MarketBeat Week in Review – 04/28 - 05/02

Key Points

• The relief rally continued this week with investors buying good news from big tech and a strong jobs report.
• However, the rally could fizzle as the Federal Reserve is unlikely to lower rates at its meeting next week.
• PLTR, SHOP, and DIS are three of the headline stocks reporting earnings next week; MarketBeat analysts will help investors understand the reports.

The relief rally continued this week. Investors cheered mostly good news from several Magnificent 7 stocks this week. Friday’s stronger-than-expected April jobs report was the icing on the cake.

However, the strong results don’t appear to make a compelling case for the Federal Reserve to lower interest rates at next week’s meeting. That’s what investors want the most. That, and certainty around tariff policies. On that note, the Trump administration continues to tease that deals are close, but this is one time when investors should wait for certainty. That could be next week, or several months down the road.

Next week will be another busy week of earnings with some of the most significant results coming from Palantir Technologies Inc. NASDAQ: PLTR, Shopify Inc. NYSE: SHOP, and The Walt Disney Company NYSE: DIS. Those are some of the stocks the MarketBeat analysts will be watching. Here are some of our most popular articles from this week.

Articles by Thomas Hughes

BigBear.ai Holdings Inc. NYSE: BBAI has been one of the more volatile stocks in the AI sector. However, Thomas Hughes notes that the stock is looking like a short squeeze candidate. That should make investors skeptical about the positive analyst sentiment, particularly as the company has been shoring up its balance sheet at the expense of shareholders.

Auto parts companies are expected to do well as automotive stocks face tariff pressures. Hughes wrote that O’Reilly Automotive Inc. NASDAQ: ORLY is a buy-and-hold name in the sector. However, there may be some volatility around an upcoming stock split.

PepsiCo Inc. NASDAQ: PEP continued to fall after its guidance was lowered. But Hughes reminded investors of the reasons why PEP stock is a good value. That makes the stock an oversold gem with the chance to deliver a significant total return for investors.

Articles by Sam Quirke

Sam Quirke compared the earnings from Tesla Inc. NASDAQ: TSLA to someone tearing of a band-aid, which may be accurate. The stock shot up higher after earnings as investors seem to be betting that Elon Musk’s return to a more central role with the company will turn around the company’s fortunes.

Amazon.com Inc. NASDAQ: AMZN reported earnings this week. Before the earnings report dropped, Quirke explained why this was likely to be a make-or-break report as the stock attempts to recover from the slide that started in February 2025.

Quirke also wrote about the price action in Qualcomm Inc. NASDAQ: QCOM stock after the company reported earnings this week. The pullback shows that investors may not be completely on board. Quirke gave investors two reasons to buy and one reason to sell.

Articles by Chris Markoch

President Trump’s new budget proposes a 13% increase in defense spending. And this week, Chris Markoch made a case for three of the best defense stocks already delivering market-beating performance.

Dividend stocks can be solid choices, particularly if they offer a chance for stock price growth. Markoch wrote that could happen with three dividend stocks poised to rally near 52-week lows.

Many retail stocks are in the tariff crosshairs. This week, Markoch highlighted three retail stocks with heavy tariff exposure and that means investors may want to wait for deals are announced before getting involved.

Articles by Ryan Hasson

Technology stocks will continue to be volatile, but Ryan Hasson wrote why cybersecurity stocks look like a solid choice for investors. Hasson gave investors three cybersecurity stocks that have delivered strong year-to-date performance with the opportunity for more upside.

Hasson also recapped the solid earnings report from Alphabet Inc. NASDAQ: GOOGL. Hasson explained why the results may help investors overlook regulatory concerns. That sentiment is supported by bullish analyst sentiment.

Investors continue to turn towards dividend stocks to weather the current market volatility. This week, Hasson highlighted three defensive dividend stocks that are outperforming the market through the first four months of the year.

Articles by Gabriel Osorio-Mazilli

There is a saying to hope for the best and plan for the worst. This week Gabriel Osorio-Mazilli leaned into that saying by providing investors with several reasons to believe the bear market may be far from over, and why they should be cautious about the market rally.

Super Micro Computer Inc. NASDAQ: SMCI reported earnings this week and investors wanted to see if the company’s financial reporting errors were behind it. However, prior to the report, Osorio-Mazilli reminded investors that institutional investors are buying the stock, but investors will want to see if that’s backed up by price action.

Robinhood Inc. NASDAQ: HOOD released earnings this week and Osorio-Mazilli gave a preview of the report, which included the fact that institutional investors were buying HOOD stock suggesting investors expected a solid report.

Articles by Leo Miller

How’s that acquisition going? That’s what many investors may be wondering after Broadcom Inc. NASDAQ: AVGO acquired VMware. Leo Miller explained this week that customers are expressing some frustration over Broadcom’s changes to the platform, but switching may not be as easy as some investors feared.

Market capitalization doesn’t always matter regarding dividend stocks, but it can help in many cases. That’s the case with three dividend stocks that Miller wrote about because each company announced meaningful increases to their dividends.

Telecom stocks aren’t always exciting, but the “boring” business model can make it easier for investors to keep track of wins and losses. As the big three in the sector have reported earnings, Miller helped investors understand what each company’s report says about each stock's near-term outlook.

Articles by Nathan Reiff

D-Wave Quantum Inc. NYSE: QBTS is a volatile stock in the quantum computing sector. This week, Nathan Reiff explained the two different opinions surrounding QBTS stock and why the company’s new partnership with Davidson Technologies may be a gamechanger for the company and its stock.

Don’t let the pullback in gold prices mislead you, the yellow metal continues to look like a solid buy in 2025. With that in mind, Reiff gave investors three ETFs that allow investors to own physical gold without any custody concerns.

Not to end this week’s rally on a sour note, but Reiff suggested the market storm may not be over. He gave investors several reasons that could mean the stock market’s recent gains may not last.