Top 10 Things to Watch on Friday, May 1st

1. As a new month of trading kicks off, stocks are up while oil prices are down. Apple’s stock climbed following a strong quarterly performance, helping the S&P 500 index rise above 7,200 for the first time. Meanwhile, Brent crude oil futures decreased as hopes grow for easing tensions in the Middle East and the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz.

2. Apple reported a stellar quarter, exceeding expectations for future guidance. They anticipate a 14% to 17% increase in sales for the June quarter, considerably higher than the 9% the market was expecting. Services revenue hit a record $30.97 billion, marking a 16% rise. I’m optimistic about future earnings—there may be pressure from soaring memory prices, but those could be offset. They’ve seen solid sales in China; it seems there’s been a nice turnaround there. Plus, many Macs and iPhone 17s are sold out. Notably, Wells Fargo has raised their price target for Apple to $310 from $300, and the stock increased by 3.5%.

3. SanDisk, a memory chip company, is shifting toward a long-term contract business model for stability. But, this could be costly for hyperscalers. There’s skepticism about whether memory prices will continue to rise, which seems unlikely. Interestingly, shares fell by 5% after better-than-expected profits were reported on Thursday. Bank of America upped their price target from $1,080 to $1,550.

4. Morgan Stanley has hiked Arm Holdings’ price target from $150 to $191, anticipating that the May 6 announcement will align with expectations. They’ve recently taken a position in Arm and introduced the AGI CPU—an in-house designed chip aimed specifically at AI workloads. Previously, Arm mainly designed chips for other companies like Nvidia and Apple, so this marks a significant shift.

5. Chevron’s cash flow is notable: they reported $4.1 billion for the quarter. Adjusted earnings reached $1.41 per share, surpassing Wall Street’s expectations of 95 cents, marking their highest profit since October 2020.

6. Mastercard also had a solid quarter, though the market response didn’t reflect that. They’re a massive global company with 3.7 billion cards in circulation and notable interests in the Middle East. There’s potential for stablecoins to become a major player if they’re fully utilized, which I discussed with CEO Michael Miebach regarding this quarter and AI trends.

7. After witnessing some profit, Reddit is receiving attention. Wells Fargo raised their price target to $176 from $149, driven by an increase in daily active users and encouraging second-quarter earnings guidance. Similarly, Piper’s target went from $205 to $215, while Bank America lifted theirs from $175 to $190, indicating a strong quarterly performance with sales up by 69%. It seems like a promising stock right now.

8. In contrast, Citi has reduced Cardinal Health’s price target from $249 to $245 following the Thursday earnings report. They cited risks in the medical product and distribution sector but kept a buy rating, suggesting that the post-earnings drop was an overreaction. I think they had a decent quarter, although not stellar. Selling could present an opportunity.

9. Roblox is facing downgrades from Buy to Hold at Bank of America. Analysts labeled first-quarter bookings as “fair” and noted that second-quarter bookings fell short of expectations. Concerns also arose over a significant cut in the growth forecast for 2026. The stock took a hit, plummeting nearly 25% in pre-market trading.

10. Caterpillar has seen its price target raised by JPMorgan to $1,125, up from $860, pointing to the company’s high-growth valuation. They predict revenue will more than double by 2030. On Thursday, Caterpillar adjusted its full-year sales forecast upwards alongside a strong profit update.