The AI trade is back, and Meta Platforms is leading the charge.

The Facebook parent just struck another major deal with AI cloud infrastructure company CoreWeave, committing $21 billion on top of the $14.2 billion it had previously invested. CoreWeave’s data centers, packed with hundreds of thousands of Nvidia GPUs, give Meta the compute power needed to scale AI models quickly.

That infrastructure push comes just as Meta rolls out its new AI model, Muse Spark, looking to regain momentum after last year’s underwhelming Llama debut. Early signs are encouraging: Muse Spark reportedly outperformed Google’s Gemini on some benchmarks and held its own against OpenAI and Anthropic. Meta shares jumped 2.61% this afternoon as investors cheered the company’s efforts to catch up to the competition.

Intel gains ground

Meta isn’t the only tech stock gaining momentum—in fact, it’s got a long way to go to catch up to Intel.

Intel was once an also-ran in the AI race, but that all changed after news broke that the company is expanding its long-standing partnership with Google, which has relied on Intel processors since its earliest server builds nearly three decades ago. Now, Intel’s new Xeon 6 chips are set to power AI training and inference workloads, helping Google scale its AI infrastructure more efficiently

But demand isn’t just coming from Big Tech. Elon Musk recently tapped Intel as the first major chipmaker in his Terafab project, an ambitious effort to produce 1 terawatt of AI and robotics compute annually—roughly double current US demand.

Put it all together, and Intel is reasserting itself as a credible AI infrastructure player, chipping away at a market long dominated by Nvidia. Shares have climbed 28.5% over the past five days, and just hit a five-year high.

The real economy behind AI

But while AI is once again the talk of the town, Lowe’s CEO Marvin Ellison is reminding investors that the old-fashioned economy still does the heavy lifting—even for AI itself.

Ellison noted that thousands of data centers are now under construction, and all of them require real-world labor to bring online. That’s driving a renewed focus on skilled labor: Ellison announced that the company’s foundation will invest $250 million over the next decade to train workers in trades like plumbing, carpentry, and electrical work. BlackRock is backing a similar push, committing $100 million to expand the skilled trades pipeline.

So before you get swept up in the exciting, shiny AI trade, remember what the HALO trade has been trying to tell us: the physical economy still underpins it all. Or, as Ellison succinctly put it: “AI can’t climb a ladder.”—SY

🟢 What’s up

• Andy Jassy was feeling Andy Sassy in his annual letter to shareholders, dismissing AI bubble fears and touting strong growth ahead. Amazon rose 5.6%.
• Brown-Forman rose 12.89% as Sazerac began exploring a potential deal with the alcohol maker, just weeks after merger talks with Pernod Ricard surfaced.
• Speaking of alcohol, Constellation Brands climbed 8.42% despite pulling its 2028 outlook, as quarterly earnings still topped expectations.
• Marvell Technology gained 4.77% following a Barclays upgrade, with analysts pointing to up to 90% growth in optical revenue tied to AI demand.
• STAAR Surgical jumped 20.74% on a blowout revenue forecast far beyond estimates.
• Sandisk rose 9.09% as analysts boosted price targets on the back of strengthening memory demand.

What’s down

• Applied Digital fell 7.99% despite beating earnings expectations.
• Circle Internet Group dropped 9.89% following a downgrade from Compass Point, which flagged margin pressure and weaker EBITDA forecasts.
• Simply Good Foods slid 18.11% as revenue declined and guidance pointed to a steeper-than-expected sales drop.
• GitLab dipped 7.83% after a downgrade from Guggenheim Partners, citing rising AI disruption risks.
• Cloudflare fell 8.62%, Okta slid 10.89%, and CrowdStrike declined 7.46% as Anthropic’s new agent platform raised concerns about shifting demand in software.
• Zscaler fell 11.35% after a downgrade from BTIG, with analysts pointing to increasing competitive pressure.

The war for the massive weight loss drugs market has been a vicious battle pitting Novo Nordisk against Eli Lilly. But the real winner may be clothing retailers.

An estimated 1 in 8 Americans are now taking weight loss drugs, or roughly 13% of the country. The recent debut of weight loss pills—more enticing for needle-fearing customers—opens the door to millions more potential users. JPMorgan analysts say that 10 million people are currently taking GLP-1 medications, and that number could rise to 30 million by 2030.

As anyone who’s ever lost a lot of weight will tell you, one of the best parts of the victory lap is buying a whole new wardrobe. With so many consumers shedding their handlebars, an enormous number of consumers will soon be in the market for new threads. In fact, equity research firm Bernstein estimates that the wave of weight loss will create a $13 billion annual boost to apparel spending.

Bernstein says that, as shoppers transition sizes, it will be a massive boon for companies that offer custom clothing services such as Stitch Fix, Rent the Runway, and Urban Outfitters, which owns the Nuuly brand. Off-price retailers like TJX Companies, as well as big box retailers like Target or Walmart, could also benefit as customers searching for new duds try to save a buck or two.

But one loser of the weight loss war has already emerged: Destination XL, the big and tall apparel company. As slimmer Americans shed their baggy clothes, shares have tumbled more than 45% in 2026.—MR

Picture this: You just got home, turned on the TV, and a new episode of Breaking Bad is airing. “Bleeding Love” by Leona Lewis is playing on the radio. You just achieved the euphoric high that only comes with winning a game of Brick Breaker. It’s the era of BlackBerry supremacy.

A lot has changed since then—sadly, our friend Brick Breaker is a relic of the past—but BlackBerry, the company, hasn’t gone quietly into that good night.

Sure, shares are down about 97% from their peak in June 2008. But today, BlackBerry surged 7.93% after it reported a great quarter for its…automotive software business?

• Adjusted earnings per share came in at $0.06, up from the $0.03 a year ago and beating analyst projections of $0.05.
• Revenue reached $156 million, up 10% from the year prior and above analyst forecasts of $142.6 million.
• BlackBerry’s QNX division, which is its software business for cars and industrial machinery, saw 20% year over year revenue growth, and the company said its software is now installed in 275 million vehicles.

BlackBerry’s journey from hardware to software

BlackBerry has quietly transformed over the last decade from pre-smartphone accessory for yuppies to car software manufacturer.

Back in 2007, Apple came out with the iPhone, marking the beginning of the end for BlackBerry’s dominance. Android, too, hit the market in 2008, while BlackBerry struggled to adapt to the new smartphone era. Its share price plunged from an all-time high of $144.50 in 2008 to a low of $5.98 in 2013.

But that same year, the company hired John Chen as CEO. He enacted a new strategy: Instead of trying to win over the smartphone market, he pivoted the company to security software, which had always been a strength.

BlackBerry began to set itself for success in the auto software business by acquiring a company called QNX Software Systems back in 2010. By 2016, BlackBerry officially stopped making phones, and split its time between secure communications and real-time driving software—two areas where it’s been making headway ever since.

The transition has still been rocky, but management is ready to declare victory. While the company reported losses in 2022 and 2023, it has now posted three consecutive years of adjusted profits, according to Barron’s. And in even better news, the company projects revenue to land somewhere between $584 million and $611 million in fiscal year 2027, or up to 11% higher than in fiscal 2026, and above analyst expectations.

Current CEO John Giamatteo is celebrating today’s win: “We are no longer a company in transition,” he said in a statement.—LB

• Here are Iran’s 10 demands for peace—including the items the US might be willing to compromise on.
• The IMF is expected to cut its economic growth projections, even in the best case scenario for the Iran war.
• Bill Ackman is planning to launch a new fund that bets on investor complacency.
• American Airlines is raising bag fees for basic economy customers, joining Delta, United, and JetBlue.
• Bank of America forecasts the sports-related event betting market will reach $1.1 trillion annually.
• Speaking of sports, the Justice Department is investigating the NFL for anticompetitive practices.

Economic reports: The inflation sensation sweeping the nation continues with the March CPI report. Economists expect to see CPI rise 3.4% year over year, while core CPI is forecast to climb 2.7% YoY.

Earnings announcements: Tomorrow is the final day without any earnings before the new season begins next week, when the first handful of big banks drop their latest numbers.