The market climbed Friday to fresh all-time highs, pulling back just slightly but maintaining a record close to start the month of May.

Earnings this week showed some stark divides, even from the top names in tech- beats are only beats if cash flow looks healthy. Rounding out April: It was the best month for stocks since the Covid rebounds, and the best return for the PHLX Semiconductor Index since 2000. Apple led tech higher today after its report. The RIP:

After-hours earnings are done for the week. Eyes now shift to next weeks labor numbers and Fed commentary, because inflation at a three-year high with rates on hold is the kind of tension that doesn't resolve itself quietly. 🛢️

The one time meme stock GameStop was climbing Friday night, trending #1 in the community, after a WSJ report that the firm is using its huge cash war chest to plan an offer for eBay. CEO Ryan Cohen isn't content running a videogame retailer, as he told reporters in January. This report shows he's aiming to buy one of the internet's original commerce giants, and Wall Street clearly didn't see it coming.

The RIP: $GME ( ▲ 6.33% ) surged +6.33% Friday, $EBAY ( ▲ 0.57% ) jumped +10% after-hours after the WSJ reported GameStop is quietly building an eBay stake ahead of a potential takeover offer. GameStop is valued at $11B; eBay sits at $45B. Cohen has a compensation package that pays him up to $35B in stock if he drives GME to a $100B market cap. GameStop had $9B in cash at the end of March, double a year ago.

The math on this deal is ambitious at minimum — GameStop would need to finance an acquisition several times its own size, and eBay's board hasn't signaled any interest. Cohen has already floated going directly to eBay shareholders if management balks. Burry's blessing and a $9B war chest got Cohen this far — the next move is how he gets the other $36B. 🐊

Jump into the GME conversation on Stocktwits →

Software stocks had been sold off like they were going out of business — and for much of 2026, Oracle led the body count. Friday changed that tone fast.

The RIP: $ORCL ( ▲ 6.47% ) surged +6.5% on Friday to $171.83, leading all software names. $CRM jumped +4.1% to $183.82, $PLTR climbed +3.6% to $144.07, and the $IGV software ETF popped +3.2%. ORCL remains down roughly 20% year-to-date despite the move.

Wedbush's Dan Ives called it the "Anthropic fear trade" unwinding in cyber and software — meaning AI competition fears had been the sledgehammer on these names for months. Holders of $ORCL still have a long road back to 52-week highs near $343, but Stocktwits sentiment hit "extremely bullish" Friday as retail finally showed up. $MSFT, $NOW, $SNOW, and $PANW all joined the party. 🔓

The Nvidia challenger Cerebras runs AI models on a single dinner-plate-sized chip is finally going public, according to a Bloomberg report after the bell. The demand coming in before marketing even kicks off Friday is making this look less like an IPO and more like a crowded auction.

The RIP: Cerebras Systems is targeting a $40B valuation and up to $4B raised on Nasdaq under $CBRS ( 0.0% ) . Banks have already logged over $10B in indications of interest. The deal doubled from a $2B target set just two months ago. Cerebras leaned on Abu Dhabi's G42 for 85% of revenue in 2024, down to 24% in 2025. 🏁

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Welcome to May! Energy owned the week on crude's surge, then handed Friday's tape to tech while nine of eleven sectors closed red on the session. The phrase ‘sell in May’ might look different this year, but it comes from real data: since the 1940s, the S&P 500 returns about 2% from May until October, compared to a 7% bump the rest of the year.

$XLE ( ▼ 1.34% ) Energy +3.57% — WTI hit $102 on Middle East supply tension and the whole sector followed. Friday's -1.26% reversal as crude gave back -2.84% is the warning sign. Energy has outperformed since the start of the Iran conflict, but elevated earnings expectations and stretched valuations are now the risk. $XOM is the tell. If oil can't hold $98 into next week, this trade fades fast.

$XLK ( ▲ 1.49% ) Tech +1.05% — Quiet week until Friday's +1.50% session pop, which reclaimed the leadership spot. Sentiment at 42 means the move isn't crowded. The four Mag 7 earnings that dropped Wednesday night are the driver, and next week’s PLTR and AMD prints will show where the road leads next.

$XLB ( ▼ 0.23% ) Materials -1.06% — Only red sector on the week and the crude spike is why. Input costs ate margins and the sector never recovered. Historically, materials tend to underperform from May through October, so this isn't fighting seasonality, it's confirming it. $FCX is the tell on industrial metals into next week.

$XLI ( ▼ 0.93% ) Industrials +0.32% — Weakest green on the board. Friday's -0.89% session was the worst single-day print of any sector. Fuel costs are the headwind and the chart looks heavy. Industrials should benefit from AI infrastructure and defense spending longer-term, but tariff margin pressure is the near-term risk. $GE and $CAT both worth watching.

$XLF ( ▼ 0.4% ) Financials +1.12% — Solid week, ugly Friday (-0.26%). Big bank earnings are done and the sector is drifting. Sentiment at 44 is skeptical. Q1 financials saw the largest upward earnings revisions of any sector, but that's now priced in. $JPM and regional names are the tell if rates move on Powell's commentary.

Watch into next week: JOLTS prints Tuesday May 5, ISM Services Wednesday May 6, Jobs Friday May 8. Three prints in five days that reprice every sector simultaneously. A soft jobs number and defensives extend their quiet bid; a hot one and energy's crude trade gets a second leg.

SanDisk sent analysts scrambling to rewrite their models Thursday night after blowout earnings turned out to be the second headline. The real story is a permanent structural shift: hyperscalers are now signing five-year supply contracts with financial guarantees, effectively turning a cyclical chip company into something closer to a subscription business.

$SNDK ( ▲ 8.25% ) popped +8% Friday, posting $23.41 EPS vs. the $14.66 estimate on $5.95B revenue vs. $4.73B expected. Five multi-year partnerships locked in a minimum $42B in committed revenue, with gross margin guided toward 80%.

Read the full breakdown, jump into the $SNDK conversation on Stocktwits →

The Cashtag Awards are built by the Stocktwits community and it wouldn't be the same without you in the room!

We're offering a limited number of fully comped tickets for members who want to show up, represent, and help make this night as special as it should be.

Want to celebrate with us on May 4th?

📈 Spirit Airlines prepares to shut down after Trump administration bailout falls through

🤑 Iran delivers new proposal to US as Hormuz remains shut

😨 Rivian Stock Slides Overnight: Investors Look Past R2 Buzz To Amazon’s Growing Grip On Auto Revenue

🏠 AKAN Stock Leaves Cannabis Peers In The Smoke With A Stunning 1,700% Rally In April — What’s Fueling The Run?

💰 Pentagon tech chief says Anthropic is still blacklisted, but Mythos is a separate issue

📺 Thousands in US to join ‘no school, no work, no shopping’ May Day protest in economic blackout

Want to see some change? Email Kevin Travers feedback, follow him on Stocktwits. Refer a friend for this quarter’s edition of The RIP Forecast!

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