Friday, May 22, 2026

Quantum Gets Uncle Sam Money

 

CLOSING BELL

The market spent climbed Thursday, after starting the day in the red, but the Dow ended up hitting record highs after yet more U.S. Iran peace hopes. 

Nvidia still sat at the center of the watch board after its giant quarter, but Stocks attention spread wider than the mega-cap trade. China EV earnings pulled in NIO, Walmart became the retail stress test, and AI infrastructure chatter stretched from chips into data centers and architecture. 

On Stocktwits, the broader watched board was led by $NVDA$MSFT$NIO$WMT, quantum names, and a fresh batch of community heat in $SLS and $FCEL

Today's Briefing: 

  • Stock News: Nvidia and Microsoft kept AI mega-cap attention pinned 

  • Earnings: NIO gave China EV traders a fresh profitability argument 

  • Retail News: Walmart turned a strong quarter into a valuation debate 

  • Sector News: Quantum stocks ripped back onto the speculative board 

  • Industry News: Applied Digital and Arm kept AI infrastructure chatter broad 

  
  
  
  

AFTER THE BELL
AI Keeps Its Crown 

Nvidia kept the AI mega-cap trade parked at the top of the Stocks watched board Thursday after another monster quarter, even as Jensen Huang made the China problem impossible to ignore. Microsoft sat right beside it, a reminder that every AI chip debate eventually wanders back toward cloud capacity. 

The RIP:  $NVDA ( ▼ 1.77% ) led the watched board with 647.3k watchers$MSFT ranked second with 533.7k watchers. Nvidia reported Q1 revenue of $81.62B, up 85% year-over-year, adjusted EPS of $1.87 vs. $1.76 expected, and Q2 revenue guidance of $91B vs. $86.79B expected. 

The split matters. Nvidia beat without China data center compute in its outlook, while Huang told CNBC the company has “largely conceded” China’s AI chip market to Huawei under export restrictions. Stocks stayed 86% bullish anyway, but even bulls are watching whether Nvidia can keep compounding outside a market it once counted as a major data center prize. 

Wall Street still pounded the table after the print. Citi kept a Buy rating and $300 target, arguing Nvidia’s new data center split gives better visibility into hyperscale demand versus AI cloud, industrial, and enterprise growth, while Vera CPUs could add $20Bin sales this year and open a $200B CPU market by 2030. Stifel lifted its target to $282, Benchmark moved to $335, Truist raised to $307, and Baird pushed the fresh high-water mark to $500

Top Video: Is NVIDIA Stock a Buy After This Muted Earnings Reaction?

Top Posts

  • @JOEYBUYDEN: "$NVDA Baird Raised PT from $300 to $500!" Post

  • @EderT: "$NVDA is not going to crash. Insane earnings... The bubble is not Nvidia." Post

Check $NVDA: AI crown or China ceiling →

AI Spills Wider 

Applied Digital and Arm kept the watched board from turning AI into a two-name dinner party Thursday. Applied had the cleaner catalyst, signing another giant hyperscaler lease for another major AI factory, while Arm caught fresh analyst fuel around the chip architecture side of the buildout. 

The RIP:  $APLD ( ▲ 21.51% ) rose +21% after a 15-year Polaris Forge 3 lease added about $7.5B of base contracted revenue and pushed contracted AI factory capacity to 1.2 GW across four campuses. $ARM ( ▲ 16.17% ) climbed about +12% after Bernstein started coverage with an Outperform rating and $300 target. 

That spread is the point. Nvidia’s earnings kept the AI factory story hot, but Applied Digital turned it into a backlog story with the same investment-grade hyperscaler returning for a second 300 MW campus, while Arm bulls are betting agentic AI and custom silicon keep royalty demand moving. Stocks stayed bearish on $APLD and nearly split on $ARM, which tells you traders like the theme more than they trust every valuation attached to it. 

STOCKS
Quantum Gets Uncle Sam Bucks 

Quantum stocks shoved their way back into the speculative conversation Thursday after Washington reportedly lined up funding and equity stakes for the sector. D-Wave, Rigetti, Infleqtion, IBM, and GlobalFoundries gave traders a real catalyst to chase instead of another science fair promise. 

The RIP: $QBTS and $RGTI jumped about +25%$INFQ surged about +30%$IONQ rose +12%, and $IBM climbed about +7%. The Commerce Department package totals $2B, with $1B for IBM, $375M for GlobalFoundries, and $100M each expected for D-Wave, Rigetti, and Infleqtion. 

That is a different quantum pitch: not just hype around future computing, but government money, proposed equity stakes, and an IBM backed quantum foundry effort tied to the Chips and Science Act. Stocks still had $QBTS and $RGTIsentiment leaning bearish into the rip, which makes the tape even messier once the first funding spike cools. 

Weigh $QBTS: funding spark or frenzy →

Walmart Meets The Bar 

Walmart, the retail giant that has spent the year winning defensive money, beat on sales Thursday and still got smacked. The problem was not whether shoppers showed up. It was whether the premium multiple could survive a guide that left less room for heroics. 

The RIP:  $WMT ( ▼ 7.27% ) fell about -7%. Q1 revenue rose 7.3% to $177.8B vs. roughly $174.6Bexpected. Adjusted EPS was $0.66, in line with estimates. Q2 adjusted EPS guidance came in at $0.72-$0.74 vs. $0.75 expected. 

That reaction is the useful part. Walmart’s higher-margin growth engines still looked good, with advertising, e-commerce, and memberships helping push the quarter, but higher fuel costs and a softer profit outlook gave investors a reason to punish a stock priced like the best house on the retail block. Stocks stayed bullish with high message volume anyway, with dip buyers arguing the post-earnings bruise is an entry, not a crack in the consumer resilience story. 

Join $WMT: value bid or bruise →

  
  
  
  

MACRO NEWS
Minutes Show Cuts Meet The Vigilantes 

The Fed minutes from Wednesday made the market’s rate-cut fantasy look even thinner Thursday, with bonds already pushing borrowing costs higher before policymakers do anything at all. Inflation from oil, tariffs, and supply stress has turned “hold” into the dovish option. 

“A majority of participants highlighted, however, that some policy firming would likely become appropriate if inflation were to continue to run persistently above 2 percent,” the Federal Open Market Committee minutes said.

The RIP: Fed funds target range held at 3.5%-3.75%in April. The 2-year Treasury yield rose to about 4.1%. The 10-year nearly touched 4.7%Wednesday. Freddie Mac’s average 30-year mortgage rate climbed to 6.51% from 6.36% a week earlier. FedWatch priced a 41% chance of a December hike. 

“Higher Treasury yields continued to push mortgage rates higher last week, weighing on affordability and overall application activity,” Bob Broeksmit, Mortgage Bankers Association president and CEO, said.

The contradiction is sitting inside the minutes. Many officials wanted to strip the statement of its easing bias, while the published language still left room for “additional adjustments” that markets spent months reading as cuts. Bonds are now writing their own policy memo anyway: higher long yields hit $TLT first, squeeze small caps through $IWM

  
  
  
  

TRENDING ON STOCKTWITS
Pops & Drops

Bring $ARM: picks or shovels →