Market Review: May 26, 2026

Closing Recap

Tuesday, May 26, 2026

Another day, another record on Wall Street as tech was the leader again! The Nasdaq 100 index hit new record highs, S&P 500 (SPX) hit record highs (again) while the Smallcap Russell 2000 outperformed behind a pullback in Treasury yields ahead of key PCE inflation data later this week. The S&P 500 comes into the week riding an 8 week winning streak, its longest since 2023. Tech was strong all day as the Nasdaq 100 crosses 30,000 for the first time ever and the Philly semiconductor index (SOX) surges again, more than 5% to fresh record highs behind monster gains in memory stocks. Semi’s continue to be among the highest performing AI stocks in an astounding move the last 3 years, up 80% YTD in 5 months alone. Micron (MU) shares surged 20% to become a trillion dollar valuation company in a dizzying rally that has cemented the largest U.S. memory chipmaker as one of the standout winners of the AI boom (up 73% this month and 214% YTD after being one of the top gainers in the S&P in 2025). One name that has rallied over the last 7 days is the AI leader, NVidia (NVDA), which has fallen 6 of last 7 days including after better results/guidance while AMD sets new record highs above $500 for the first time. The same story playing out on Wall Street every day for months with tech/Ai/semis etc. leading and pushing major averages higher as the only story investors are focusing on while Iran/U.S. talks, Treasury yields, oil prices and inflation concerns have all been a distant second.

While the AI, power, semi chips and industrial growing demand and revs boost the economy and stock market, the next phase of euphoria is coming with the IPO buzz getting louder ahead of upcoming new issues from SpaceX, OpenAI. Elon Musk’s SpaceX, which has filed for an initial public offering, aims to morph from a space launch and connectivity provider to a fully scaled vertically integrated AI company. Its S-1 filing noted the acquisition of xAI. OpenAI, according to reports, could launch an IPO as soon as September. Anthropic may follow. OpenAI reportedly generated about $5.7B in Q1 revenue. Growth was largely driven by traction with its coding agent, Codex, as well as ad testing on ChatGPT.

Stats of the day: 1)@Bluekurtic noted on X, “Nasdaq 100 is displaying a level of strength last seen over 16 years ago. Similar to S&P 500, $NDX RSI has stayed above 60 for 32 days while index is within 2% of its all-time high. Two weeks later, NDX was positive 7 of 8 times and 100% of the time three months later. $QQQ” 2) @TradingThomas3 noted on X, “$SOXX has closed green 31 of the last 38 trading days and rallied over 85% in that stretch.”

• Treasury yields slip further; after the benchmark U.S. 10-year Treasury yield briefly climbed to 4.687% last week, its highest level since January 2025, it has since retreated to around 4.50%, falling over 8bps today. The U.S. Treasury sold $69B in 2-year noted at 4.071%, in-line with when issued but well above the prior auction of 3.812% with bid-to-cover at 2.6 vs. prior auction 2.65 as dealers took 12.3%, direct bidders 30.1% and indirect bidders awarded 57.6% of auction.

• Leisure Activity: in golf industry (CALY, GOLF), Truist noted based on their sample data set, U.S. Golf Equipment retail sales were +6.0% Y/y in April; sales gains for April continue to be driven by price (+5.5%); comparatively, volume was +0.5%; putters once again led sales growth while gloves continue to show strength.

• Nuclear/Utility: OKLO said it has been selected by US energy department for advanced talks on using cold war-era plutonium for Nuclear reactor fuel; partnership includes investment of up to $2B via NewCleo-affiliated vehicle; NNE announced the acquisition of Secured Transportation Services LLC (STS), a specialized U.S. based, globally operating nuclear logistics, transportation and services company specializing in the safe, secure and compliant movement of radioactive and nuclear materials.

• BHVN reports new clinical data in epilepsy with opakalim, a selective kv7.2/7.3 activator, highlighting seizure control and markedly differentiated tolerability profile; opakalim prolongs median time to second seizure to 141 days versus. 47 days for placebo; on track for top-line phase 2/3 results in refractory focal epilepsy in 2h 2026
• EDIT shares tumbled after 55.6M share Secondary priced at $2.25.
• LLY agreed to acquire three companies, Curevo, LimmaTech Biologics, and Vaccine Company for nearly $4B, that expand its research and development efforts into infectious disease. Eli Lilly agrees to acquire Curevo for up to $1.5B in cash for shingles vaccine, LimmaTech for $780M, Vaccine Company for $1.55B
• OLMA said it signed a clinical trial and supply agreement with German drugmaker Bayer for its experimental drug OP-3136 which is being developed in combination with Bayer’s darolutamide to treat patients with a type of prostate cancer.
• OTLK said it plans to resubmit a marketing application for its eye disease treatment in June after the U.S. FDA declined to approve it in December. OTLK’s treatment, Lytenava, targets wet age-related macular degeneration, a common eye disease that causes vision loss due to leaking blood vessels in the retina.

• In Automation: JP Morgan upgraded shares of ALNT, CGNX, and TKR to Overweight, and reiterating Overweight on RRX, HLIO, and GTES, reflecting its conviction in both robust short-cycle recovery and structural tailwinds from data Centers, Robotics, and humanoids. JPM continues to see its Automation sub-sector outperform the broader market, as “mother machines” signal a clear cyclical inflection and accelerating structural growth. Industry data show a durable rebound in industrial activity, with broad based order strength.
• In Airlines: UBS said they believe any potential conflict resolution in the Middle East can act as a meaningful catalyst for airline stocks. UAL is UBS’s top pick in the space followed by DAL, ALK, AAL and LUV noting JETS has declined -3.5% YTD vs S&P 500 at around +10% and has created a solid opportunity, as the firm updated estimates imply around 50% EPS growth for 2027 for several airlines.

• In Defense/Gov’t services: BAH was upgraded from Hold to Buy at Stifel saying fundamentals are slowly improving, the stock is beaten down, and evidence suggests the risk of guidance cuts are in the rearview mirror. Substantially better coverage of BAH’s initial FY outlook by remaining performance obligations suggests less risk of guidance cuts and makes US comfortable buying shares ahead of likely a strong 2H.

• Data Center Infrastructure: WULF acquired the “Muskie Data Campus” in Eastern Kentucky, targeting more than 1 GW of AI and HPC data center capacity. The initial 500 MW phase is expected to begin ramping in 2H 2028, with another 500 MW targeted for 2H 2030 (big gains today for infrastructure names HUT, CIFR, IREN, CLSK).
• Electrical Components & Equipment: VICR raised its Q2 revenue view to $142M from $126M prior and above consensus $125.47M in view of rising product rev and royalties from additional licensee to its power system tech
• Gaming Software: shares of APP, U bounced early after Edgewater saying that feedback shows META is no longer seen as likely to bid into no-IDFA traffic in the near-term.
• Networking/Optical sector: Bank America raised CIEN tgt to $660 and CSCO to $135 arguing Optical networking demand remains strong following Cisco’s Acacia commentary and accelerating Ai infrastructure deployments. The firm highlighted the industry transition from 400G to 800G pluggables as a major multi-year growth driver, with 800G revenues for both companies expected to approach ~$250M each in 2026.
• Internet: GRPN board approves restructuring plan to become Ai-native company; to reduce up to 400 positions globally by end of Q3 2026 and estimates pre-tax charges of $7M-$13M for restructuring while estimates $20M-$25M in annualized cost savings from Payroll actions; increases full year adj EBITDA guidance to $75M-$80M.

• MU price tgt raised to $1,625 from $535 at UBS saying with LTAs now firmly in place across most of the industry, UBS is again raising C2027 2029 estimates and expect EPS to remain comfortably >$100 throughout the period, with MU generating over $400B in FCF across the same timeframe. UBS believes the market will start to put a more “normal” multiple on the stock and MU will continue to Re-rate higher as more details emerge about the structural changes Ai has driven to the entire memory complex.
• MXL and Edgecore Networks announced a strategic partnership to accelerate the development of AI-driven networking solutions for enterprise and service provider markets.
• QCOM has struck a deal to supply AI data center chips to TikTok owner ByteDance, per Bloomberg. ByteDance is set to buy millions of Qualcomm’s application-specific integrated circuits to power its AI agent software, making it one of the first major customers for the chipmaker’s AI-focused ASICs.
• ALAB, SMTC and INTC all downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform at Northland after run in shares.
• Analog semis: Bank America highlights TXN, ADI, and ON as its top AI power semiconductor picks, arguing the transition toward 800V AI data center architectures remains materially underappreciated. The firm sees TXN as the broadest beneficiary given its large power portfolio and leading share in analog/power management, while ADI’s acquisition of Empower strengthens its exposure to integrated voltage regulators and AI power delivery. The firm raised PTs across TXN, ON, ADI, on view that AI-driven content gains could materially exceed expectations.