Market Recap: Thursday, May 14 — Cisco Earnings and a U.S.–China Chip Thaw Lift Stocks to Records
U.S. stocks closed at record highs Thursday as Cisco's strong earnings and signs of easing U.S.–China chip tensions lifted all three major indexes.
Market Overview
Stocks climbed across the board Thursday as investors cheered a blowout earnings report from Cisco and welcomed signs of an easing chip-trade standoff between the U.S. and China. All three major U.S. indexes added roughly three-quarters of a percent, with the broader market closing in fresh record territory.
Index Performance
| Index | Close | Change |
|---|---|---|
| S&P 500 (SPY) | $748.10 | +0.78% |
| NASDAQ (QQQ) | $719.75 | +0.73% |
| Dow Jones (DIA) | $500.87 | +0.75% |
Tech and communication services helped lead the day, with networking and AI infrastructure names doing the heavy lifting. Even so, the gains were broad rather than concentrated — industrials and consumer names also drifted higher, which is usually a healthier sign than a single-sector spike.
What Drove the Market Today
Cisco's blowout quarter. Cisco Systems posted quarterly results and guidance well above Wall Street expectations. Management raised its full-year forecast for AI infrastructure orders to about $9 billion, up from a previous target of $5 billion. The message was simple: hyperscalers — the largest cloud providers — are still ordering networking gear hand over fist to support AI projects, and that demand isn't slowing.
A friendlier tone on chips. President Trump traveled to Beijing for a summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping, and Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang reportedly joined the trip. Reports suggested several major Chinese tech firms — including Alibaba, Tencent, ByteDance, and JD.com — were cleared to purchase Nvidia's H200 AI chips. The news pushed Nvidia shares to a fresh all-time high and added to a roughly 20% gain over the past seven trading sessions.
A historic milestone. The S&P 500 cash index closed above 7,500 for the first time, and the Dow climbed back above 50,000. Round numbers don't change the math, but they tend to draw attention and can shape how investors talk about momentum.
Today's Top Movers
Gainers
- POEL (+84.18% to $132.00) — POEL is a recently launched 2x leveraged ETF tied to POET Technologies, so its move is roughly double POET's gain on the day.
- POET Technologies (+43.15% to $20.57) — POET jumped after announcing a strategic photonic-integration partnership with Lumilens worth up to $500 million over five years, naming a new chief operating officer, and getting its own leveraged ETF off the ground.
- ONDL (+50.45% to $19.92) — Like POEL, ONDL is a leveraged ETF — this one tracks Ondas — so it amplified the underlying company's rally.
- BOT (+28.99% to $27.10) and TXXH (+28.52% to $29.62) — Both small-cap movers climbed without a single dominant news catalyst, suggesting the moves were driven more by sentiment and trading flows than by company-specific announcements.
Losers
- Doximity (-23.00% to $18.01) — The social network for medical professionals slid to a record low after its earnings missed on the bottom line and management offered a fiscal 2027 outlook that was softer than analysts expected. Leadership described next year as an "AI investment year," meaning higher spending and tighter near-term profitability.
- RVI (-22.30% to $57.27) — Robinhood Ventures Fund I gave back much of its roughly 38% gain from the prior session, a reminder that fast moves often cut both ways.
- LIVE, MEI, and ASTN — These smaller names dropped sharply without clear news catalysts. Thinly traded stocks can swing hard on relatively small order flows.
Most Active Stocks
Volume was led by a mix of leveraged and speculative vehicles. SOXS, a 3x inverse semiconductor ETF, topped the list — it's typically used to hedge or bet against chip stocks. Ondas (ONDS) and Nvidia (NVDA) drew heavy two-way action on company-specific news, while Ford (F) and the BITO bitcoin futures ETF rounded out the most-traded names.
What This Means for You
Days like Thursday show how a single strong earnings report — in this case Cisco's — can shift sentiment for an entire sector, especially when it lines up with a broader narrative like AI infrastructure spending. It's also a useful reminder that leveraged ETFs (POEL, ONDL, SOXS) move much faster than the underlying assets they track, in both directions. They're designed for short-term traders, not long-term investors.
This recap is AI-generated from verified market data and publicly available news sources. It is not financial advice. Always do your own research or consult a qualified financial advisor.
This content is for educational purposes only. It is not financial advice. Always do your own research or consult a qualified financial advisor.