Your Evening Briefing

May 21, 2026

Stocks gain and oil dips as traders evaluate US-Iran deal progress

Stocks finished the day in the green after wavering as traders digested war updates as US Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters there had been “some good signs” in talks.

Utilities was the best-performing sector while consumer staples was the worst, dragged down by Walmart.

Stocks that moved higher:

Rigetti Computing, IonQ, D-Wave Quantum, Quantum Computing, and Infleqtion soared after the Commerce Department awarded $2 billion in grants in deals that include government equity stakes.
IBM also soared after winning a $1 billion grant from the US Commerce Department as part of the same quantum computing initiative.
GlobalFoundries jumped after winning a $375 million grant from the US government.
Spotify soared after announcing upbeat revenue guidance and a new AI remix tool.
SoftBank ADRs rallied on OpenAI and SB Energy IPO plans, with the Japanese-traded stock notching its biggest one-day gain since 2000.
Nebius soared on a Bloom Energy deal and rumors of price hikes, while Bloom Energy ticked up on the same news.
Applied Digital skyrocketed after yesterday’s news of a long-term lease agreement with the same “investment-grade” hyperscaler it struck a similar deal with in April.
Birkenstock leaped after announcing a $250 million share buyback.
Advance Auto Parts climbed after reporting better-than-expected Q1 earnings and sales.

Stocks that moved lower:

Nvidia dipped after reporting Q1 results that included a corporate makeover and a $1 trillion revenue target, prompting a wave of Wall Street price target increases.
Walmart dropped after it reported Q1 earnings results that hit Wall Street estimates but gave lukewarm guidance for the current quarter.
Intuit plummeted after reporting slowing revenue growth after the bell yesterday.

Maybe we should all agree to not talk about Nvidia’s stock after earnings

It’s probably making people dumber. Read more.

The Enhanced Games isn’t just about sports — it’s a $31 million product demo

Inside the cash-burning, uninsurable, and controversial plan to turn a pro-doping sporting event into a mainstream supplement empire.

Read more.

Tesla says FSD is “available” in China. What does that actually mean?
We’ll let you know when someone besides Tesla — like China — confirms.
Bitcoin flashes warning sign that “bear market remains”
“The 200-day MA has consistently acted as the boundary between relief rally territory and trend resumption.”
Alphabet’s Waymos are still getting caught in floods after recall
The company paused service in Atlanta over the issue.
Crypto exchange Blockchain.com confidentially files for IPO
On Thursday, the crypto exchange announced it submitted a draft registration statement with the US Securities and Exchange Commission.
Report: Anthropic is in talks to use Microsoft’s custom AI chips
Microsoft has faced delays for its Maia custom AI chips, and landing Anthropic as a customer could be a huge boost for its Azure business.
US gas prices rise again, sitting at their highest levels in four years ahead of Memorial Day weekend
Current gas prices are right around what customers were paying four years ago.

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