S&P 500 – 7,353.61 (-0.67%)

Dow Jones – 49,363.88 (-0.65%)

NASDAQ – 25,870.71 (-0.84%)

• MARKETS: U.S. stocks moved lower Tuesday afternoon as Treasury yields surged and technology shares extended their recent pullback, with investors positioning ahead of Nvidia’s closely watched earnings report.
• IPO POLICY: The SEC proposed easing IPO regulations to reduce costs and encourage more companies—particularly smaller firms—to go public and tap U.S. capital markets earlier in their growth cycle.
• GOOGLE AI SEARCH: Google unveiled its largest Search overhaul in 25 years, introducing Gemini-powered AI, agent tools, and a more conversational, task-driven search experience.
• SMART GLASSES RACE: Samsung and Google launched new AI smart glasses, intensifying competition in wearable tech against Meta and Apple as the battle for next-generation consumer devices heats up.
• BROADER MARKET: U.S. equities were mostly lower as rising yields pressured sentiment, while the S&P 500 paused after a strong multi-month rally; overseas markets were mixed with Asia weaker and Europe stronger, oil prices declined on easing geopolitical risk signals, and Treasury yields continued drifting higher with the 10-year near 4.66% and the 2-year around 4.11%.
• EARNINGS & FUNDAMENTALS: Home Depot beat expectations and reaffirmed guidance as earnings season winds down with strong overall results—more than 80% of S&P 500 companies have topped estimates, with profit growth tracking near 26% year over year and average surprises well above historical norms.
• TECH & SEMIS: Semiconductor and memory stocks remained under pressure following recent declines, while software names outperformed, led by gains in ServiceNow.
• AI & DEAL ACTIVITY: Blackstone and Alphabet advanced after reports of a joint AI cloud venture powered by Google chips, while broader AI-linked names continued to weaken and the PHLX Semiconductor Index fell another 3%, though it remains up roughly 59% year to date.
• MARKET BREADTH: Participation in the rally has narrowed, with fewer than half of S&P 500 stocks above their 200-day moving average and technical support levels sitting well below current prices after the index’s rapid ascent.
• TESLA / MUSK: Tesla shares fell as speculation around a potential SpaceX IPO added another competing outlet for investor interest in Elon Musk–linked assets.

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“The customer is our boss.” 

— Bernie Marcus, co-founder of Home Depot

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Notable Stocks

• Nvidia (NVDA)
• Alphabet (GOOGL)
• Meta Platforms (META)
• Tesla (TSLA)
• Home Depot (HD)

Weekly Notables

Anthropic Lands OpenAI Co-Founder Andrej Karpathy in Major AI Talent Win

Anthropic announced Tuesday that it has hired prominent AI researcher and OpenAI co-founder Andrej Karpathy, marking another major talent victory in the escalating battle among top artificial-intelligence companies. Karpathy, who previously led Tesla’s AI and computer-vision efforts after leaving OpenAI in 2017, said he is joining Anthropic to focus on frontier large language model research. “I’m very excited to join the team and get back to R&D,” Karpathy wrote in a post on X.

Home Depot Tops Earnings Estimates as Homeowners Keep Spending Despite Economic Pressure

Home Depot reported stronger-than-expected first-quarter results Tuesday and reaffirmed its full-year outlook, signaling that its core customer base continues to spend despite rising gas prices, weak consumer sentiment, and ongoing housing-market challenges. The home-improvement giant posted adjusted earnings of $3.43 per share on revenue of $41.77 billion, topping Wall Street expectations on both the top and bottom lines. Sales rose nearly 5% from a year ago.

Earnings Spotlight Highlighted Again: Nvidia (NVDA)

Nvidia is expected to report its earnings today after the close. Analysts currently project Nvidia's first-quarter revenue to come in at a record $78.50 billion, up nearly 80% year-over-year, while adjusted earnings per share are expected to more than double to $1.75, according to estimates compiled by Visible Alpha.

What's Ahead

NVIDIA is scheduled to report after today’s close, while Walmart, Target, and Lowe’s are set to release results later this week, offering further insight into consumer spending patterns amid elevated energy prices.

May 20: FOMC minutes and expected earnings from Nvidia (NVDA), Analog Devices (ADI), TJX Companies (TJX), Lowe's (LOW), Williams-Sonoma (WSM) and Intuit (INTU).
May 21: Expected earnings from Walmart (WMT), Deere (DE), Ralph Lauren (RL), Ross Stores (ROST), Zoom (ZM), and Decker's Outdoor (DECK).
May 22: Final May University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment.
May 25: U.S. markets closed for Memorial Day Holiday.
May 26: May consumer confidence and expected earnings from AutoZone (AZO) and Zscaler (ZS).