Sixth And Silicon 🧠

Happy Friday and welcome to your Daily Rip market recap! The S&P 500 notched its sixth straight win this week, but the real story was tech stocks, especially chipmakers. Micron surged nearly 15 and a half percent on Friday alone, wrapping up a blistering thirty five percent gain for the week — its best run since 2008.

-related capital spending fueled a chip rally that sent the tech-heavy Nasdaq to a record high close. The tech sector ETF jumped three percent, while utilities, healthcare, and financials lagged behind. On the macro front, April payrolls beat expectations again, adding 115,000 jobs.

Wall Street took this as a sign the labor market remains solid, reducing the odds of near-term rate cuts. The Federal Reserve seems content with the current pace, signaling little appetite to ease monetary policy soon. Meanwhile, geopolitical tensions in the Gulf simmered but didn’t escalate.

Oil prices inched up to around 95 dollars a barrel, but the weekly slide suggests markets are pricing in a potential peace scenario rather than prolonged conflict. Now, let’s dive into the biggest movers and stories of the day. First up, the chip sector’s headline grabber: Intel.

After more than a year of negotiations, Intel landed Apple as a foundry customer, sending Intel shares to an all-time high. Intel’s stock jumped nearly fourteen percent on Friday, closing up fourteen percent at about one hundred thirty dollars and fifty seven cents. 4 billion dollar operating loss in the first quarter.

Apple’s iPhones make up nearly sixty percent of its quarterly revenue, and the company has flagged chip shortages on recent earnings calls. I. chip demand squeezing foundry capacity, Apple needed to secure supply, and Intel stepped up.

This isn’t just a simple contract. S. government, which holds a ten percent stake in Intel after converting federal grants to equity, played a role in brokering the deal.

Intel’s CEO has also landed Nvidia and Tesla as foundry customers, positioning the company as a key chipmaker for America’s biggest tech names. But remember, this is still early days — Intel’s foundry losses continue, and the company’s process technology still needs to catch up. So, while the stock’s rally is impressive, the fundamentals will take time to align.

1 billion dollars in the company through warrants. six percent, closing just over 61 dollars, though they had spiked above 72 dollars earlier in the day. The company reported weaker-than-expected third-quarter revenue and a net loss nearly five times estimates, which explains the pullback from the intraday high.

I. 4 billion dollars. IREN recently expanded its power portfolio to 5 gigawatts with the acquisition of a Spanish renewable energy company, boosting its capacity.

Despite the headline-grabbing Nvidia partnership, Morningstar still sees the stock as overvalued, with a fair value estimate about thirty three percent below Friday’s close. I. cloud revenue fast enough to justify its nearly eightfold gain over the past year.

In after-hours news, Inspire Brands, the parent company of Dunkin’, Arby’s, Sonic, and Buffalo Wild Wings, filed confidentially for an IPO. The company targets a valuation around 20 billion dollars and aims to raise about 2 billion dollars. 4 billion dollars in global sales last year but carries significant debt from its 11 billion dollar buyout.

JPMorgan and Bank of America are leading the offering. I. hardware.

The company is expected to raise its price range from an initial 115 to 125 dollars per share to between 125 and 135 dollars, implying a valuation near 28 and a half billion dollars. Cerebras reported 510 million dollars in revenue last year, up from 290 million the year before, but it still posted a GAAP operating loss of nearly 146 million dollars. I.

hardware race heats up. Before we wrap, a quick note for Stocktwits users: video posting just launched on the platform. Traders can now share chart walk-throughs, earnings reactions, and trade breakdowns in video format right in the stream.

It’s a new way to connect and share market insights in your own voice, fast and focused. Looking ahead to tomorrow, keep an eye on earnings from Applied Materials, Cisco, and Alibaba. Applied Materials is especially interesting given the strong memory demand driving chip capital spending.

Cisco’s results will be watched for signs of enterprise tech spending, and Alibaba’s report could impact sentiment around Chinese tech stocks. That’s your Daily Rip market recap. Thanks for listening, and catch you next time on LazyListen.