(Image credit: Getty Images)
All three main U.S. equity indexes were higher heading into the weekend after a better-than-expected jobs report suggested the U.S. economy is, so far, absorbing an energy shock from the war in the Middle East just fine. The S&P 500 wrapped up a sixth consecutive week of gains at another new closing high, and the Nasdaq Composite finished in record territory, too, as Apple (AAPL) and Intel (INTC) reached an agreement on chips for the iPhone maker’s devices.
INTC (+13.9%) had extended its 2026 rally on rumors of a new manufacturing pact with Apple, and the semiconductor stock bounced big after The Wall Street Journal confirmed an agreement for the chipmaker to provide silicon for the iPhone maker’s (+2.0%) products.
Meanwhile, the front-month West Texas Intermediate crude futures contract backed off its morning highs but was still up 0.1% for the day at $94.92 per barrel, as talks between the U.S. and Iran continue. WTI was down almost 7% this week but has risen almost 42% since the beginning of the war in the Middle East.
Sign up for Kiplinger’s Free Newsletters
Profit and prosper with the best of expert advice on investing, taxes, retirement, personal finance and more – straight to your e-mail.
Profit and prosper with the best of expert advice – straight to your e-mail.
According to the April jobs report, employment is stable enough that the Fed can focus on inflation as it evaluates interest rates in the context of its dual mandate. At the same time, preliminary University of Michigan data indicate consumer sentiment “was essentially unchanged this month, coming in a scant 1.6 index points below April’s reading and comparable to the trough reached in June 2022.”
By the closing bell, the S&P 500 was up 0.8% and 2.3% for the five days to finish its sixth consecutive positive week at 7,398, another new all-time high.
The Nasdaq Composite added 1.7% for the day and 4.5% for the week at 26,247, also another new all-time high for the tech-heavy index.
The blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average was higher by 0.02% at 49,609. Papa Dow, 1% short of its February 6 all-time closing high of 50,115, was up 0.2% for the week.
CSCO pops ahead of earnings
Cisco, scheduled to post fiscal 2026 third-quarter results before the opening bell on Wednesday, is the only Dow stock on next week’s earnings calendar. Wall Street expects management of the AI hardware and infrastructure provider to report earnings growth of more than 8% on double-digit revenue growth.
CSCO closed at $96.57 on Friday, 7.9% above the $89.54 average 12-month target price among the 22 analysts who cover it tracked by S&P Global Market Intelligence, 17 of whom rate it a Buy vs nine who say it’s a Hold.
Is CRWV on sale at these levels?
The market generally wasn’t impressed with what CoreWeave (CRWV, -11.4%) had to report about its first quarter. The CoreWeave IPO was one of the hottest of 2025, and CRWV was up more than 220% from its initial public offering last March through May 7.
So the bar was high for the AI cloud stock, and revenue of $2.08 billion was up 112% year over year and was well ahead of the $1.97 billion Wall Street expected. But operating income of $21 million was down from $163 million from a year ago and short of Wall Street’s $24 million estimate.
Looking for more timely stock market news to help gauge the health of your portfolio? Sign up for Closing Bell, our free newsletter that’s delivered straight to your inbox at the close of each trading day.
Deutsche Bank analyst Brad Zelnick has a different view. “In our eyes,” Zelnick writes, “CoreWeave delivered on what it promised in the quarter and continues to capitalize on overwhelming demand for its product.”
Zelnick reiterated his Buy rating and raised his 12-month target price from $125 to $135 on what the analyst described as “a very solid quarter,” noting that the company checked “the key (and demanding) boxes we were looking for.” At the same time, Zelnick conceded CoreWeave’s report won’t end “investor debate around profitability as it rapidly builds out AI capacity.”
CoreWeave “is clearly optimizing for scale and speed of deployment in the current environment which is leading to higher near-term costs,” as are many AI infrastructure providers. “With capacity for CY26 near fully sold out,” Zelnick concludes, “sustained execution like we saw in 1Q remains the paramount focus in the months ahead.”
