(Image credit: Joan Cros/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Stocks jumped out of the gate Thursday, boosted by another big day of gains for mega-cap tech stocks and a red-hot initial public offering (IPO). Market participants also cheered encouraging headlines from China, where President Donald Trump and his entourage of CEOs traveled for a two-day summit with President Xi Jinping to discuss trade, tariffs and the war in Iran.
At the close, the blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.8% at 50,063. The broader S&P 500 added 0.8% to 7,501 and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite gained 0.9% to 26,635 — new all-time highs.
A well-received earnings report from Cisco Systems (CSCO) created tailwinds for all three indexes, with the Dow Jones stock soaring 13.4% after its results, its best day since 2020.
Sign up for Kiplinger’s Free Newsletters
Profit and prosper with the best of expert advice on investing, taxes, retirement, personal finance and more – straight to your e-mail.
Profit and prosper with the best of expert advice – straight to your e-mail.
For the three months ending April 25, Cisco reported earnings of $1.06 per share, up 10% year over year, on revenue of $15.8 billion (+12% YoY). Analysts expected Cisco to report earnings of $1.04 per share on revenue of $15.6 billion.
The company also said that artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure and hyperscaler orders have totaled $5.3 billion so far this year and it now expects orders for its fiscal year to reach $9 billion. It previously forecast $5 billion in orders for the full fiscal year.
“We view the AI cycle as durable for the foreseeable future and expect sustained strong orders and accelerating revenue to drive further stock appreciation,” says BofA Securities analyst Tal Liani, who reiterated a Buy rating on the blue chip stock and raised his price target to $114 from $95.
Separately, CEO Chuck Robbins wrote in a blog post that Cisco will reduce its workforce by roughly 4,000 positions in fiscal Q4.
Cerebras stock soars in market debut
The IPO market has gotten off to a slow start in 2026 amid private-equity concerns, worries over an AI bubble, and geopolitical uncertainty.
But if today’s market debut from AI infrastructure firm Cerebras (CBRS) is any clue, things are looking up.
Cerebras priced its offering at $185 per share last night, above the high end of its upwardly revised range. Based on the 30 million shares of common CBRS stock it offered, the AI company raised $5.55 billion in its offering, making it not only one of the biggest IPOs of the year but one of the largest U.S. IPOs ever.
Looking for more timely stock market news to help gauge the health of your portfolio? Sign up for Closing Bell, our free newsletter that’s delivered straight to your inbox at the close of each trading day.
CBRS stock opened today at $350, reached an intraday high of $385 and closed at $311.07.
Nvidia emerges as a big winner in the Trump-Xi talks
Nvidia (NVDA) was another big gainer on Thursday, rising 4.4% as CEO Jensen Huang participated in President Trump’s summit with President Xi.
According to Reuters, the U.S. will allow roughly 10 Chinese firms — including Alibaba (BABA, -3.2%) and JD.com (JD, -2.7%) — to buy Nvidia’s H200, its second-most powerful AI chip, though no deliveries have been made so far.
Nvidia once made up roughly 95% of China’s advanced chip market share, but this has since dropped to near zero due to the U.S. implementing export controls and China’s decision to reduce its reliance on foreign chips.
Wall Street will look to the AI bellwether’s big earnings event after next Wednesday’s close for any color on potential China sales.
The company “heads into next week’s results with expectations already running hot,” says Matt Britzman, senior equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown. Consensus estimates are near the top end of guidance, “but as is often the case with Nvidia, the market will likely be looking for more than just a clean beat. The scale of any upside surprise will matter, so don’t be surprised if they land somewhere closer to $81.4 billion [in total sales].”