=== US Stocks News Digest ===
Date: 2026-05-18 20:05 PST
Generated: 2026-05-18 20:05 PST
MARKET SNAPSHOT
===============
S&P 500: 7,403.05 (-5.45, -0.07%)
Nasdaq Composite: 26,090.73 (-134.41, -0.51%)
Dow Jones: 49,686.12 (+159.95, +0.32%)
VIX: 17.82 (-0.61, -3.31%)
Futures: S&P -0.23%, Nasdaq -0.45%, Dow -0.10%
Market Sentiment: Mixed close with tech lagging. S&P barely flat, Dow bucked trend with gains.
Nasdaq led losses for second session amid tech selloff. VIX declined 3.3%, suggesting calm despite tech weakness.
Top Gainers: CTSH (+9.8%), D (+9.4%), NOW (+8.8%)
Top Losers: REGN (-9.8%), LITE (-8.8%)
News 1: Trump postpones Iran attack at Middle East leaders' request
Summary: Trump announced via Truth Social he is calling off a planned Tuesday attack on Iran after requests from Qatari, Saudi, and UAE leaders to hold off. Defense Secretary Hegseth and Joint Chiefs remain on standby for a potential assault if acceptable deal not reached.
Content: President Trump said Monday he is calling off a plan to attack Iran on Tuesday after the heads of three regional powers in the Middle East asked him to "hold off." Trump, in a Truth Social post, said he has informed U.S. military leaders "that we will NOT be doing the scheduled attack of Iran tomorrow" in light of the requests from Qatari Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and UAE President Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan. Trump was considering resuming active military operations after Tehran's latest response in ongoing negotiations over a deal to end the war was deemed insufficient. At a White House event, Trump said "we were getting ready to do a very major attack tomorrow" and "I put it off for a little while, hopefully maybe forever, but possibly for a little while." He added that if Iran is satisfied with a deal in which they do not get a nuclear weapon, "we will be probably satisfied also." Trump claimed the three regional leaders had asked for the planned attack to be postponed "in that serious negotiations are now taking place." The U.S. and Iran are locked in a military and economic stalemate centered on the Strait of Hormuz, the vital global oil-shipping route.
CNBC
Link: https://www.cnbc.com/2026/05/18/trump-iran-attack-saudi-uae-qatar-deal.html
Date: Mon, May 18 2026 • 3:09 PM EDT
Media: none
Size: 3.2 KB
News 2: S&P 500 futures fall after index posts back-to-back losses amid tech selloff
Summary: S&P 500 futures fell Monday night after a selloff in technology stocks weighed on the broad market index for the second session. Nasdaq 100 futures fell 0.45%. Kevin Gordon of Schwab Center says the market rally has likely seen its best days due to stretched positioning.
Content: S&P 500 futures fell Monday night after a selloff in technology stocks weighed on the broad market index for the second session in a row. Futures tied to the S&P 500 were down 0.23%, while Nasdaq 100 futures fell 0.45%. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures shed 51 points, or 0.10%. Both the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite posted their second straight day of losses on Monday. The broad market index slipped 0.07%, while the technology-heavy Nasdaq closed 0.51% lower. The Dow bucked the trend, adding 159.95 points, or 0.32%. Memory chip stocks sold off on Monday, with Seagate tumbling after CEO comments at a JPMorgan conference that raised fears about meeting AI-driven demand surge. The stock dropped almost 7%, while peer Micron fell close to 6%. Monday's losses come after stocks rallied to new highs in recent weeks, with both the S&P 500 and Nasdaq hitting fresh record highs last week. Kevin Gordon, head of macro research at the Schwab Center, believes the market rally has already seen its best days due to stretched positioning.
CNBC
Link: https://www.cnbc.com/2026/05/18/stock-market-today-live-updates.html
Date: Mon, May 18 2026 • 10:15 PM EDT
Media: none
Size: 2.8 KB
News 3: 'This is borderline mania': Wall Street sees bubble-like euphoria in AI-fueled semiconductor rally
Summary: Wall Street strategists point to signals of euphoria in the AI trade. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index has surged ~70% since March 30 lows. Interactive Brokers strategist Sosnick: "This is borderline mania, if not actual full-fledged mania." Legacy names Intel and Cisco join all-time high club amid AI boom.
Content: Wall Street strategists are pointing to signals of euphoria in the AI trade. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index (^SOX) has surged roughly 70% since the March 30 market lows, with memory maker Micron helping fuel a chip frenzy that has also pushed the broader S&P 500 to 7,500. Nvidia topped a $5.5 trillion valuation last week, while competitor Cerebras surged 68% on the biggest market debut of 2026. Even legacy names like Intel and Cisco have joined the all-time-high club amid the AI boom. Strategists are drawing uncomfortable parallels to the 1999 dot-com era. "This is borderline mania, if not actual full-fledged mania," Interactive Brokers chief strategist Steve Sosnick told Yahoo Finance. He noted that while earnings have been better-than-expected, "were we that mispriced six weeks ago? Are we that mispriced now?"
Yahoo Finance
Date: Sun, May 17 2026 at 3:43 AM PDT
Media: none
Size: 2.5 KB
News 4: Gates' foundation sold all of its Microsoft shares. Bill Ackman is loading up on the stock.
Summary: The Gates Foundation sold its final 7.7M MSFT shares (~$3.2B exit) ending a decades-long position as it winds down operations by 2045. Hours before, Bill Ackman's Pershing Square announced a new ~$2.09B MSFT position, funded by selling Google holdings. Ackman: "We are very bullish long term on Alphabet. But at current valuations... we used GOOG as a source of funds for MSFT."
Content: The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Trust disclosed it sold its final 7.7 million shares of Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) during the first quarter — a roughly $3.2 billion exit ending a decades-long position. A very different story broke that morning. Bill Ackman's Pershing Square Capital Management used a lengthy X post to announce a brand-new Microsoft position. Pershing's 13F showed roughly 5.65 million shares worth around $2.09 billion. Ackman explained he used Pershing's Google holdings to pay for it. "To be clear, our sale of $GOOG was not a bet against the company. We are very bullish long term on Alphabet. But at current valuations and in light of our finite capital base, we used $GOOG as a source of funds for $MSFT." The Gates Foundation announced in May 2025 that it will sunset operations in 2045 and spend roughly $200 billion on charitable work over the next 20 years — necessitating the sale of its endowment.
Moneywise / Yahoo Finance
Date: Sun, May 17 2026 at 7:15 AM PDT
Media: none
Size: 2.6 KB
News 5: Cerebras stock faces sharp reality check after massive IPO debut
Summary: Cerebras (CBRS) IPO priced at $185, opened at $350, surged to $385 before halt, closed day one at $311 (68% gain). By Friday close: $279.72, down 10%. The AI chipmaker raised ~$6.38B gross. At peak, valued at ~130x trailing revenue — explaining the post-IPO pullback. Customers include OpenAI, AWS, Meta, IBM.
Content: Cerebras Systems (CBRS) had one of the most dramatic IPO debuts in years. Priced at $185 on Wednesday evening, above its $150-$160 range, CBRS opened Thursday at $350 and surged to $385 before a trading halt intervened. The shares closed day one at $311 — a 68% first-day gain. By Friday's close, CBRS was at $279.72, down another 10.08%. The AI chipmaker raised approximately $6.38 billion in gross proceeds. At peak pricing, Cerebras was valued at roughly 130 times trailing revenue. Cerebras builds the Wafer-Scale Engine 3, described as the largest commercialized AI processor in the world — 58 times larger than a leading GPU chip. It delivers AI inference up to 15 times faster than GPU-based solutions while using a fraction of the power per unit compute. The customer roster includes OpenAI, Amazon Web Services, Meta Platforms, and IBM.
TheStreet / Yahoo Finance
Link: https://finance.yahoo.com/markets/stocks/articles/cerebras-stock-faces-sharp-reality-153300332.html
Date: Sun, May 17 2026 at 8:33 AM PDT
Media: none
Size: 2.4 KB
News 6: Nebius CEO doubles down on capex spending, raises guidance to $25B
Summary: Nebius CEO Arkady Volozh aggressively raised capex guidance to $25B on Q1 earnings call. Q1 revenue surged 684% YoY to $399M, core AI business up 841% to $390M. EBITDA margin for AI segment rose to 45%. CEO: "Everything we build, we sell, and we are still in the very early days." Demand for AI computing far exceeds supply.
Content: Spending $20 billion in a single year is a bold statement, and spending $25 billion is a declaration of war. That's essentially what Nebius Group CEO Arkady Volozh said on the company's May 13 first-quarter 2026 earnings call. He raised the capex guidance aggressively and explained why he's not worried. "Everything we build, we sell, and we are still in the very early days," Volozh told investors. Nebius calls itself an "AI-native hyperscaler" — building and running computing infrastructure that AI companies need. The company typically sees four or more customers competing for every GPU it adds. In Q1 2026, Nebius reported group revenue of $399 million, an increase of 684% year over year and 75% sequentially. The core AI business rose 841% year over year to $390 million. The company's EBITDA margin for the AI segment rose to 45% in Q1, up from 24% in Q4 2025.
TheStreet / Yahoo Finance
Link: https://finance.yahoo.com/sectors/technology/articles/nebius-ceo-doubles-down-capex-180300019.html
Date: Sun, May 17 2026 at 11:03 AM PDT
Media: none
Size: 2.1 KB
News 7: Goldman Sachs says strong Q1 earnings support S&P 500 highs
Summary: Goldman Sachs analysts argue that strong Q1 earnings season data provides fundamental support for S&P 500 near-term highs. The earnings beat rate and upward revisions remain robust enough to justify elevated valuations despite technical concerns.
Content: Goldman Sachs analysts argue that strong Q1 earnings data provides a fundamental floor for the S&P 500's recent highs. Despite the recent tech selloff and growing concerns about market breadth, Goldman points to robust earnings beat rates and continued upward revisions as evidence that the market's foundation remains solid. The bank notes that while the rally has been narrowly led by mega-cap tech, earnings growth across the broader S&P 500 has been surprisingly resilient.
InvestorsHub / Yahoo Finance
Link: https://finance.yahoo.com/markets/stocks/articles/goldman-sachs-says-strong-q1-115900194.html
Date: Sun, May 17 2026
Media: none
Size: 1.2 KB
News 8: Intel CEO says foundry business is gaining momentum as customer interest grows
Summary: Intel CEO says the company's foundry business is gaining momentum with growing customer interest. The statement comes as Intel continues its turnaround effort, competing with TSMC and Samsung in chip manufacturing.
Content: Intel CEO stated that the company's foundry business is gaining momentum as customer interest grows. The comment comes as Intel continues its multi-year turnaround effort, seeking to compete with TSMC and Samsung in advanced chip manufacturing. The CEO highlighted several new customer wins and progress on the company's process technology roadmap, signaling confidence that the foundry division is transitioning from a cost center to a potential growth engine.
CNBC
Date: Mon, May 18 2026
Media: none
Size: 1.1 KB
News 9: Jim Cramer says this is how to play a market rotation — and one stock he'd buy
Summary: Jim Cramer outlined his strategy for navigating the current market rotation from growth to value. He highlighted one stock he'd buy in the current environment, suggesting investors rotate out of overvalued tech into sectors showing relative strength.
Content: Jim Cramer outlined his approach to the current market rotation, which he sees as a shift from growth to value stocks. With tech stocks facing headwinds and the S&P 500 posting back-to-back losses, Cramer suggested investors begin rotating allocations toward sectors that are bucking the trend. He highlighted a specific stock he'd buy in the current environment, citing its defensive characteristics and attractive valuation relative to peers.
CNBC
Date: Mon, May 18 2026 • 5 Hours Ago
Media: none
Size: 1.0 KB
News 10: Google I/O, Alphabet AI — Wall Street reacts to Google's latest AI announcements
Summary: Wall Street weighs Google I/O's latest AI announcements from Alphabet. The company unveiled new AI models and tools, intensifying competition in the AI space against Microsoft, Amazon, and OpenAI. Analysts assess the competitive implications for Alphabet's cloud and search businesses.
Content: Wall Street is assessing Google's latest AI announcements from the I/O developer conference. Alphabet unveiled new AI models and developer tools, signaling its continued push to compete with Microsoft, Amazon, and OpenAI in the rapidly evolving AI landscape. Analysts are evaluating the competitive implications for Alphabet's cloud computing business and its core search dominance. The market reaction has been mixed, with some analysts seeing the announcements as meaningful competitive moves while others question the monetization timeline.
CNBC
Link: https://www.cnbc.com/2026/05/18/google-i-o-alphabet-ai-wall-street.html
Date: Mon, May 18 2026 • 5 Hours Ago
Media: none
Size: 1.0 KB
News 11: Analyst resets Nvidia price target ahead of earnings
Summary: A 5-star analyst resets Nvidia's price target ahead of the company's upcoming earnings report. The move comes as Nvidia approaches the $5.5 trillion valuation mark, with investors closely watching data center demand trends and AI infrastructure spending for signs of any slowdown.
Content: A prominent 5-star analyst has reset Nvidia's price target ahead of the chipmaker's highly anticipated earnings report. The adjustment comes as Nvidia approaches and has topped a $5.5 trillion valuation, with investors closely monitoring data center demand trends, AI infrastructure spending patterns, and any signs of potential slowdown in the company's core GPU business. The analyst's move reflects the cautious sentiment surrounding the stock's massive run-up and the high bar set for upcoming results.
TheStreet / Yahoo Finance
Link: https://finance.yahoo.com/markets/stocks/articles/5-star-analyst-resets-nvidia-193700834.html
Date: Sun, May 17 2026 (2d ago)
Media: none
Size: 1.0 KB