Nvidia's loss in China is also a bargaining chip

Image source: Wikimedia Commons

Not even a trade war can stop Nvidia. In another impressive showing, the apex AI ticker charged through the tech sector malaise and delivered. But the quarterly beat also came with a warning: The company will miss out on $8 billion worth of H20 chip sales in its second quarter, due to tightened export controls.

At first glance, the missing revenue highlights the risks of doing business with the nation's economic adversary — this time from the demand side, not the supply side, like Amazon and Apple. Trump is building on a policy from the Biden years to limit China's ability to source American technology. And so Nvidia has to forfeit billions of potential sales. But the misfortune of being locked in the middle of geopolitical tensions can work in your favor. Yahoo Finance reports.

🌎 Trump tariffs live updates: Bessent says US-China trade talks have 'stalled': US Treasury Secretary, Scott Bessent told Fox News on Thursday that trade talks between the US and China are "a bit stalled" adding that a call between President Trump and China's leader Xi Jinping maybe needed. “I would say that they are a bit stalled,” Bessent said of the talks in the interview.

The news has been slightly better for Trump. A federal appeals court allowed the President's sweeping tariffs to temporarily stay in effect, a day after the US Court of International Trade blocked their implementation after deeming the method used to enact them "unlawful." Yahoo Finance reports.

👖Gap lists up to $300 million tariff costs but excludes them from forecast; shares dive: Gap said on Thursday that U.S. President Donald Trump's tariffs would take a bite out of its annual operating income but offered forecasts excluding that hit, sending its shares tumbling almost 16% in pre-market trading.

The company expects about $250 million to $300 million in tariff-related costs, but aims to mitigate more than half of that amount. "Exiting 2025, we now expect it (China) to be less than 3% ... our goal is for no country to account for more than 25% by end of 2026," Gap CEO Richard Dickson said. Yahoo Finance reports.

💻 Dell's AI Server Orders Hit Record $12.1 Billion In Q1, Backlog Swells To $14.4 Billion: 'Exceptionally Strong Demand': Dell Technologies Inc. reported a mixed first quarter, driven by what executives described as “exceptionally strong demand” for its AI-optimized servers.

What Happened: The company reported $12.1 billion in AI server orders in the first quarter of the fiscal year 2026, surpassing the entirety of shipments for all of fiscal year 2025, and pushing its backlog to a record $14.4 billion. Benzinga reports.

💻 Nvidia, Dell to supply next US Department of Energy supercomputer: The U.S. Department of Energy on Thursday said its "Doudna" due in 2026 will use technology from Nvidia and Dell. The computer, named for Nobel Prize-winning scientist Jennifer Doudna who made key CRISPR gene-editing discoveries, will be housed at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in Berkeley, California.

At an event at the lab attended by Secretary of Energy Chris Wright, officials said that the system will use Nvidia's latest "Vera Rubin" chips built into liquid-cooled servers by Dell and will be used by 11,000 researchers. Reuters reports.

🤖 Chinese tech groups prepare for AI future without Nvidia: China's biggest technology companies have begun the process of switching to homegrown chips as they contend with a dwindling stockpile of Nvidia processors and tightening United States export controls.

Alibaba, Tencent and Baidu, are among those starting to test alternative semiconductors to meet growing domestic demand for AI, the report said, citing industry executives. Reuters reports.

🛒 Costco tops earnings and revenue estimates as sales jump 8%, shares still dip: Shares of Costco fell slightly on Thursday, despite the warehouse club posting quarterly earnings and revenue that topped estimates and reporting 8% year-over-year sales gains.

Here’s how the warehouse club retailer did in its fiscal third quarter compared with what Wall Street was expecting, based on a survey of analysts by LSEG:

• Earnings per share: $4.28 vs. $4.24 expected
• Revenue: $63.21 billion vs. $63.19 billion expected. CNBC reports.

✈️ Boeing to resume airplane deliveries to China next month, ramp up Max production, CEO says: Boeing’s airplane deliveries to China will resume next month after handovers were paused amid a trade war with the Trump administration, CEO Kelly Ortberg said Thursday, as he brushed off the impact of tit-for-tat tariffs with some of the United States’ largest trading partners this year.

Ortberg had said last month that China had paused deliveries. “China has now indicated … they’re going to take deliveries,” Ortberg said. The first deliveries will be next month, he told a Bernstein conference on Thursday. CNBC reports.

🚗 Hybrid leader Toyota targets major growth in plug-in vehicles amid industry’s EV uncertainty: Twenty-five years after introducing many Americans to hybrid vehicles with the Prius, Toyota Motor is targeting significant growth in plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, or PHEVs.

Such cars can function as an all-electric vehicle for a certain number of miles before they need a traditional gas-powered engine. Unlike traditional hybrids like the Prius that use a small amount of battery technologies, PHEVs also need to be charged with a plug, like an EV, to use the electric range. CNBC reports.

(All pricing and percent gains are based on Early Pre-Market from 4:00 AM to 7:00 AM Eastern Time)
Benzinga reports.

1) $BSLK: Bolt Projects Holdings

Total gain: +114.36%

2) $TIRX: Tian Ruixiang Holdings

Total gain: +56.28%

3) $BMGL: Basel Medical Group

Total gain: +34.13%

4) $RRGB: Red Robin Gourmet Burgers

Total gain: +29.71%

5) $EHLD: Euroholdings

Total gain: +22.95%

The closing price of the top three market percent gainers trading near or above $3 on May 29.
Benzinga reports.

*All pricing and percent gains are based on regular market trading hours from 9:30am to 4:00pm Eastern Time

1) $SBET: SharpLink Gaming

Total gain: +180.89%

The stock appeared to be moving on no notable news.

2) $ZEO: Zeo Energy

Total gain: +115.23%

The company announced that it received a notice from Nasdaq on May 22, 2025, stating that it is not in compliance with the periodic filing requirements for continued listing set forth in Nasdaq Listing Rule 5250(c)(1), because its Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the three months ended March 31, 2025, was not filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission by the required due date of May 15, 2025. Yahoo Finance reports.

3) $ALZN: Alzamend Neuro

Total gain: +64.15%

The company announced the dosing of the first patient in its first Phase II clinical study of AL001, conducted in healthy human subjects. This study follows the successful development of a novel head coil by Tesla Dynamic Coils BV, a key component of the clinical trial. Yahoo Finance reports.

*Estimate and Actual numbers represent Earnings Per Share in US Dollars

SCVL: Shoe Carnival
1Q 2025

Before Market Open
Estimate: 0.300
Actual: 0.340

FRO: UP Fintech Holding
1Q 2025

Before Market Open
Estimate: 0.000
Actual: 0.198

YTRA: Yatra Online
4Q 2025

Before Market Open
Estimate: 0.030
Actual: N/A

Time (ET) / Report / Period

8:30 am - Personal income - April

8:30 am - Consumer spending - April

“One of the keys to success in investing is to keep your emotions in check and avoid being swayed by market noise.”

- James Montier“

The Little Book of Behavioral Investing: How Not to Be Your Own Worst
Enemy”, by James Montier, published in 2007