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Shares of server and PC maker Dell Technologies (NYSE: DELL) and PC and printer maker HP (NYSE: HPQ) each jumped about 15% last Friday, capping a strong week for hardware stocks. The catalyst wasn't anything either company said. It was a standout quarter from rival Lenovo (OTC: LNVGY), whose revenue climbed 27% and whose artificial intelligence (AI)-related revenue soared 84% -- a signal that the AI boom may be spreading well beyond chipmakers and into the servers and PCs that Dell and HP actually build. Notably, both companies report earnings this week -- HP on Wednesday and Dell on Thursday. And after a move like that, the bar is high. Given that backdrop, here's what to watch going into the reports. Will AI create the world's first trillionaire? Our team just released a report on the one little-known company, called an "Indispensable Monopoly" providing the critical technology Nvidia and Intel both need. Continue » Dell's story is now an AI server story. In its last fiscal year, which ended Jan. 30, 2026, revenue rose 19% to a record $113.5 billion, and its infrastructure solutions group (the division that houses servers and storage) grew 40% to $60.8 billion. The figure that stood out, however, was demand: Dell booked more than $64 billion in AI-optimized server orders during the year and entered the new year with a record $43 billion order backlog. That backlog had stood at just $18.4 billion three months earlier, so it more than doubled in a single quarter. That brings us to Thursday's report, covering the fiscal first quarter of 2027 (the period ended May 1, 2026). Dell has guided for revenue of roughly $35.2 billion at the midpoint, up about 51% year over year. And it expects AI-optimized server sales to approximately double this year, to around $50 billion. The things to watch are whether that backlog keeps climbing and whether Dell nudges its AI target higher. The PC side, on the other hand, has been quieter (but still solid). Dell's client solutions group grew about 14% last quarter, as commercial client revenue rose 16% and consumer revenue was flat. And there's a subtler risk worth watching. On the company's fiscal fourth-quarter earnings call in February, chief operating officer Jeff Clarke acknowledged that customers pulling purchases forward now could "drain those IT budgets to some degree" later -- a reminder that today's record orders may b...

It's been a challenging year for retailers. Inflation, geopolitical conflicts, and tariffs drove up costs, while the same macro headwinds curbed consumer demand for new products. However, not all retailers sank with the broader sector. Let's review the winners and losers from this earnings season, and where those stocks might head over the next year. Will AI create the world's first trillionaire? Our team just released a report on the one little-known company, called an "Indispensable Monopoly" providing the critical technology Nvidia and Intel both need. Continue » Target's (NYSE: TGT) first-quarter earnings report impressed investors as its comparable sales finally grew again after a year-long slowdown. It expects net sales to grow 4% for the full year, compared with its prior outlook of 2% growth and its 2% decline in fiscal 2025 (which ended this February). That recovery was driven by its new CEO's "Back to Basics" strategy of reorganizing its stores, stabilizing its inventory, and improving its employee training. It also expanded its food and beverage categories while selling more essential items to reduce its dependence on pricier discretionary items like home decor and electronics. It slashed prices to keep up with competitors, expanded its Target 360 program to lock in more shoppers, and secured additional exclusive brand partnerships to differentiate itself from other retailers. Wall Street now expects Target's revenue and EPS to grow 4% and 1%, respectively, this year. Its stock still looks cheap at 15 times this year's earnings, and it pays a forward yield of 3.6%. Kohl's (NYSE: KSS) latest report for the fourth quarter of 2025 was much worse. Its comps fell 3.1% for the full year, and it expects another 0%-2% decline for 2026. Unlike Target, which is leveraging its scale to stay competitive, Kohl's is still struggling to stay afloat in the crowded retail market. In this challenging macro environment, Kohl's is losing its core lower- to middle-income shoppers to superstores like Walmart and Target, off-price retailers like TJX, dollar stores, and e-commerce giants like Amazon. As its growth stalled out, it focused more on cutting costs than on organizing its cluttered stores, simplifying its complex promotions, and expanding its e-commerce platform. For 2026, analysts expect its revenue to grow less than 1% as its EPS plunges 38%. Its stock might...

Shares of big-box retailer Target (NYSE: TGT) slid about 4% after the company reported its fiscal first quarter of 2026 (the period ended May 2, 2026) earlier this week. At first glance, this reaction may be surprising. After all, the quarter offered the clearest evidence yet that Target's long-awaited turnaround is taking hold. And management was confident enough to raise its full-year sales forecast. Target said its comparable sales -- a measure of sales trends at stores and digital channels open for at least 13 months -- rose 5.6%, the company's first positive reading in five quarters. Will AI create the world's first trillionaire? Our team just released a report on the one little-known company, called an "Indispensable Monopoly" providing the critical technology Nvidia and Intel both need. Continue » So why did the stock fall anyway? To appreciate how notable a 5.6% comparable-sales increase is for Target, it helps to remember where the retailer has been. Its comparable sales fell in each of the prior four quarters -- down 3.8%, then 1.9%, then 2.7%, then 2.5%, even as bigger rival Walmart kept growing. So, the swing back into positive territory, Target's strongest comparable-sales gain in about four years, marks a real change in direction. Even more, Target's business momentum was broad-based in the quarter. Its net sales rose 6.7% to $25.4 billion, with all six of Target's core merchandise categories growing and store traffic up 4.4%. And digital comparable sales jumped 8.9%, led by same-day delivery through the company's paid Target Circle 360 membership. Meanwhile, Target's higher-margin non-merchandise revenue, driven by its advertising business and its third-party online marketplace, grew nearly 25%. Much of this lands at the feet of Michael Fiddelke, who took over as CEO on Feb. 1 and quickly framed 2026 as a year of aggressive change. During Target's fiscal first-quarter earnings call, Fiddelke said the team would "make more change to what we sell and how we sell it in 2026 than we've seen in a decade." And early results suggest the strategy may be resonating with shoppers. But here's where the picture gets more complicated. While the top line looked great, Target's reported profit moved in the wrong direction. Net income fell to $781 million, or $1.71 per share, from $1.04 billion, or $2.27 per share, a year earlier. That said, the comparison is...

Most investors should probably avoid Canopy Growth (NASDAQ: CGC). There was early enthusiasm on Wall Street about the opportunity ahead for marijuana companies, but the reality didn't live up to the excitement. At this point, Canopy Growth has been losing money for years, and the shares have declined so much that it is a penny stock. And now the company is going to restate two years' worth of earnings. If you are a Canopy Growth shareholder, or are thinking of becoming one, here is what you need to know right now. Will AI create the world's first trillionaire? Our team just released a report on the one little-known company, called an "Indispensable Monopoly" providing the critical technology Nvidia and Intel both need. Continue » One of the big problems with the marijuana sector is that too many competitors jumped in too quickly. That resulted in intense competition in a market that was still young and evolving. Despite ongoing legalization, the result of this competition has been weak financial performance for companies like Canopy Growth. It is hardly alone, noting that Tilray Brands (NASDAQ: TLRY), Cronos Group (NASDAQ: CRON), and Aurora Cannabis (NASDAQ: ACB) have all been struggling to achieve sustainably profitability. Worse, legal marijuana companies aren't the only competitive threat. The illicit sale of marijuana didn't stop just because the drug has become increasingly legal to sell. And since legal sellers such as Canopy Growth have to face regulatory costs and taxes, they are being undercut on price by illegally sold marijuana. Only more aggressive investors should consider investing in a sector that remains complex and evolving. Further, money-losing penny stocks are risky, too, so Canopy Growth has multiple high-risk features to consider before hitting the buy button. And now the company has announced it will restate its financial results over the past two years. Investors would be entirely justified in being concerned about a company's internal controls following a restatement, particularly if the company was losing money and the stock was trading in penny-stock land. Not surprisingly, Canopy Growth's stock fell after the news was released. As investors digested the announcement, however, the stock has recovered. That, too, makes sense, given the explanation for the restatement. According to the company: That is a mouthful, but the big story i...

Philippe Laffont is one of the smartest growth-stock investors in the market. His hedge fund Coatue Management oversees a $33 billion public equity portfolio with even more capital held in private companies. Laffont often shifts his portfolio in response to macro factors, and last quarter saw a significant tilt. He sold off shares in eight of the fund's 10 largest positions while adding to just two of them. Will AI create the world's first trillionaire? Our team just released a report on the one little-known company, called an "Indispensable Monopoly" providing the critical technology Nvidia and Intel both need. Continue » There's a very notable commonality between the two positions Laffont added to last quarter. It's also echoed in a couple of other portfolio additions. At the start of the year, Laffont's top 10 holdings were as follows: Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (NYSE: TSM) Microsoft Meta Platforms Amazon GE Vernova Alphabet Constellation Energy Broadcom Nvidia Lam Research (NASDAQ: LRCX) The only two on the list he added to were Taiwan Semiconductor (TSMC) and Lam Research. TSMC is the largest contract semiconductor manufacturer in the world, and Lam Research is a leading supplier of wafer fabrication equipment. The trading activity at Coatue shows a clear preference to invest further up the AI computing supply chain. The huge spending by hyperscalers like Microsoft, Meta Platforms, Amazon, and Alphabet is transferring significant cash flow from cloud computing companies to manufacturing companies. That creates significant uncertainty for the cloud computing giants betting on the future, but it creates a tremendous opportunity for companies like TSMC and Lam Research. They've been able to raise pricing as demand soars. The same is true of two new additions to Coatue's portfolio last quarter: ASML Holding and Micron Technology. Microsoft recently shared expectations that its capital expenditures (capex) will climb to $190 billion for the calendar year, with a marked acceleration in the second half. The other hyperscalers have also shared growing budgets in capex. Laffont expects budgets to keep growing year after year as a result of AI innovations such as agentic capabilities. That could keep their earnings multiples lower for an extended period. Meanwhile, companies like TSMC and Lam Research are seeing excellent revenue growth and margin expansi...

While artificial intelligence (AI) has been the driving force behind the current bull market, AI stocks have diverged this year. Not every AI-related company is seeing its stock climb in 2026. A combination of high market expectations and a consideration of longer-term impacts of AI has weighed on many companies' share prices. One AI stock saw its price tumble after the company reported first-quarter earnings, and not because its financial results were disappointing. Rather, management's relatively rosy outlook wasn't rosy enough for investors. Arista Networks (NYSE: ANET) saw its stock price tumble by a double-digit percentage after its report. But that could be an incredible buying opportunity for long-term investors. Will AI create the world's first trillionaire? Our team just released a report on the one little-known company, called an "Indispensable Monopoly" providing the critical technology Nvidia and Intel both need. Continue » The biggest challenge facing Arista Networks right now is its supply chain. It's unable to secure the chips and other components it needs for its high-end networking equipment used in AI data centers. That's put pressure on its gross margin, which management expects to persist for the time being. It also means that supply can't keep up with demand. But because Arista's customer base is highly concentrated, it can't exercise significant pricing power to boost revenue. All this is weighing on the stock, as investors were disappointed with management's full-year outlook following its first-quarter report. Management is typically very conservative at the start of the year, raising its guidance throughout the year. In its first-quarter earnings release, management raised its full-year revenue guidance by a mere $250 million, tied to AI-related revenue. It now expects sales of $11.5 billion in 2026, up 28% year over year, with $3.5 billion coming from artificial intelligence products. But Arista maintains its prominent position as the best-in-class solution for high-speed networking. Its advantage stems from its willingness to use the best components from other companies and package them with its software platform, Extensible Operating System, which provides customers with a unified interface for leading-edge hardware. There's a huge, growing demand for that solution, and while it shows up somewhat in Arista's top line, it's made it...

Relay Therapeutics (NASDAQ: RLAY) is a clinical-stage biotech company focused on cancers and genetic diseases, using a computational platform to identify small-molecule therapies. Relay's stock is up more than 344% over the past year, and it jumped more than 6% in the early afternoon on May 19, the day the company announced promising results for one of its drug therapies. Relay recently presented phase 2 trial data for zovegalisib in the treatment of vascular anomalies. Zovegalisib works by blocking PIK3CA, a gene that encodes an enzyme involved in cell growth. PIK3CA mutations are often associated with cancer. Vascular anomalies are rare disorders with abnormal development of blood vessels, lymphatic vessels, and surrounding tissues. Will AI create the world's first trillionaire? Our team just released a report on the one little-known company, called an "Indispensable Monopoly" providing the critical technology Nvidia and Intel both need. Continue » The results showed that zovegalisib led to a volumetric response in about 60% of the 20 patients it evaluated. Responses were seen in PROS and lymphatic malformation patients, and across a spectrum of PIK3CA mutations. PROS is an umbrella term for a group of rare genetic disorders caused by mutations in the PIK3CA gene. Given this new development, some investors may be revisiting their investment views around Relay Therapeutics. Let's look at three reasons to buy Relay Therapeutics and one not to. Zovegalisib is the healthcare company's lead therapy. In February, the Food and Drug Administration granted the PI3Ka inhibitor a breakthrough therapy designation for patients with PIK3CA-mutant HR+/HER2-advanced breast cancer. The drug has already shown an impressive median progression-free survival of 11.1 months in heavily pretreated, CDK4/6-experienced patients. The new data for vascular anomalies expands its therapeutic possibilities beyond oncology. According to Relay, there are approximately 140,000 patients with HR+/HER2- breast cancer with a PI3Kα mutation that zovegalisib could help as well as roughly 170,000 patients with vascular anomalies driven by a PI3Kα mutation, both relatively large patient populations. Unlike many early-stage biotechs that struggle to transition into definitive registration trials, the Cambridge, Mass., company has mapped out a highly structured path to market. Relay has finished a c...

Shares of Cava Group (NYSE: CAVA) initially soared after the Mediterranean fast-casual chain reported fiscal first-quarter results Tuesday afternoon, with the stock opening Wednesday's session at nearly $87. The reaction made sense: revenue jumped 32% year over year, same-restaurant sales reaccelerated to 9.7% from just 0.5% in the prior quarter, and management raised its full-year outlook on nearly every line that matters. But the bulk of that early surge has since faded. As of this writing, the stock is trading at about $81 -- only modestly above where it closed before Cava's earnings release. Will AI create the world's first trillionaire? Our team just released a report on the one little-known company, called an "Indispensable Monopoly" providing the critical technology Nvidia and Intel both need. Continue » So, with the underlying business clearly accelerating again, is the stock still a buy? Net revenue in Cava's fiscal first quarter (the period ended April 19, 2026) rose 32.2% year over year to $434.4 million. The bigger story, however, was same-restaurant sales, which grew 9.7% -- a huge rebound. Just look at how same-restaurant sales played out over the chain's last five quarters: 10.8% in fiscal Q1 2025, 2.1% in fiscal Q2, 1.9% in fiscal Q3, and a mere 0.5% in fiscal Q4 2025. That final reading even included a 1.4% decline in guest traffic. Some investors may have feared Cava was on the verge of posting its first negative comparable sales figure since going public. Instead, the chain blew past expectations. The 9.7% growth was driven by a 6.8% rise in guest traffic, with menu prices and product mix accounting for the remaining 2.9%. It also helps to view that 9.7% comp against what's happening elsewhere in fast casual. Both Sweetgreen and Wingstop recently posted weak comparable sales results. Cava's systemwide average unit volume now stands at $3 million, and the company ended the quarter with 459 restaurants -- a 20.2% year-over-year increase. The chain opened 20 net new locations during the period, including new market entries in St. Louis and Columbus. And CEO and co-founder Brett Schulman said on the fiscal Q1 earnings call that early performance from the 2026 cohort is "tracking in line with or ahead of the strength of our 2025 class, with first quarter new restaurant productivity trending above 100%." And profitability was solid. Restaurant-l...

(Bloomberg) -- For much of the year, chip stocks have been powering the market higher. Now, Nvidia Corp.’s earnings have a chance to confirm that the rally has more room to run — or add another brick to investors’ wall of worry. Most Read from Bloomberg Spot the Difference: Putin Gets Trump Treatment From Xi in China Iran Threatens to Retaliate Beyond Middle East If US Attacks Hasbro Cancels Dungeons & Dragons Game From ‘Star Wars’ Veteran US Lawmakers Plan New $130 Fee for Electric Vehicle Owners US Treasuries Rebound on Optimism for US-Iran Deal Progress The leader in artificial intelligence semiconductors reports its results after the market close on Wednesday. Wall Street is expecting the latest in a series of strong prints from chipmakers as Big Tech continues to shower the companies with cash to build out AI infrastructure. So investors will be looking for indications about what the growth outlook is from here. “Nvidia’s results or guidance and the discussion on the call can give investors more confidence that this AI buildout will last not just a quarter, not just 2026, but into 2027 and 2028 and beyond,” said JoAnne Feeney, a portfolio manager at Advisors Capital Management, which owns Nvidia shares. “That will be reassuring.” A disappointment, however, could give credence to investors’ fears that the group has gotten overextended. The Philadelphia Stock Exchange Semiconductor Index has soared more than 60% this year, but it tumbled 6.4% over Friday and Monday as inflation concerns weighed on the stocks. Nvidia shares were up 1.8% on Wednesday afternoon, extending gains to 20% in 2026 and nearly 36% since hitting a recent low in late March, but they lost 6.4% in three sessions through Tuesday’s close. They’re still outperforming the technology-heavy Nasdaq 100 Index, which has gained nearly 16% this year. “Nvidia unfortunately created the expectation that it’s going to beat and raise every quarter, if they don’t, that’s going to be disappointing,” Feeney said. The stock has declined the day after Nvidia’s last three earnings reports even though the company posted solid results. The options market is pricing in a 5.5% move in either direction in the wake of this report. Despite its relatively underwhelming performance in 2026, Nvidia remains the biggest stock in the market, accounting for almost a fifth of the S&P 500 Index’s more than 8% advance this...

This is a red-hot market that needs Nvidia (NVDA) to have a huge earnings day on Wednesday evening. Or else. Nvidia is the straw that stirs the market’s drink: Sure, the main AI stories that have captivated investor minds this year include Intel (INTC) showing signs of life and stock explosions at SanDisk (SNDK) and Micron (MU) because of memory chip shortages. But the reality is that Nvidia remains the main driver of the broader market due to its outright size. Nvidia accounts for a leading 9% of the S&P 500's (^GSPC) market cap weight, according to data from Goldman Sachs strategist Ben Snider. The stock has contributed 20% of the aggregate S&P 500's year-to-date return. Shares are up 21% year to date, outperforming the S&P 500’s 7% advance. Alphabet (GOOG, GOOGL) is second on the contribution front, and the aforementioned Micron is a distant third. Stocks at a glance: AI optimism — in large part powered by strong demand signals from Nvidia customers— has lifted the S&P 500’s return to 10% year to date. Technology has accounted for 85% of the benchmark index’s return. The S&P 500 excluding technology has returned just 3%. “With AI and momentum [stocks] moving hand in hand and driving the direction of the S&P 500, many investors have expressed the view that the equity market today is one big trade rather than a market of stocks,” Snider said. Wall Street chatter on Nvidia ahead of earnings: All indications suggest Nvidia will have a strong earnings day this week. Hyperscalers such as Microsoft (MSFT) and Meta (META) have aggressively lifted their 2026 capital expenditure plans. Taiwan Semiconductor (TSM) has put up impressive results, and Intel looks to be close to getting foundry business from Apple (AAPL) at long last. Yahoo Finance data shows analyst profit estimates on Nvidia have risen for this year and next over the past 60 days. Price targets on the stock have also maintained an upward bias. “We expect a beat-and-raise quarter given positive industry supply and demand datapoints but believe the bar for stock outperformance is relatively high heading into the print,” Goldman Sachs analyst James Schneider said in a note. “Although the stock has lagged peers and now trades at a meaningful discount relative to history, we believe the stock’s multiple can re-rate if we see evidence of: (1) improving profitability metrics at hyperscalers that supports sust...

Nvidia (NVDA) will be reporting its first quarter earnings this Wednesday, May 20. Morning Brief Host Julie Hyman and Barron's Investor Circle newsletter editor Josh Schafer take a closer look at whether Nvidia's earnings narrative is as big a proponent of the stock's overall trade that investors believe it to be.

Ares Capital's (NASDAQ: ARCC) main draw is its monster dividend yield. At more than 10%, it's nearly 10 times higher than the S&P 500's yield. The business development company (BDC) has paid a stable-to-growing dividend for 67 consecutive quarters. It has endured its share of tough times over the years, including over the past quarter. Here's a look back at its rough quarter and whether the high-yielding dividend stock is still a buy. Will AI create the world's first trillionaire? Our team just released a report on the one little-known company, called an "Indispensable Monopoly" providing the critical technology Nvidia and Intel both need. Continue » Ares Capital's core earnings dipped in the first quarter to $0.47 per share, down from $0.50 per share in the fourth quarter and the first quarter of last year. That pushed them down below the BDC's quarterly dividend level of $0.48 per share. Despite that, Ares announced its next dividend, payable at the end of June. While the company faced some headwinds in the period, management didn't seem too concerned. CEO Kort Schnabel led off the quarterly conference call by stating, "I believe we are off to a strong start in 2026 with solid earnings and strong fundamental portfolio performance. Our core earnings of $0.47 per share represent an annualized ROE of 9.6% in what has historically been a seasonally slow quarter for originations." He also noted that, "heightened capital markets volatility, geopolitical uncertainty, and net outflows from retail products exacerbated an already seasonally slow market period in the first quarter." On a more positive note, the CEO stated that "Our overall portfolio quality remains healthy with continued low levels of nonaccruing loans and problem assets." One factor driving that view is that Ares stress-tested its software-focused portfolio companies to assess the risks of AI-related disruption. It hired a top consulting firm, which found that only a tiny fraction of its investment portfolio was at medium- to high-risk. The CEO also discussed the dividend on the call. He noted that while core earnings fell below the dividend, when you add the $0.15 per share of net realized gains it recorded in the period, earnings were well above the payout, "providing a strong underlying foundation for current distributions." Further, the BDC has been carrying forward excess taxable earnings. This...