My top 10 things to watch Wednesday, May 20 1. Stock futures are higher this morning ahead of Nvidia earnings after the close. The S & P 500 is riding a three-day losing skid. President Donald Trump said yesterday that the U.S. would end the Iran war “very quickly,” kicking off a similar pattern in the market. Trump gives these hints of the war being over soon, oil goes down a little, interest rates go down a little, and futures go up a little. 2. We finally hear from Club name Nvidia tonight. Thankfully, shares have cooled a bit after last Thursday’s record close at almost $236. Beat and raise is the minimum to have any chance at a post-earnings rally. But don’t be fooled by the first move once the numbers hit. Can be misleading. The conference call, where we get more color on the guide and demand, is revelatory. 3. The Street is looking to fade Nvidia. There is still amazing skepticism that the stock can keep the run up given Amazon and Google’s desire to break away from Nvidia with their own in-house chips. Nvidia has to redefine what it is aspiring to do and demonstrate that it has a much larger total addressable market. 4. Lots of powerful AI announcements yesterday from Alphabet ‘s Google, including more AI being infused into traditional search. Melius Research’s Ben Reitzes said Google’s new agentic tools for developers could be “a trojan horse into the enterprise that bears watching.” Expectations were elevated going into the developer conference, so I’m not fretting the 2% decline. This remains a crucial position for the Club. 5. Target delivered a quarterly beat as new CEO Michael Fiddelke works to right the ship. Same-store sales were positive for the first time in five quarters, up 5.6% and crushing the 2.4% FactSet consensus. Target now expects net sales growth of 4% this year versus 2% previously. Very good changes in fashion. Good growth in health and wellness. 6. Lowe’s with a strong quarter in a tough housing market. Reaffirmed full-year guidance. Don’t believe the weakness in the stock this morning, off about 2%. In response to Club name Home Depot ‘s decent quarter yesterday, analysts across the Street lowered their price targets but no abandonment by way of downgrades. 7. Another strong retail quarter belongs to Club name TJX Companies , sending shares up over 4%. The T.J. Maxx and Marshalls parent is clearly winning as shoppers seek out the best deals. Same-store sales growth of 6% versus 4.1% consensus. One tiny blemish: higher fuel costs limited the magnitude of the full-year profit outlook increase. Management has a history of being conservative. The conference call is not until 11 a.m. ET. We’ll be listening and delivering a full earnings analysis to Club members later today. 8. MongoDB’s price target at Baird was raised to $335 from $260. That’s about where shares closed yesterday. Kept their hold rating. Still, this is a contrary call. Be careful of this stock and most things enterprise software, with the exception of cyber. 9. What a comeback at UnitedHealth , and it isn’t done yet. Steve Hemsley’s return about a year ago as CEO has been great. Mizuho raised its price target on the insurer to $440 from $410. UNH jumped on earnings day a month ago on a beat and raise. The stock has been up 20% since. 10. William Blair initiated coverage of Casey’s General Stores with a buy rating. Casey’s has been on my radar for ages. It’s a great regional-to-national growth story; best restaurant/convenience chain, especially with gas this high. The stock has gained 12% since it was added to the S & P 500 last month. 4 more things on my radar 11. Mizuho lowered its price target on Hershey to $185 from $195 and reiterated its hold rating. I still hate the packaged food group. These have been tough stocks thanks to GLP-1s and cost pressures. But I do like what Steve Cahillane is doing since taking over as CEO at Kraft Heinz at the start of this year. Keeping the company together and investing in its brands. 12. Historic day in the bond market yesterday, with the 30-year Treasury yield hitting its highest level since before the financial crisis. Long bonds in other countries, such as Japan and the U.K., are also at their highest in decades. The stock market isn’t ignoring it. But investors are afraid to sell knowing the war could soon end, oil prices and yields will fall, and we’ll look ridiculous for being out of the market. 13. That does not mean we can’t make small moves around the edges of our portfolio. I never advise investing on autopilot. We made one trade yesterday for the Club, booking some profits in a once-hated stock that’s caught fire in recent weeks. My discipline says parabolic moves like the one seen in this stock must be trimmed. 14. Citi upgraded domestic energy producers Ovintiv and California Resources . Devon Energy is their top pick. I recommended Devon the other night on “Mad Money” because of its natural gas exposure. Nat gas been a genius play. I also like EQT . Sign up for my Top 10 Morning Thoughts on the Market email newsletter for free (See here for a full list of the stocks at Jim Cramer’s Charitable Trust.) As a subscriber to the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer, you will receive a trade alert before Jim makes a trade. Jim waits 45 minutes after sending a trade alert before buying or selling a stock in his charitable trust’s portfolio. If Jim has talked about a stock on CNBC TV, he waits 72 hours after issuing the trade alert before executing the trade. THE ABOVE INVESTING CLUB INFORMATION IS SUBJECT TO OUR TERMS AND CONDITIONS AND PRIVACY POLICY , TOGETHER WITH OUR DISCLAIMER . 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Jim Cramer’s top 10 things to watch in the stock market Wednesday
May 20, 2026
