Alain’s Holdings

Symbol	Name	Price	Change	Change %
VOO	Vanguard S&P 500 ETF	656.42	+5.16	+0.79%
QQQ	Invesco QQQ Trust	663.88	+12.46	+1.91%
XIU.TO	iShares S&P/TSX 60 ETF	49.97	-0.03	-0.06%
VRT	Vertiv Holdings Co.	323.46	+1.71	+0.53%

The S&P 500 rose 0.3% while
the Nasdaq Composite gained 0.7%.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 43 points, or 0.1%. The Russell 2000 slipped 0.37%.
Both the S&P 500 and Nasdaq closed at fresh all-time highs, capping a volatile but ultimately positive week for U.S. equities.

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The Big Story: Intel’s Historic Beat Ignites Chip Rally

The dominant story of the day — and arguably the week — was Intel’s blockbuster Q1 earnings report, released after Thursday’s close.

Intel’s Q1 2026 EPS of $0.29 crushed Wall Street’s consensus estimate of just $0.02, while revenue came in at $13.58 billion against expectations of $12.41 billion. AI-driven business revenue surged 40% year-over-year, marking Intel’s sixth consecutive quarter of exceeding guidance, with a 41% non-GAAP gross margin.

Data Center and AI (DCAI) revenue reached $5.1 billion, up 7% sequentially and 22% year-over-year. Intel Foundry revenue rose 20% sequentially to $5.4 billion. For Q2, Intel guided revenue of $13.8–$14.8 billion and adjusted EPS of $0.20, both well above analyst expectations of $13.07 billion and $0.09, respectively.

Intel shares opened at $67.50 on Friday and hit an intraday high of $71.20. The stock is now up approximately 94% year-to-date. Intel rose over 23% for its best day since the dot-com era, joined by AMD with a nearly 14% rise.

The semiconductor surge was broad: Nvidia crossed the $5 trillion market cap threshold again on Friday, with shares up 5% in midday trading, on pace for an all-time closing high. Advanced Micro Devices surged 13%, and Qualcomm jumped 10%. Weekly leaders ARM and AMD are up 40% and 25%, respectively, for the week, while Synopsys, TSMC, and KLA are all up 8%–11%.

The iShares Semiconductor ETF has now risen for 18 straight sessions.

Charter Communications (CHTR) — Down ~24%: Charter Communications reported Q1 2026 EPS of $9.17, missing the consensus estimate of $9.91, despite revenue coming in slightly ahead of forecasts at $13.6 billion against expectations of $13.55 billion. The market reacted harshly, with the stock dropping sharply on investor concerns over profitability and operational challenges. The results reflected ongoing pressure across core businesses: internet customers fell by a net 120,000, hurt by heightened competition and lower connects, while residential revenue declined 2.7% year-over-year. Adjusted EBITDA was also down 2.2% year-over-year. The one bright spot was Spectrum Mobile, which added 370,000 lines in the quarter, bringing its total to over 12 million — a 17% increase over the trailing twelve months. Shares of CHTR plunged roughly 24% on the day, making it one of the worst single-session performers in the S&P 500, even as the broader market rose. Benchmark subsequently lowered its price target on the stock to $435 from $455.

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DOJ Drops Criminal Probe into Fed Chair Powell

The Department of Justice on Friday dropped its criminal investigation into Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, a development that added a further tailwind to sentiment and removed a cloud of uncertainty that had been hanging over markets.

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Consumer Sentiment: A Disconnect Between Main Street and Wall Street

The University of Michigan’s Consumer Sentiment final reading for April came in at 49.8 — slightly above the preliminary estimate but the lowest level in the survey’s history going back to 1952, surpassing lows seen during the 2008 financial crisis, the COVID-19 pandemic, and the post-Ukraine inflation spike.

Overall consumer sentiment showed some improvement amid the two-week U.S.-Iran ceasefire, but remains deeply depressed, a sobering reminder that Main Street has yet to benefit from Wall Street’s record-breaking performance.

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Geopolitics: Peace Talks Still Stalled

Oil climbed for a fifth straight day — its longest streak of gains since January — as uncertainty over talks between the U.S. and Iran threatened to further delay flows from the Persian Gulf. Despite the geopolitical overhang, equity markets proved resilient, buoyed by the strength of the semiconductor earnings cycle.

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Weekly Scorecard

It was a week of extremes. The S&P 500 touched new all-time highs multiple times, pulled back on IBM/ServiceNow software fears and Iran war anxiety, then roared back to close the week at records. Weekly inflows into global equity funds surged to a more than 17-month high in the week through April 22, reaching $48.72 billion — the largest weekly sum since November 2024 — fueled by optimism over AI demand and robust Q1 bank earnings.

Next week brings the most consequential stretch of earnings season: Microsoft, Alphabet, Amazon, and Meta all report, alongside the April jobs report on Friday.

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