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Anthropic’s making AI boom again — and picking the winners

More compute = more revenues, and going custom has its own particular consequences for different AI stocks.

Luke Kawa

Anthropic is boosting the AI hardware trade today, and it’s not just because of its AI compute deal with CoreWeave.

This announcement came after Bloomberg reported that OpenAI pitched investors on its competitive advantage over the Claude developer due to having secured more computing power. If you buy into the idea that compute equals revenues, as Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang has argued, that gap matters. And it means Anthropic has some work to do to catch up.

Hence today’s pact with CoreWeave, which is further entrenching demand for compute and the AI accelerators, networking equipment, memory, and power needed to provide it.

That’s one reason sorted, and helps explain why the likes of Applied Optoelectronics, POET Technologies, IREN, Coherent, Nebius, Oklo, Applied Digital, Cipher Digital, Super Micro Computer, and more are ripping today.

Another reason may be tied to how Anthropic could go about sourcing compute, with Reuters reporting that the firm is “exploring the possibility of designing its own chips.”

The ripple effects from “going custom” seem to be leaving their mark within tech stocks on Friday.

Astera Labs is the belle of the ball, up more than 14%. The silicon connectivity company’s offerings enable chips to communicate with each other within racks (scaling up) as well as scale-out solutions. Shares are still down on the year, however, with traders more attracted to pure-play photonics opportunities.

Astera has a tight relationship and partnership with Amazon; Anthropic’s latest models are trained on Trainium chips, according to AWS’s CEO, and Astera’s offerings are used to scale those up in data center environments. Custom chip specialist Marvell Technology is also a Trainium designer and outperforming peers on Friday.

And, of course, Anthropic announced an expansion of its partnership with Google and Broadcom earlier this week, which will see the firm access 3.5 gigawatts of TPU-based AI compute capacity beginning in 2027.

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Lululemon’s stretch getting tested: Stock plunges after after outlook is cut

Lululemon shares are down double digits in premarket trading after the company cut its full-year sales and profit outlook, overshadowing a Q1 beat and raising fresh concerns about the brand’s turnaround efforts.

The company now expects fiscal 2026 revenue to be flat to down 1%, compared with its prior forecast for 2% to 4% growth. Guidance for full-year diluted earnings per share was dragged down to a range of $10.95 to $11.15, below the company’s previous guidance of $12.10 to $12.30 and well below Wall Street’s estimate of $13.26.

Key numbers for Q1:

  • EPS of $1.69 vs. the $1.68 expected.

  • Revenue of $2.47 billion vs. the $2.43 billion expected.

The modest top-line beat masked a widening divergence between Lululemons geographic markets. While international revenue rose 22% overall with a 30% increase in Mainland China, the bigger problem remains North America, where revenue fell 5%.

Interim co-CEO and CFO Meghan Frank acknowledged during the earnings call that recent product rollouts underperformed. A highly anticipated yoga campaign failed to generate its expected halo effect across broader product lines.

Profitability metrics took a major hit, with gross margins contracting by 410 basis points to 54.2% due to mounting tariff costs and promotional markdowns. Operating income consequently fell 37% year over year to $276.9 million.

“We experienced spikes of negative commentary in the media and on social channels with regard to our brand, which had an impact on traffic and overall top-line performance,” Frank said during the earnings call. “And second, not all of our product launches have met our expectations. While we have had several successful launches so far this year, we have seen others as we start Q2 not generate the anticipated guest response.”

Lululemons valuation has already been steadily compressing for years. While it was once one of retails richly valued stocks, investors have been questioning whether the company can return to the double-digit growth era.

The results also arrive during a leadership transition. Lululemon announced back in April that former Nike executive Heidi ONeill is set to take over as CEO in September, with investors looking to her to revive growth in North America and restore the brands growth.

As Lululemon faces both macroeconomic pressure and brand-specific challenges, its stock has dropped around 40% year to date.

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US job growth skyrocketed in May, blasting past expectations

The US economy added 172,000 jobs in the month of May, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday, sending 10-year Treasury yields higher.

The strong May job market surprised economists. Experts had predicted only 85,000 new jobs — just half the reported number. The unemployment rate held steady at 4.3%, as expected.

The job growth story is a hopeful spot for the economy as consumers continue to feel inflationary pressure from the Iran war.

Job gains were buoyed by the leisure and hospitality sector, which added 70,000 jobs, as well as local government, healthcare, and education.

Both the March and April jobs reports were revised upward, making them collectively 93,000 higher than previously reported.

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