New York, May 21, 2026, 16:17 EDT
AI stocks were out front on Thursday as Wall Street picked up names beyond Nvidia. Arm, Rigetti Computing, IBM, Bloom Energy and Spotify all rallied as investors looked for new bets in chips, quantum computing, power and AI-focused products.
AI names stretched out again after Nvidia’s numbers, putting attention back on chipmakers. CNBC’s Jim Cramer summed it up: “Semis are now in charge. Software is taking a back seat,” he said after Nvidia reported, according to a LinkedIn post from CNBC.
Nvidia posted record quarterly revenue of $81.6 billion, rising 85% from last year, with $75.2 billion coming from its data-center unit, and guided to about $91 billion for the next quarter. But shares dropped 1.8% to $219.50 by the close, showing the bar for positive reaction stays high. The news is on the .
Arm shares shot up 16.1% to $298.16, sending its market cap past $300 billion. The U.S.-listed chip name was the top mover. TheStreet picked up a short post from Cramer on X: “ARM what a horse.” TheStreet
Arm’s rally wasn’t just driven by TV hype. The company reported record fiscal 2026 revenue at $4.92 billion this month, with data-center royalties more than doubling from a year ago. Arm’s AGI CPU, built for data-center use and targeting “agentic AI” that runs with less human input, now brings Arm closer to Intel and AMD in the central processor race while Nvidia stays the key reference for AI hardware economics. Arm Newsroom
Arm CEO Rene Haas told Reuters back in March the company’s push into its own AI chip is “a very pivotal moment for the company.” Arm has estimated the AGI CPU could bring in close to $15 billion each year within five years, naming Meta as its main partner. OpenAI, Cloudflare, SAP and SK Telecom are also listed as customers. Reuters
Quantum names rallied after the U.S. Commerce Department signed letters of intent for $2.013 billion in CHIPS Act incentives to be split among nine companies. Rigetti jumped 30.6% to $22.04. IBM added 12.5% to end at $253.02. IBM is lined up for $1 billion, GlobalFoundries was set for $375 million, and Rigetti could get as much as $100 million. The government will take minority, non-controlling stakes.
Power names caught action too as traders moved in. Bloom Energy jumped 9.0% to $307.61 after Nebius said it’s using Bloom’s fuel cells to deliver 328 megawatts of installed AI capacity this year. The fuel cells make “behind-the-meter” power—electricity generated on site, not from the broader grid. nebius.com
AI infrastructure faces a power crunch, Nebius infrastructure chief Andrey Korolenko said. Aman Joshi, Bloom’s chief commercial officer, said power needs to keep up with cloud-level AI workloads.
Spotify popped 13.1% to $490.00 after its 2030 targets and a Universal Music deal hit the tape. The company said premium users will be able to make AI-generated covers and remixes using music from artists who choose in. “Consent, credit and compensation,” is how Co-CEO Alex Norstrom summed up the approach to Reuters. Reuters
Spotify is forecasting mid-teens compound annual revenue growth through 2030, aiming for gross margins in the 35% to 40% range and operating margins above 20%. The company is rolling out Reserved concert-ticket access, a podcast membership program, more Audiobooks+ plans, and Studio by Spotify Labs, a desktop app that offers private AI-generated audio.
Deere slipped 5.2% to $531.54. The farm-equipment maker topped quarterly profit forecasts but stuck with its full-year net income target of $4.5 billion to $5.0 billion, citing weak demand for big farm equipment.
Deere is seeing support from data-center construction, but its farm business is still under pressure, Oppenheimer’s Kristen Owen said to Reuters. “Investors are still looking for signs of recovery in the agriculture segments,” Owen said. Farmers are dealing with low crop prices and unstable input costs. Reuters
AI stocks are running hot and the market is starting to look priced for perfect execution. Nvidia didn’t count China data-center compute revenue for its outlook next quarter, Arm says it needs more supply if demand for its new chip goes beyond the first $1 billion, quantum computing is still in early stages, and Bloom has to keep big power projects on track. Deere’s selloff showed that even a good quarter doesn’t keep a stock safe when the cycle looks weak.
