US OPEN: Cisco shares surge; markets open higher ⏰

S&P 500 futures are up 0.3%, Nasdaq 100 futures are up 0.2%, and Dow Jones futures are up an impressive 0.8% — with the Dow on track to reclaim the psychological 50,000-point mark. The main drivers of the gains are a combination of Cisco’s stellar results, the hot stock market debut of AI chipmaker Cerebras, and positive signals from the first day of the Trump-Xi summit in Beijing. European markets are also gaining: the DAX is climbing by 1.3%, although several European stock exchanges are closed for a public holiday. The main factor driving sentiment today is the Trump-Xi summit in Beijing — an event of historic significance, as described by Jensen Huang, CEO of Nvidia, who was part of the delegation. Xi Jinping told the assembled CEOs — including Elon Musk, Tim Cook and Jensen Huang — that “China’s door to the world will only open wider”. A market breakthrough came with a Reuters report that the US would give the green light for the sale of Nvidia’s H200 chips to around 10 Chinese companies — although the Treasury Department distanced itself from this information, the market received it enthusiastically. Both countries also agreed that the Strait of Hormuz must remain open, and China expressed interest in purchasing larger quantities of US oil — a significant signal for the commodities market.

At sector level, technology is clearly dominating — particularly semiconductors, where the SOX index has significantly outperformed the broader market since May 2025. Nvidia is up 2.4%, TSMC 1.0%, Broadcom 1.3%, whilst the entire AI infrastructure ecosystem is in demand. Media companies are performing the worst (Google/Alphabet is down 0.9%) as well as selected healthcare companies such as Doximity, which is seeing a dramatic decline. Silver is down 2.56%, dragging down the precious metals segment, whilst WTI crude oil prices are up 0.8% to $101.78 — energy remains a volatile piece of the inflation puzzle.

Company information

• Cisco (CSCO, +16–18%) is undoubtedly the star of the day — the company reported record revenue of $15.8 billion in Q3 FY2026 (+12% y/y), beating the consensus, whilst EPS came in at $1.06 against expectations of $1.04. The key catalyst is a rise in AI infrastructure orders of over 50% — Cisco now expects $9bn in AI orders for the full 2026 financial year. The company announced a restructuring programme worth approximately $1 billion, under which it will lay off nearly 4,000 employees (around 5% of the workforce), focusing resources on optics, security and AI. Barclays believes it is “too early” to sell semiconductor shares — and Cisco’s results support the view that the AI infrastructure supercycle is ongoing.

Cisco shares are surging today, pushing the share price to new all-time highs. Source: xStation

• Nvidia (NVDA, +2.4%) is rising on reports from Reuters that the US has authorised the sale of H200 chips to China, and CEO Jensen Huang personally accompanied Trump to Beijing — the market sees this as a signal that one of the manufacturer’s largest potential markets is being unlocked. Implied SPX volatility suggests that Nvidia’s results, scheduled for 21 May, remain the biggest ‘event risk’ on the calendar — the market views them as a far more significant catalyst than the summit itself.

• Cerebras Systems (CBRS) made its Nasdaq debut after raising $5.55 billion in an IPO priced at $185 per share, above the already raised price range — with demand 20 times the supply, it is the largest IPO of 2026. The company, which manufactures chips for AI inference, counts Amazon and OpenAI among its clients, and the deal is fuelling the entire sector.

• Doximity (DOCS, -21–23%) has seen one of the biggest one-day falls — the digital platform for doctors disappointed with its forecasts for the current quarter and the full year, whilst Q4 EPS of $0.26 fell short of the $0.28 expectation. Investments in AI are putting pressure on margins, and the company has received a series of downgrades from Baird, Wells Fargo, Jefferies and KeyBanc — all to neutral ratings.

• StubHub (STUB, +14–16%) makes its market debut with solid results: Q1 revenue reached $446 million against an expected $432 million, whilst EBITDA of $72.1 million beat the consensus estimate of $65.1 million; the company also confirmed its full-year forecasts.