The stock market rally retreated this week with Treasury yields spiking mid-week and later President Donald Trump threatening huge tariffs on Apple and the European Union. Revived concerns about AI export bans also were a factor. Snowflake, Intuit, Urban Outfitters and Amer Sports were earnings winners. Elon Musk said he'll remain at Tesla, expressing confidence in the EV business while detailing robotaxi plans. Several Tesla rivals in China had positive news.
Stock Market Rally Falls
The stock market gave up ground in the latest week with broad-based losses, with spiking Treasury yields and later the threat of a massive re-escalation in Trump tariffs leading the way. The Dow fell below its 200-day line with the S&P 500 threatening to do so on Friday. Yields spiked Wednesday on a weak 20-year auction, days after Moody's stripped the U.S. of its final top credit rating. They fell back Friday amid the Trump tariff sell-off.
Musk To Stay At Tesla, Touts Business, Robotaxis
Tesla CEO Elon Musk said Tuesday he plans to continue leading the electric-vehicle giant through 2030, though he wants "sufficient voting control." Musk, who is scaling back with the Trump administration, said he'll slash political contributions in the future. Musk said Tesla demand is strong outside of Europe, citing the TSLA stock price as evidence. Other data shows China sales are weak while rising incentives point to weakness worldwide for Tesla. Musk is focused on the limited robotaxi launch in Austin, Texas, by June's end. He said Tesla will start with 10 Model Ys in a geofenced part of Austin, with human tele-operators supervising. Tesla stock fell slightly after several big weekly gains.
China EV Makers Make Strides
China EV startup XPeng reported a much-smaller-than-expected Q1 loss early while sales more than doubled. The Tesla rival expects to be profitable by Q4. XPeng will launch a new, driver-assist variant of its hot-selling Mona M03 on May 28, with several more model launches this year. Meanwhile, Xiaomi unveiled its YU7 crossover vehicle. The handset-turned-EV maker will officially launch the so-called Tesla Model Y killer in July, with preorders and pricing. Its first model, the SU7 sedan, outsells the Tesla Model 3. BYD outsold Tesla in Europe in BEV-only vehicles in April. XPeng stock gapped higher on earnings but then gave up gains. Xiaomi rose solidly, around a buy point. BYD rose to a record high.
Urban Outfitters Flies On Earnings
Urban Outfitters reported a 78.5% EPS jump, easily beating, with sales up 11% to $1.33 billion, also topping. It was another quarter of accelerating EPS and revenue growth. CEO Francis John Conforti sees "minimal negative impact" from tariffs on gross margins for the current quarter. URBN stock vaulted to a new high on Thursday. Ralph Lauren earnings grew 33% with revenue up 8% to nearly $1.7 billion. The upscale apparel retailer gave upbeat guidance. Shares rose, nearing a breakout.
Palo Alto Guides In Line
Palo Alto Networks said fiscal third-quarter earnings per share rose 21% to 80 cents, with revenue up 15% to $2.3 billion, slightly beating. Remaining performance obligations, or RPO, rose 19% to $13.50 billion, just missing. Next-generation annual recurring revenue from subscription-based cloud products rose 34% to $5.09 billion, topping consensus. For the July fiscal Q4, the cybersecurity firm forecast revenue and RPO roughly in line. Shares tumbled on earnings but pared losses, holding key levels.
Software Stocks Beat Views
Snowflake reported that Q1 EPS jumped 71%, beating views, while a 26% revenue gain to $1 billion was in line. The cloud-based data analytics and management software maker guided Q2 product revenue slightly above consensus. Snowflake gapped above a buy point. Workday reported a 28% EPS gain, comfortably beating, while a near-13% revenue rise to $2.24 billion just topped. But some guidance was fractionally lower. Shares tumbled. Zoom Communications reported that adjusted earnings in the April-ended quarter were up 6%, with revenue up 3% to $1.174 billion. Zoom guided slightly higher on Q2 revenue. ZM stock fell modestly.
Home Depot, Lowe's Stick To Guidance
The S&P 500 home-improvement retail giants maintained 2025 guidance after mixed Q1 results. Home Depot slightly missed with a 3% EPS drop, but a 9% sales gain and higher U.S. same-store sales beat views. Lowe's beat with a 5% EPS decline, but a 2% revenue drop missed. Both stocks fell.
Google Rises On AI News At I/O Event
At the Google I/O conference for software developers, Alphabet announced new artificial intelligence products underpinned by its Gemini 2.5 family of models. Google announced that "AI Mode," its newest generative AI-based search engine, is available in the U.S. AI Mode is a follow-on to AI Overviews, which provides search summaries rather than web links. AI Mode goes a step further with chatbot-style search answers, prompting a conversation. Also, Google announced a premium AI subscription service, priced at $249.99 monthly, targeting business customers. Alphabet also hosted Google Marketing Live, which focused on the monetization of new AI products. Google stock rose above its 200-day line.
Amer Sports Has Game
The maker of Wilson sports equipment and a variety of outerwear apparel brands reported a 145% EPS gain with revenue up nearly 23% to $1.47 billion, both easily beating. Amer Sports raised full-year guidance, citing "strong pricing power" to weather Trump tariffs. Shares gapped up to a new high.
Discounters Are Mixed Bag
Big-box discounters, wholesalers and off-price chains posted mixed quarterly results as companies look to shuffle suppliers and contend with tariff pressures. Target reported a 36% EPS drop on a 3% revenue slide to $23.8 billion, while also slashing full-year guidance. TJX edged past first-quarter earnings and revenue views, but missed on same-store sales and guided lower on Q2. The retailer guided lower on the current quarter and maintained its full-year outlook despite tariffs, though the earnings forecast is below Wall Street estimates. TJX stock fell modestly from record highs and is back in a buy zone. BJ's Wholesale Club comfortably beat EPS views with a 34% gain, but a near-5% sales increase to $5.15 billion just missed. BJ's reiterated 2025 EPS guidance, with the midpoint below consensus. Shares were little changed. Ross Stores just topped Q1 estimates, but guided lower on Q2 EPS and pulled full-year targets due to tariff uncertainty.
Stock Market News In Brief
D-Wave Quantum said its most advanced quantum computer has reached "general availability" for customers such as governments and research institutions. D-Wave said the Advantage2 quantum computer is available in more than 40 countries for applications such as artificial intelligence and materials science. Quantum stocks surged.
Medtronic fell solidly after beating fiscal fourth-quarter expectations but giving mixed fiscal-2026 guidance. The medical products giant wants to spin off its diabetes business, with 2024 sales of nearly $2.75 billion last year, via an IPO within 18 months.
Viking Holdings sold off as lower advanced bookings overshadowed Q1 results. The river cruise specialist said it's sold 37% of its capacity for the 2026 season, slightly lower than the 39% for the same period last year. Viking reported a smaller-than-expected Q1 loss as revenue rose 25% to $897.1 million, easily beating.
Analog Devices returned to growth after seven straight quarters of declining sales and earnings, with fiscal Q2 EPS up 32% and revenue up 22% to $2.64 billion. But shares fell as the chipmaker benefited from larger-than-expected tariff-related pull-ins in its automotive chip business.
Autodesk topped consensus for its fiscal first quarter and guided up for Q2. The maker of computer-aided-design software reported a 22% EPS gain with revenue up 15% to $1.63 billion. Shares rose.
Intuit beat fiscal Q3 estimates thanks to a strong tax-preparation season and also guided higher. The TurboTax maker's EPS grew 18% while revenue increased 15% to $7.75 billion. Shares jumped.
