MARKET WRAPS
STOCKS: Stocks rallied on hopes for a peace deal between the U.S. and Iran.
TREASURYS: Treasury yields slid on reports that the U.S. and Iran were close to agreeing terms on a peace deal.
FOREX: The U.S. dollar fell as oil futures retreated due to optimism about a U.S.-Iran deal.
COMMODITIES: Oil futures fell 5.7% to $98.26 a barrel after President Trump said U.S. negotiations with Iran were in their "final stages."
HEADLINES
Nvidia Beats Estimates With $81.6 Billion Sales in First Quarter
Chip giant Nvidia reported record sales and income Wednesday, driven by surging demand for data-center computing and the astronomical rise of artificial-intelligence agents.
Sales for the April quarter reached $81.6 billion, up 85% from the year-earlier period and beating the $78.9 billion that analysts polled by Factset had forecast by 3.4%. Net income was $58.3 billion for the quarter, more than three times the year-earlier result and 36.5% higher than the $42.9 billion analysts had predicted.
The record-high sales were driven by growth in Nvidia's data-center segment, especially the sale of computing hardware, which includes the company's graphics processing units, or GPUs, as well as other chips that perform both general-purpose and specialized computing tasks. Sales of networking hardware tripled from a year ago to a record $14.8 billion.In March, Nvidia rolled out several new products, including two servers designed specially to help AI models and agents run faster. One was a system designed for inference-the computing required to run AI models-that makes use of a chip designed by startup Groq, whose technology and top talent Nvidia acquired in December for $20 billion.
Mind-Blowing Growth Is About to Propel Anthropic Into Its First Profitable Quarter
Anthropic's revenue is set to more than double to $10.9 billion in the second quarter, an explosive rate of growth that will help it turn an operating profit for the first time.
The company disclosed the figures to investors as part of an ongoing funding round that is likely to push its valuation above OpenAI's. The projections provide a window into the meteoric rise of a startup that was once a laggard in the AI race and defy the conventional wisdom that AI companies' huge spending needs hamper near-term profitability.
Anthropic generated $4.8 billion in sales in the first quarter. Its quarterly revenue is now growing faster than Zoom did during the pandemic, and Google and Facebook in the run-up to their IPOs. It is set to turn an operating profit of $559 million in the June quarter.
OpenAI Is Preparing to File for an IPO Very Soon
ChatGPT-maker OpenAI has been working with bankers to prepare to file for an initial public offering in the coming days or weeks, according to people familiar with the matter.
Bankers at firms including Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley have been helping the artificial-intelligence giant on a draft IPO prospectus it plans to file confidentially with regulators soon, possibly as early as Friday, some of the people said.
The goal is for OpenAI, led by Sam Altman, to be ready to go public as early as September, some of the people said. The plans remain fluid and could still change, they cautioned.
Meta Begins Laying Off Thousands of Employees as It Transforms Around AI
Meta Platforms began laying off thousands of employees Wednesday morning and reassigning thousands of others to AI-focused roles, according to an internal memo and people familiar with the matter.
Meta's chief people officer, Janelle Gale, told staff last month that the coming layoffs would affect 10% of the company, or roughly 8,000 employees, and that the company would also cancel plans to hire for 6,000 open roles. In a follow-up memo on Monday, she said it would also move a separate 7,000 staffers into new AI-focused roles and transition a number of managers to individual contributor roles as part of the reorganization efforts.
Individual employees in Asia and Europe began receiving notifications that they would be affected early in their mornings, followed hours later by employees in the Americas, the people said.
Fed Minutes Reveal Support for Rate Hikes if Inflation Proves Persistent
Federal Reserve officials all but retired the question that had dominated their debates for the past two years-whether to cut interest rates-and began more seriously at their meeting last month to weigh the opposite: whether to raise them.
"A majority of participants highlighted...that some policy firming would likely become appropriate if inflation were to continue to run persistently above 2%," according to the minutes of the April policy meeting, released Wednesday.
The minutes of Jerome Powell's final meeting as Fed chair underscored how the Middle East conflict has reshaped the outlook on the rate-setting committee that Kevin Warsh will lead after he is sworn in at the White House on Friday. The central bank's next policy meeting is June 16-17.
Intuit Beats Earnings Estimates and Plans to Cut 17% of Workforce
Intuit reported better-than-expected financial results for its crucial tax season Wednesday, while also announcing a round of layoffs.
Intuit said it's reducing its full-time workforce by 17%. The company joins a list of tech firms that have announced job cuts this year. According to Layoffs.fyi, a website that tracks tech layoffs, 111,173 tech employees have lost their jobs in 2026. That's getting close to the 124,201 total the website reported for all of 2025.
Intuit stock slid 9.4% in after-hours trading following the results.
Target Reports Strongest Sales Gain in Years, But Sounds Note of Caution
Target reported its strongest quarterly sales gain in years Wednesday, the first sign that new strategies to attract shoppers are starting to bear fruit, but company executives sounded a note of caution about the challenges still ahead.
Its comparable sales, those from stores and digital channels operating for at least 12 months, rose 5.6% in the three months ended May 2. That is the biggest quarterly increase since early 2022.
The results are up against a big sales dip in the same quarter last year, but Target also sees shoppers gravitating to some of its refreshed product assortment and customer-service changes, executives said on a call with reporters. New products and store layouts in its baby, toy and health departments led to big sales gains in those categories, Michael Fiddelke, Target's new chief executive, said.
Lowe's Sales Rise, Boosted by Pro Business Growth
Lowe's reported higher first-quarter sales, which were boosted by growth in its business selling to professional customers, even as a stagnant housing market continues to weigh on do-it-yourself home improvement activity.
"While DIY demand remains under pressure, we're continuing to grow market share in a challenging housing environment shaped by elevated interest rates, higher costs and low housing turnover," said Chief Executive Marvin Ellison, adding that the company expects the broader market to remain flat this year.
The company said it is particularly seeing lagging sales in big-ticket discretionary categories, echoing comments from Home Depot on Tuesday that homeowners are pulling back on large home-improvement projects.
Hasbro's Uncertain Outlook Weighs on Shares, Overshadowing Strong First Quarter
Hasbro's executives see some obstacles ahead before the company can lift its guidance for the second half of the year.
Tariffs remain a wild card, and higher oil prices are expected to result in a roughly $30 million cost headwind for the year, Chief Executive Chris Cocks said. At the same time, the toymaker continues to calculate the cost of a recent cybersecurity breach.
"Our guidance is already a pretty good bet, and so, I think we'd just like to see a little bit more year go by before we change our outlook," Cocks said in an interview Wednesday.
Wendy's Names Robert Wright as CEO
Robert Wright will return to Wendy's as chief executive officer, where he will oversee efforts to reverse a slump in the restaurant chain's U.S. sales.
Wright previously served as chief operating officer of Wendy's for more than four years. He was most recently CEO of sandwich chain Potbelly, overseeing its roughly $566 million sale to convenience-store operator RaceTrac last year, and has also held leadership positions at Charleys Philly Steaks, Checkers Drive-In Restaurants, and Domino's Pizza.
His appointment is effective Thursday. He will also join the company's board of directors.
TALKING POINT Brokerages Have a New Path to Avoid Formal Regulatory Investigations
Brokerage firms facing scrutiny over a potential compliance violation have long been able to help their cause by engaging with regulators throughout the process. Now Finra, the brokerage industry's self-regulatory organization, is piloting a new self-reporting initiative that could bring Finra's inquiries to an end sooner and potentially avoid penalties.
Leaders of Finra's enforcement division described reforms to the organization's processes at a recent conference in Washington, stressing the importance of volunteering information that could help regulators understand more about the firm's operations, what might have gone wrong from a compliance perspective, and what the firm is doing to address the issue.
At the outset of an investigation, Finra is inviting firms, along with their outside counsel, to sit for an introductory meeting. That enables the regulator and the firm to compare notes and for the firm to proactively furnish information without waiting for the formal request from Finra staff. It also gives the firm an opportunity to outline remedial steps it has taken on its own to address any compliance deficiencies, which can be a major factor in how harsh a penalty the firm receives.
"We take that into account, of course, when determining the outcome of our cases," said Bill Thompson, vice president and chief counsel at Finra's enforcement division.
Further along in the investigative process, near the end of the fact-finding phase, Finra has been inviting firms in for what its calls an investigative findings meeting, when enforcement staff can share what they have learned and give the firm a chance to respond ahead of moving to "get everyone on the same page," said Matt Minerva, also a vice president and chief counsel at the enforcement division.
"We want to eliminate surprises down the road," he said. "If a firm makes enhancements or updates to its processes and procedures anywhere in the life cycle of the case...please tell us about it because we do want to take it into consideration."
Pilot program. With the self-reporting program, launched in June 2025 but still in the pilot phase, Finra is asking firms that identify significant compliance failures to come forward and present the regulator with information about the issue, as they are required to do under Rule 4530(b). The program offers firms the chance to bring those issues to Finra's attention without necessarily resulting in a formal enforcement investigation, though Finra doesn't guarantee there won't be one.
--Kenneth Corbin, Barron's
Expected Major Events for Thursday
00:30/JPN: May Japan Flash Manufacturing PMI
07:15/FRA: May France Flash PMI
07:30/GER: May Germany Flash PMI
08:30/UK: 1Q Mortgage and landlord possession statistics
08:30/UK: May Flash UK PMI
09:00/ITA: Mar Balance of Payments
10:00/UK: May CBI Industrial Trends Survey
10:00/FRA: 1Q OECD Quarterly National Accounts: GDP growth
12:30/US: May Philadelphia Fed Business Outlook Survey
12:30/US: Apr New Residential Construction - Housing Starts and Building Permits
12:30/US: 05/16 Unemployment Insurance Weekly Claims Report - Initial Claims
12:30/US: U.S. Weekly Export Sales
13:00/RUS: Weekly International Reserves
13:45/US: May US Flash Manufacturing PMI
13:45/US: May US Flash Services PMI
14:00/US: 1Q Advance Quarterly Services
14:30/US: 05/15 EIA Weekly Natural Gas Storage Report
15:00/US: May Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City Survey of Tenth District Manufacturing
20:30/US: Federal Discount Window Borrowings
20:30/US: Foreign Central Bank Holdings
23:01/UK: May UK Consumer Confidence Survey
23:30/JPN: Mar Final Labour Survey - Earnings, Employment & Hours Worked
23:30/JPN: Apr CPI (Nation), CPI ex-food (Nation)
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Expected Earnings for Thursday
Advance Auto Parts Inc (AAP) is expected to report $0.41 for 1Q.
Advanced Drainage Systems Inc (WMS) is expected to report $0.93 for 4Q.
Atlantic International Corp $(ATLN)$ is expected to report for 1Q.
Barnwell Industries Inc (BRN) is expected to report for 2Q.
Bright Minds Biosciences Inc (DRUG.L) is expected to report for 2Q.
CAE Inc (CAE,CAE.T) is expected to report $0.43 for 4Q.
Cato Corp - A Share $(CATO)$ is expected to report for 1Q.
Cavco Industries Inc $(CVCO)$ is expected to report $5.26 for 4Q.
Copart Inc $(CPRT)$ is expected to report $0.41 for 3Q.
Deckers Outdoor Corp (DECK) is expected to report $0.84 for 4Q.
Deere & Co (DE) is expected to report $5.78 for 2Q.
Flowers Foods Inc $(FLO)$ is expected to report $0.25 for 1Q.
Hamilton Lane Inc (HLNE) is expected to report $1.37 for 4Q.
Hovnanian Enterprises Inc - Class A $(HOV)$ is expected to report $-2.04 for 2Q.
Hub Group Inc - Class A (HUBG) is expected to report $0.17 for 1Q.
Lightspeed Commerce Inc (LSPD.T) is expected to report $-0.21 for 4Q.
Lionsgate Studios Corp (LION) is expected to report for 4Q.
NetEase Inc - ADR (K3MD.SG,NTES) is expected to report $3.13 for 1Q.
Newcore Gold Ltd (NCAU.V) is expected to report for 1Q.
Ralph Lauren Corp - A Share $(RL)$ is expected to report $2.54 for 4Q.
Replimune Group Inc $(REPL)$ is expected to report $-0.60 for 4Q.
Ross Stores Inc $(ROST)$ is expected to report $1.72 for 1Q.
Shoe Carnival Inc (SCVL) is expected to report $0.92 for 1Q.
Take-Two Interactive Software Inc (TTWO) is expected to report $-0.56 for 4Q.
Walmart Inc $(WMT)$ is expected to report $0.65 for 1Q.
Webco Industries Inc $(WEBC)$ is expected to report for 3Q.
Williams-Sonoma Inc (WSM) is expected to report $1.80 for 1Q.
Workday Inc (WDAY) is expected to report $1.02 for 1Q.
Zoom Communications Inc (ZM) is expected to report $0.81 for 1Q.
ePlus Inc $(PLUS)$ is expected to report $0.81 for 4Q.
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(END) Dow Jones Newswires
May 20, 2026 16:52 ET (20:52 GMT)
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