The artificial-intelligence revolution seems to matter more to markets at the moment than the Iran conflict. So long as that remains the focus, there’s reason to believe stocks can keep rallying. 

The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite has put together a 10-day streak of gains, its longest such run since November 2021. It’s a remarkable feat in the face of the ongoing instability in the Middle East.

The standout winners are hardware stocks. Investors can’t get enough of companies like flash-memory maker Sandisk and networking-gear provider Credo Technology. That’s understandable in view of the huge capital expenditure from the so-called hyperscalers, estimated at around $750 billion this year, according to BofA analysts. It’s a figure which could get even larger when tech companies give guidance alongside earnings in the coming weeks.

But the real twist has been the revival of beaten-down software players. Oracle and Microsoft are heavyweights which have bounced off their lows, helped by their major cloud-computing operations. But cybersecurity stocks are also showing signs of life as investors re-evaluate whether artificial intelligence start-up Anthropic’s supposedly super-capable Mythos AI is a good or bad thing for the sector.

AI hasn’t totally become friend rather than foe. Design-software companies Adobe and Figma were hit this week by a report that Anthropic plans to release a new AI-powered tool for designing websites and presentations. Still overall the picture is of changing sentiment. 

Now the question is how far the rally can go. Several of the largest tech stocks are only just joining in. Chip maker Nvidia—the world’s largest company—is testing the upper bounds of its recent monthslong range. Microsoft is still down nearly 30% from its highs of last year.

With tech earnings season just around the corner, the AI boom could provide another leg for the stock rally, but the Iran conflict remains the elephant in the room.

—Adam Clark

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More good news from Big Tech. ASML lifted its guidance after reporting solid quarterly results Wednesday, and the day before Broadcom said it extended an existing deal with Meta Platforms to support the Facebook parent’s artificial intelligence infrastructure buildout.

• Dutch company ASML reported a first-quarter net profit of €2.76 billion on revenue of €8.77 billion. Analysts had expected a profit of €2.55 billion on revenue of €8.63 billion, according to a FactSet poll.

• ASML said it now expects 2026 sales between €36 billion and €40 billion, up from prior guidance of €34 billion to €39 billion.

• Broadcom said it would deliver technology-supporting Meta Training and Inference Accelerator chips, which will serve as the foundation of Meta’s AI data centers, through to 2029.

• Broadcom said that because of the scale of this expanded partnership, its CEO Hock Tan will leave Meta’s board of directors to step to an advisory role for Meta, where he’ll provide guidance on Meta’s custom silicon road map and help shape the future of their infrastructure investments.

What’s Next: The AI boom isn’t showing any signs of slowing. Bank of America recently estimated that the biggest AI hyperscalers spent $166 billion over the three months ending in March, a 13% increase from last year that points to a $750 billion tally for this year and a staggering $872 billion total for 2027.

—Adam Clark, Janet H. Cho and Alex Kozul-Wright 

Bank executives describe the U.S. economy and American consumers as resilient despite an uncertain environment and the rising costs of household items such as utility bills and gasoline. Consumers are still earning and spending and businesses are still healthy, says JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon.

• It was a similar message repeated at Wells Fargo and Citigroup. The three big banks kicked off the first-quarter earnings season with some caveats, however. The economy is bifurcated, with well-heeled customers continuing to prop up spending while less affluent consumers are under mounting pressures.

• Higher gas prices weigh more on lower-income consumers, who spend a higher percentage of their money on fuel, Wells Fargo CEO Charles Scharf said during a call discussing his company’s earnings. Historically, it can take several months for consumers to adjust their overall spending amid higher gas prices, he said.

• Job growth has been anemic. Inflation has been sticky. And oil prices have spiked after the U.S.-Israel led a war with Iran, which closed the Strait of Hormuz to oil tanker traffic. On Tuesday, the International Monetary Fund warned of a global economic downturn if the conflict with Iran is prolonged.

• Those same surging geopolitical tensions drove fortunes for major U.S. banks’ trading desks. JPMorgan Chase’s markets revenue jumped 20% to a record $11.6 billion. Citigroup’s markets revenue rose 19% to $7.2 billion, and Wells Fargo’s markets revenue increased 19% to $2.2 billion.

What’s Next: Banks’ credit metrics are holding up. While Wells Fargo’s provision for credit losses is up 22% from a year ago, it said the shift partly reflected higher commercial and industrial and auto loan balances. Wells Fargo’s Scharf was upbeat about the bank’s risk management and its clients’ overall financial health.

—Rebecca Ungarino, Andrew Welsch, and Janet H. Cho

Amazon.com’s $10.8 billion deal for satellite operator Globalstar is aimed at expanding its Leo satellite business with Globalstar’s spectrum resources to launch its own satellite-to-cell phone service in 2028. That would compete with Elon Musk’s Starlink network.

• Amazon’s Leo has more than 200 satellites now and permission to deploy more than 7,000 broadband satellites. SpaceX’s Starlink has around 10,000 satellites, including more than 650 that connect millions of cellphones, and plans to launch thousands more in coming years. 

• Globalstar’s stock has more than tripled over the past 12 months, supercharged by its agreement with Apple that includes up to $1.5 billion of investment, including $1.1 billion in funding for satellites that let users send texts and call for emergency help from remote areas without cell service.

• Globalstar stockholders can sell their shares for $90 in cash or receive a 0.3210 share of Amazon common stock for each Globalstar share, with a value capped at $90 a share. The price is based on Globalstar’s share price as of Thursday, Amazon said.

• SpaceX, valued at $1.25 trillion in February after its merger with xAI, is preparing for what could be the biggest-ever initial public offering this year. The privately held company told investors it expected about $16 billion in revenue before its merger with xAI, The Wall Street Journal reported. 

What’s Next: Amazon aims to have a space-based Wi-Fi service that by the end of the decade—if all goes to plan—will have more than 3,000 satellites offering data services to Amazon Web Services clients and others. The timing is also subject to telecom regulators’ approval.

—Adam Clark, Al Root, and Janet H. Cho

Former Fed governor Kevin Warsh, who is President Donald Trump’s nominee to become the next Fed chair, has collected more than $13 million in consulting fees from some of Wall Street’s most powerful firms in recent years, financial disclosure documents show. His disclosed fortune dwarfs that of previous Fed chairs.

• Warsh’s total assets are valued at between $131 million and $209 million. The scale of Warsh’s wealth and his recent financial entanglements with some of the institutions the Fed oversees are likely to be central issues at his Senate confirmation hearing.

• The largest single consulting payment came from Duquesne Family Office, the investment firm run by hedge fund billionaire Stanley Druckenmiller, which paid Warsh $10.2 million for advisory services, including advising on investments that include dozens of entries in his disclosure.

• Warsh also received $1.55 million from GoldenTree Asset Management, $750,000 from Cerberus Capital Management, and $650,000 from Heitman LLC, all for consulting work through his personal advisory firm, Vicarage LLC. Ethics rules require that work to end and outstanding fees paid before he joins the Fed.

• Warsh has two positions in the Juggernaut Fund, each more than $50 million. Juggernaut is a private investment vehicle also managed by Druckenmiller’s firm. One position generated more than $5 million in income. The other generated between $1 million and $5 million. Both must be sold if Warsh is confirmed. 

What’s Next: If confirmed, Warsh has pledged to resign from more than a dozen corporate and nonprofit positions and sell dozens of holdings within 90 days. The Senate Banking Committee will hold a confirmation hearing next Tuesday at 10 a.m. Eastern time.

—Nicole Goodkind

A designer of federal rules that paved the way for prediction markets is weighing in on sports betting on those platforms: Gary Gensler, a former chair of both the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and the Securities and Exchange Commission, says prediction markets have gone beyond the law’s intent.

• Gensler told Barron’s exclusively that he never once heard a lawmaker suggest that the CFTC should have oversight of sports betting. More than a dozen states are currently suing prediction markets like Kalshi and Polymarket, claiming event contracts tied to sports should be regulated as gambling by the states.