Tech Weekly: Software Earnings Help S&P 500 Hit Eighth Week of Gains – Investing News Network

This week's tech sector performance

Major US exchanges were closed on Monday (May 25) for the Memorial Day holiday, while news outlets reported progress on a deal between the US and Iran. The weeks-long tech rally accelerated on Tuesday (May 26), with both the Nasdaq Composite (INDEXNASDAQ:.IXIC) and S&P 500 (INDEXSP:.INX) posting record highs after reports that SpaceX is targeting June 12 as its initial public offering (IPO) date, lifting companies in the space and technology sectors.

Markets were mixed on Wednesday (May 27) as a slew of software companies began to report earnings. Investors rotated into artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure and software names after Snowflake (NYSE:SNOW) and Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) beat expectations, with momentum carrying through to Thursday (May 28).

The gains came despite higher US core personal consumption expenditures price index numbers, along with a downward revision in the country's gross domestic product for Q1. Both sets of data increased concerns that the US Federal Reserve will issue fewer interest rate cuts — or none at all — in 2026.

Arthur Azizov, CEO of B2BROKER Group and B2BINPAY, cited Micron Technology's (NASDAQ:MU) excellent fundamentals, as well as investor optimism surrounding beneficiaries of the CHIPS and Science Act, as key catalysts for AI and semiconductors. He said these factors drove indexes this month, even with traditional “sell in May" expectations.

“Despite certain headwinds in the form of rising inflationary expectations due to high gasoline prices, ample investments into AI and AI infrastructure stocks suggest we have a good chance to see this simultaneous rally in the S&P 500 and Nasdaq gain even more momentum further down the road in June,” he wrote in an email.

Comments from US President Donald Trump, who told Fox Business that talks toward a deal with Iran are “moving along well,” helped reduce war fears heading into the weekend.

The S&P closed at 7,581.42 on Friday (May 29), marking its eighth week of gains.

Meanwhile, the Nasdaq notched a weekly gain of 1.39 percent as ongoing AI excitement and earnings beats kept tech stocks near records, closing at 26,961.69.

3 tech stocks moving markets this week

This week's top tech stock movers, according to TradingView data, were:

1. AppLovin (NASDAQ:APP)

AppLovin saw its valuation increase by 26 percent this week.

2. Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU)

Micron Technology also saw a boost of 26 percent after UBS Group (NYSE:UBS) raised its price target for the company.

3. Arm Holdings (NASDAQ:ARM)

Arm Holdings saw a 21 percent increase in its share price.

Top tech news of the week

• IBM (NYSE:IBM) and Red Hat announced the launch of a US$5 billion initiative called Project Lightwell, saying it will patch security vulnerabilities in open-source code. Additionally, Reuters reported on Thursday that IBM has committed US$10 billion over the next five years to quantum research and development, capital expenditures, scaling manufacturing and M&A; these efforts come as IBM works to develop a large-scale, fault-tolerant quantum computer by 2029.

• Anthropic beat OpenAI’s valuation after it announced US$65 billion in new funding, bringing its valuation to US$900 billion versus OpenAI’s US$730 billion. Anthropic also announced the release of its latest upgrade, Claude Opus 4.8, which is equipped with greater coding and knowledge work skills.

• Shares of memory chip maker Micron surged 19 percent on Tuesday, sending its market cap to US$1 trillion for the first time after Swiss investment bank UBS tripled its price target to a street-high US$1,625, citing AI-driven structural changes in the memory market. The company joins 10 other household-name tech firms that have reached this landmark in recent years.

• American Airlines (NASDAQ:AAL) announced plans to install SpaceX’s Starlink satellite internet service across more than 500 narrowbody aircraft beginning in early 2027. SpaceX has been making strategic moves to strengthen its position in recent weeks as it prepares for its IPO on June 12 — it is expected to be the largest in history at US$1.75 trillion. Ahead of this landmark offering, Harvest Portfolios Group filed a preliminary prospectus for the Harvest SpaceX Enhanced High Income Shared ETF. It is the first publicly filed ETF preliminary prospectus in Canada designed to provide investors with exposure to the growth potential of SpaceX and enhanced monthly income generation.

• Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT), Google (NASDAQ:GOOGL), Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) and Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) are partnering with nonprofit investment group Elemental Impact to use their data centers as test cases for new technologies such as advanced cooling, energy storage and low-carbon building materials. This project is further supported by philanthropic contributions from groups such as the Lukas Walton-backed Builders Vision Philanthropy and Breakthrough Energy. Elemental Impact will provide funding of between US$500,000 and US$5 million for as many as 10 startups through 2027 in order to facilitate pilot programs within data centers.

• Robinhood Markets (NASDAQ:HOOD) announced on Wednesday that users can now connect third-party AI agents to a dedicated trading account and a virtual credit card, allowing those agents to execute stock trades and make purchases on their behalf. Agentic trading has launched in beta with equities only, while the new Agentic Credit Card is available to Robinhood Gold Card holders.

• Amazon Web Services also launched an agentic tool, the Agentic Shopping Assistant, which allows retailers to build AI shopping assistants on their own e-commerce sites.

• TikTok parent company ByteDance will reportedly receive chips from Qualcomm (NASDAQ:QCOM) to power AI agents within its Doubao chatbot. Subsequent reports this week indicate that ByteDance is also engineering proprietary CPU chips to mitigate anticipated supply chain deficits.

Tech stock earnings

Asana (NYSE:ASAN)

Asana reported an increase in its free cashflow margin for its first fiscal quarter of 2027, saying it reached 16.7 percent compared to 12.5 percent in the previous quarter.

Its operating margin also improved, and the company upgraded its full-year guidance for both revenue and earnings per share. Asana shares increased after hours and closed 2.43 percent higher on Friday

Snowflake (NYSE:SNOW)

Snowflake surpassed expectations by reporting more than US$1 million in trailing 12 month product revenue.

The company’s financial performance was strong, marking the seventh consecutive quarter in which the firm has beaten estimates. Snowflake's CEO, Sridhar Ramaswamy, noted increased customer usage of its AI coding agent and a data search product. Snowflake has pledged US$6 billion for Amazon Web Services Graviton chips and AI infrastructure over several years, while also securing access to Anthropic and OpenAI technology.

Shares of Snowflake jumped over 35 percent after hours on Wednesday and finished the week 29.95 percent higher.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM)

Salesforce reported a record first fiscal quarter of 2027 with US$11.1 billion in revenue, including US$444 million from its Informatica acquisition. Agentforce annual recurring revenue hit US$1.2 billion, representing a 205 percent year-on-year increase and crossing the US$1 billion threshold for the first time. The company also announced a US$25 billion accelerated share repurchase and a dividend, sending shares up 9.53 percent.

While the immediate aftermarket reaction was muted and slightly negative, the stock completely reversed course on Thursday; it ultimately closed 1.27 percent lower on Friday.

Dell Technologies (NYSE:DELL)

Dell Technologies reported record adjusted earnings per share of US$4.86, surpassing the Wall Street consensus estimate of US$2.94. Quarterly revenue saw an 88 percent increase year-on-year, powered by Dell’s Infrastructure Solutions Group and its AI-optimized servers, which are powered by NVIDIA (NASDAQ:NVDA).

The company said it booked US$24.4 billion in total AI orders during the period. Sentiment was further lifted by a five year, US$9.69 billion enterprise software acquisition contract with the US Department of Defense.

Dell's share price surged in after-hours trading on Thursday, and the firm achieved its best trading day ever on Friday, closing over 32 percent higher at US$416.

Tech ETF performance

Tech exchange-traded funds (ETFs) track baskets of major tech stocks, meaning their performance helps investors gauge the overall performance of the niches they cover.

This week, the iShares Semiconductor ETF (NASDAQ:SOXX) increased by 6.53 percent, while the Invesco PHLX Semiconductor ETF (NASDAQ:SOXQ) gained 5.65 percent.

The VanEck Semiconductor ETF (NASDAQ:SMH) increased by 4.37 percent.

Tech news to watch next week

Next week, Canada’s Liberal government is set to release its revamped AI strategy.

Investors will be watching for details on funding commitments, regulatory frameworks and how the strategy positions Canadian companies to compete in the global AI race.

SpaceX is expected to kick off its IPO roadshow next week. Watch for updates on investor demand, pricing progress and any commentary from CEO Elon Musk. Space sector stocks may continue to trade on hype.

Earnings from Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO), CrowdStrike Holdings (NASDAQ:CRWD) and Kraken Robotics (TSXV:PNG,OTCQB:KRKNF) on June 3 will be watched for signs of sustained AI demand and enterprise spending trends.

Any progress or setbacks on a deal between the US and Iran could move energy markets and inflation expectations, while economic releases will continue to influence Fed rate cut expectations. The US jobs report will be critical for gauging whether the economy remains resilient despite inflation pressures.