Stock Market Summary – May 20, 2025

Today, the stock market showed mixed performance with the Dow Jones Index gaining around 0.32%, while the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq saw modest increments of 0.09% and 0.02% respectively. Among the prominent movers in midday trading, D-Wave Quantum’s shares surged by 26% after the announcement of its new computing system, Advantage2. Similarly, Agilysys, an enterprise software developer, saw its stocks rally by 21% following robust Q4 performance.

Also enjoying gains were sports and equipment maker, Amer sports, biotech firms Moderna and Pfizer, ImmunityBio, AI firm Pony AI, and Hewlett Packard Enterprise. Notable losers in today’s stock landscape include cruise line operator Viking Holdings, building materials producer Eagle Materials, and software company Schrodinger.

Today’s biggest news was Tesla CEO, Elon Musk, revealing plans to launch its robotaxi service in Austin, Texas, by June end. Meanwhile, Alphabet announced a new AI subscription service, Google AI Ultra, that provides exclusive access to its latest AI products.

The financial sphere also saw widespread discussion regarding the JPMorgan CEO’s comments about market complacency in the face of geopolitical and macroeconomic risks. In other relevant news, Home Depot confirmed it will not be increasing prices in response to tariffs, differing from retail giant Walmart’s strategy.

Lastly, Lisa Su, the CEO of Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), was in focus after the company sold off the server manufacturing business of recently acquired ZT Systems to Sanmina for $3 billion. Despite being lower than the anticipated $5 billion sale, it highlights AMD’s competitive stance in the server rack design market.

In today’s market, the S&P 500 declined slightly after experiencing six positive sessions, negatively affected by the U.S. government debt downgrade by Moody’s. In the face of economic uncertainties, Jim Cramer of the CNBC Investing Club advised focusing on companies performing well, such as Home Depot which reiterated its full-year guidance and expressed plans to maintain pricing despite tariffs.

Quantinuum, a quantum computing unit under Honeywell was spotlighted after securing a $1 billion deal with Qatar. Jim Cramer suggested that the unit could provide untapped value beyond Honeywell’s ties to aerospace, energy, and automation.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is considered to be more important than tariffs to the stock market, according to Josh Brown, CEO of Ritholtz Wealth Management. Artificial intelligence was mentioned 2.6 times more frequently than the term “tariff” in the latest round of S&P 500 earnings reports, implying AI’s central role in the market’s performance.

Despite missing its earnings expectations, Home Depot’s shares managed to resist the larger market decline due to its 9.4% YoY rise in revenue to $39.86 billion, outperforming the expected $39.31 billion. The home improvement retailer also plans to maintain product pricing in spite of increased tariffs.

Notable gains have been witnessed by RBC Bearings, an industrial company, with a net sales increase of 10.6% for Q4 and 14.1% for fiscal 2025 in its aerospace and defense branches. Further growth is expected as demand continues to rise in these sectors.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk has confirmed that he will continue to lead the electric vehicle manufacturer for the next five years, ensuring a degree of control over the company. Despite a recent slip of 20% in automotive revenue and a 71% decline in Q1 2025 net income, Tesla’s shares remain relatively stable.