Markets
Luke Kawa

US stocks surge on inflation relief, robust corporate earnings

Stocks rallied on Thursday on a string of strong quarterly results and some fresh data on prices that took the sting out of Wednesday’s disturbingly high CPI report. The details of January’s reading of the producer price index prompted analysts to lower their estimates for PCE inflation (the Federal Reserve’s preferred gauge of price pressures).

The S&P 500, the Nasdaq 100, and the Russell 2000 all advanced more than 1%, with the tech-heavy gauge leading the way.

Gains were widespread, with the number of S&P 500 constituents that rose outnumbering decliners by 287. The materials, consumer discretionary, and tech S&P 500 ETFs all rose by more than 1%, and all 11 were higher on the day.

The Magnificent 7 did some heavy lifting. Shares of Nvidia rose to close above their 50-day moving average for the first time since the DeepSeek-driven plunge. Tesla posted a huge gain amid reports that the State Department is poised to make a massive purchase of armored electric vehicles. And Apple ended nearly 2% higher after CEO Tim Cook teased a new product launch next Wednesday.

Intel’s romp higher continued, giving the stock its best four-day performance since the aftermath of the Black Monday 1987 crash.

A bevy of earnings-related movers on the day:

Adtech company AppLovin mooned on quarterly results that exceeded every Wall Street analyst’s estimate.

Crocs also spiked on its across-the-board earnings beat, as its previously sputtering HeyDude brand managed to tread water.

Sony soared as its PS5 sales continued to perform well and the company lifted its forecasts.

Robinhood ripped to the upside after posting much better-than-expected results after the close on Wednesday, thanks in large part to its booming crypto business.

(Disclosure: Sherwood Media is an editorially independent subsidiary of Robinhood Markets Inc.)

Reddit was one notable standout to the downside, with shares tumbling after the company said an algorithm tweak from Google was responsible for the lower-than-anticipated number of daily active users in the fourth quarter.

More Markets

See all Markets
Luke Kawa
4h
Accenture poised for record one-day decline after Q3 new bookings and Q4 revenue guidance disappoint

Accenture isn’t cashing in too much from the AI revolution.

Accenture CEO Highlights AI's Role in Future Business at CES 2
markets
Helena Cheng

Intel surges after Trump announces US chip deal with Apple

Intel is soaring in early trading after President Donald Trump posted on Truth Social that Apple has agreed to work with the semiconductor giant to design and manufacture its chips domestically.

President Trump positioned the agreement as the latest victory for his administration’s industrial policy after the federal government acquired a 9.9% equity stake in Intel last year.

"Stupid Presidents took our Economy for granted, and let Taiwan and others steal our Semiconductor Factories," Trump wrote in the post. "We design everything, but we need to BUILD it here, NOW! So I decided to help Intel because we need to design and build our Chips right here in America... and, finally, Apple has agreed to work with Intel to design and build its Chips in America."

Intel reportedly reached a preliminary agreement back in May to manufacture chips for the Apple, which has been facing supply constraints for its iPhone as well other products. The deal could help Apple reduce its reliance on longtime partner TSMC by bringing more of its chip manufacturing stateside.

"This partnership helps Apple with chip development and manufacturing on US soil with greater focus on reducing dependence on Asian manufacturing facilities." Wedbush's Dan Ives commented in a company report. He has a $400 price target for Apple this year.

The timing aligns with Intel's technical roadmap. Earlier this week, Intel confirmed that its advanced, performance-boosted 18A-P process node officially entered its risk production phase. This move serves as a blueprint for both Intel chips and processors the company plans to build for foundry customers.

“The current capacity crunch is probably emboldening customers to give Intel a harder look at this stage than perhaps they might ordinarily be inclined to do as the prospect of more advanced capacity will take on higher value in a constrained environment,” wrote Bernstein analyst Stacy Rasgon. “We are sure that Trump’s encouragement is at least not going to hurt though.”

Momentum was built around Intel Foundry services as surging global AI demand continuously outpaced capacity. Earlier this month, Google reportedly placed an order with Intel to manufacture more than 3 million of its increasingly popular tensor processing unit chips in 2028. According to the report, Nvidia is also testing to see if Intel could manufacture its next-gen Feynman chips.

markets
J. Edward Moreno

Stocks rise after US, Iran sign peace plan

Stocks rose Thursday morning after President Trump and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian signed a memorandum of understanding aimed at ending the war, in another sign that a months-long war that caused energy prices to spike could be coming to an end.

Trump signed the MOU before a dinner in Versailles, France on Wednesday evening. The president previously announced that a deal had been reached on Sunday evening, saying that traffic through the Strait of Hormuz would resume and that the US naval blockade would be lifted.

The deal comes after both sides exchanged attacks last week, escalating tensions to some of the highest levels since the US and Israel struck Iran in late February.

The price of Brent Crude ticked even lower after dropping on Sunday, sitting at about $76 a barrel. Oil giants like Shell, Chevron and Exxon fell on the news, as average gas prices in the US dropped below $4 for the first time in months.

Futures for the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite rose 0.9% and 1.5%, respectively. Last week, inflation readings for May showed both wholesale inflation and consumer prices rose in large part because of higher energy costs.

Signs of the peace deal have also lead to buying of momentum stocks this week. iShares MSCI USA Momentum Factor ETFrose another 1.46% in premarket trading.

Tasha Matsumoto
22h
Stocks fall after new Fed Chair Warsh’s first policy meeting as traders worry about a rate hike

While the Fed left rates unchanged (as expected) a hawkish dot plot has traders bracing themselves for a rate hike this year.

Brown bear on a rock
Luke Kawa
23h
Federal Reserve removes easing bias, policymakers see a hike as more likely than a cut this year

The knee-jerk move for stocks was to the downside.

Kevin Warsh closeup

Latest Stories

Sherwood Media, LLC and Chartr Limited produce fresh and unique perspectives on topical financial news and are fully owned subsidiaries of Robinhood Markets, Inc., and any views expressed here do not necessarily reflect the views of any other Robinhood affiliate, including Robinhood Markets, Inc., Robinhood Financial LLC, Robinhood Securities, LLC, Robinhood Crypto, LLC, Robinhood Money, LLC, Robinhood U.K. Ltd, Robinhood Derivatives, LLC, Robinhood Gold, LLC, Robinhood Asset Management, LLC, Robinhood Credit, Inc., Robinhood Ventures DE, LLC and, where applicable, its managed investment vehicles.
©2026 Sherwood Media, LLC