs March 8.7 months; median sale price $422,500, +2.2% from April 2025 ($413,600).

• Computer Hardware/Components: DELL received a $9.69 billion contract from the Pentagon. The award is a firm-fixed-price blanket purchase agreement to streamline and consolidate software acquisition across the Pentagon, intelligence community and Coast Guard. HPQ shares slipped as beats revenue, profit estimates as AI PC and Windows 11 refresh boost demand; Q2 revenue rose 9% to $14.41B y/y, and above est $14.07B but narrowed FY26 EPS guidance to $2.90 to $3.10, compared with its prior estimates of $2.90 to $3.20. IBM said it has committed $5 billion to an initiative that will deploy engineers and AI tools ‌to help companies better secure open source software. The initiative, called ‌Project Lightwell, seeks to create a "clearinghouse" for open source security, establishing a model for managing ​risks across software supply chain.
• Aerospace: HEI reported 2Q EPS of $1.66 beat expectations by over 20% (Street $1.33) while EBITDA of $408M was similarly strong, coming in well above the Street's $339M. Driving the better results was volumes and margins as the company saw sales rise 25% (+18% org) which was 9-10% better while op margins of 25.5% were a record high by 150bps. BKSY received a seven-figure, multi-year contract renewal to develop automated non-Earth imagery services as the program expands work into space domain awareness.

• BBY +11%; Q1 adj EPS $1.28 tops consensus $1.23 along with comp sales beat of +2% vs. est. +1% and forecasts Q2 sales above Wall Street expectations; maintains annual forecast of comparable sales in the range of a 1% decline to a 1% rise, with adjusted profit per share between $6.30 and $6.60.
• CTRN +10%; provided upbeat guide as sees Q1 revs $230.9M, vs. consensus $217.4M and prelim Q1 adjusted EBITDA $13.5M-$14M; raises FY26 outlook with comparable store sales growth now expected to be in the range of 8% to 10%, above previous outlook of 5% to 7%.
• DAVE +7%; will replace AMWD in the S&P SmallCap 600 effective prior to the opening of trading on Monday, June 1. S&P SmallCap 600 constituent MasterBrand Inc. (MBC) is acquiring American Woodmark.
• DLTR +15%; beat and raise as Q1 adj EPS $1.74 vs. est. $1.55; Q1 revs $4.975BB vs. est. $4.96B; Q1 comp store net sales growth of 3.5%; said expects 400 new store openings in FY26; guides FY26 EPS $6.7-$7.10, above prior view $6.50-$6.90 and backs year revs view of $20.5B-$20.7B, with comp sales +3%-4%.
• KSS +20%; maintained its annual targets after posting quarterly sales in line with estimates, as cost cut efforts start to pay off; said it continues to expect annual net sales to remain flat or decline up to 2%. It also sees annual earnings per share in the range of $1.00 to $1.60.
• MSFT +3%; after a report in The Information said Microsoft plans to unveil a coding model to boost the competitiveness of Microsoft-owned GitHub Copilot, a coding assistant whose early lead in the Ai coding market was eroded by Cursor and Claude Code, according to someone with direct knowledge of the plans.
• NBIS +7%; after prominent AI investor Leopold Aschenbrenner has backed the company as the Aschenbrenner's Situational Awareness fund disclosed it owns 12.41 million Class A shares of Nebius on Wednesday, worth around $2.86 billion at Wednesday's closing price of $208.37. That represents a 5.6% stake in the company.
• SNOW +32%; the big story today on results and partnership as raises annual product revenue forecast amid growing demand for AI-driven ‌workloads and cloud migrations; raised its product revenue forecast for fiscal 2027 to $5.84B, from $5.66B prior; also signed a five-year deal worth $6 billion with Amazon Web Services tied to AWS' Graviton processors and AI infrastructure, as their partnership deepens around enterprise AI.

• BRZE -4%; shares fell as increased full-year guidance by more than the Q1 beat, which now implies ~22% growth in FY27 alongside expanding margins. Canaccord noted weakness in the stock appears more tied to elevated expectations and a strong run-up, rather than any deterioration in demand signals or commentary.
• BURL -8%; shares declined despite beat and raise quarter after shares rallied into the print; reported Q1 sales +14% y/y to $2.85B topping ests $2.8B and raised its FY sales forecast to grow 9%-11%, up from a previous view of up 8%-10%, and comp sales are expected to grow 2%-4%, up from a prior 1%-3% view.
• MSTR -5%; along with weakness in BMNR, IBIT, COIN and other crypto related names as Bitcoin falls -3.3% to 6-week lows below $73,000, and Ethereum fell over -4% to below $2,000
• PLAB -27%; posted a miss on the top and bottom line for Q2 as EPS $0.42 below the $0.54 est. and revs fell -0.5% y/y to $209.9M vs. the est. $216.6M saying certain design releases were delayed due to elevated fab utilization rates, extending new product launch timelines; guides Q3 revs $207M-$215M vs. est. $218.5M.

Closing Recap

Wednesday, May 27, 2026

US equity futures overnight added to yesterday’s gains as investors hold onto hope for Iran resolution and the tech sector continues to bounce back from recent declines.  Word on a draft deal for an initial MOU between Iran and the US further supported stocks and pressured oil pre-market but the gains in equities did not stick once the market opened and profit-taking became the early theme.  After the White House indirectly denied early Iran media reports on the draft MOU, S&P futures headed into negative territory.  Still, today’s Fear and Greed Index remained strong at 61/100 (Greed) versus last week’s 60 (Greed) and last month’s 66 (Greed).  By mid-morning, market breadth favored advancers by 11:9 as small caps outperformed with IWM (+0.00%) versus SPY (-0.03%) and QQQ (-0.25%).  Breadth on SPY favored advancers by 9:7, while breadth on QQQ was neutral.  In terms of sector performance, Consumer Discretionary (+1.93%), Consumer Staples (+1.55%) and Communications (+0.93%) were outperformers among S&P sector ETFs, while Utilities (-0.57%), Technology (-0.97%) and Energy (-1.46%) paced the underperformers with 6 sectors gaining versus 5 declining.

In news of note today, per @charliebilello, US home prices gain 0.7% over the past year, marking the slowest growth rate since mid-2023.  Perhaps we finally hit prices potential sellers could not resist?  On unusual streaks, per @RyanDetrick, if we finish higher today, that will be three consecutive up days in the S&P 500 to start for Kevin Warsh.  It would be the longest streak since 1979 and Volcker’s first three days but still short of the record longest up-streak of five for Miller in 1978. 

It’s all about the semiconductors (SOX)! @GlobalMktObserv noted on X, “The S&P 500 has gained ~672 points year-to-date in 2026, with semiconductors accounting for a disproportionate share of the advance. The seven largest chipmakers in the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index, $SOX, excluding Nvidia, have contributed ~289 points, or 43% of the total gain. At the same time, the Magnificent 7 has added just ~160 points, or 24% of the total gain, over the same period. Furthermore, $SOX including Nvidia has contributed ~369 points, or 55% of the total gain, while the remaining Magnificent 6 has added just ~79 points, or 12%. This comes as the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index, $SOX, has surged +82% year-to-date, compared to a gain of just +6% for the Magnificent 7 excluding Nvidia.

Goldman Sachs raised its year-end S&P 500 target to 8000 (from 7600), implying 6% upside driven by stronger earnings expectations following a solid Q1. Goldman also raises its EPS forecasts to $340 (+24% year/year) in 2026 and $385 (+13%) in 2027, with companies benefiting from Ai infrastructure investment expected to contribute roughly half of this year's earnings growth. Look for limited multiple expansion, and rates and oil to pose risks to forecasts.

Having never really strayed far from breakeven, US equities entered the final hour with a slight gain in the S&P but a slight decline for the Nasdaq.  Absent any significant new revelations in Iran negotiations, all eyes will be on tomorrow’s PCE report and any read-through to Fed rate move expectations.  Otherwise, a Summer feel is creeping into the market

• WTI crude futures slid overnight on headlines out of Iran indicating a draft existed for the initial MOU framework between Iran and the US.  Hope immediately rose for a rapid resumption of shipping via the Strait of Hormuz, but response headlines out of the US made things less certain and less clear.  Nevertheless, the door remained open for progress and the market celebrated with more selling pressure on oil as the day progressed.  The July contract settled -$5.21/bbl, or -5.55%, at $88.68.MOU framework between Iran and the US.  Hope immediately rose for a rapid resumption of shipping via the Strait of Hormuz, but response headlines out of the US made things less certain and less clear.  Nevertheless, the door remained open for progress and the market celebrated with more selling pressure on oil as the day progressed.  The July contract settled -$5.21/bbl, or -5.55%, at $88.68.

• In Luxury Retail: CPRI posted Q4 EPS $0.22 topping consensus $0.11 on in-line revs $796M while guided FY profit forecast of $2.15 per share, above the $1.83 consensus (and in-line revs $3.53b) and said it plans to recover all tariffs paid under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act and has recorded a refund of $65M.
• In Specialty Retail: BBWI Q1 sales $1.38B topped est. $1.36B on better adj EPS of $0.32 vs. est. $0.29 while maintained full-year forecasts for net sales and adj profit and said Eva Boratto will step down from her role as CFO, with Tom Javitch set to take over as interim CFO, effective June 12. Watch retailer MOV Q1 sales rose 8% y/y to $142.4M vs. est. $135M on higher adj EPS $0.32 (est. $0.08); expects Q2 sales growth to moderate while gross margin rose due to favorable channel/product mix and better cost leverage over higher sales
• Sporting Goods retail: DKS posted Q1 revs $5.17B vs. consensus $5.07B on mostly in-line EPS of $2.90 vs. est. $2.91 and comp sales +6.0% vs. +4.5% y/y; Q1 Operating margin: 8.7% vs. 11.5% y/y; said sees $200M in charges in FY26 from Foot Locker acquisition; backs year EPS and rev outlook.
• Discount/Dollar retailers: DG was downgraded from Buy to Hold at Deutsche bank and cut tgt to $110 from $170 saying they see DG's customer base increasingly challenged, and the K-shaped economy continuing to widen the Gap between the low vs the high end, likely limiting comp sales upside.
• Food Sector: Jefferies was out with an updated assessment of dividend risk across the food space as earnings pressure, soft volumes and reinvestment needs continue to drive vulnerability. They lower their F27 and F28 estimates to reflect softer demand amid consumer pressure and increased margin headwinds from elevated cost inflation that should persist NT. They view CAG and CPB as the most at risk for dividend cuts.

• In Casino & Gaming: MGM was upgraded to Overweight from Neutral at JP Morgan citing stable leisure demand will support improved Las Vegas Strip growth. JPMorgan's more favorable view of MGM reflects its conviction that the company's Las Vegas Strip EBITDA estimates have bottomed (MGM was also upgraded to Buy at Truist following Las Vegas Consumer Perception survey and Strip room rate survey. SRAD was downgraded to Neutral from Overweight at JPMorgan saying they see more compelling near-term upside elsewhere in Gaming coverage.
• In Autos: VRRM shares tumbled as receives termination of agreement notice from CAR saying they are reviewing contractual rights and obligations after termination notice; the co said the termination is expected to reduce 2026 commercial services revenue by $135M-$145M; cuts FY26 adjusted EPS view to $1.19-$1.25 from $1.32-$1.38 and lowers FY26 revenue view to $985M-$995M from $1.020B-$1.030B; cuts FY adj Ebitda as well. OPLN was upgraded to Overweight at JP Morgan saying the company continues to demonstrate remarkable execution in a mixed macro, and JPMC's recent meetings with management suggest room for durable growth for several years, and as such, potential for relative revisions upside to continue.

• E&C Sector: DY surges as Q1 adj EPS $4.42 crushed consensus $2.72 and revs rose 56% y/y to $1.96B above consensus $1.67B saying strong demand for fiber infrastructure and data center builds drove revenue growth; guidance also better for EPS and revs $1.94B-$2.01B vs. consensus $1.77B and raised its year outlook.
• Transports: FDX was upgraded to Overweight from Neutral at JP Morgan and raise tgt to $460, taking a more positive stance on the shares into the company's fiscal Q4 report on June 23 saying risk/reward is attractive heading into the separation of the freight business on June 1. GXO upgraded to Overweight at Barclays saying its leadership is likely to target a more profitable future leveraging automation and Robotics to achieve best-in-class margins while focusing growth ambitions in the North American market. In shipping, DSX increases all-cash offer to acquire GNK to $24.80 per share.

• Canadian Banks: BMO Q2 revenue and adjusted EPS beat analyst expectations (C$3.67/C$9.57B vs. est. C$3.45/C$9.47B) as adj net income for Q2 rose 34% y/y; raised quarterly dividend and agreed to sell Transportation Finance and Vendor Finance businesses; provision for credit losses fell to C$739 mln from C$1,054 mln in the prior year, mainly due to lower provisions in Capital Markets and U.S. Banking. BNS Q2 adjusted EPS C$2.02 vs. C$1.52 last year; Q2 revenue C$9.84B vs. C$9.08B last year; raised quarterly dividend by 4%; provision for credit losses fell yr/yr, mainly due to a lower provision on performing loans, though impaired loan provisions increased; maintains 14%+ ROE target for fiscal 2027.
• Crypto assets have been under pressure with Bitcoin -1.5% at $74,880 and Ethereum -1% at $2,053, which has weighed on shares of COIN, BMNR and other assets. MSTR shares dropped below its 50dma $155.40 and IBIT dropped below its 50dma $42.43 as crypto assets remain under pressure.
• Financial Services: MSCI was upgraded to Overweight from Equal Weight at Wells Fargo saying growing demand for data will help support the company's continued index momentum. MSCI shares should outperform peers given its defensibility to AI disruption, underpinned by its proprietary data and network effects. OPEN announced it will be included in the Russell 3000 index.
• REITs: PEB was upgraded to Buy from Hold at Truist citing excellent forward fundamentals; EQR upgraded from Neutral to Buy at Bank America, positive on AVB's and EQR's merger announcement as the firm believes the platform will be stronger once combined. Initial synergies would be primarily driven by expense savings.

• AZN said the FDA is pushing back its decision on whether to approve a new breast-cancer drug in order to review additional data provided by the company; AZN will provided additional analyses requested by the FDA in support of its application for the drug candidate, Camizestrant, after and FDA panel voted against its late last month.
• BNTX was upgraded to Buy from Neutral at UBS and raise tgt to $135 from $117 citing increased conviction and market opportunity for the company's oncology pipeline for the upgrade. UBS sees the PD-(L)1xVEGF bispecific class as a transformative modality in solid tumors and notes BioNTech has near-term clinical catalysts.
• TGTX Phase 3 trial met its primary endpoint, demonstrating bioequivalent drug exposure between the currently approved BRIUMVI Day 1 and Day 15 initiation dosing and a new single infusion on Day 1 only; safety and tolerability of the consolidated first infusion were consistent with the established BRIUMVI safety profile.
• VKTX assumed Buy and $83 tgt (up from $75 at Truist as the broker views VKTX as a differentiated player in a heavily saturated & highly competitive obesity landscape, tackling two key challenges Associated with contemporary and newer Therapies: time to efficacy - reaching 14.7% in 13 weeks, without plateau - and long-term adherence - leveraging both SC & oral formulations for continuity of Care, versatile dosing regimens.

• Medical Equipment: ICUI was upgraded from Hold to Buy at Needham as expects the company to benefit from an Iv system replacement Cycle as well as its competitors' challenges. While oil prices represent a risk, ICUI's exposure is limited, and management expects favorable tariff changes and efficiencies to offset the impact.
• Medtech: BSX shares tumbled after guidance at Bernstein conference as management reiterated their revised full-year organic growth guidance of 6.5% to 8%. Additionally, management set second-quarter growth guidance at 5% to 7% and CEO said the company has been seeing a decline in usage of its heart disease device, Watchman, for standalone procedures. Goldman Sachs lowered price tgts for TDOC, TNDM, ISRG, COO saying MedTech has experienced one of its weakest periods in 15-20 years across performance, valuation, and outlook revisions, pressured by sector rotation, slower growth, reimbursement and competitive risks, and aging investment narratives.

• Yesterday, NASA held its Moon Base press conference and provided updates on several key awards since its March 2026 Ignition announcement. FLY emerged as a notable winner, as JPL awarded FLY a ~$75M subcontract to deliver three to four lunar drones to the Moon's South Pole in support of NASA's MoonFall mission, targeted to launch NET 2028. FLY will use a modified version of its Elytra Dark orbital vehicle, built on the same architecture as its Blue Ghost CLPS missions. For its LTV (Lunar Terrain Vehicle) program, NASA awarded Lunar Outpost and AstroLab, each receiving ~$220M in awards, notably excluding LUNR. Blue Origin was selected to provide lunar cargo transportation services for the build-out of the moon base.

• In Chemicals: WLK was downgraded to Neutral from buy at Citigroup citing further housing recovery delay, less favorable PVC fundamentals, and less compelling operating leverage; while maintain positive view on PE producers DOW, LYB; updating estimates across PE & PVC producers given price normalization from peak and evidence of some supply normalization and demand destruction. Citi generally tempers 2H26 and 2027 expectations on normalizing PE & PVC prices from the Q2 peak. FUL was upgraded to Neutral from Underweight at JP Morgan citing valuation for the upgrade. UBS upgraded shares of RPM to Buy from Neutral as they have a more constructive view of RPM's pricing power in the current inflationary cycle and upgrade ECL to Buy from Neutral (tgt to $325 from $293) as expects the shares to re-rate higher as investors see Ecolab's pricing accelerate to recover raw material costs in the second half of 2026.
• Metals & Mining: big declines in silver and gold prices, weighing in turn shares of miners AEM, B, CDE, NEM, PAAS, HL and others amid heavy selling pressure on rising interest rate fears given the increase in inflationary data points 9ahead of the PCE inflation reading tomorrow. The macro backdrop remains pretty challenging for gold and positioning has been pretty short. While yields have come off, they are still comfortably above pre-war levels, physical demand looks soft: India is actively curbing imports.

• IT Services & Consulting: JP Morgan with several ratings changes as they upgraded CDW to Overweight from Neutral saying its valuation multiple offers significant upside opportunity; NSIT upgraded to Neutral citing continued enterprise demand momentum and the return of cloud growth for the upgrade; INGM was upgraded to Neutral from Underweight as sees limited downside to consensus estimates; SNX was upgraded to Overweight from Neutral as sees a value unlock opportunity for the shares from a sum-of-the-parts standpoint.
• Data Center/AI Infrastructure: IREN announced a hardware partnership with DELL for its Texas data centers. The deal accelerates IREN's GPU deployment timeline and increases the company's annualized run-rate revenue forecast to $4.4 billion.  IREN agreed to buy NVDA’s air-cooled Blackwell systems from Dell in a deal worth $1.6B.
• Software: APPS shares surged on earnings and guidance coming in above consensus expectations; Q4 adj EPS $0.16 tops consensus $0.09 on revs $142.5M vs. est. $133.2M; Q4 adj net Income $19.7M vs. est. $10.11M; Q4 adj EBITDA $31.4M vs. est. $25.14M (was upgraded to Buy at Bank America saying execution has become more consistent and FY27 visibility has improved).
• Internet sector: PDD shares tumbled as Q1 net income fell -15% to 12.5B yuan and revenue totaled 106.23B yuan that missed market estimates of 109.33B yuan, as economic weakness dented demand at its domestic discount marketplace, Pinduoduo. PDD is also facing stiff competition from rivals JD and BABA as well as discount retailers such as ByteDance's Douyin. META launches Instagram, Facebook, and WhatsApp subscriptions, with more to come, including Ai plans Meta is doubling down on its subscription offerings. For a few dollars per month, consumers subscribing to Instagram Plus ($3.99/mo), Facebook Plus ($3.99/mo), or WhatsApp Plus ($2.99/mo) will gain access to extra features, like profile customization, Super reactions, and story insights.

• Memory chip makers have been on absolute fire, with SNDK doing lots of the heavy lifting in 2025, while MU and SK Hynix have taken the reigns this year. @MikeZaccardi noted on X, $MU took 48 days from $500 billion to $1 trillion” in market cap.  @KobeissiLetter noted on X, “Taiwan’s stock market surges to its highest level on record, now up another +50% this year. Taiwan now has the 5th largest stock market in the world.” (due to SK Hynix).
• SMTC reported stronger than expected quarterly print and guide, driven by the ramp of Data Center and LoRa platforms; management tied the Q2 upside and 2H acceleration to a broader set of sockets than investors were modelling, including 800G and 1.6T FRO and LPO wins across hyperscalers in U.S. and China.
• GFS shares fell after 22M share Block Trade priced at $86.30

Street Recommendations

Thursday, May 28, 2026

• CLLS Barclays initiated coverage of Cellectis with an Overweight rating and $9 price target. The company is focused on the development of allogenic CAR-T therapeutics for various cancers, the analyst tells investors in a research note. The firm says Cellectis' allogenic platform allows for potentially quicker reaction time from diagnosis to treatment than autologous CAR-T therapies, opening up treatment settings that were previously inaccessible.
• IMNM Barclays analyst Lukas Shumway initiated coverage of Immunome with an Overweight rating and $36 price target. Immunome is a biopharmaceutical company focused primarily on the development of antibody-drug conjugate therapeutics to treat various cancers, the analyst tells investors in a research note. The firm says the company is on the verge of potentially launching its first commercial product, varegacestat, in desmoid tumors within the next 12 months pending a positive regulatory decision. It views the upcoming IM-1021 data in non-Hodgkin lymphoma as a "de-risking event for the platform."
• STRO Barclays initiated coverage of Sutro Biopharma with an Overweight rating and $56 price target. Sutro is a a biopharmaceutical company focused on the development of antibody-drug conjugates for the treatment of various cancers, the analyst tells investors in a research note. The firm sees "significant additional value potential" in the company's ADC platform from current levels.
• HPQ Barclays raised the firm's price target on HP Inc. to $19 from $16 and keeps an Underweight rating on the shares. The company's fiscal Q2 delivered in-line sales and a solid beat on earnings with margins above expectations, the analyst tells investors in a research note. However, the firm says HP's pull forwards in the quarter will likely pressure its second half of 2026 results. The company lowered its fiscal year earnings guidance in light of memory cost pressures and macro volatility, adds Barclays.
• NTNX Barclays raised the firm's price target on Nutanix to $53 from $47 and keeps an Equal Weight rating on the shares. The company's fiscal Q3 results were solid with a slight sales beat and more meaningful operating margin beat, the analyst tells investors in a research note. However, Barclays says Nutanix's supply constraints continue to be an overhang and are expected to persist into fiscal 2027.
• CRM Barclays lowered the firm's price target on Salesforce to $236 from $252 and keeps an Overweight rating on the shares post the fiscal Q1 report. The firm is not sure the quarter will be a main catalyst either way for investors to solve the AI debate. Salesforce's AI annual recurring revenue continued to do well, but remains small in the overall context, the analyst tells investors in a research note.
• SNOW Barclays analyst Raimo Lenschow raised the firm's price target on Snowflake to $272 from $192 and keeps an Equal Weight rating on the shares. The firm sees the shares re-rating higher post the fiscal Q1 report. Snowflake reported record net new product revenue, the analyst tells investors in a research note.
• PDD Barclays analyst Jiong Shao downgraded PDD Holdings to Equal Weight from Overweight with a price target of $89, down from $165. The company in Q1 reported its lowest non-GAAP net margin in five years, the analyst tells investors in a research note. The firm believes PDD's China revenue deceleration is likely to continue as its monetization faces headwinds. In addition, PDD is entering the private label market, which could cause "friction" with merchants, adds Barclays.
• CARG Barclays initiated coverage of CarGurus with an Overweight rating and $35 price target. Stocks in the auto retail space offer good growth and shareholder return potential, the analyst tells investors in a research note. The firm cites CarGurus' "attractive" valuation and growth profile for the buy rating. Barclays believes the company will expand its paying dealer base and quarterly average revenue per subscribing dealer at a "solid pace"
• RBA Barclays analyst John Babcock initiated coverage of RB Global (RBA) with an Overweight rating and $124 price target. Stocks in the auto retail space offer good growth and shareholder return potential, the analyst tells investors in a research note. The firm epacts RB will continue to gain share in the salvage vehicle market from Copart (CPRT). RB shares do not fully reflects the company's recent contract win, and its second half of 2026 results could be a catalyst as it will show the magnitude of the volume contribution, contends Barclays.
• SNA Barclays initiated coverage of Snap-On with an Overweight rating and $420 price target. Stocks in the auto retail space offer good growth and shareholder return potential, the analyst tells investors in a research note. The firm says Snap-On offers favorable fundamentals with earnings and free cash flow stability. The Street is incorrectly forecasting growth in its company's financial services segment in 2026, contends Barclays.
• VVV Barclays initiated coverage of Valvoline with an Equal Weight rating and $35 price target. Stocks in the auto retail space offer good growth and shareholder return potential, the analyst tells investors in a research note. The firm likes the "resilience" of Valvoline's business model but says the ongoing Middle East tensions could also pose a risk to the company's sales. In addition, the stock could be pressured in the near term as two of Valvoline's largest shareholders are shutting down and will be winding down their stakes, adds Barclays.

• CRM Bernstein lowered the firm's price target on Salesforce to $173 from $194 and keeps an Underperform rating on the shares. The firm notes Salesforce delivered a decent Q1 with some tailwind from Informatica, but Q2 guidance of 10% current currency growth was on the weaker side compared to street expectations. As a result, the stock is slightly in the red in the aftermarket, Bernstein adds.

• ETSY BofA raised the firm's price target on Etsy to $75 from $72 and keeps a Neutral rating on the shares. The firm is "increasingly positive" on a recent reinvigoration in growth fueled by a focus on core users and frequency, but reiterates a Neutral rating as growth remains below industry levels.
• STZ BofA analyst Peter Galbo lowered the firm's price target on Constellation Brands to $152 from $154 and keeps an Underperform rating on the shares. The firm lowered its Q1 EPS estimate to $3.10 from $3.20 on softer beer sales and weaker wine and spirits profitability.
• SNOW BofA raised the firm's price target on Snowflake to $300 from $205 and keeps a Buy rating on the shares. Along with reporting "strong" fiscal Q1 results, Snowflake's "key growth metric," Product revenue, grew 34% year-over-year, accelerating 4 points from 30% in Q4, the analyst noted. The firm thinks the results and outlook are "solid evidence supporting our long-term positive view that Snowflake is a share gainer in a large and expanding AI business intelligence opportunity," the analyst tells investors.
• CPRI BofA analyst Lorraine Hutchinson lowered the firm's price target on Capri Holdings to $20 from $23 and keeps a Neutral rating on the shares. Several metrics in Q4 showed that actions to improve the business are "gaining traction," but the firm thinks multiple expansion will "remain elusive until sales turn positive," the analyst tells investors.
• MRVL BofA analyst Vivek Arya raised the firm's price target on Marvell to $240 from $200 and keeps a Buy rating on the shares. Marvell has a "unique accelerating growth franchise" with arguably "the broadest breadth of premium IP" across compute, CPU, accelerators/LPU, networking, optics/CPO, memory/storage and security, making it the firm's top compute pick, the analyst tells investors.

• SNOW BTIG raised the firm's price target on Snowflake to $280 from $235 and keeps a Buy rating on the shares. The company posted exceptional Q1 results and meaningfully erased its outlook for FY27, while its product revenue beat also marks the largest quarter-over-quarter dollar growth in product revenue history, the analyst tells investors in a research note. AI is accelerating the company's core data platform business as customers migrate to Snowflake with increasing urgency, the firm added.

• CORT Canaccord raised the firm's price target on Corcept Therapeutics to $135 from $110 and keeps a Buy rating on the shares. The firm Corcept surprised today in reporting they plan to resubmit their NDA for relacorilant for use in patients with hypercortisolism. Canaccord spoke with management and came away confident that this subsequent NDA review could be successful.
• CRM Canaccord lowered the firm's price target on Salesforce to $225 from $250 and keeps a Buy rating on the shares. The firm said Salesforce delivered a steady start to FY27, with revenue of $11.1B growing 13% year-over year and subscription and support revenue up 14%, broadly in line with expectations when adjusting for Informatica.
• PHR Canaccord lowered the firm's price target on Phreesia to $16 from $22 and keeps a Buy rating on the shares. The firm said Phreesia beat consensus revenue and adj-EBITDA estimates, but missed the firm's revenue and adj-EBITDA forecasts, which they previously noted would likely prove to be too aggressive
• SNOW Canaccord analyst Kingsley Crane raised the firm's price target on Snowflake to $325 from $240 and keeps a Buy rating on the shares. The firm believes this past quarter shows they are an AI winner and should start trading like one as they delivered a watershed Q1 with product revenue of $1,334M, +34%, accelerating roughly 4pp from Q4's 30% and posting +$108M of quarter-over-quarter dollar growth.

• SNOW Cantor Fitzgerald raised the firm's price target on Snowflake to $282 from $225 and keeps an Overweight rating on the shares. Snowflake delivered a standout Q1 print that meaningfully strengthened its AI-driven growth narrative, the analyst tells investors in a research note. The quarter is viewed as a clear positive inflection point, with Snowflake expanding its competitive positioning in terms of the enterprise AI data stack.
• MRVL Cantor Fitzgerald analyst C.J. Muse raised the firm's price target on Marvell to $220 from $190 and keeps a Neutral rating on the shares. Marvell's earnings call reinforced a bullish growth trajectory, with data center revenue now expected to grow 50%/55% in CY26/27, CY27 revenue raised to $16.5B, optical interconnect growth accelerating to 70% in CY26 followed by 30%+ in CY27, and custom silicon revenue outlook lifted to nearly $4B by CY27, though CY28 visibility remains limited and higher long-term expectations remain in play, the analyst tells investors in a research note.

• BE Citi says Bloom Energy shares continue to rally on the company's strong execution and new bookings. The company will continue to win market share but the shares are fully valued at current levels, the analyst tells investors in a research note. The firm sees limited further upside and notes competition "is heating up in the space." Citi keeps a Neutral rating on Bloom with a $281 price target.
• AZO Citi analyst Steven Zaccone lowered the firm's price target on AutoZone to $3,700 from $4,300 and keeps a Buy rating on the shares. The company's fiscal Q3 missed buy-side estimates and the softer trends exiting the quarter brings some uncertainty, the analyst tells investors in a research note. However, Citi sees an attractive risk/reward post the stock's selloff.
• BAX Citi analyst Joanne Wuensch downgraded Baxter to Sell from Neutral with a price target of $17, down from $19. The company faces a back-half weighted year and is searching for a CFO, the analyst tells investors in a research note. Citi downgrades Baxter to Sell, saying the rest of medical technology valuations are "dipping into value territory," creating better options.

• BBWI Goldman Sachs lowered the firm's price target on Bath & Body Works to $23 from $26 and keeps a Neutral rating on the shares. While Q1 offered some early green shoots, management was clear that the underlying business remains under pressure as evidenced by some missteps in body care, the analyst tells investors in a research note. This still remains a "show-me" story and the firm says it will need to see more sustainable strategy execution to become constructive on the company's return to positive growth
• BSX Goldman Sachs lowered the firm's price target on Boston Scientific to $71 from $81 and keeps a Buy rating on the shares after the companyprovided additional commentary on expectations for WATCHMAN revenue for Q2 and Q3 while reiterating overall company guidance for both Q2 and the full-year.
• MRVL Goldman Sachs analyst James Schneider raised the firm's price target on Marvell to $180 from $125 and keeps a Neutral rating on the shares. Marvell is expected to trade modestly higher after an above-Street outlook and raised 2026-27 guidance, though the firm remains cautious due to limited visibility into its custom silicon customer expansion despite long-term upside tied to a potential $10B revenue opportunity by 2028, the analyst tells investors in a research note.

• JACK Guggenheim downgraded Jack in the Box to Neutral from Buy.

• MRVL Jefferies analyst Blayne Curtis raised the firm's price target on Marvell to $235 from $149 and keeps a Buy rating on the shares after a "modest" beat and raise with Optical demand driving near-term upside. However, the "larger upside" was the increased confidence in FY28, adds the analyst, who says near-term optical tailwinds and growing XPU attach should drive estimates higher.

• DY JPMorgan raised the firm's price target on Dycom to $650 from $415 and keeps an Overweight rating on the shares. The company reported strong Q1 results with margins better across both its segments, the analyst tells investors in a research note. The firm says Dycom's "strong results and guidance enhance the revenue growth story." The company is benefitting from fiber-to-the-home build momentum, fiber infrastructure opportunities, data center electrification, and the scarcity of a skilled workforce.
• MRVL JPMorgan analyst Harlan Sur raised the firm's price target on Marvell to $240 from $135 and keeps an Overweight rating on the shares. The company reported solid April quarter results, driven by accelerating data center demand, with growth across all key product lines, the analyst tells investors in a research note. JPMorgan increased Marvell's forward estimates post the print.
• BRZE JPMorgan views the post-earnings selloff in shares of Braze as a buying opportunity. The stock is down as investors "grapple with the fact that much of the upside appeared to be professional services-driven versus subscription," the analyst tells investors in a research note. JPMorgan says the weakness related to "mix deterioration confusion" is a buying opportunity, considering that demand commentary from the CEO was upbeat with "robust" Q1 bookings driven by enterprise competitive takeaways and a "still-fertile" legacy replacement cycle. The firm has an Overweight rating on the shares with a $33 price target.

• MRVL KeyBanc raised the firm's price target on Marvell to $260 from $130 and keeps an Overweight rating on the shares. The firm notes the company reported in-line Q1 results and guided Q2 higher. KeyBanc is encouraged by these results and as such is raising estimates.
• SNOW KeyBanc analyst Eric Heath raised the firm's price target on Snowflake to $285 from $200 and keeps an Overweight rating on the shares. The firm notes the company reported a strong Q1 product revenue beat of 5% and accelerated about three points organically to 33% year-over-year. The Q2 guide of 30% year-over-year was meaningfully above consensus of 26% year-over-year and much better than feared given the tough comp. While KeyBanc's survey results were mixed on LLM risk and the Snowflake spend outlook, results were consistent with its conversations suggesting organizations' AI initiatives are driving further investment into the company, competitive positioning is improving, and LLMs, at least in the near term, are driving increased usage with Snowflake.

• MU Mizuho analyst Vijay Rakesh raised the firm's price target on Micron to $1,150 from $800 and keeps an Outperform rating on the shares. The firm upped targets in the semiconductor space after analyzing the memory market and the impact of agentic AI. DRAM demand will be strong into 2027, high bandwidth memory's total addressable market is growing, and NAND demand is not slowing down, the analyst tells investors in a research note. Micron is Mizuho's top pick in the space.
• ON Mizuho raised the firm's price target on On Semi to $150 from $130 and keeps an Outperform rating on the shares. The firm upped targets in the semiconductor space after analyzing the memory market and the impact of agentic AI. DRAM demand will be strong into 2027, high bandwidth memory's total addressable market is growing, and NAND demand is not slowing down, the analyst tells investors in a research note. Micron is Mizuho's top pick in the space.

• SNOW Morgan Stanley raised the firm's price target on Snowflake to $300 from $245 and keeps an Overweight rating on the shares. With product revenue accelerating for a second quarter in a row to 34% from 30% in Q4, the firm says better growth is driven by monetization of AI capabilities and a strong core business, which it argues serves as "a powerful counterweight to the bear case."
• HPQ Morgan Stanley analyst Erik Woodring raised the firm's price target on HP Inc. to $19 from $17 and keeps an Underweight rating on the shares. Fiscal Q2 benefited from better Personal Systems margin capture and modestly improved full-year EPS guide reflects this, but the question remains what is the customer elasticity response to higher prices, the impact on margins, and the trajectory into FY27, the analyst tells investors.
• MRVL Morgan Stanley raised the firm's price target on Marvell to $195 from $172 and keeps an Equal Weight rating on the shares. The quarter itself was relatively in-line, with only "modest" upside to results and near-term guidance, but both the FY27 and FY28 outlooks were raised "meaningfully," the analyst tells investors in a post-earnings note.
• NTNX Morgan Stanley analyst Sanjit Singh raised the firm's price target on Nutanix to $55 from $53 and keeps an Equal Weight rating on the shares. A Q3 revenue beat along with Q4 coming in "a touch light" leave the firm with the takeaway that supply chain and macro remain obstacles to better near-term revenue growth, even as booking growth remains "healthy," the analyst tells investors.
• CTVA Morgan Stanley analyst Vincent Andrews raised the firm's price target on Corteva to $95 from $84 and keeps an Overweight rating on the shares. The market is valuing "New Corteva" like a no-growth commodity chemical maker, which is "too bearish" as the investment debate shifts to New Corteva's standalone growth rate, the analyst tells investors.
• SNPS Morgan Stanley analyst Lee Simpson raised the firm's price target on Synopsys to $525 from $480 and keeps an Equal Weight rating on the shares. Following a "solid Q2 print and Q3 guide," the firm thinks the medium-term case rests on the co-design offering, the silicon to systems strategy and turning joint Synopsys-Ansys products into "repeatable, large-scale customer workflows," the analyst tells investors.

• VMI Oppenheimer initiated coverage of Valmont with an Outperform rating and $600 price target. The company is well positioned to benefit from utility transmission and distribution investment, the analyst tells investors in a research note. The firm believes "sustained" agriculture market weakness are now largely understood and adequately reflected in current projections.
• EME Oppenheimer analyst Brent Thielman initiated coverage of Emcor with an Outperform rating and $1,100 price target. The firm views Emcor as among the "higher quality" public infrastructure services companies. The company exposure to the reacceleration of high-tech manufacturing projects and data center development, the analyst tells investors in a research note. Oppenheimer sees Emcor as a long-term compounder with acquisition optionality.
• FIX Oppenheimer initiated coverage of Comfort Systems USA with an Outperform rating and $2,200 price target. The company is "uniquely positioned" to address current demand for complex facilities, the analyst tells investors in a research note. The firm believes Comfort's potential to sustain or exceed its recent earnings growth rates is high.
• GVA Oppenheimer initiated coverage of Granite with an Outperform rating and $170 price target. The company's strategic changes under current CEO Kyle Larkin are underappreciated at current share levels, the analyst tells investors in a research note. The firm says Granite has "significantly improved" profitability and cash conversion metrics. The company offers exposure to public infrastructure funding and potential for expanding contributions from "high margin" federal and data center heavy civil services, contends Oppenheimer.
• STRL Oppenheimer analyst Brent Thielman initiated coverage of Sterling Infrastructure with an Outperform rating and $950 price target. Through acquisitions, the company has transformed into an "industry margin-leading provider" of specialty services to major infrastructure projects, especially those being driven by technology and manufacturing industry leaders, the analyst tells investors in a research note. The firm says Sterling's expansion from civil services and site development into inside electrical construction should permit the company to capture more customer wallet share.

• SNOW RBC Capital raised the firm's price target on Snowflake to $284 from $220 and keeps an Outperform rating on the shares after its Q1 earnings beat. The company delivered strong results as product revenue growth accelerated to 34% from 30% in Q4 while FY27 product growth guidance increases to 31% from 27% with further upside likely, the analyst tells investors in a research note. Results are benefiting from AI tailwinds that are driving core platform value, and AI control plane products as Cortex Code got off to an impressive start, RBC added.
• NTNX RBC Capital raised the firm's price target on Nutanix to $58 from $55 and keeps an Outperform rating on the shares. The company delivered solid Q3 results with outperformance across the board while its FY26 guidance also moves higher, the analyst tells investors in a research note. The macro backdrop remains challenged with continued supply chain constraints, though Nutanix management noted that customers have gotten better at executing in this environment, the firm added.

• MSGE Susquehanna raised the firm's price target on MSG Entertainment to $80 from $77 and keeps a Positive rating on the shares. The firm said they view the company as a lower-vol live-events play with significant visibility and no weather risk on what is/has been a strong concert outlook
• MSGS Susquehanna raised the firm's price target on MSG Sports to $429 from $404 and keeps a Positive rating on the shares. The firm said the Knicks title odds are also a read on monetization however they believe the Kicks and Rangers will be hit by an unfavorable tax change starting in FY2028 of roughly ($50m that will take what is a relatively small positive FCF annual operation into an annual FCF burn scenario.

• AFRM Truist raised the firm's price target on Affirm to $80 from $75 and keeps a Buy rating on the shares as part of a broader research note updating the firm's models on Payments. Truist is increasing it's Q4 volume estimates due to favorable industry datapoints around retail spend trends as well as Affirm's May "Big Nothing" promotional event, while also taking a conservative approach to modeling FY27 Gross Merchandise Volume growth, the analyst tells investors in a research note.
• FIS Truist lowered the firm's price target on FIS to $45 from $50 and keeps a Hold rating on the shares as part of a broader research note updating the firm's models on Payments. Truist notes that while its Q2 estimates increase, its forecast for FY27 declines across metrics on concerns about slowing organic revenue growth starting in the second half of FY26, the analyst tells investors in a research note. The firm adds, however, that it is unclear whether the company's tuck-in acquisitions are considered in guidance.
• IMNM Truist raised the firm's price target on Immunome to $37 from $36 and keeps a Buy rating on the shares. The firm is positive on the potential of varegacestat's to penetrate and expand the desmoid tumor market, supported by what it sees as a best-in-class Phase 3 efficacy and safety profile as well as convenient once-daily oral dosing, the analyst tells investors in a research note. Immunome's seasoned ex-Seagen leadership team is also well positioned to replicate prior success through next-wave ADC programs featuring novel Top1i payload/linker technology targeting ROR1 and beyond, the firm added.

• MOD UBS analyst Amit Mehrotra raised the firm's price target on Modine to $355 from $310 and keeps a Buy rating on the shares following the Q4 results and the announcement of a $4B long-term agreement with a data center customer. Over time, consensus forecasts are likely to be revised higher, which combined with a relatively low valuation, suggests potential upside to the current share price, the analyst tells investors in a research note.
• MRVL UBS raised the firm's price target on Marvell (MRVL) to $230 from $195 and keeps a Buy rating on the shares. While Marvell delivered a solid beat/raise, there appears to be "gas left in the tank" with Microsoft (MSFT) Maia not fully baked in, potential additional Google (GOOGL) engagement, and a macro assumption on cloud capex that still seems conservative, the analyst tells investors in a research note. Marvell's networking and optical portfolio is uniquely differentiated and there is a path for further upside as demand builds, the firm adds.

• BSX Wells Fargo analyst Larry Biegelsen downgraded Boston Scientific to Equal Weight from Overweight with a price target of $55, down from $75. The firm sees near-term uncertainty for the company's key growth areas of electrophysiology and Watchman. Boston Scientific yesterday lowered its Watchman guidance to sequentially flat U.S. dollar sales in Q2 and Q3, which increases the company's near-term uncertainty, the analyst tells investors in a research note.
• SNPS Wells Fargo analyst Joe Quatrochi raised the firm's price target on Synopsys to $535 from $505 and keeps an Equal Weight rating on the shares. The firm notes the company delivered positive results and guidance, saying the adjusted organic 2026 forecast being greater than the first-half beat was better than expected. With Management co-op, Wells believes Synopsys shares could start to offer a more interesting risk / reward into its late-September Analyst Day.
• A Wells Fargo analyst Brandon Couillard lowered the firm's price target on Agilent to $160 from $165 and keeps an Overweight rating on the shares. The firm notes the company posted a solid Q2 beat/raise on organic revenues and EPS, reflecting an encouraging bounce back after the Q1 miss, which should ease concerns about tougher second half of the year comparisons. Given Agilent's above average core growth momentum, Wells expects the valuation disparity to narrow.
• CRM Wells Fargo lowered the firm's price target on Salesforce to $200 from $210 and keeps an Equal Weight rating on the shares. The firm says Q1 was a hold-the-line print for Salesforce with no real change to full year revenue outlook and continued confidence in a second half of the year reacceleration. Wells expects shares to remain range-bound as investors contemplate whether the second half of the year commentary reflective of an Agentforce uptick or just overly optimistic.
• DKS Wells Fargo raised the firm's price target on Dick's Sporting to $220 from $200 and keeps an Equal Weight rating on the shares. The firm sees more good than bad in the Q1 print. Foot Locker U.S. is comping positive, the fast-break initiative is driving tangible results that give credibility to the back-to-school positive inflection, and margin pressure should alleviate at core Dick's Sporting Goods through the year, Wells says.
• ZS Wells Fargo lowered the firm's price target on Zscaler to $180 from $210 and keeps an Overweight rating on the shares. While resetting next year's top-line numbers was needed, several noise factors, including meaningful free cash flow headwinds, likely keep investors sidelined for now, the firm says. Wells sees Zenith in a couple weeks as opportunity to gain further clarity.
• BBWI Wells Fargo lowered the firm's price target on Bath & Body Works to $25 from $29 and keeps an Overweight rating on the shares. While bears had been calling for a miss/guide-down, Q1 showed that post reset, the company's 2026 turnaround story is right where it should be, argues the firm. Innovation is on the come and the second half of the year's inflection remains in reach, Wells adds.
• DY Wells Fargo analyst Eric Luebchow raised the firm's price target on Dycom to $650 from $500 and keeps an Overweight rating on the shares. The firm cites a material Q1 beat that quieted fears about margin pressure, with revenue plus EBITDA materially beating its above-consensus estimates from strength in Building Systems and FTTH.
• CPRI Wells Fargo lowered the firm's price target on Capri Holdings to $20 from $21 and keeps an Equal Weight rating on the shares. The firm notes Q4 results not enough to get Bulls excited. The company points to improvement in MK FP sales and margin expansion, but headwinds at outlet/wholesale continue to weigh on topline. This keeps Wells sidelined.

Rating abbreviations…

***OP = Outperform

***SP = Sector Perform

***UP = Underperform

***OW = Overweight

***EW = Equal-weight

***UW = Underweight

***Report powered by thefly.com***

What’s on Tap Weekly Calendar

Monday May 25^th

• U.S. stock markets are closed for Memorial Day

• 9:00 AM ET                   Monthly Home Price index M/M for March
• 9:00 AM ET                   CaseShiller 20 City Index for March
• 10:00 AM ET                 Consumer Confidence for May
• 10:30 AM ET                 Dallas Fed Manufacturing for May
• 1:00 PM ET US Treasury to sell $69B in 2-year notes

• Earnings After the Close: API APPS BBAR BOX MOD OOMA QFIN SMTC SQM TRNS ZS

• 8:55 AM ET                   Johnson/Redbook Weekly Sales
• 10:00 AM ET                 Richmond Fed Index for May
• 1:00 PM ET US Treasury to sell $70B in 5-year notes
• 4:30 PM ET API Weekly Inventory Data

• Earnings After the Close: A ARXS BRZE CRM HEI HPQ MRVL NCNO NOAH NTNX P PHR SNOW SNPS

• Deutsche Bank 16th Annual Global Financial Services Conference, 5/27-5/28, in New York
• Keybanc Industrial & Basic Materials Conference, 5/26-5/28, in Boston
• TD Cowen 54th Annual Technology, Media & Telecom Conference, 5/27-5/28, in New York

• 8:30 AM ET                   Continuing Claims
• 8:30 AM ET                   Personal Income M/M for April
• 8:30 AM ET                   Personal Spending M/M for April
• 8:30 AM ET PCE Price index M/M for April
• 8:30 AM ET PCE Price index Y/Y for April
• 8:30 AM ET                   Core PCE Price index M/M for April
• 8:30 AM ET                   Core PCE Price index Y/Y for April
• 8:30 AM ET                   Q1 GDP second estimate
• 8:30 AM ET                   Q1 GDP Consumer Spending
• 8:30 AM ET                   Q1 GDP Price Deflator
• 8:30 AM ET PCE Price index M/M for Q1
• 8:30 AM ET                   Core PCE Price index M/M for Q1
• 10:00 AM ET                 New Home Sales M/M for April
• 10:30 AM ET                 Weekly EIA Natural Gas Inventory Data
• 12:00 PM ET                 Weekly EIA Inventory Data
• 1:00 PM ET US Treasury to sell $44B in 7-year notes

• Earnings After the Close: ADSK AEO AMBA ASAN COST DELL ESTC GAP HQY MDB NGL NTAP OKTA PD PKE S

• Benchmark Healthcare Conference, 5/28 (virtual)
• Deutsche Bank 16th Annual Global Financial Services Conference, 5/27-5/28, in New York
• Keybanc Industrial & Basic Materials Conference, 5/26-5/28, in Boston
• Stifel Jaws & Paws Conference, 5/28-5/29 in New York
• TD Cowen 54th Annual Technology, Media & Telecom Conference, 5/27-5/28, in New York

• 9:45 AM ET                   Chicago PMI for May
• 1:00 PM ET                    Baker Hughes Weekly rig count data

• Stifel Jaws & Paws Conference, 5/28-5/29 in New York