News from a tech giant, inflation data and earnings from a meme-stock legend are among the highlights of the week ahead in markets. Apple’s annual Worldwide Developers Conference opens the week with a keynote session from CEO Tim Cook scheduled for Monday. Cook will likely use the event to address the company’s new products, services, and partnerships. GameStop could clarify its cryptocurrency strategy on the company’s earnings call, set for Tuesday. Key companies in the growing artificial intelligence (AI) market are also scheduled to update investors on their financials during the week. A U.S. inflation report scheduled for Wednesday could indicate whether President Donald Trump’s tariffs are beginning to have an effect on the economy. The news follows a healthy jobs report Friday.
After markets shook off trade tensions last week to bring the S&P 500 back above 6000, investors will keep an eye on tariffs as Trump’s deadline on trade deals approaches. At the same time, the Senate will continue to work toward passage of Trump’s “Big, Beautiful” budget bill amid increasing criticism from Tesla CEO and former Department of Government Efficiency Chief Elon Musk.
Economists Look for Inflation’s Impact in May CPI Report
Wednesday’s expected release of the Consumer Price Index (CPI) will be the first look at inflation from May. With a Federal Reserve meeting around the corner, the report could set the tone for the central bank as it faces pressure from Trump to lower interest rates. Fed officials are in their blackout period ahead of their next two-day meeting, which begins June 17.
Trump’s tariffs will be a key topic in Friday’s consumer sentiment report, which dropped for four straight months before leveling out in May. Consumers are consistently worried that tariffs will drive inflation higher, sending the closely watched survey to some of its lowest readings since the pandemic. As inflation has lately appeared in check, the freefall in sentiment may have hit bottom.
GameStop Reports As It Jumps into Bitcoin Market
GameStop’s (GME) earnings report comes as the video-game retailer dips its toe in the cryptocurrency pool. The company, which fired up the meme stock craze in 2021 with its meteoric rise, announced in late May that it bought $500 million in bitcoin. With its retail video game business in decline, GameStop looks to emulate the playbook of Michael Saylor’s Strategy (MSTR) and other companies centering their business models on buying bitcoin.
AI will be a key theme in other corporate earnings this week. Oracle’s (ORCL) report on Wednesday follows the January announcement that the database software firm would join ChatGPT maker OpenAI and SoftBank as part of a joint venture known as Stargate to build AI infrastructure. Adobe’s (ADBE) report on Thursday is also expected to focus on the company’s sales of AI-enhanced graphics software.
What analysts are saying about U.S. stocks
JPMorgan Chase (NYSE:JPM): “Big picture, our view is that activity-inflation tradeoff is likely to deteriorate into the summer, with potentially rising bond yields, which is set to arrest the equity rebound seen over the past two months.”
Evercore ISI: “[W]ith trade uncertainty having peaked, have universally unloved small caps become ’so bad, they’re good’? Tactically, cratered sentiment intersects with favorable June seasonality, when the small size reliably outperforms, aligning with the annual Russell Index rebalance. History suggests this trend will be amplified in 2025.”
RBC: “The rebound off the April 8th low in the S&P 500 continues to track the path of the rebounds off the major post global financial crisis (GFC) non-recession drawdowns. The history of past rebounds off of major post GFC drawdowns suggests the recovery could have more room to go through year-end, and remains the biggest risk to our YE 2025 S&P 500 price target of 5,730.”