Wednesday, May 20th, 2026
Market indexes advanced strongly off a slightly higher open this morning, with news that a deal to end the war in Iran may be within reach. A “letter of intent” to end the war following 30 days of negotiations has sent a surge of positive sentiment through the stock market. The Dow gained +645 points, +1.31%, the S&P 500 grew by +79 points, +1.08%, the Nasdaq +399, +1.54%, and the small-cap Russell 2000 +70 points, a gaudy +2.56%.
Time will tell how this all transpires, and last we heard there are some real disagreements regarding uranium enrichment, the Strait of Hormuz, etc. that may well be sticking points somewhere within the 30 days. But this war, which dates back to late February, would be happily ended by both the U.S. and Iran at this stage.
NVIDIA Reports Another Record Revenue Quarter
The world’s largest company by market cap ($5.38 Trillion and counting), NVIDIA NVDA once again outperformed its lofty expectations for Q1 after today’s close. Earnings of $1.87 per share surpassed estimates by a solid dime, and up +140% year over year from $0.81 in the year-ago quarter. Revenues surged to a new record: $81.6 billion in the first three months of the year, +85% from Q1 last year.
The AI infrastructure business, one might say, was booming last quarter. Data Center grew by +92% year over year to $75.2 billion, with Compute revenue +77% to $60.4 billion, +18% quarter over quarter. Data Center Networking rose +199% from a year ago to $14.8 billion, +35% quarter over quarter. The company also announced an $80 billion share repurchase program, and upped their dividend a penny to $0.25 per share.
CEO Jensen Huang called this “the largest infrastructure expansion in human history,” and by dollar amount he’s probably right. Next-quarter revenues are expected to jump to $91.0 billion (the Zacks consensus had been for $84.1 billion), and this doesn’t include whatever data center compute revenues they may obtain from China in the quarter. To quote Mel Brooks, “It’s good to be da king!”
Other Earnings Reports After the Close: URBN, ELF, INTU
Urban Outfitters URBN reported a solid Q1 this afternoon, with earnings of $1.30 per share nicely above the $1.12 projected, and swinging to growth year over year. Revenues of $1.48 billion up +11.4% from the prior year quarter. Free People grew +9.8%, Urban Outfitters flagship brand was +9.3%, and Anthropologie gained +1.9%. Shares are not up on this news, however, as the specter of tariffs remain.
e.l.f. Beauty ELF posted an impressive fiscal Q4 after today’s close, beating on earnings by 3 cents to $0.32 per share on $449.3 million, up +35% from the prior-year quarter. The rhode acquisition assisted the company’s revenue gains, and the company came out ahead on its yearly numbers. It also expects improved growth in the new fiscal year.
Intuit INTU also performed better than expected in its fiscal Q3 after the close, with earnings of $12.80 up +10% year over year and ahead of the $12.48 per share in the Zacks consensus. Revenues also grew +10% from the prior year quarter to $8.6 billion, ahead of the $8.52 billion projected. Consumer revenues grew +8%, including +7% for Turbo Tax and +15% for Credit Karma.
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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
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