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TRADING HIGHLIGHTS 

Good Week

Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. +3.55% is an American multinational semiconductor company based in Santa Clara, California, that develops computer processors and related technologies for business and consumer markets.  AMD plans to integrate Pensando's distributed services platform into its data center lineup.  Pensando's data processing units (DPUs) and software are used by cloud computing heavyweights such as Microsoft (MSFT 2.76%), IBM, and Oracle.  Pensando's leadership DPU compliments their data center product portfolio, enabling AMD to offer solutions that can significantly accelerate data transfer speeds while providing additional levels of security and analytics that will play a larger role in defining the performance of next-generation data centers.  The tech titan's Azure platform is second only to Amazon Web Services in the massive and rapidly expanding cloud infrastructure market.  AMD has been working to strengthen its ties to Microsoft. The chipmaker said on that Microsoft was adopting its Instinct MI200 accelerators to run large-scale artificial intelligence training processes. The companies also plan to work together to better support developers using this advanced technology.

Apple AAPL +4.08% – The iPhone maker reported $1.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The business had revenue of $97.28 billion during the quarter. Apple had a return on equity of 152.88% and a net margin of 26.41%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.40 earnings per share. It is anticipated that Apple will post 6.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.  Apple declared that its board has approved a share buyback program that allows the company to repurchase $90.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the iPhone maker to repurchase up to 3.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.


Bad Week

Shares of Aurora Cannabis Inc. -38.46% were lower after the company announced $125 million of bought-deal financing.  Aurora said the deal will have gross proceeds of about $125.2 million.  Its shares were down about 16% in after-hours trading. The stock finished the day’s regular session with a 1.87% gain, closing at $2.93 per share.

BIG-US (Big Lots) -12.10% engages in the operation of retail stores. It operates through the Discount Retailing segment which includes merchandising categories such as furniture, seasonal, soft home, food, consumables, hard home, electronics, toys, and accessories.  Management flagged material discretionary sales slowdown in April with consumer pressured by inflation and gas prices, increased promotions and elevated supply chain costs impacted profitability; inventory grew 48%.  Shares of Big Lots Inc. sank Friday, after the discount home essentials retailer reported a surprise fiscal first-quarter loss and a big same-store sales miss, as higher gas prices hurt customer spending.

What Else Happened?

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose as stocks rallied on encouraging inflation data. Tesla (TSLA) surged even as CEO Elon Musk issued a warning on high-octane growth stocks. Apple (AAPL) raced higher and Microsoft (MSFT) was another blue-chip winner.  

Meanwhile, a trio of stocks tested buy points amid the positive action: Leaderboard stock Eli Lilly (LLY), Cabot (CBT) and Diamondback Energy (FANG).  Volume was mixed, rising on the Nasdaq but falling on the New York Stock Exchange.  The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note slid 2 basis points to 2.74%. West Texas Intermediate crude rose again and was trading around $115 per barrel.  Positive inflation data was helping stocks to end the week on a high. Core personal consumption expenditures — the Federal Reserve's preferred inflation indicator — rose 4.9% in April, slower than March's 5.2% increase. This raises hopes that price increases could be slowing.