Dow Jones Hits Record Highs, DELL Jumps 15%: Stock Market Today

U.S. stocks pushed higher by midday Friday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average punching to a fresh record high as a powerful AI-led rally in chip and PC names overpowered another shock to consumer sentiment.

The S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 are now on track for an eighth straight weekly gain — the longest winning streak since 2023 — as diplomatic signals on Iran helped cool oil and pulled Treasury yields lower for a third consecutive session.

The S&P 500 climbed 0.4% to 7,477 by 11 a.m. ET, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 324 points, or 0.6%, to a record 50,610, led by Merck & Co. Inc. (NYSE:MRK),+4.7%; Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT), +3.7% and IBM (NYSE:IBM), +2.8%. The latter is on track for its best week in over two decades.

The Nasdaq 100 added 0.2% to 29,417, dragged by a soft session within Magnificent Seven stocks. NVIDIA Corp. (NASDAQ:NVDA) slipped 1.2% as traders continued to digest a first-quarter report that beat headline estimates but delivered revenue guidance that did not exceed the upper end of analyst expectations. Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ:MSFT) and Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) each slipped less than 0.5%. 

The Russell 2000 outperformed, rising 0.9% as small caps caught a tailwind from falling yields.

The University of Michigan consumer sentiment index was revised to a record low 44.8 in May from a preliminary 48.2, a third straight monthly drop blamed on Hormuz-driven gasoline costs.

One-year inflation expectations were nudged up to 4.8% and five-year expectations to 3.9% — the highest in seven months — keeping a hawkish overlay on every Fed headline.

The bond market now assigns a 82% probability of a rate hike by year’s end.

Friday’s Performance In Major U.S. Indices

According to the Benzinga Pro platform:

• The Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (NYSE:VOO) rose 0.4%.
• The SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF Trust (NYSE:DIA) gained 0.6%.
• The Invesco QQQ Trust (NASDAQ:QQQ) climbed 0.2%.
• The iShares Russell 2000 ETF (NYSE:IWM) rallied 0.9%.

AI Hardware Rips Higher As Dell, Qualcomm and HP Power Tech Comeback

The session belonged to the AI hardware trade. The Technology Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE:XLK) led the S&P 500 sector tape, with semiconductors and PC names doing the heavy lifting.

The VanEck Semiconductor ETF (NASDAQ:SMH) outperformed, helped by sharp gains in Qualcomm Inc. (NASDAQ:QCOM), Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (NASDAQ:AMD), Texas Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:TXN) and Intel Corp. (NASDAQ:INTC).

Dell Technologies Inc. (NYSE:DELL) was the top Russell 1000 gainer, surging 15.12% to a record high near $291 after Morgan Stanley raised its price target ahead of Dell’s May 28 fiscal first-quarter print, citing a record $43 billion AI server backlog and projected fiscal 2027 EPS of $11.90.

The setup spilled directly into HP Inc. (NYSE:HPQ), which jumped 13.90% as traders positioned ahead of next week’s earnings on hopes the AI PC cycle is finally translating into hardware demand.

Qualcomm soared 12.48% after announcing an expanded multi-year Snapdragon Digital Chassis partnership with Stellantis N.V. (NYSE:STLA) for next-generation vehicle cockpit, connectivity and ADAS chips, layered on top of last month’s Q2 beat that featured a dividend hike and an expanded buyback. 

Zoom Communications Inc. (NASDAQ:ZM) rallied 12.14% after reporting on Thursday a first-quarter fiscal 2027 EPS of $1.55 versus a $1.42 consensus and revenue of $1.24 billion versus $1.22 billion expected, raising full-year revenue guidance to $5.08-5.09 billion and authorizing an incremental $1 billion buyback.

The flip side of the tape was a sharp rotation out of defensives and certain post-earnings disappointments. The Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE:XLP) lagged as Costco Wholesale Corp. (NASDAQ:COST) slid 2.2%, Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) dropped another 1.6%, extending Thursday’s slide on the fuel-cost warning, and McDonald’s Corp. (NYSE:MCD) fell 1.3%.

On the corporate front, BJ’s Wholesale Club Holdings Inc. (NYSE:BJ) was the worst large-cap performer, plunging 8.10% even as first-quarter adjusted EPS of $1.10 beat the $1.03 consensus and sales of $5.66 billion topped estimates; the print showed net income slipping year-on-year and management held — rather than lifted — full-year same-club guidance of +23%, disappointing a stock that had run hard into the report.

Friday’s Russell 1000 Top Gainers

Friday’s Russell 1000 Top Losers

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