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Stocks were down on Wednesday after five days of record closes for the main equity indexes, as investors, traders and speculators stepped back to assess the broader market landscape amid still-simmering tensions in the Middle East. A continuing flow of solid earnings and economic data were also top of mind.
The front-month West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures contract was up 2.5% to $96.08 per barrel, as the U.S. and Iran launched attacks on each other overnight amid an uneasy ceasefire. The Strait of Hormuz remains closed.
“Both sides are well aware of the clock ticking towards true shortages of petroleum products, but the brinkmanship continues,” Louis Navellier of Navellier & Associates observes. “The market has been looking past the energy issue, as it typically is focused on at least 6-12 months ahead. One way or another, the Strait has to be reopened by then.”
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Meanwhile, as Navellier notes, markets are focused on “incredibly strong earnings forecasts,” including mid-20% bottom-line growth for the S&P 500 in 2026 and more growth in 2027. “The AI theme is generating massive spending,” he explains, “and the offsetting risk of job replacement by smart software is now being questioned by recent labor statistics.”
Indeed, Broadcom (AVGO, -0.5%), among the semiconductor stocks benefitting from the AI boom, is scheduled to report fiscal second-quarter earnings after the closing bell this evening, and the Bureau of Labor Statistics will release the May jobs report before the opening bell on Friday.
At the closing bell, the blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 1.2% at 50,687, the broad-based S&P 500 had lost 0.7% to 7,553, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite was lower by 0.9% at 26,853.
PANW is the “Wemby” of cybersecurity stocks
Palo Alto Networks (PANW, -5.6%) beat analyst expectations for revenue and earnings, and management boosted full-year guidance. But cybersecurity stocks struggled Wednesday amid a broader pullback for software on renewed fears about the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on companies that write code.
Wedbush analyst Dan Ives said it was a “Wembanyama-like” quarter, comparing Palo Alto Networks to 7-foot-4-inch Victor Wembanyama of the San Antonio Spurs, who will take on the New York Knicks in Game 1 of the NBA Finals after the closing bell tonight.
Ives reiterated his Outperform (Buy) rating and raised his 12-month target price from $300 to $340, noting that Palo Alto Networks is too big not to get more deals as the cyber AI leader.
“PANW remains one of our favorite cyber names to own in 2026,” Ives writes, “as we continue to believe the platformization approach is still in the early stages of playing out.” The analyst sees the consolidation theme accelerating “as more enterprises turn to PANW for advanced cyber-AI solutions.”
Is GME more than a meme stock?
GameStop (GME, +6.1%) might be the most notorious mid-cap stock in the market, known these days mostly for the memes rather than its operations. But the share price of the specialty retailer soared after management reported its highest-ever quarterly net income for the three months ended May 2.
Fiscal first-quarter profit grew to $389.6 million vs $44.8. Operating income was also a company record, $143.3 million vs an operating loss of $10.8 million a year ago. Management noted that year-over-year revenue growth of 14% was driven by collectibles sales.
GameStop also announced that its board of directors has approved a $2 billion, three-year stock buyback plan.
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In the aftermath of its failed hostile takeover of fellow consumer discretionary stock eBay (EBAY, -0.06%), GameStop claims cash, marketable securities, digital assets and related receivables, and collateral pledged for derivative assets of $9.7 billion.
In addition to raising GME’s profile again with its unsolicited bid for EBAY, CEO Ryan Cohen has shifted GameStop’s business model from video games to higher-margin collectibles, trading cards and other memorabilia.
