Big Week Begins: Earnings, M&A, and Iran in Focus

Mega-Cap Earnings Dominate

The most-watched week of the earnings season is underway. Microsoft and Amazon report Wednesday after the close. Apple follows Thursday at 5pm ET. Markets will focus on AI cloud growth at Microsoft, tariff exposure at Apple, and AWS trajectory at Amazon. Analysts lifted AMD's consensus target to $299 — 35 Buy ratings back the chip name heading into results.

Geopolitics Keeps Oil Elevated

Trump floated a new Iran proposal today, keeping traders on edge. BP is in focus in London as Brent stays elevated. Options flow reflects the tension — energy calls are piling up. Devon Energy leads the energy options scoreboard, up 32% year-to-date. Halliburton shows the highest positive options score among oilfield services names.

M&A: Gilead Closes Arcellx Deal

Gilead Sciences completed its acquisition of Arcellx today, ahead of the potential commercial launch of anito-cel. The deal adds a promising CAR-T therapy to Gilead's oncology portfolio.

Shorts and Insiders Split on Conviction

Short sellers are retreating from Avis Budget — SI % FF dropped 17.6 points to 68.6% in a week. But Rumble remains a dangerous trap: 131% cost to borrow, near-zero availability. On the insider front, CoreWeave saw $410M in insider selling filed last week — striking for a company that IPO'd just in March. Celestica beat Q1 estimates with strong guidance, yet the stock fell — a sign markets may have already priced in good news in the AI infrastructure trade.

European Watch

BP moves with every Iran headline. UBS downgraded Nucor to Neutral today, raising its target to $224 but flagging limited upside in steel from here.