Tonight’s Highlights: U.S. Futures Rise as Cisco Surges 15%; Dow Eyes 50,000 Milestone

U.S. stock index futures trended higher on Thursday, positioning the Dow Jones Industrial Average for a potential reclaim of the 50,000-point threshold.

Market sentiment was buoyed by a stellar earnings report from Cisco and optimism surrounding a high-stakes meeting between U.S. and Chinese leadership. Major European indices also posted gains.

Economic data showed U.S. April Retail Sales grew 0.5% month-on-month, matching estimates but slowing significantly from the 1.7% growth seen in March.

This marks the lowest expansion since January, signaling a potential cooling in consumer spending.

Cisco shares skyrocketed 15% in pre-market trading after the networking giant reported record Q3 revenue of $15.8 billion (up 12% YoY), comfortably beating Wall Street’s top and bottom-line estimates.

The company also raised its full-year 2026 guidance and announced a restructuring plan that includes cutting approximately 4,000 jobs to focus on high-growth software and AI areas.

The tech-led rally extended to Nvidia, which rose over 2% pre-market, continuing its 25% gain over the last two months. Investor Peter Mallouk noted that chip stocks remain "fundamentally undervalued" as a secular "super-trend," with demand still vastly outstripping global supply capacity.

Corporate News

Apple: Reports suggest Apple is intensifying its AI strategy by exploring the integration of AI agents directly into the App Store. The company is expected to unveil a comprehensive AI roadmap at its Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) next month.
Microsoft & OpenAI: Microsoft executive Michael Wetter confirmed that the company’s total investment in its OpenAI partnership has surpassed $100 billion. This figure includes initial capital injections and the massive scale-up of Azure infrastructure required to host OpenAI’s models.
Cerebras Systems IPO: The AI chip unicorn Cerebras (CBRS) priced its IPO at $185.00 per share, significantly above its expected range. The company raised over $5.5 billion, valuing the "wafer-scale" chipmaker at nearly $40 billion. Trading is set to begin today on the Nasdaq.
Samsung Labor Crisis: Tensions escalated as the Samsung Electronics union rejected a government-led proposal to restart negotiations. The union reiterated that an 18-day strike will proceed as planned on May 21 unless management formalizes a transparent performance bonus system.
Citi’s Asia Expansion: Citigroup plans to grow its Asia-Pacific prime brokerage headcount by 10% this year, focusing on Singapore and India. The bank aims to leverage its global platform to capture a larger share of the hedge fund market, targeting $700 billion in prime brokerage assets by 2028.
Netflix: The company revealed it has invested $135 billion in content over the last decade, contributing an estimated $325 billion to the global economy and supporting 425,000 jobs in the film and TV sector.