5 Things to Watch on
May 1, 2026

Wall Street is kicking off May on an optimistic note, with the S&P 500 building on a +10% gain in April that pushed year-to-date returns above +5%. Stocks are up more than +0.2% in premarket trading, a historically strong signal, with the index closing the year higher in 23 of the past 25 instances where it entered May up more than +5%.

Apple (AAPL) is up +3% in premarket trading after reporting its best first quarter on record, with FQ2 revenue of $111.2B rising +17% YoY and EPS of $2.01, both topping expectations. iPhone generated $56.99B, Services grew +16% to $30.98B, and Greater China surged +28% to $20.5B. AAPL raised its quarterly dividend +4% to $0.27/share and authorized a new $100B buyback. Analysts note Q3 brings tougher comparisons, with the newly launched MacBook Neo seen as a critical driver.

The Department of War signed classified AI deployment agreements with Alphabet (GOOGL), Microsoft (MSFT), Nvidia (NVDA), Amazon (AMZN), OpenAI, SpaceX, and startup Reflection AI, granting access to IL6 and IL7 classified networks in support of warfighting, intelligence, and enterprise operations. Over 1.3M DoD personnel already use GenAI.mil, the department's AI platform. The deals underscore Silicon Valley's growing alignment with Pentagon priorities and contrast with Anthropic's ongoing legal dispute, after DoD dropped its contract with the Claude maker and labeled it a supply chain risk.

Moderna (MRNA) is up +9% in premarket trading after Q1 revenue of $389M beat expectations by $153.5M, surging +260% YoY on stronger-than-expected COVID-19 vaccine sales in international markets. MRNA's net loss widened roughly -30% YoY to $1.3B, driven by a $0.9B one-time litigation settlement, but analysts note that charge is now behind the company. MRNA reaffirmed guidance for up to +10% revenue growth this year and raised its cost of sales outlook to ~$1.8B to reflect the settlement impact.

Reddit (RDDT) is up +12% in premarket trading after another blowout quarter, with CEO Steve Huffman touting RDDT's "seventh consecutive quarter with revenue growth over +60%" and gross margins above 90%. The growth engine is advertising, where performance-oriented formats now dominate the mix and the Reddit Max product is delivering meaningful cost-per-action improvements for brands. Huffman framed the platform's data as "like oil for the modern Internet," positioning RDDT as a scarce asset in the AI era. Management's next milestone is 100M daily U.S. users, with product quality and new user retention the primary levers.