Nvidia, Target, and Bitcoin pizza: What to watch in the markets this week

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What an exceptional week it has been for the stock market. The Dow crossed the 40,000 mark for the first time in its 128-year history, and the S&P 500 and Nasdaq reached their peaks on the same day.

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The return of "Roaring Kitty" was a surprise, but the bigger surprise was how meme stocks, such as GameStop and AMC, boomed and busted so quickly, and memecoins were unfazed by the return at all, as if they never had any relationship with meme-stock trend.

Additionally, the ease in inflation has raised expectations for interest rate cuts later this year, setting the mood for the coming week's trading. The Federal Reserve will release new home sales data on Thursday to help clarify the economy's trajectory.

This week is going to be filled with some interesting earnings reports, tech events, and some celebrations with pizzas.

All eyes are on Nvidia's earnings report

Artificial Intelligence (AI) darling stock Nvidia will announce its first quarter of fiscal year 2025 on Wednesday after the closing bell.

Nvidia approached all-time highs on Thursday, reaching $953.83 per share during the day before finishing lower. The stock's record-high close stands at $950.02 per share, which it hit on March 25.

Ahead of Nvidia's first quarter earnings report next Wednesday, Wall Street is setting its expectations for the company's first-quarter revenue at $24.5 billion, according to a FactSet poll of analysts' estimates. However, KeyBanc equity research analyst John Vinh said Nvidia is likely to report first-quarter revenues of $26 billion and set its second-quarter guidance to around $28.5 billion.

The company is expected to report a net income of $12.87 billion, showing significant growth from the last quarter of fiscal 2024 and a substantial increase from the $2.04 billion profit reported a year ago. Analysts anticipate the earnings per share will be $5.17 for the first quarter, compared to 82 cents in the same period last year.

Nvidia's stock is up about 99% so far this year; the company's shares have rallied since it reported fourth-quarter earnings in February. The chip maker's shares took a hit right before earnings, but made a comeback after it reported revenue of $22 billion — up nearly 270% from the previous year. The stock has climbed a whopping 226% over the last 12 months.

Microsoft is holding an AI event

Just as Nvidia is thriving, it seems everyone wants a piece of AI. Tech giant Microsoft is hosting an AI event on Monday, May 20, a day before the developer-focused event Build 2024 begins. The company's CEO, Satya Nadella, will discuss how artificial intelligence will be incorporated into its hardware and software. The event will not be live-streamed and will only be open to journalists who attend in person.

Other earnings reports to watch

In addition to heavy-duty Nvidia, investors will also be watching earnings reports from TJX and Target on Wednesday and Dollar Tree and Ross Stores on Thursday.

Don't forget to attend the Bitcoin pizza party

The Bitcoin pizza party is also on Wednesday. The day is celebrated to commemorate the day that Bitcoin was first used for commercial purposes.

On May 22, 2010, a man in Florida named Laszlo Hanyecz paid 10,000 Bitcoin for two pizzas from Papa John's. At that time, 10,000 bitcoins were worth $41; that many bitcoins is now worth a staggering $650 million.

In addition to the festivities, hashtags such as #BitcoinPizzaDay and #PizzaForBitcoin trend on social media platforms at this time every year as Bitcoin enthusiasts celebrate just how far the cryptocurrency has come.

-Britney Nguyen contributed to this article