👉 The Investing Week Ahead: Nvidia's Report Lingers

Let’s dive right in.

What We’re Watching:

Palo Alto Networks (+7.79% YTD) will release its financial results after the market closes on Monday — with analysts having mixed expectations on where the company’s guidance will land. Palo Alto Networks is heading into earnings with an average analyst price target of $335.5 (compared to the current share price of $318.7).

The stock has already recovered almost half of its post-earnings pullback of ~30% — and a +5% rise over the last week suggests that the market believes the high end of expectations could be met during its report.

Analysts were impressed by the ~$13B-$17B opportunity that was mentioned during the last earnings report if their user base doubles in 5 years. We’re excited to hear if they feel like they’re on track!

Chipmaker Nvidia (86.74% YTD) is set to release its Q1 earnings after the market closes on Wednesday — with analysts forecasting a +240% growth in revenue and over +400% growth in EPS.

The company — which has exceeded earnings expectations in six of the last eight quarters — remains the dominant force in the GPU market and AI technology. 

This earnings report will be a crucial indicator of the ongoing AI boom — potentially driving Wall Street to new heights if Nvidia delivers another strong performance.

It will also be interesting to hear more about the various investments this company makes on what seems like a weekly basis. For example, Nvidia-backed CoreWeave has just raised $7.5B to fuel AI growth. Analysts love seeing more and more companies that become reliant on NVDA’s chips for growth.

His hardline policies further isolated Iran economically, with the currency plummeting and increasing pressure from international nuclear inspectors. As you can see above, one U.S. dollar is worth over 42,000 Iranian Rials. Back in 2011 — this was closer to 12,000 Iranian Rials. Simply incredible devaluation.

The region of course remains volatile — with ongoing conflicts involving Iran-backed groups and Israel. We are still uncertain if this helicopter crash involved foul play.

Microsoft's existing AI tools — such as the Copilot chatbot — are likely to be expanded, enhancing user interaction and productivity.

The company’s strategy includes promoting higher-priced, more powerful PCs equipped with neural processing units (NPUs) for advanced AI tasks. This initiative aligns with broader trends in the tech industry, following recent AI developments from OpenAI and Google.

AST SpaceMobile plans to launch five satellites in the summer, expecting them to be operational within three months. The new network will initially target markets in the US and Japan, enhancing connectivity in rural and previously unreachable locations.

What We’re Watching:

The University of Michigan's latest Consumer Sentiment report will be released on Friday, May 24th. It recently dropped to 67.4 in May from 77.2 in April — the lowest sentiment reading in six months and missing market expectations.

Year-ahead inflation expectations rose to 3.5%, and the five-year outlook increased to 3.1%. Consumers expressed concerns about incredibly sticky inflation, unemployment, and interest rates in the coming year.

The Federal Reserve held the federal funds rate steady at 5.25%-5.50% for the sixth straight meeting — citing persistent inflation and a tight labor market.

While inflation has moderated, it remains high, and progress toward the 2% target has stalled according to numerous economic readings over the last few months.

Chair Powell indicated no rate hikes are likely, and the Fed plans to slow quantitative tightening — reducing the monthly cap on Treasury securities from $60 billion to $25 billion starting June 1st.