• Google, owned by Alphabet (No. 7), and Blackstone (No. 321) announced a joint venture, backed by a $5 billion equity commitment from Blackstone, aimed at rivaling AI cloud providers like CoreWeave. Twenty-two-year Google executive Benjamin Treynor Sloss will become the venture’s CEO.
• IBM (No. 68) is one of nine quantum computing companies receiving grants from the U.S. government in exchange for minority stakes. IBM is receiving the largest grant—$1 billion—and says it will match the grant to create Anderon, a pure-play quantum chip foundry in the U.S.
• Intel (No. 86) and Qualcomm (No. 117) are both in discussions to acquire chipmaker Tenstorrent, per Bloomberg, which reported the company could be valued at more than $5 billion. For Intel, a deal could bolster its push to regain traction in AI infrastructure, while Qualcomm sees Tenstorrent as a way to expand beyond mobile chips into data centers and edge AI devices.
• Lululemon athletica (No. 401) called activist founder Chip Wilson “misguided” and said he holds “outdated perspectives” in a letter to shareholders asking them to reject a slate of board members Wilson has proposed. Wilson, who holds an 8.6% stake in the company, is pushing to install three of his own director nominees to the board, arguing Lululemon has lost its creative edge and needs a governance overhaul during its ongoing CEO search.
• Analog Devices (No. 430) agreed to acquire Empower Semiconductor for $1.5 billion in cash. The deal gives Analog Devices access to a fast-growing market for AI power management, where solutions that cut energy losses and stabilize performance under heavy workloads are increasingly in demand.

• Walmart topped expectations with $177.8 billion in quarterly revenue, up 7.3% year-over-year, with global e-commerce surging 26%. The company’s outlook for the current quarter fell short of expectations, as the retail giant braces for the toll that rising gas prices could take on its shoppers. Read more: Walmart shoppers are filling their gas tanks with less than 10 gallons for the first time since 2022, and its CFO calls it ‘an indication of stress’
• Home Depot (No. 24) topped expectations with $41.8 billion in quarterly revenue, a 4.8% jump from a year ago, and maintained full-year guidance even as consumers grow more cautious amid rising gas prices and tariff-related costs. CEO Ted Decker said that “the underlying demand in our business was relatively similar to what we saw throughout fiscal 2025, despite greater consumer uncertainty and housing affordability pressure.”
• Nvidia (No. 31) blew past expectations with $81.6 billion in quarterly revenue, up 85% from a year ago, as its data center business exploded to $75.2 billion. The company raised its guidance to $91 billion next quarter, well ahead of what Wall Street expected. Read more: Nvidia tells skeptical investors that AI is ready to go mainstream
• Lowe’s (No. 52) beat expectations with $23.1 billion in quarterly revenue, up roughly 10% year-over-year with a 15.5% jump in online sales. CEO Marvin Ellison called out a widening K-shaped economy, with affluent consumers spending more while lower-income shoppers pull back, and flagged housing as his central concern.

Earnings calls next week include: AutoZone (No. 227) on May 26; Salesforce (No. 120) and Dick’s Sporting Goods (No. 318) on May 27; Costco Wholesale (No. 12), Dell Technologies (No. 44), Best Buy (No. 108), Dollar Tree (No. 139), and Kohl’s (No. 261) on May 28; and others.