Jim Cramer’s top 10 things to watch in the stock market Friday

1. Wall Street holds onto gains as rising bond yields take a breather Friday. New inflation data comes in a little hot for the second day in a row. The market, however, takes it in stride after U.S. stocks were hit hard Thursday on the GDP signaling stagflation. Unlike Thursday and Meta Platforms‘ stock sharp slide, Alphabet and Microsoft’s earnings after the bell and their stock moves higher are supporting the market.
2. The Fed’s favorite inflation gauge on Friday came in above expectations. March core personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index, which excludes food and energy prices, rose 2.8% year over year. Headline PCE was up 2.6%.
3. We know from Wall Street Journal’s Nick Timiraos that the Fed is worried about not closing in on 2% inflation. Fed independence no more under Donald Trump if he were to win back the White House? The Journal reports on some talk going around.
4. Shares of Club name Alphabet jump 11% after the quarter I’ve been waiting for. Unbelievable return of good fortune at the Google parent, with new levels of transparency. $70 billion stock buyback and first-ever dividend declared: 20 cents per share. YouTube is the new TV. Just crushing it. Artificial intelligence is working and expenses. Google wants more sports.
5. Massive re-rating of Alphabet with myriad price target boosts, including our own to $190 per share from $160. We kept our 2 rating, which means wait for a pullback before considering adding shares.
6. Microsoft delivers a true blowout quarter on all line items, especially AI and the Azure cloud. Personal computers coming back. The Club stock gains nearly 4%. Commercial servers great.
7. We’re raising our Microsoft price target to $500 per share from $450 and keeping a 2 rating. We view pullbacks on broader market volatility from inflation fears as opportunities to add shares.
8. Nvidia was also a big winner in this week’s earnings reports, jumping 8% week to date. Microsoft is all-in on Club holding Nvidia. We know Club name Meta Platforms is buying as many Nvidia chips it can get its hands on. Jensen Huang, founder and CEO of Nvidia, will be on “60 Minutes” on Sunday evening.
9. It’s a different story at chipmaker Intel, whose shares drop more than 8% on a mixed quarter and a disappointing outlook. Microsoft says the PC is stable but Intel doesn’t see it. Advanced Micro Devices is ascending. Intel foundry could be fortunes. Do they have the money?
10. Chevron beats on quarterly earnings per share but misses on revenue as refineries and natural gas businesses faced headwinds. Chevron says it’s confident about pending acquisition of Hess. Exxon Mobil misses quarter on both earnings and revenue. Refining and nat gas pressure also the culprit here. Exxon is currently locked in a dispute with Chevron over Hess deal. Both stocks are down.

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